Guest Rose Miller Posted January 20, 2015 at 05:43 PM Report Share Posted January 20, 2015 at 05:43 PM Would someone tell me the definition of an informal meeting. Twice now our Unit has had an informal meeting, with a quorum. I thought any meeting with a quorum was considered a regular meeting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Edgar Guest Posted January 20, 2015 at 05:47 PM Report Share Posted January 20, 2015 at 05:47 PM There are no "informal meetings". Either the meeting is official or it's not a meeting in the parliamentary sense of the word. So call it a gathering, or a get-together, or anything else. Some municipal bodies (e.g. town councils, school boards) are subject to so-called "sunshine" or "open meeting" laws which restrict the number of members that can gather in one place without proper notice. But these laws don't apply to ordinary societies. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Josh Martin Posted January 20, 2015 at 07:47 PM Report Share Posted January 20, 2015 at 07:47 PM Would someone tell me the definition of an informal meeting. Twice now our Unit has had an informal meeting, with a quorum. I thought any meeting with a quorum was considered a regular meeting.Any properly called meeting is a meeting of the assembly. Whether it is a regular or special meeting depends on how it is called.The quorum is a slightly different issue. A properly called meeting may lack a quorum. While such a meeting will be unable to conduct business (except for a handful of procedural actions), it is still a meeting. On the other hand, it is entirely possible that a number of members which would constitute a quorum might gather at some time other than a properly called meeting, but this does not make it a meeting.RONR does not define what an "informal meeting" is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mbillard Posted January 20, 2015 at 10:05 PM Report Share Posted January 20, 2015 at 10:05 PM There are no "informal meetings". Either the meeting is official or it's not a meeting in the parliamentary sense of the word. So call it a gathering, or a get-together, or anything else. Some municipal bodies (e.g. town councils, school boards) are subject to so-called "sunshine" or "open meeting" laws which restrict the number of members that can gather in one place without proper notice. But these laws don't apply to ordinary societies.Small correction here: Open meeting laws do not restrict the number of members that can gather in one place; they restrict the members from discussing business if enough members are gathered in the same place to constitute a quorum. If you have a five member city council, all five can attend a baseball game together as long as they do not discuss council business. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Edgar Guest Posted January 20, 2015 at 10:14 PM Report Share Posted January 20, 2015 at 10:14 PM If you have a five member city council, all five can attend a baseball game together as long as they do not discuss council business. If you say so. And I guess we'll just have to take their word for it that they were only talking about the game. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard Brown Posted January 20, 2015 at 10:40 PM Report Share Posted January 20, 2015 at 10:40 PM If you say so. And I guess we'll just have to take their word for it that they were only talking about the game.Yep. That's the way it works. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Edgar Guest Posted January 20, 2015 at 11:33 PM Report Share Posted January 20, 2015 at 11:33 PM Yep. That's the way it works. Or doesn't work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Novosielski Posted January 21, 2015 at 01:51 PM Report Share Posted January 21, 2015 at 01:51 PM Small correction here: Open meeting laws do not restrict the number of members that can gather in one place; they restrict the members from discussing business if enough members are gathered in the same place to constitute a quorum. If you have a five member city council, all five can attend a baseball game together as long as they do not discuss council business.Open meeting laws vary from state to state. What you say may be true in your state and false in mine. Giving what could be interpreted as legal advice is frowned upon in this forum. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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