Marlene41

Thanks for all your suggestion. My association had experience in holding an adjourned annual meeting in 2020, when COVID disrupted the world. You might be interested in reading about how we handled that situation, including holding our first electronic meeting - new territory for many organizations. Or you can just scroll by. The meeting was originally set for 5/6/20 in Canada, but most of the world was in a COVID lockdown. Still, we had set the date the year before. Plus, we had to announce the winners of the election of the 2020-22 officers. So, we sent out the meeting notices and planned first Zoom council meeting. Luckily, the president was familiar with & new how to use the platform. He called the meeting to order and went through the opening ritual, after which he asked for the results of the election. After they were announced and accepted, we adjourned the meeting to 8/15/20 , knowing that the location was tentative, & we'd probably have another Zoom meeting, which we did. On 8/15/20, the same president called the Zoom meeting to order. He continued with some ritual, and the minutes of the previous general meeting were approved. The new officers were then installed, & the newly-installed president took over the meeting. As National Secretary, I compile a book of reports prior to each meeting, which is considered part of the official record. For the 2020 annual meeting, the written and oral reports covered the period up to 5/6/20; i.e., from previous officer and committee chairs. Things went smoothly, but we had a major glitch: our bylaws had no provision for electronic meetings. We knew we were out of compliance with RR, but we had no choice but to hold an electronic meeting. I worked on and proposed an amendment, which passed on 8/15/20. The amendment has served us well, and we've transitioned to hybrid meetings seamlessly. But I prefer in-person meeting.

Thanks. This is an international organization based in the U.S. Meetings are set months - sometimes a year or more - in advance. We may give preference to each current president, but dates & locations are joint decisions; we couldn't operate, otherwise. The problem regarding the 2024 annual meeting may be resolved because the planners have found a way to schedule the annual meeting within the time frame allowed, without having to hold and then adjourn to a later date. Thanks for your responses. This forum has always been very helpful!

Hi - I'm sorry that I left out an important piece of information: the questionable date happens in 2024; the meeting is tied to a major convention. We need plenty of time to plan, call & adjourn the meeting because dates are set well in advance. The earliest we can propose a constitutional amendment would be at the 2023 annual meeting - but the date for the 2024 meeting will already have been set because of the convention. Thanks for your help.

We had a more flexible date range & amended the constitution to specific dates, never anticipating this situation ... but of course, here it is. This can be done by our executive board & is much easier than calling the entire council to vote. Thanks!

Thanks. Another RRA member provided a solution that may cover this situation, but here are the provisions: Constitution: "Section 2 "The regular Annual Meeting of ... shall take place between May 1 and September 1 each year on a day designated by the National President and at a location determined by the National Council. In addition, there shall be one or more additional meetings, the date and place of which shall be designated by the National President. "SECTION 3 "Special and emergency meetings of the National Council may be summoned by the National President … [list of officers qualified to call special meetings], whenever special or emergency events warrant or necessitate such a convening … ." The Bylaws provide permission & procedure for electronic meetings.

Circumstance will most likely force our association to hold its Annual Meeting outside the parameter of dates that our Constitution requires. My suggestion is to call a special meeting (electronic, which our bylaws allow) for the sole purpose of setting a different date for this specific annual meeting. Is this appropriate way to do it? Thanks!

Thank you for your responses. The 5/6/20 meeting was called to honor the call to our annual meeting (May 6) and to announce the result of the election; ballots had been submitted in advance via postal mail to the election chairman, who announced the results after counting them. We did not elect, install or ratify officers. Basically, the election chair had to let the council know the results. New officers take over July 1. To paraphrase Mr. Honemann: the legality of the meeting is moot if everyone is in agreement with the direction we took (even without electronic meeting in the bylaws). The ritual covers opening & closing ceremonies. My sense from you all is that the Aug. 15 meeting will be a new meeting. We will call that meeting properly. We have no guarantee that we will be able to meet physically (people come from all over the country), so we will again have to conduct an illegal meeting, but we don't have a choice, & we cannot delay business for more than a year. Again, thank you for your thoughtful answers.

Our bylaws do not allow for them. Council members know they don't, but this was an emergency situation; there was no other way to handle this. Our constitution & bylaws allow the president to call an emergency meeting - we are working on the assumption that this was an emergency. No one objected, & I am sure no one will dispute it. I am working on an amendment to allow for electronic meetings. Unfortunately, our constitution contains details for meetings. They should be in bylaws, & bylaws have fewer formal requirements for amendments. I have to look them over to see how I can move them.

The constitution of our national fraternal association stipulates that we hold our annual meeting between May 1 and Sept. 1. It was scheduled for May 6, but the pandemic prevented travel and in-person meetings. We held an electronic meeting on May 6 only to to count ballots & announce the new National Council members, who assume duties July 1. We adjourned to August. We opened the meeting according to an established ritual. The president considers the August meeting a continuation of the May 6 annual meeting. Do we repeat the ritual, or do we just call the meeting meeting to order and continue with the agenda? Or should we consider the August meeting a new meeting? In either case, will it require another call to meeting? I believe it will. Thank you,