National Professional Videographers Association of New England

To All NPVA Members:

As you probably know from recent announcements in the NPVA newsletter and at recent membership meetings, a board-appointed By-Laws Committee has been working on a comprehensive overhaul of the association's By-Laws, which guide the governance and structure of the NPVA.

The By-Laws Committee consisted of Hal Slifer, Bill Ramsay, Craig Newman, Whit Wales, Joyce Bertolami, and myself.

We are pleased to submit to you a document which represents the work of this committee, as adopted and unanimously approved by the NPVA Board of Directors last week. (It may be found at this link: NPVA Proposed Amended By-Laws). It is now being submitted to the membership for approval.

There are literally hundreds of proposed changes to the By-Laws, so rather than submitting page after page of proposed changes, we are submitting a clean document for membership approval. The By-Laws require that changes be submitted to the membership with 30 days notice, and that approval must be made with an affirmative vote by 2/3 vote of those voting. After you receive this email message, you will receive instructions on how to cast your ballot on these changes.

If adopted, the By-Laws will take effect as of May 1st, and the board plans to call a special election to fill any vacancies that exist in the board.

The changes to the NPVA By-Laws fall into several categories:

1. Purpose - the purposes of the Association have been expanded to include outreach and promotion of our profession and the benefits of videography
2. Governance - the Board has been expanded from 7 to 9, new roles of Marketing Director, Membership Director, and Competition Director have been introduced, the National Liaison responsibilities have been absorbed into the president's role, the presidential succession has been changed, and there are 5-year term limits on all Board positions except Technical Advisor.
3. Membership Process - the process of becoming an NPVA member will become more formalized, and will involve a provisional membership period of a year before being accepted to permanent membership; initiation and reinstatement fees have also been introduced for new or lapsed members, and there is a process for termination of membership for cause
4. Membership Classes - provision has been made for four new classes of membership -- Student Members, Sponsoring Members, and Life Members, as well as the Provisional Members in their first year
5. Code of Ethics - the code of ethics is incorporated formally into our By-Laws as a standard of conduct required of all members
6. Duties - The duties and responsibilities of all officers, board members, and committees are spelled out more clearly.

In addition, there are dozens of "clean-up" corrections that ensure consistency throughout the By-Laws, and that modernize the By-Laws to address such concepts as electronic voting, use of email lists, and teleconference meetings.

It might also be noted that the By-Laws Committee recommended to the Board that it begin considering a change to the name of the Association, to more appropriately reflect its New England regional focus. While it did not make a specific recommendation, it suggested that this be an issue addressed in the coming months by the Board.

If you do NOT receive an electronic ballot later today, please let me know.

Respectfully submitted,
Michael Kolowich
Chairman, By-Laws Committee
National Professional Videographers Association
31 March 2007