Club Scuderia Constitution
1.0 What is Club Scuderia?
1.1 The
main purpose of Club Scuderia is to provide an online
forum for discussion about the Ferrari Marque and
associated subjects as deemed fit by its members, both subscribing and not
subscribing.
1.2
Club Scuderia's legal definition is "club and
unincorporated association", as it is run solely for the benefit of its
members. It does not make a profit as all funds are returned in some form to
its members via goods and/or services. Please see http://www.hmrc.gov.uk for
more information.
1.3
Please note that "club and unincorporated association" defines our
legal status, not our specific operating model. This broad term covers all
club, association, society and charitable organisations and should not be mis-interpreted as defining this forum as an "official
members club"
2.0 Funding
2.1
Club Scuderia has a bank account with LloydsTSB Bank.
All subscription fees are paid into this account via Paypal
along with cheques from sponsors. Cash payments are generally not accepted
unless by prior arrangement with the Club Scuderia
Management Team.
2.2 The
outstanding balance in the bank account is available for Club Scuderia use after the Club Scuderia
committee have reserved adequate funding to support the anticipated running
costs of Club Scuderia for two complete years. This
figure is based on the previous year's expenditure on:
2.2.1
Server hire
2.2.2
Software Licensing
2.2.3
Domain registrations/renewal
2.3 The
amounts reserved for running costs may be added to in order to cover costs of
engaging the services of external personnel (e.g. legal representation, accountancy,
etc), flags, banners, stickers and other ad hoc running costs.
2.4 The
Club Scuderia year runs from 1st January to 31st
December.
2.5 At
the end of each year the Club Scuderia Management
Team will provide a list of monies in and monies out, but please note that this
is a not a legal requirement. It is merely a courtesy extended to the members
and as such will only be displayed in the Club section.
3.0 Distribution of Club Funds to Charity:
3.1
Nominated Charities:
3.1.1
Any surplus funds will be distributed in equal parts between each of Club Scuderia's nominated charities and a fund for ad hoc
donations.
3.1.2
The nominated charities are selected at the discretion of the committee based
on feedback from the membership.
3.1.3 The
criteria for suitable charities for consideration by the committee is that they
should either be directly related to the activities of Club Scuderia
members in general, or that they are charities that Club Scuderia
members otherwise support through Club Scuderia
activities.
3.1.4
The date of any donation made to a nominated charity will be at the discretion
of the committee in order to be able to time donations to coincide with
specific events that the charities in question may be staging during the year.
3.2 Ad Hoc Pot:
3.2.1
There will be an ad hoc pot made up of an equal part to that distributed to
each nominated charity. This is to allow flexibility for unexpected donations,
for example, to send flowers to injured members.
3.2.2
Paid up members may suggest recipients and amounts for ad hoc donations by
sending a private message to the committee account. Committee members may not
suggest recipients for ad hoc donations.
3.2.3 Ad hoc donations may not exceed Ł500 per donation (there is no
minimum).
3.2.4 Ad hoc donations may be made from the ad hoc pot by a majority
vote of the committee. No membership vote is required.
3.2.5
The committee reserves the right to consult with moderators and/or other paid
up members on the validity of making a suggested ad hoc donation or even put
the ad hoc donation to a vote of the membership if they so desire. However,
they are not under any obligation to do so.
3.2.6
The criteria for suitable charities for consideration by the committee is that
they should either be directly related to the activities of Club Scuderia members in general, or that they are charities
that Club Scuderia members otherwise support through
Club Scuderia activities.
3.2.7 There is no upper or lower limit to the number of ad hoc donations
that may be made in a year subject to funds remaining in the ad hoc pot.
3.2.8
Any undistributed funds left in the ad hoc pot at 31st December will be rolled
over into the following year’s funds for distribution between the nominated
charities and the ad hoc pot for that year.
4.0 Admin Responsibilities
4.1 The
Club Scuderia Administrators are responsible for the
following:
4.1.1
Ensuring that the hired Servers are fit for purpose, and represent good value
for money.
