Bylaws

IRANIAN MUSIC SOCIETY OF BC (IMSBC)
Bylaw

Introductions:

“IRANIAN MUSIC SOCIETY OF BC”, herein referred to as “IMSBC”, has been founded with the singular goal of encouraging and expanding Iranian music in multiple genres; with the expressed aim of furthering the financial and intellectual interests of Iranian musicians who are residents of British Columbia.

IMSBC is a nonprofit organization.

Every operation of IMSBC will be conducted according to laws of the province of British Columbia, as well as those outlined by the Federal government of Canada.

The goal of IMSBC is to take steps towards creating more meaningful connections and nurturing cooperation between Iranian Music and Art and Canadian communities.

IMSBC will honor the charter of rights of Canada as well as all multi-cultural artistic and cultural activities. 

IMSBC is not associated with any political, religious, race or gender specific agenda or organization.

IMSBC is permanently based in the Greater Vancouver region.

Clause 1 – Goals

  1. Creation of member gatherings for the purpose of exchanging ideas.
  2. Creation of specialized committees as it relates to IMSBC’s operations.
  3. Creation of a resource database of all Iranian musicians currently living in British Columbia
  4. Facilitating creation of various musical groups within the member community
  5. Facilitating an official channel of communitarian and collaboration between Vancouver Iranian musicians and their counterparts in other communities (ex. Vancouver Symphony Orchestra, etc.)
  6. Facilitating collaboration with the Government of Canada in participation and representation of Iranian Music in National Festivals across Canada.
  7. Collaboration with multi-cultural organizations and entities in Vancouver.
  8. Organizing master classes, workshops and seminars as it relates to music.
  9. Organizing musical competitions, and festivals
  10. Designing and offering college/university level credit courses in colleges and universities related to Iranian Music.
  11. Publication of an Iranian music magazine or periodical.
  12. Facilitating access to insurance, specifically tailored to Iranian Musicians.
  13. Efforts towards creation of a college of music.

Along with goals stated above, MSBC will aspire to offer the following services to its members:

  1. Creation of an email database of those interested in Iranian music concerts in Greater Vancouver in order to share information about dates, and other
  2. Facilitating coordination of various concert dates in order to avoid overlaps and time conflicts
  3. Negotiating discounts for rental of concert and presentation spaces by IMSBC for presenters in Vancouver
  4. Creation of a resource library of music related documents, books and other material for members and interested parties
  5. Sales and distribution of CDs and books created by Iranian Musicians, composers and music writers
  6. Sale of concert tickets
  7. Organizing music classes
  8. Providing access to Iranian instruments, books, resource material and musical albums needed for music students
  9. Creation of a recording studio
  10. Creation of a musical archive of recorded Iranian music and videos
  11. Creation of a dedicated library of Iranian music
  12. Help in obtaining Iranian musical instruments
  13. Commissions and creations of music

Note 1: These goals will be implemented in three time frames: Short term (up to 6 months), Mid-term (up to a year) and long term (more than a year).

Clause 2 – IMSBC’s Infrastructure:

Founding Members

Members

Board of Directors

Inspectors

Clause 3 – Founding Members:

The founding members are 11 Volunteer Iranian Musicians:

Kambiz Roshanravan, Parviz Nezakati, Jamal Kordestani, Ramin Bahrami, Amir Eslami, Farnaz Ohadi, Parvin Fatemi, Dr. Ali Nader Esfahani, Amin Sameni, Ali Norbakhsh and Ali Sajadi.

Founding members responsibilities:

  1. Writing of the first draft of the IMSBC Charter.
  2. Extending an invitation to all Iranian musicians and trades, who live in British Columbia in order to organize the general assembly
  3. Ratification of the charter in the general assembly
  4. Facilitating the first election process for choosing the Board of Directors.
  5. After the election of board members and the commencement of their official duties, the original founding members will be absolved of all duties, as founders and the group will be dissolved.

