Second Life Bar Association Meeting TranscriptJune 13, 2009
Transcript taken by Cat Galileo
Temporary SLBA Offices: http://slurl.com/secondlife/Tabula%20rasa/86/151/27[10:08] Cat Galileo: thanks for waiting.
[10:08] Cat Galileo: geri should be right back. a you probably noticed Treasurer Fizzle just set up a dues payment box here
[10:08] Cat Galileo: Item 3 on agenda
[10:08] Cat Galileo: ?
[10:09] Cat Galileo: perhaps we should get started and hope Legal will be back shortly. we have a long list of things to cover
[10:09] Jamie Palisades smiles, raises eyebrow - automated dues collection - excellent :) Good morning (etc.) all
[10:09] Deco Straaf: I already paid my fee but I haven't send my application signed. I apologize :S
[10:09] Cat Galileo: Agenda item 1 is Legal's particular topic, so perhaps we can skip it in hopes he will return
[10:10] Benjamin Noble nods. Sounds good.
[10:10] Cat Galileo: Hi Geri
[10:10] Geri Kuhn: Hi Cat
[10:10] Cat Galileo: Legal has poofed so I was going to get started
[10:10] Geri Kuhn: great
[10:10] Cat Galileo: item 2 is elections
[10:11] Cat Galileo: 7) Elections are held in July of each year. Three executive positions are elected:
a) President-Elect
b) Vice President, Communication
c) Vice President, Finance
In addition, three members will also be elected to the Executive Board.
The President will run General Meetings and act as the public face of the organization. The Vice President, Communications will manage the web site and forums. The Vice President, Finance will handle financial matters.
VP Communication and VP Finance take office the August 1 following elections. The President-Elect takes over the office of President on February 1 of the year following elections.
[10:11] Cat Galileo: as a result, it's time to start the election process
[10:12] Cat Galileo: We will be posting nomination / self-nomination threads on the forums
[10:12] Cat Galileo: http://www.slba.info/forum/YaBB.pl
[10:12] Cat Galileo: and also giving notice via our usual channels
[10:12] Benjamin Noble: (A bit off topic, but I'm working on a better filtering system for the forums to keep spammers out; apparently the captcha that the BB system uses has been compromised, so we've gotten a lot of spam recently.)
[10:12] Cat Galileo: we would encourage anyone who's interested to run
[10:13] Cat Galileo: Does anyone have questions? if not I will refer this topic to the website/forums
[10:13] Legal Writer is Online
[10:13] Legal Writer: Sorry for losing connectivity.
[10:13] Cat Galileo: as an FYI here are our current officers:
[10:13] Cat Galileo: President:
'Legal Writer'
VP, Communication:
'Cat Galileo'
VP, Finance:
'Geri Kuhn'
Past President:
'Solomon Cortes'
SLBA Executive Board
'Ida Recreant'
'Juris Amat'
'Lexis Looming'
Prior presidents
2007-2008: 'Benjamin Noble' (founder)
[10:13] Benjamin Noble: Sounds good. If I might make one short comment, we have been really lucky to get such great administrations so far, and I have every faith that will continue. Please do not hesitate to run if you are intersted, or ping anyone opn the board for more information.
[10:14] Cat Galileo: Welcome back Legal, I skipped over #1 to get going
[10:14] Legal Writer: OK, thanks. Some how my modem conked out
[10:14] Cat Galileo: covered elections briefly - now let me turn it over to you
[10:14] Legal Writer: OK, thanks.
[10:14] Legal Writer: Thank you for coming, everyone.
[10:14] Jamie Palisades: I may have one question, if that's OK
[10:14] Legal Writer: Welcome to our June meeting.
[10:14] Jamie Palisades: before dashing back from item 2 to item 1
[10:15] Legal Writer: Please go ahead Jamie.
[10:15] Jamie Palisades: is there any sort of attendance rule? that is, if someone is elected, do we know if they show up or not during their tyerm? do they get turfed if ther are continually AWOL, or some such?
[10:15] Cat Galileo: not at this time
[10:16] Legal Writer: We would have means of removing people from office who fail to do what they are supposed to do.
[10:16] Sam4 Courtois: Has that been an issue?
