Gaining event approval in between committee meetings

In the majority of cases, events should be approved at committee meetings. However, on the occasions that approval to run an event is needed before the next scheduled committee meeting, this is the process that should be followed.

Note that If ticket reservations can be made without a deposit or other commitment, and at no risk to the club, tickets may be reserved pending approval of the event at the next meeting. No further action prior to the meeting is required. If the meeting is postponed or cancelled, or is not quorate, or if tickets cannot be reserved, or if confirmation of final numbers will be required sooner than would be possible after waiting for the next scheduled meeting, then the rest of this process applies.

1. All financial details must be to hand such that a new event record can be created with all appropriate fields completed on the IBM Club Warwick events database. The event should be created with the proposed categorisation and appropriate proposed pricing, and set to Proposed status until approved. This is exactly as for bringing an event for approval at a committee meeting.
2. A new document under the category of Event Proposal should be created on the IBM Club Warwick discussion database, referencing the new event document. Following this, a note should be sent to all committee members, referencing the new event document and the new discussion database document, inviting committee members to register their approval (or otherwise) by creating response documents to the new discussion database document. Ideally, include all the salient details in the e-mail, so that committee members without access to the database are able to send you their responses, which you can then apply as responses to the discussion document yourself.
3. If positive responses representing a quorum of the committee are posted, without any unresolved concerns being posted, the proposed event will be considered approved by the committee, and may be booked and advertised. If insufficient responses are received, or there are any unresolved issues raised, the event must not proceed.

The interim approval process should only be used when necessary --- if it is possible to get approval at a regular IBM Club committee meeting, that is always the preferred option. If ticket reservations can be made without a deposit or other commitment, and at no risk to the club, tickets may be reserved pending approval of the event at the next meeting. If the meeting is postponed or cancelled, or if tickets cannot be reserved, or if confirmation of final numbers will be required sooner than would be possible after waiting for the next scheduled meeting, then the interim approval process applies. Note that if you need approval and will not be able to attend the next committee meeting, make sure the event document is up-to-date and in "proposed" state and the meeting will consider and hopefully approve the expenditure in your absence -- the interim process is not required in this case.

If you require approval between meetings, either for a new event or for additional tickets for an event which has been unexpectedly popular, create a discussion document and circulate it to the committee. Please take care to include all the salient facts in the e-mail you circulate, as not all committee members have access to the discussion database. Please also remember that other committee members will not be as au fait with your event as you are, so make sure you set out neatly and clearly the exact situation and what approval it is you are seeking.

If you receive a request for interim approval from a fellow committee member, please make an effort to consider it and respond to it promptly. At any given time, a portion of the committee will probably be unavailable, so it is important that those who are available assist with this when possible. The event organiser may have a narrow window of opportunity to buy more tickets, especially for very popular events. If you don't have access to the discussion database, consider the facts in the e-mail and send your response as an e-mail. But do consult the discussion database if possible, as there may be questions or discussion posted there. There should be a link to the discussion database document in the e-mail requesting interim approval.

In order to proceed with an event or booking before the next committee meeting responses are required from at least THREE committee members including at least ONE officer. If any questions or concerns are posted, those need to be addressed and resolved to mutual satisfaction before the event/booking can proceed. If consensus or approval can't be reached, perhaps because of concerns about expense, or appropriateness of the event, etc, then the issue will have to wait for the next committee meeting, even if that means an opportunity is missed.

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