4.1.2
Keeping the installed vBulletin software functioning
adequately and ensuring that appropriate software fixes, patches and upgrades
are attended to in a timely fashion.
4.1.3
Arranging for frequent backups of site data and attachments.
4.1.4
Ensuring that domains are registered and/or renewed as required.
4.1.5
Ensuring that the sections of Club Scuderia are
relevant to the membership’s requirements.
4.1.6
Ensuring that sponsors' logos are displayed correctly.
5.0 Moderator Responsibilities
5.1 The
Moderators are responsible for the general enforcement of the Club Scuderia rules. In most instances they will deal with
individual and/or simple issues concerning warnings and bans. If a more
protracted discussion on a discipline issue is required it may be escalated to
a committee decision.
5.1.1
General discipline of the membership (subscribed and unsubscribed)
5.1.2
Cleaning up threads/sections
5.1.3
Removing contentious material
5.1.4
Ensuring that the rules are enforced
6.0 Committee Elections and Responsibilities
6.1
Committee Membership and Candidate Qualification
6.1.1
The Club Scuderia Committee will consist of three
elected members.
6.1.2
Elected Committee members will serve a term that will run until the annual
election immediately before the 2nd anniversary of their election.
6.1.3
Committee members may resign their position at any time during their elected
term.
6.1.4 In the event that a Committee member resigns:
i) before 1st November then an interim election will commence
on the last Saturday of the month after the date of resignation.
ii) after 1st November then no interim election
will be called and the position will remain vacant until the next annual
election.
6.1.5
If the number of serving Committee members drops to less than two people, then
an interim election will be held within two weeks regardless of the date of resignation.
6.1.6
Members who wish to stand for election or serve on the Club Scuderia
Committee must conform to the following criteria:
i) Have
been a paid up member for a minimum of 3 months.
ii) Not be banned for all or part of the election process.
iii)
Not have been banned 3 or more times (as recorded in the Sticky Bans Thread) in
the 18 months up to and before day 3 of the electoral process (see 6.2). Applies to any election after April 2010.
iv) Not
be proprietors, relations or employees of Club Scuderia
sponsors.
v) Not be Club Scuderia moderators at the time
of election commencement.
vi) Not be proprietors,
administrators, moderators or other persons with an official role or interest
in a competitor (to be decided by The Committee) internet forum.
6.2 The
Election Process and Campaign Rules
All references to the election timetable are given as day numbers
counting from day 1 and the start and end time of each day will be
6.2.1
Annual elections for Committee positions will be held starting on the last
Saturday of February each year (Day 1). Interim elections may be held according
to 6.1.4.
6.2.2 In the case of interim elections, unless an election is called
under clause 6.1.5, Day 1 will be the last Saturday in the month after
resignation.
6.2.3 A
Returning Officer will be appointed by the existing Committee not later than
6.2.4
The existing Committee will send an email to all members, to their registered
email address held by the Club, notifying them of the upcoming electoral process
by
6.2.5 A
new thread which will be used for all announcements pertaining to the election
in progress will be started in the Announcement section. This will list the
timetable for the election, what positions are up for election and who the
Returning Officer is for the election not later than 6pm on Day 1. This will be
a locked thread.
6.2.6
All candidates should make their intention to stand for election known by PM to
the Returning Officer not later than
6.2.7
The Returning Officer will post an announcement confirming the final list of
candidates for the election and the number of eligible voters not later than
6.2.8 A
campaigning window will commence from
i) A manifesto
posted in the Announcements section
ii) One dedicated campaigning thread per candidate
iii) Responses to answers directed at them in the Q&A thread
iv) A
link in their signature to one of the above mentioned items
Election posts are to be restricted to these sections only.
Any posts/signatures used must conform to general forum guidelines
(particularly around trolling/baiting).
Any
posts by a candidate not doing so will result in a warning to the candidate
(posted in the election announcement thread for transparency). If a candidate
is issued three such warnings during the election a ban will be issued.
AGAIN, normal posting rules apply in respect of all content.
6.2.9
Candidates and their supporters may continue to use the PM facility on Club Scuderia as normal, however all
should take particular note of the general forum rules on unsolicited use of PMs.