[10:16] Legal Writer: Those means appear in the draft bylaws I will discuss later.
[10:16] Jamie Palisades nods, thanks. A means that depends on discerteion, Got it. Thanks. Sometimes an issue,in vritual worlds.
[10:16] Legal Writer: OK, let's get started.
[10:16] Jamie Palisades: asked & answered, cheers
[10:16] Ashcroft Burnham has noticed...
[10:17] Legal Writer: Let me remind people that we use text to talk during the meeting, since we would like to have a permanent record of what people say, and everyone can use it.
[10:17] Legal Writer: Also, we will be saving a transcript of this meeting to share with people who can't make it to the meeting. It will be posted on the SLBA website.
[10:17] Legal Writer: The first order of business is incorporation.
[10:18] Legal Writer: I am pleased to announce that I filed our articles of incorporation late during the week.
[10:18] Legal Writer: We are now a California nonprofit corporation.
[10:18] Legal Writer: I will post a copy of the articles of incorporation when they come back from the Secretary of State.
[10:18] Sam4 Courtois: applause!
[10:18] Sam4 Courtois: Finally!
[10:18] Sam4 Courtois: TU
[10:18] Sam4 Courtois: TY
[10:18] Ashcroft Burnham claps.
[10:18] Benjamin Noble: Thank you for taking that on, Legal.
[10:19] TelLagu Swords: Legal, what is the exact name of the corp as filed?
[10:19] Legal Writer: In addition, we will be moving forward with bylaws.
[10:19] Jamie Palisades smiles.
[10:19] Legal Writer: Our official name is "SL Bar Association."
[10:19] TelLagu Swords: thx
[10:19] Jamie Palisades raises hand for a question for when it;s appropriate
[10:19] Legal Writer: I would like to post the bylaws for comment.
[10:19] Legal Writer: A couple of issues in that regard.
[10:20] Legal Writer: First, we had a nice set of bylaws, but through Benjamin Noble's wife, we have a new form -- a general one -- for bylaws for a nonprofit.
[10:20] Legal Writer: What I did was try to meld the two together.
[10:20] Ashcroft Burnham spies a cunning plan.
[10:21] Legal Writer: I also have an annotated copy of the old bylaws that show the section number of the proposed bylaws where the text can be found.
[10:21] Legal Writer: And I highlighted the text in the proposed bylaws in yellow where the text came from the old bylaws.
[10:21] Legal Writer: I also highlighted in green some issues that you may want to consider.
[10:22] Legal Writer: Keep in mind that we can change bylaws from time to time, so they don't need to be perfect.
[10:22] Legal Writer: But any feedback would be appreciated.
[10:22] Jamie Palisades: in what time scale, Legal?
[10:22] Legal Writer: As a further step, I will, as incorporator, sign a document appointing to the board (of the new corporation) all of the current board members.
[10:22] Legal Writer: Not sure what you mean, Jamie.
[10:23] Legal Writer: Do you mean a deadline to comment?
[10:23] Vaki Zenovka: Will you be tracking changes to the bylaws, as they change? I.e., highlighting changes, as you're currently doing?
[10:23] Legal Writer: I think one month would be good. So we can get all feedback by next meeting.
[10:24] Deco Straaf: the by-laws will improve as time goes by..... and changes arise according the association needs
[10:24] Legal Writer: We will have old versions of the bylaws in our corporate records. We can keep them in the forums if that helps.
[10:24] Legal Writer: Exactly, Deco.
[10:24] Sam4 Courtois: May I suggest that all porposed changes be offered within three weeks so that we can vote on them at the next meeting?
[10:24] Sam4 Courtois: proposed*
[10:25] Legal Writer: Would that give everyone enough time?
[10:25] Jamie Palisades: thanks, certainly for me, yes. And I do have another Q when it's time for that, about the incorporation but not the bylaws.
[10:25] Sam4 Courtois: I would hate to see by-laws drag on for six months like incorporation did
[10:25] Benjamin Noble: 3 weeks sounds reasonable.
[10:25] Legal Writer: In any case, another issue is anonymity. The current bylaws say that only the president nead reveal RL identity.
[10:26] Legal Writer: The Secretary of State needs the RL identity of the president, secretary, and CFO.
