The 2012 California National Organization for Women Annual Membership Meeting/State Conference will take place on Saturday, June 16, 2012 in Sacramento
LOCATION
Hawthorn Suites
321 Bercut Drive
Sacramento, CA 95814
AGENDA
8:30 AM – 1:00 PM
Registration & Credentialing
9:00 – 10:00 AM
Plenary 1 Convene
Annual Membership Meeting
Credentials Report
Adopt Conference
Election & Resolution Rules
Adopt Agenda
10:00 AM – 11:00 AM
What’s at Stake for Women and Girls
2012 & Beyond
11:30 AM – 12:00 PM BREAK
** Resolutions must be submitted by noon **
12:00 PM – 1:00 PM
Plenary II (Resolutions)
1:30 PM
Conference Closing
1:30 – 4:00 PM
SlutWalk Sacramento
5:00 – 6:30 PM
California NOW Board/Executive Meeting
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STAYING OVERNIGHT?
If you require overnight accommodations, book before June 5th for $79 per night. For reservations, call the hotel directly at 916.441.1200 (code is “CANOW”)
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WHO CAN VOTE?
Although ALL members are welcome to attend the conference, you must have been a member for at least 60 days prior to the state conference to be credentialed and therefore eligible to vote. Those individuals who have been members for 60 days or more prior to the start of the conference should appear in the National NOW Credentialing List.
However, since errors do occur, we suggest you bring proof of membership if your starting date or renewal date was close to the 60-day cutoff date.
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2012 STATE CONFERENCE RULES
The following rules are intended to allow us to accomplish our goals of the conference. If you aren’t familiar with the rules, there will be moderators available at the conference to help everyone with the process.
The CA NOW conference shall govern itself with the following:
A. Bylaws of NOW, Inc.
B. Bylaws of California NOW, Inc.
C. Conference rules herein decided and adopted at Plenary I on Saturday.
D. Robert’s Rules of Order newly revised where applicable and when not in conflict with any of the above mentioned rules and bylaws.
Personnel
A. A timekeeper(s) shall be appointed by the presiding officer as needed.
B. Tellers for counting the votes at plenary sessions shall be appointed by the presiding officer as needed.
C. A Parliamentarian and The Secretary shall be at the podium during all plenary sessions.
Plenary Sessions
A. The CA NOW Conference shall be open to all NOW members and all persons properly registered.
No California NOW member shall be required to pay a fee in order to participate in the business of the Conference and no distinction of any kind shall be drawn between those members able to pay fees and those unable to do so. Only members in good standing who meet voting requirements shall be entitled to vote, but all NOW members shall be entitled to speak unless the presiding officer limits debate to credentialed members. Motions may be made only by CA NOW members credentialed to vote. The proponent of each motion shall submit that motion in writing on the appropriate form to the Secretary, signed with the proponent’s name and chapter or at-large designation. The maker of the motion shall be allowed to open or close debate on that particular motion.
B. No person shall speak a second time to a motion until all other persons who wish to speak have had the opportunity to do so.
C. Debate shall alternate between pro and con. Debate shall not be closed until at least one pro and one con speaker have the opportunity to debate.
D. At the discretion of the presiding officer, debate may be limited to credentialed members.
E. Debate on a resolution shall be limited to 10 minutes per resolution.
F. Members who wish to speak from the floor shall take their proper turn at the microphone. Only those who have stood in line will be allowed to speak, and no one may relinquish their place in line to another speaker.
G. Upon recognition by the Chair, speakers shall state their name, and chapter or at-large designation.
H. Any challenge to the voting rights of a member shall be referred to the Chair of the Credentials Committee.
I. CA NOW members credentialed to vote shall have priority for debate, motions and questions.
Workshops
A. Participation in workshop discussions may, at the discretion of the workshop coordinator, be limited to CA NOW members. NOW members may, by a majority vote, exclude press, cameras, and/or tape recorders.
B. No resolution will be considered in a workshop unless the workshop coordinator has received the resolution before the workshop begins and finds the content appropriate and necessary. Such a resolution, if ruled not relevant by the workshop coordinator, may be heard by the workshop attendees if a petition, signed by at least half of the members attending the workshop, is submitted to the workshop coordinator.
C. Each Saturday workshop may develop and then submit a maximum of two (2) resolutions, no later than one hour after the conclusion of the workshop, to the Chair of the Resolutions Committee. These resolutions must have the consent of a majority of those CA NOW members attending the workshop.