During
the election period, if any notifications are received about unsolicited PMs/emails through the CS system from candidates or their
supporters, the candidate involved will be removed from the election (and the
election announcement thread updated accordingly) – candidates should therefore
take care not to abuse the use of PM/email system.
6.2.10
The Returning Officer has sole discretionary power to remove a candidate from
the election if that candidate has breached one or more of the election campaign
rules.
6.2.11
In the event that the electoral process fails to deliver an elected Committee
of three persons then the sitting Committee may, at their discretion, continue
in office or may individually stand down provided that they have first co-opted
a qualifying club member to fill a vacant position on a temporary basis.
A new
election will be held during the month following the termination of the
unsuccessful election, and will be conducted according to the election rules
and process.
6.2.12
No amendment to the constitution or rules may be made during a period in which
a co-opted member is part of the Committee or in the month immediately following
an election UNLESS two successive votes result in insufficient Committee
members. In this hopefully unlikely event, the current standing Committee will
determine an alternative structure.
6.3 The
Voting Process and Voter Eligibility
6.3.1
Voting will run from
6.3.2
To be eligible to vote, members must be fully paid up and have been so for at
least 3 months prior to Day 1 of the election and are not banned for the voting
period.
6.3.3
Members who will not be online during the time voting is open may register a
proxy with the Returning Officer not later than
6.3.4
Proxy voters must PM the Returning Officer with their proxy’s voting intention
not later than
6.3.5
The vote will be a blind vote registered on a 3rd party website (which is not
owned or controlled by any Club Scuderia member) to
be selected by the Committee. Any costs associated with using the 3rd party
site will be met from club funds.
6.3.6
The vote will be administered by the Returning Officer.
6.3.7
Where there are more candidates than Committee positions available:
i)
Members will vote for as many candidates as there are positions available for
election.
ii) The Committee positions up for election will be awarded in order to
the candidates obtaining the highest number of votes.
6.3.8
Where the number of candidates is equal to or less than the number of positions
up for election, a vote will still take place and the candidates must receive more
"for" votes than "against" to be elected.
6.3.9
The result will be announced by the Returning Officer making a post in the
announcement section not later than
6.4
Responsibilities of the Committee
6.4.1
Appointing administrators
6.4.2
Appointing moderators
6.4.3
Commenting and voting in extended disciplinary procedures.
6.4.4
Dealing with marketing and publicity,
6.4.5
Liaising with membership over events.
6.4.6
Making decisions on the expenditure of Club Scuderia
6.4.7
Answering sponsorship enquiries (although in reality that's normally done by
the admin as first point of contact).
6.4.8
Issuing invoices and collect monies for all sponsors' contracts.
6.4.9
Organising (where appropriate) special offers/discounts on products and
services for the subscribed members.
6.4.10
Assisting (where appropriate) in the organisation of regional/national events
and consider requests for funding of same.
6.4.11
Please note: As the group elected to manage the running of Club Scuderia, the committee is able to make/amend policy
without recourse to the general membership.
7.0 Code of Conduct.
7.1 The
entire Club Scuderia management team are bound by the
same set of rules that govern the general membership (subscribed and
unsubscribed).
7.2
Whilst Club Scuderia Admins
and Mods have a much higher level of control of the
forum content and infrastructure, by agreeing to act in these roles, they undertake
to not abuse this privilege.
7.3 Any
messages sent via the Private Messaging System will only be accessed by the
sender and the recipient, and will never be accessed by any of the Club Scuderia Management Team under any circumstances.
7.4 The
abuse of this privilege will result in suspension from the Management Team.
7.5 The
entire Club Scuderia Management Team will at all times act in the best interests of CLUB SCUDERIA and its
Membership.
8.0 Ownership
8.1
Club Scuderia is owned jointly by all its subscribed
members. Membership of Club Scuderia does not entitle
any individual or collective members to any monetary, or other, recompense at
any time.
8.2
Club Scuderia is not for sale and will remain
collectively owned, and run for the benefit of its subscribed members
9.0 Contacting us
9.1
Club Scuderia can be contacted either by emailing