Article VIII: Meetings

Section 1: General Membership: There shall be general membership meetings of the North American Saxophone Alliance whenever an organization-wide North American convention (or similar event) is held, or whenever the World Saxophone Congress, scheduled in consultation with the North American Saxophone Alliance, is held on the North American continent. Any active member of the Alliance may attend a general membership meeting and may cast one vote on any issue raised for determination by the vote of members present. General membership meetings shall be chaired by the President or the highest ranking officer present, as prescribed by the Line of Succession. Each officer of the Alliance shall be responsible to give a report of his office to the membership at a general membership meeting, or a report in writing to be read by another officer present in the event of unavoidable absence from the meeting. Any member may propose new business to the President to be brought before the membership for discussion and voting at a general membership meeting. Such new business must be submitted in writing to the President at least 30 days prior to the meeting. Only new business so presented, and approved by a majority of the Executive Committee, shall appear on the agenda. Only such proposals which appear on the agenda shall be considered at general membership meetings unless, in unusual circumstances, the Executive Committee, by two-thirds approval, allows the last-minute inclusion of an item of new business for consideration at such a meeting. A quorum at a general membership meeting shall consist of those active members attending the session. Following a general membership meeting a summation of the meeting by the Secretary (or other Executive Officer in the event of the Secretary's absence) shall be prepared and published in the next issue of the newsletter. Section 2: Executive Committee: There shall be a minimum of one meeting per year of the Executive Committee. Additional meetings of the Committee may be called by the President or at the request of a majority of the Committee. The President, in consultation with the rest of the Committee, shall determine the time and place of such meetings; a minimum of 30 days notice shall be provided for such meetings of the Executive Committee. The Committee shall also be required to meet immediately prior to any general membership meeting for the purpose of approving the agenda prepared by the President, of the general membership meeting, and to consider other Executive Committee business as timely and appropriate. Section 3: Communications in lieu of Meetings: Because of geographic constraints and the realistic potential that meetings of the general membership may be less frequent than once per year, provision is made for routine conduct of business with the general membership by communications in lieu of meetings. For matters requiring a vote of the active members of the Alliance, presentation of issues and printed ballots (coded to active members only, and numbered) may be accomplished through publication in the newsletter. As an alternative to this procedure, and for matters of particular urgency, presentation of issues and printed, numbered ballots may be distributed to active members by mail. Such distribution shall be executed by the Membership Director, and 30 days following the day of mailing to the membership shall be given to the general membership to return ballots. Such ballots shall be returnable to the Secretary of the Alliance for tabulation and report to the President and Executive Committee. For mail ballots, a quorum shall consist of those authorized ballots returned for tabulation. Because of geographic and budgetary constraints, and the realistic potential that meetings of the Executive Committee may be less frequent than once per year, provision is made for routine conduct of business of the Committee and of the other executive officers by communications in lieu of meetings. For matters requiring consultation among Executive Committee members, written correspondence sent via first-class mail, electronic mail, or in cases of particular urgent communication via telephone is acceptable. Matters of business requiring specific approval of the Executive Committee may be discussed in person or via telephone by less than the entire Committee at one time, but Committee members must submit their individual votes on particular issues in writing to the President. On issues where Committee members are notified by the President via mail, the individual members will have two weeks from the time of the President's mailing to respond in writing; on issues where Committee members are notified by the President via telephone or electronic mail, the individual members will have one week to respond in writing. In no case shall matters of Executive Committee business be decided by fewer that five of the seven Committee members unless two or more offices are temporarily vacant; in that event, a quorum of the Executive Committee shall be two-thirds of the members remaining. Section 4: Parliamentary Procedure: At any general membership or Executive Committee meeting, the chairperson shall serve as parliamentarian and will rule on issues of procedure. Roberts Rules of Order, Revised, shall govern all meetings, unless in direct conflict with the Constitution and Bylaws of the North American Saxophone Alliance.