Materials
Distribution and/or sale of materials shall be confined to the exhibit booth area with the exception of NOW materials and literature approved for distribution by the Conference or Elections Committees. This does not pertain to materials distributed by or at the request of workshop leaders, or to proposed resolutions.
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ANNUAL MEMBERSHIP MEETING/STATE CONFERENCE RESOLTION RULES
Content:
A. Resolutions must either establish policy or revise existing policy. Resolutions that are statements of existing policy will not be accepted.
B. Resolutions cannot be contradictory to national, regional, or state bylaws, policies or goals.
C. Resolutions must be of state-wide concern, scope, or effect.
D. Resolutions must be action oriented, and must clearly state what the action will be, who will do it, where, when and how much it will cost, and the source of funding, etc.
E. The name(s), address(es), and chapter affiliation or at-large status of person(s) submitting the resolutions must be included.
F. Resolutions must be submitted in the format designated by the Resolution Committee.
G. Any resolution that refers to a bill number must have a copy of the bill attached when submitted.
H. Any resolution referring to organizations, events, etc. by initials must indicate at least once what the initials stand for.
I. Any resolution with a financial impact must note what the impact will be and how the money shall be raised.
Submission
A. Except as stated below, resolutions must be submitted at least 15 days before the conference to California NOW. If there is a problem with the resolution, the Resolutions Committee shall inform the contact person within ten (10) days after the deadline for submission. The sponsor of the resolution shall have five additional days to rewrite the resolution and resubmit it to the Resolution Committee at the conference.
B. If necessary, the Resolutions Committee shall meet immediately prior to the conference and determine whether or not pre-submitted resolutions comply with the rules and bylaws and qualify to be printed and presented to the conference. The Resolutions Committee shall take all reasonable steps to notify a contact if their resolution is rejected.
Late Submission:
A. Each workshop held on Saturday may submit a maximum of two (2) resolutions.
B. These resolutions must be submitted in final form no later than one (1) hour after the conclusion of the workshop. Resolutions submitted by workshops must have received the consent of a majority of those California NOW members attending the workshop. Workshop coordinators are responsible
for certifying that this condition has been met.
Prioritization:
A. Resolutions will be prioritized on the agenda for consideration and voting according to the following criteria:
1. New policy from a workshop at the conference.
2. New policy from a California NOW member chapter.
3. New policy from an individual California NOW member.
4. Revision/expansion of existing policy by workshop.
5. Revision/expansion of existing policy by a California NOW member chapter.
6. Revision/expansion of existing policy by an individual California NOW member.
Duplication and Clarity:
A. Resolutions that are substantially the same or similar may, at the discretion of the Resolutions Committee, be combined and presented as one resolution; all sponsors will be listed.
B. Resolutions may be edited for grammar and/ or clarity before presentation by the Resolutions Committee.
Resolution Format:
Format and information requirement regarding conference resolutions for the 2009 California NOW State Conference are as follows:
1. All resolutions must be typed on an 81/2” x 11” sheet of paper with a 1 ½” margin all around.
2. Page heading must say: Proposed 2011 Conference Resolution
3. Indicate whether resolution will be New Policy or Revision of Existing Policy
The resolution itself shall be constructed in the following format:
A. The “WHEREAS” paragraph(s) (preamble statements) that give relevant supporting facts about both the subject and why California NOW should relate to that subject.
B. The first of the “RESOLVED” paragraph(s) shall begin with “THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED” …any additional paragraphs start with “BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED.” The “RESOLVED” paragraph(s) need to indicate the following:
1. Where the funding to implement the resolution is coming from, should any be necessary.
2. Which office, committee, or individual in CA NOW is to be responsible for implementation of the resolution.
3. The deadline for implementation or date of action.
4. Name of submitting chapter, individual, workshop, etc.
5. Name of the contact person. This is the person that the Resolutions Committee can call if there are any questions regarding the resolution. Please include day and evening phone and address if submitted before the conference, or cell phone or room number at the hotel if submitted at the conference. If the “RESOLVED” paragraphs do not answer these questions (when appropriate), the Resolutions Committee will need to speak to the contact person listed at the bottom of the resolution.
Sample Form: Sample resolution forms can be obtained prior to the conference from the California NOW office by calling (916)442-3414 or emailing us at info@canow.org.
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