ICG Member Transition Chapter (“T-Chapter”) Committee Report

ICG Member Transition Chapter (“T-Chapter”) Committee Report

To: The ICG Membership

From: Jan Price, Committee Chair

Date: March 30, 2007 (2007 ICG Annual Meeting at CostumeCon 25)

Immediately following CC24, Nora Mai, newly elected ICG President, commissioned a committee to look into how to preserve the rights and privileges of ICG members whose primary chapter withdraws for any reason from the ICG.

The committee, known as the ICG Member Transition (“T-Chapter“) Committee , consisted of the following members:

Jan Price, Chair

Elaine Mami

Nora Mai

Betsy Delaney

Pierre Pettinger

Bruce MacDermott

Kevin Roche

Before the report on our activities, the members of the committee should be publicly thanked for their hard work and many, many thoughts on this complex issue. It was not the easiest task to tackle however everyone worked together wonderfully and quickly, with lots of good discussion to cover all the bases, and as a result we delivered a recommendation that complied corporation's by-laws and met the stated need. This was just an excellent bunch of people to team with on this! Thank you all again!

Starting our discussions in early June 2006, we proposed a new Standing Rule 13 that would establish the T-Chapter on July 13, 2006. The new SR was approved and adopted by a Director vote which closed August 13, 2006. Details of that vote can be found on the ICG web site at http://www.costume.org/bod/motions/m070601.html .

In early September 2006, a yahoo group was established as the virtual home for the T-Chapter

( http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ICGTChapter/ ) and invitation letters were mailed to all ICG members eligible for T-Chapter membership. (A big thank you to Karen Heim for handling the not-so-small mailing task!) The committee chair and ICG Vice President (Jan Price) was appointed as the T-Chapter de facto member.

Prior to the formal announcement of the T-Chapter, several ICG chapters extended invitations to disassociated members to join, most waiving their chapter dues until the individual’s current ICG membership expired.

As of this report, a small number of eligible ICG members remain on the T-Chapter roster in the corporation’s records however no eligible members have ever joined the yahoo group.

Attachments to the report: Standing Rule 13 and T-Chapter Invitation Letter
Standing Rule 13

Whereas membership in the corporation requires membership in a chapter in good standing with the corporation, to accommodate those members whose chapter, for whatever reason, becomes disassociated with the corporation and to maintain their full rights and representation as members of the corporation, an ICG Member Transition Chapter, hereinafter referred to as the T-Chapter, shall be created.

(A) The T-Chapter shall be established in the state of Maryland, the location of the corporation's registered office, for the purpose of complying with the requirement in the corporation's By-Laws. (See Article II _CHAPTERS_ Section 1, Organization.)

(B) This chapter shall exist when and only when there are ICG members of disassociated chapters who qualify for membership in the T- Chapter, as outlined below. When the T- Chapter exists, a corporate officer appointed by the President of the corporation shall become a de facto member of the chapter.

(C) When a chapter disassociates itself from the corporation, its corporation members shall automatically be transferred on the corporate membership roster to the T-Chapter.

Additionally, said members shall be notified in writing of this action. Such written notification shall include a description of the rights and obligations of T-Chapter members.

(D) For multi-chapter members (as defined in SR5), if the disassociated chapter was not designated as the primary chapter, no action shall be taken and those members shall not be transferred to the T-Chapter.

(E) Membership tenure in the T- Chapter shall be limited to:

(1) the remaining "paid through date" on the corporation membership roster, or

(2) one year, which ever comes first.

(F) To remain members of the corporation, T- Chapter members must join another chapter in good standing with the corporation before their memberships in the T-Chapter expire.

(G) The T-Chapter members shall elect a representative to serve as a Director on the Board of Directors within sixty (60) days of its becoming active. If no representative is elected within that period, the appointed corporate officer, as a member of the T- Chapter, shall appoint a representative from within its membership.

Renumbers SR 13-30 as SR 14-31
T-Chapter Invitation Letter (blank)

Dear <insert name>,

Welcome to the ICG’s Member Transition Chapter (“T-Chapter”).

Your ICG membership was automatically transferred to this chapter upon notification from <insert disassociated chapter name> of its withdrawal from the ICG. Per our bylaws, membership in the ICG is only available through a guild chapter in good standing.

The T-Chapter was established as a “safe harbor” for ICG members who no longer belong to such a guild chapter. You may remain a member of the T-Chapter for one year from the date your former chapter disassociated itself from the ICG, or until your current ICG dues expire, or you join another ICG chapter, which ever occurs first.

As a member of the T Chapter, your ICG membership rights and privileges, including those listed below, are kept whole:

- representation on the ICG Board of Directors

- voting privileges in ICG matters

- eligibility to run for ICG corporate offices or a seat of the Board of Directors

- receive regularly published issues of the ICG Newsletter

- where offered, ICG member discounts for event tickets and purchases of goods and services

Members of the T-Chapter must elect or otherwise designate a representative to the ICG Board of Directors within 60 days of the chapter’s official launch.

The T-Chapter is a virtual organization which can be found in Yahoo Groups at

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ICGTChapter/ . Just go to this link and ask to be added to the group.

The following ICG chapters would like to extend a special invitation to join them. In all cases, the ICG portion of annual dues are waived. Most of these chapters are waiving all dues until the anniversary of your ICG dues comes up. Please contact the chapters individually for details if you are interested in joining them. Contact information is available at www.costume.org .

Greater Columbia Fantasy Costumers’ Guild

Northern Lights Costumers Guild

NY/NJ Costumers’ Guild

Silicon Web Costumers Guild

St Louis Costumers Guild

Thank you for your continued support of the ICG!

International Costumers’ Guild