SOP 1: Electronic voting by the ISPN Executive Board

v. i: Posted 19 January 2013

Electronic voting has been established as a legitimate process with the following items

  • Initiation by president and/or secretary
  • Method: email or through the ISPN website (to be built soon)
  • Quorum and majority according to the same principles as the yearly physical meetings
  • Finalization of decision by secretary

SOP 2: SOP for selecting future meeting sites

v. i: Posted 24 September 2013

 

Body of decision

The Executive Board (EB) decides places for future meetings after a proposal is brought forward by the President-elect.

Extent of decision

The EB decides the future meeting sites by at least 2 years ahead but not more than 5  years in advance. For example, at the 2012 EB meeting, EB must have decided on meeting sites for 2014 and may decide on meeting sites up to 2017, but not for 2018 and thereafter.

Host

Only active members can apply to host a future meeting. A member can host the annual meeting only once in his or her life. The host must accept ISPN conditions before the ISPN finally grants the meeting to that host.

Schedule of decision

The Secretary finishes collecting applications for future meeting sites by 2 months before the EB meeting, which is planned to discuss this agenda and sends them to the President-elect within 7 days thereafter.

Application

Applications should be submitted to the Secretary by documents (hard copy or electronic document). The following items must be included: city, year of last previous meeting held in the city, venue, host, date, availability of accommodations, security, budget plan including expected number of participants and suggested registration fee, tax for money transfer out of the country, PCO (professional convention organizer) and insurance plan if Central PCO system of ISPN is not applied and any pre-requisites for domestic or international approval of the meeting.

Re-hosting

If a city has already been a hosting site for an annual meeting, it will become eligible again to host another annual meeting after 20 years from the last meeting.

Role of PCO in site selection

The PCO may assist the President-elect and the EB in the process by analyzing the proposals and scoring different relevant parameters

Proposal to EB

The President-elect reports the summary of applications and recommends the future meeting site by the order of priority. The following items are considered for priority decision: geographic rotation, history of previous meeting in the city and country, activities of host and host country in ISPN, economic stability and social security, ease of transfer, etc.

Report EB decision to Business Meeting

The result of decision on the future meeting site is reported to the closest next Business Meeting

Central PCO

The meeting host should work with central PCO of ISPN as the exclusive PCO if he or she has been asked so by EB at the time of meeting site decision.

Invitation to future meeting

All the members are formally invited before 2 years ahead of the annual meeting by announcement at the Business Meeting and website.

Monitoring of progress

The Secretary confirms the progress of the next annual meeting preparations and reports the results to EB.

Withdrawal/cancellation of meeting or its site

If a situation arises wherein it would not be possible to hold the annual meeting, for example, a natural disaster, terrorist attack or for any other reason, then the EB can look into, manage and take a decision on such of those affairs which need urgent attention. Withdrawal of meeting site or cancellation of meeting is decided by EB with the report of reasons by Secretary. Then it is reported to members immediately and at upcoming Business Meeting where the actions/decisions are ratified.

Replacement of withdrawn meeting site

Replacement of the withdrawn meeting site is decided by EB with recommendation by the President-elect. Suggested priority is as follows.

i.  If the interval to the meeting is more than 2 years: select one site on the same continent among the failed ones at the corresponding bid.

ii.  If the interval to the meeting is less than 2 years but more than one year: move the next meeting site one year forward, if feasible.

iii.  If the interval to the meeting is less than one year then the meeting can be cancelled and the meeting is held in the following year as planned.

Newly decided meeting site is announced to members immediately and reported to upcoming Business Meeting. Each meeting host should know that the meeting could be held one year ahead if unexpected problems happen.

 

References 1: Constitution and Bylaws as of September 09 2012

Article V – Meetings

Section 1

The regular meetings of the ISPN shall be held at a time and place proposed by the Executive Board at least 2 but no more than 5 years in advance of the proposed meeting. It shall be the charge of the Executive Board to arrange a meeting annually.

Section 2

The Annual Meeting of the ISPN shall take place in rotation in various countries, by invitation of the active members of the Society. Such invitations shall be made for at least two years before the proposed Meeting.

 

Reference 2: Minutes of Executive Board meeting in Sydney, September 09 2012

12. 10. New Business

g. Annual Scientific Meetings. Hosting country rotation (Tadanori Tomita)

It was decided that if a city has already been a hosting site for an Annual Meeting, it would become eligible again to host another Annual Meeting after 20 years from the last meeting in such city.