[10:26] Jamie Palisades smiles: not incorporators?
[10:26] Legal Writer: Last time, we talked about all officers/directors needing to reveal RL identity.
[10:26] Legal Writer: One middle ground (shown in the proposed bylaws) is only to require RL idenities for the president, secretary, and CFO.
[10:27] Jamie Palisades: and the president under the state law need be the inworld CEO? this was, ah, considered by anyone?
[10:27] Sam4 Courtois: I move that we do the minimum necessary to comply with the requirements of law
[10:27] Legal Writer: As incorporator, I have already signed the articles with my RL name. ;-)
[10:27] Legal Writer: Sam, that was my thought.
[10:27] Sam4 Courtois: May I have a second?
[10:27] Morgandy Monigal: I'll second
[10:28] Jamie Palisades smiles. I support the motion - though maybe the right place for detailed analysis of this is the forum's draft Bylaws posting
[10:28] Legal Writer: OK, all who want to go with the minimum RL disclosure (president, secretary, and CFO), please say aye.
[10:28] Vaki Zenovka: Aye.
[10:28] Sam4 Courtois: aye
[10:28] Morgandy Monigal: ayee
[10:28] Jamie Palisades chuckles
[10:28] DanielPerry Laa: Aye
[10:28] Jamie Palisades: so much for disussion,
[10:28] Ashcroft Burnham: Aye.
[10:28] Morgandy Monigal: we can always do more or less later, but the minimum is to follow the law
[10:29] Legal Writer: Any opposed?
[10:29] Jamie Palisades: I think you need to work on the president/CEO thing, so I will take it to the forums. but "Aye"
[10:29] Legal Writer: Abstentions?
[10:29] Soro Dagostino: Abstain.
[10:29] Benjamin Noble: abstain
[10:29] Legal Writer: OK, the motion passes.
[10:29] DanielPerry Laa: Is membership to be restricted to lawyers?
[10:29] Sam4 Courtois: So moved
[10:30] Legal Writer: We will have a chance to revise this proposal when we consider the bylaws as a whole for approval.
[10:30] Legal Writer: Please also check out the language in green. The highlighting flags additional issues.
[10:30] Benjamin Noble: Daniel - no. Legal scholars, interested people, etc. are all welcome.
[10:31] Legal Writer: OK, let's move on.
[10:31] Cat Galileo: .
[10:31] Sam4 Courtois: I for one favor giving Legal as clear direction as possible as early as possible to minimize the amount of work he has to do
[10:31] Legal Writer: We will move forward the process of incorporation step by step so that we keep things going, without overwhelming you, the members, with too much in any given month.
[10:32] Legal Writer: Another thing to note. The state law says every corp. must have a "board of directors." So the name of the board should change from "Executive Board" to "Board of Directors."
[10:32] Legal Writer: In any case, let's move on.
[10:32] Legal Writer: The next item to consider is dues.
[10:32] Legal Writer: Geri, can you please address that?
[10:32] Geri Kuhn: Sure
[10:33] Geri Kuhn: I have set up the payment box behind you for now.
[10:33] Geri Kuhn: dues are L$500. annually.
[10:33] Geri Kuhn: Please renew your dues by paying the payment box.
[10:33] Legal Writer: I just paid!
[10:33] Geri Kuhn: I will move the box next to the credential payment box outside in the lobby after this meeting
[10:33] Geri Kuhn: Thank you Legal.
[10:34] Geri Kuhn: All avatars who have not paid by August 1, will be delted fromt he group
[10:34] Jamie Palisades: Geri is there a specific time of year, or does everyone stagger renewal dates according to joining date?
[10:34] Geri Kuhn: *deleted.
[10:34] Vaki Zenovka: Geri, is this in addition to the L$500 fee to join the group?
[10:34] Soro Dagostino: How do we find if we have paid?
[10:34] Geri Kuhn: It is annual, Jamie
[10:34] Geri Kuhn: I will send everyone who pays, a note confirming payment.
[10:34] Jamie Palisades: sp everyone in august, so to speak, mn? thx
[10:34] Geri Kuhn: Please allow me a day after you have paid to do this.
