General Assembly - How To??
Hey folks,
As determined we are aiming for a meeting on Nov 25th to have our Kiez Burn Verein General Assembly.
To do so I think we need (please feel free to add):
1) a location - DONE
2) an invitation to the community - DONE
3) an agenda
Location
We will go to Noize Fabrik: Elsenstr. 52, 12059 Berlin, Germany
Invitation
I think the best way currently is to do a Facebook invitation, and also email the whole community from the newsletter list this year.
Can you please comment on the wording of the invitation below? Also - do we need to send out the proposed Satzung when we send out the invite?
Kiez Burn e.V. General Assembly
Big news - we are founding a Verein to help create a stable vision and culture for our growing Kiez Burn community. This is our first official General Assembly where we will gather new member information and elect a board.
We welcome any and all who are interested in joining the Verein. The newly appointed Board will be tasked to set rules for the Verein, and will be the vision guides for the Kiez Burn community for 1 year.
Wondering what is happening in Kiez Burn 2019? This is a great place to start. Initial brainstorming and discussions are happening in smaller groups over the past few months on how we want to shape our culture to create a more sustainable event, community and base here in Berlin.
Agenda
Proposed Agenda items (needs more)
- Introduction to the new Verein (why, how, etc)
- Current thinking and direction (overview of structures, philosophy/culture, etc)
- Proposal for election of the board
- Everyone who wants to be on the board speaks
- Election
Misc: Gathering membership information from those who would like to join. For this first general assembly, no membership is needed to partake in the decision making process. However, at this general assembly, we will need to make a decision on what the membership fee WILL be.
Franzi Wed 14 Nov 2018 4:14PM
sure thing. so, remy, waldo and myself have been working on several questions over the last months. One was, what is the right legal body for kiezburn? we choose the Verein (for insurance, liability and democracy/participation reasons). second question was, do we go for Gemeinnuetzigkeit? we have done a lot of research, talked to lawyers, tax consultants etc and came to the conclusion, doesn't make a lot of sense for us. Yes, there is a tax benefit and that's interesting but to keep (not to gain Gemeinnuetzigkeit) the accounting and bureaucratic effort on yearly base will cost us as much (or more) as we save over the tax benefit. So, not really worth the huzzle for us. This might be different for other communities (depending on members, knowledge, budget, number of receipts etcetc).
Also, this is only a decision for now, with an adjusted Satzung you can always after the founding request Gemeinnuetzigkeit (yeah double in work) but we don't loose the possibility.
I hope that gives some insights... wasn't sure how deep I should go in details (love to nerd out about it if someone thinks taxes are as exciting as I think they are). Let me know if anything isn't clear or isn't making sense. @indecisiveibis
Henrik Wed 7 Nov 2018 12:29AM
I'm wondering if it makes sense to invite everyone into the Verein. Every member adds bureaucratic overhead and - beyond some point - doesn't add much value. Take Berlin Burners eV for example: They have to call in a Mitgliedervesammlung to make certain decisions and those usually have some required attendance to be able to make a decision. A big Verein could be very hard to move.
waldo Sun 11 Nov 2018 5:16PM
Hey Henrik, it might indeed be something to consider to not make it "too big". However, we have been trying to tackle some of those challenges in the Satzung by:
- not requiring any minimum attendance for the general assembly to be able to make decisions
- putting as little requirements for what needs to be decided in a general assembly and the board cannot do themselves, in the Satzung.
But putting it differently:
- a big verein means a lot of support in making our community flourish
- a verein that is open to many, makes for a more inclusive community
Henrik Wed 14 Nov 2018 2:47PM
I'd love to read over that Satzung! Is it available?
Franzi Wed 14 Nov 2018 4:17PM
Sure thing! its currently under legal review (lawyers figuring out if we compile with Vereinsrecht) but we probably share it here when he have a pre-final draft. It's mostly a very German document that regulates our necessary (legally speaking) routines as a Verein. @indecisiveibis
Annette Wed 7 Nov 2018 2:27PM
I can send out the newsletter - but after decompraiser.
waldo Thu 8 Nov 2018 10:00PM
works for me :)
Remy Schneider Fri 9 Nov 2018 11:45AM
Sounds great! Talking to someone today who can hopefully help us with a location, and planning to print flyers today (unfortuantely likely without a location on it)
Remy Schneider Sun 11 Nov 2018 5:23PM
Newsletter invitation suggested wording:
Hello Kiez Peeps!
Thank you to those who came out and supported the KB community during Kiez Miez! A huge shout out those who were very involved in organizing such a beautiful event - and for our wonderful hosts at Brigit & Bier.
As many of you know, we are working to build the foundation of a new Verein - Kiez Burn e.V. Please join us Sunday, 25 November 2018 at 14:00h (Location Noize Fabrik: Elsenstr. 52, 12059 Berlin, Germany) to help us elect a new board, and participate in the discussion of where Kiez Burn is going starting next year.
The Agenda will include:
Introduction to the new Verein (why, how, etc)
Current thinking and direction (overview of structures, philosophy/culture, etc)
Proposal for election of the board
Everyone who wants to be on the board speaks
Election
The board will be the "vision guides" for the Kiez Burn community, focusing on important structural problems or opportunities. Three main areas in which the board YOU elect will focus on a sustainable culture, structures that help us grow, and tools for effective organization. The board does not coordinate the Kiez Burn event as such, but is focused on enabling self-organization.
Join us on the 25th and join the discussion on Loomio here: https://www.loomio.org/g/T45gZU9u/kiez-burn-a-new-verein-kiez-burn-e-v-
We look forward to seeing you there!
Henrik · Wed 14 Nov 2018 2:58PM
hey @franzi6, I'd be super curious about your decision process regarding the Gemeinnützigkeit. For me it's a bit intransparent and I reckon a lot of people will ask about it. Could you write up a somewhat detailed post about it?