[10:34] Geri Kuhn: Yes, Jamie.
[10:34] Soro Dagostino: "Paid" -- as in the past?
[10:34] Legal Writer: Thank you all for paying. It is important that we support our association.
[10:35] Geri Kuhn: If you have just joined the group, send me an IM.
[10:35] DanielPerry Laa: I paid l$500 to join - so annual dues of L$500 are in addition?
[10:35] Geri Kuhn: I mean you have just joined Sl Bar recently
[10:35] Geri Kuhn: within the last month or so.
[10:35] Geri Kuhn: Please note that dues are separate from the credential process.
[10:35] DanielPerry Laa: I just joined within the last month
[10:35] Geri Kuhn: We charged for both
[10:35] Geri Kuhn: *charge
[10:36] SLBA Dues Payment System: Thank you for supporting the Second Life Bar Association!
[10:36] Geri Kuhn: Daniel, I'll send you a private note
[10:36] Geri Kuhn: Any other equestions
[10:36] DanielPerry Laa: Thanks, Geri!
[10:37] Legal Writer: Ok, thanks, Geri.
[10:37] Legal Writer: And we should move on.
[10:37] Legal Writer: I guess we covered elections. Please consider running for office.
[10:38] Legal Writer: We will set up a formum for self-nominations due at the end of June and July will be the elections.
[10:38] Legal Writer: Cat, can you please set up that forum?
[10:38] Cat Galileo: yes
[10:38] Cat Galileo: will do.
[10:38] Legal Writer: OK, terrific.
[10:39] Legal Writer: When you self-nominate, please include an introduction about yourself -- who you are, what position you want to run for, and why you would like to run.
[10:39] Legal Writer: It would also be helpful to write about what you would like to accomplish if you are elected to that role.
[10:39] Legal Writer: OK, the next item is location.
[10:40] Legal Writer: Geri, can you please discuss where we are?
[10:40] Legal Writer: And Ben, can you please chime in as well?
[10:40] Benjamin Noble: Sure. If we need to make the search process more formal, I'm willing to take point on that. I'm growing fond of this place though. ;)
[10:40] Geri Kuhn: Well we have a couple of potential locations. I think we are in the process of forming a committeee.
[10:40] Legal Writer: Yes, excellent idea.
[10:41] Legal Writer: If we have a committee, the committee can make recommendations to the board, which in turn can make a recommendation to the members.
[10:41] Legal Writer: Any other thoughts we should discuss?
[10:42] Rose Springvale: wasn't there a committe already appointed?
[10:42] Rose Springvale: about the end of last year?
[10:42] Legal Writer: We have had an informal group, but not formalized.
[10:42] Benjamin Noble: I will help out however possible on this.
[10:43] Rose Springvale: does the board feel the need for more input? i'm happy to let y'all decide
[10:43] Legal Writer: Ben, if you can work with a few people and perhaps Cat can announce who are members, then people can communicate with the commitee members.
[10:43] Jamie Palisades smiles. Does someone act to "appoint" committees in SLBA, when they exist?
[10:43] Legal Writer: We're pretty informal.
[10:44] Benjamin Noble: Happy to do so, Legal. I know we have some options, etc. We'll just put it all together, count the prims we need, and see where we are.
[10:44] Jamie Palisades: I;m entirely unsuited myself, as I am biased by the way. Seems like there outhg to be a resolution, or executive board action, or something, though, in such cases, no?
[10:44] Jamie Palisades: Guess I'll take it to the bylaws thread :)
[10:44] Legal Writer: But this is a committee of the board, which will report to the board, and the board will report to you.
[10:44] Rose Springvale: with all due respect... we've been at this a long time. For the sake of those people offering space, shouldn't we do this expeditiously?
[10:44] Legal Writer: OK, moving on, Lexis Looming couldn't make this meeting due to a family situation.
[10:45] Legal Writer: Rose, yes, we would like to get things moving, and I am hoping the committee can do just that.
[10:45] Benjamin Noble: Yes, Rose. We'll move it forward ASAP. I think that by tasking a few of us with this we'll not lag further.
[10:45] Rose Springvale: ah, i'm a little unclear nwo
[10:46] Rose Springvale: you are now appointing a subcommittee of board members?
[10:46] Legal Writer: Yes
[10:46] Benjamin Noble: I'm probably to blame for it bogging down, frankly, as I've not zeroed in on it though I've volunteered a few times. We will move forward quickly.
[10:47] Legal Writer: Regarding, Lexis, our thoughts and prayers go out to him and his family.
[10:47] Legal Writer: Lexis wanted to report that no new credentials have been issued with the credentialing process.
[10:47] Soro Dagostino: afk
[10:47] Legal Writer: But he had no glitches to report regarding the process.
[10:48] Ashcroft Burnham: May I ask - how many credentials have been issued overall?
[10:48] Legal Writer: Moving to our speaker series. Cat, can you please let people know about our speaker?
[10:48] Legal Writer: Ashcroft, I think the credentials report in last month's transcript has all the names.
[10:48] Legal Writer: Cat?
[10:49] Cat Galileo: Speakers,
[10:49] Cat Galileo: Geri ahs been in touch with a speaker who will be speaking on ethics (not VW specific) june 25
[10:49] Cat Galileo: it will have Cal. CLE - including ethics credit
[10:49] Cat Galileo: more info shortly
[10:49] Cat Galileo: Jurat has also expressed interest in setting up a session - date TBA
[10:49] Legal Writer: We the talk be here?
[10:49] Cat Galileo: Most likely, Legal.
[10:49] Benjamin Noble: That's great. I'm excited that we're getting back to the sessions.
[10:50] Legal Writer: I agree. This is an important part of our mission -- to educate the bar and public.
[10:50] Legal Writer: Great, thanks, Cat.
[10:51] Cat Galileo: thank you. thanks Geri for the lead on etting next speaker
[10:51] Legal Writer: OK, Morgandy. Can you please discuss the careers fair? I saw an announcement about it. Thank you for moving things forward.
[10:51] Morgandy Monigal: Yes, thanks
[10:51] Morgandy Monigal: For the Format of the Fair, I was thinking of kicking it off with a panel discussion of practicing law in and around virtual worlds. Question and answer session after that.
[10:51] Morgandy Monigal: Then possibly a breakout, or less formal reception for more Q and A, as well as a chance for the students from the various Univ to get a chance to say hi to each other.
[10:51] Morgandy Monigal: Planning is preliminary at this point, so if you have a great idea, or even a few words of wisdom from a past SL event, please share them.
[10:51] Legal Writer: Are we planning this for the fall?
[10:52] Morgandy Monigal: Yes,
[10:52] Morgandy Monigal: The first thing we need to do is set a date. If Cat has already done the surveys on time and picked this one, we will probably choose a Saturday.
[10:52] Morgandy Monigal: Either the 2nd or 3rd Saturday of September or October, depending on the academic calendars, and whether we want to start later and try to coordinate with this meeting, or not.
[10:52] Legal Writer: OK, and what would you think about holding it right after a member meeting?
[10:52] Michele Jigsaw: think carefully about the time
[10:52] Legal Writer: Agrees
[10:53] Michele Jigsaw: students will be out Friday nite
[10:53] Morgandy Monigal: yeah, I wanted some input from folks closer to students
[10:53] Michele Jigsaw: you want to make sure its a time they will be up and active
[10:53] Morgandy Monigal: for most, it's late morning, early afternoon, early evening
[10:53] Legal Writer: Remember that the association meeting would be 1 pm Eastern, and we're taking an hour later.
[10:54] Morgandy Monigal: If you're practicing law in SL, or advising companies with a presence in SL, please consider joining us on the panel or in the informal sessions afterward. The more practicing attorneys from various areas that we have to help carry discussion, the more interesting I think it will be for the students.
[10:54] Legal Writer: Morgandy, I am glad to help out.
[10:54] Morgandy Monigal: thanks
[10:54] Morgandy Monigal: Once we have a date, I hope some of you will be able to commit to being a host at your local school. A host would just need to coordinate with that particular school to take in a laptop with SL loaded, connect into their A/V system, and log their av into the seminar/fair to facilitate students and faculty who don't have avs to attend.
[10:54] Vaki Zenovka: Morgandy, your announcement mentioned that you'd like student volunteers? I'm a student, and one of my fellow students had wanted to come today but couldn't.
[10:54] Benjamin Noble: Sounds great.
[10:54] Morgandy Monigal: great!
[10:55] DanielPerry Laa: Morgandy, I am engaging clients in SL as well.
[10:55] Morgandy Monigal: please send me a note through the web page or to my email sue at pelmulder.com
[10:55] Michele Jigsaw: also if you need a bigger place
[10:55] Vaki Zenovka: Will do.
[10:55] Michele Jigsaw: pur school is having a law school built
[10:55] Michele Jigsaw: *our
[10:55] Michele Jigsaw: should be ready August 1
[10:55] Morgandy Monigal: yeah, we've had responses from Univ of Huston and Univ of Florida
[10:55] Michele Jigsaw: ok yeah thats me UF
[10:55] Legal Writer: Wonderful.
[10:55] Morgandy Monigal: so I think we may use a univ room
[10:56] Morgandy Monigal: I appreciate that offer
[10:56] Legal Writer: OK, folks, please work with Morgandy if you can help.
[10:56] Morgandy Monigal: I think that's about it, we're preliminary, but it should be fun
[10:57] Legal Writer: OK, I don't see Aviator Kidd, but we should move on.
[10:57] Cat Galileo: 10:57
[10:57] Legal Writer: Can anyone report about what the ABA IP Law Section's VW committee is doing?
[10:57] Legal Writer: Ben, can you report about your committee in the ABA Section of Science and Technology Law?
[10:58] Legal Writer: OK, perhaps Ben is away.
[10:59] Legal Writer: The American Bar Association Annual Meeting is coming up.
[10:59] Benjamin Noble: Sorry.
[10:59] Legal Writer: I will be there. It will be in Chicago. If anyone is going, please let me know. I would be delighted to catch coffee or lunch.
[10:59] Benjamin Noble: Juggling Charlotte.
[10:59] Benjamin Noble: That should be a band name.
[10:59] Jamie Palisades chuckles
[11:00] Legal Writer: If we have critical mass, we can meet and get together with the ABA SciTech or IP Section folks.
[11:00] Legal Writer: Is anyone going?
[11:00] Benjamin Noble: A crossover event, even if informal (e.g. meet for appetizers and drinks) would be great if people are going. I may be there. Not sure yet.
[11:00] Soro Dagostino: Several virtual meets.
[11:01] Legal Writer: Ben, if your committee meets there, we can set up a virtual meeting with our members.
[11:01] Legal Writer: Is your committee slated to meet?
[11:02] Benjamin Noble: The committee will meet there, I believe. I am 99% sure that one of my co-chairs is going even if I am not.
[11:02] Benjamin Noble: A crossover meeting sounds like a good idea. I will run it by the ABA co-chairs.
[11:02] Legal Writer: OK, great. Let's be in touch about that and see if we can set something up.
[11:02] Benjamin Noble nods.
[11:02] Legal Writer: OK, any other business before we close?
[11:02] Morgandy Monigal: I'm on those committees, but can never get to the RL meetings, so itd' be great if we could go in virtual
[11:03] Legal Writer: Let's see what we can do.
[11:03] Michele Jigsaw: true
[11:03] Legal Writer: OK, any other business?
[11:03] Sam4 Courtois: Good meeting
[11:03] Sam4 Courtois: Tahnk you for moving things along Legal
[11:03] Sam4 Courtois: thank*
[11:03] Legal Writer: OK, if not, I will remind people again to self-nominate for officer and board positions.
[11:03] Legal Writer: The deadline will be the end of June.
[11:03] Benjamin Noble: Bye all, got to run!
[11:04] Vaki Zenovka: Bye, Benjamin.
[11:04] Legal Writer: We need people to continue the great work of the association.
[11:04] DanielPerry Laa: Yes, thank you, Legal - good meeting!
[11:04] Michele Jigsaw: bye Ben
[11:04] Legal Writer: Thank you again for coming, and I will see you next month.
[11:04] Morgandy Monigal: Daniel, can you send me a note?
[11:04] Legal Writer: Candidates for office will give a talk next month.
[11:04] Vaki Zenovka: Thank you, Legal.