Clause 4 – General Assembly:

General Assembly will take shape in two formats: Regular Assembly and Emergency Assembly

Clause 5 – Regular General Assembly:

  1. General assembly is the most important pillar of IMSBC and it encompasses all members.
  2. The Board of Directors will organize general assembly meetings every 12 months.
  3.  Every general assembly meeting will be called to order by the attendance of half of registered members and its affiliates plus one.
  4. In the event that the required numbers are not present, an invitation to another assembly for a month from the day will be sent out. At that time the meeting will be held to order regardless of the number of attendees.
  5. An agenda will be provided for each general assembly meeting via email invitations.
  6. Every member, (except honorary members and volunteer members), who attends a general assembly meeting, has one vote. Each member may act as representative of up to two members who are not able to attend the meeting. The reason for their absence needs to be approved and a written “power of attorney” is to be provided to the IMSBC Inspector at the beginning of each general assembly meeting.
  7. In general assemblies gathered for the purpose of choosing the Board of Directors, first the senior member and then vice president and then a secretary will be chosen from among members. After calling the meeting to order, votes by secret ballots will be cast to choose the board members from among volunteers.

Clause 6 – Duties of the Regular General Assembly:

  1. Receiving the yearly progress report of the Board of Directors
  2. Receiving the yearly financial report of IMSBC and inspector’s assessment of the work done by the Board of Directors in the past year.
  3. Choosing Board of Directors members and Inspectors
  4. Offering ideas and suggestions to the Board of Directors, for the continued improvement of IMSBC. 

Clause 7 – Emergency General Assembly:

  1. An emergency general assembly can be called at any time of the year; by the invitation of the Board of Directors or by half of registered primary members and affiliates, plus one. If the invitation for this assembly comes from members or the inspectors, the Board of Directors is required to form an emergency general assembly within 20 days.
  2. The method of organizing and calling to order of an emergency general assembly is similar to that of a regular assembly
  3. Decisions reached in an emergency general assembly will be held as implementable by the presence of half plus one members of IMSBC
  4. Every member, (except honorary members and volunteer members), who attends an emergency general assembly meeting, has one vote. Each member may act as representative of up to two members who are not able to attend the meeting. The reason for their absence needs to be approved and a written “power of attorney” is to be provided to the IMSBC Inspector at the beginning of each emergency general assembly.
  5. Every absent member of IMSBC can use the “power of attorney” only once in each year for any emergency general assembly meeting.

Clause 8 – Duties of the Emergency General Assembly:

  1. Changes to the IMSBC Charter and its clauses.
  2. Request of removal of any Board of Director members before the official end of their serving term, by offering solid and thorough evidence as needed.
  3. Decisions regarding dissolving or fundamental changes made to IMSBC.
  4. Confirmation or decision-making regarding time sensitive plans and actions that are of priority for IMSBC.

Clause 9 – Board of Directors:

  1. In the first General Assembly meeting and after approval of the Charter, volunteers can put their names forward in order to become a member of the Board of Directors. Using secret ballots, 7 individuals from among primary members will be chosen who will be active for a term of 2 years. This group of 7 will consist of 5 main members and 2 alternates.
  2. Each member of the Board of Directors may be re-elected for subsequent terms
  3. Board members will meet every month, as invited by the Board’s President (and in their absence by the Vice President’s initiative).
  4. Each meeting of the Board of Directors will be called to order with the presence of at least 3 members. In the event of a tie, either the president or the vice president has one extra vote.
  5. Board of directors will also invite the alternate members; however these members do not have voting rights.
  6. The Inspector may attend all Board of Director meetings, but may not vote.
  7.  4 unaccounted-for absences of each member will be assumed to be a resignation and so an alternate member will step into that position.
  8. In the event of resignation, death or disqualification of 3 members of the Board of Directors and the subsequent loss of the minimum member requirement, an emergency general assembly will be called and a new Board of Directors will be selected.
  9. All financial documents, and payments require IMSBC’s president’s signature and in their absence, that of the vice president and the treasurer.
  10. Presence of 3 members is required for every bylaw to pass.
  11. Every board member will be at least 22 years of age and specialized in one genre of music.
  12. Board members are volunteers and will not collect an income.

Clause 10 – Duties of Board of Directors:

Board of Directors’ responsibilities is divided into two segments: Initial Duties and Ongoing Duties.

Initial duties:

  1. At the first meeting of the board, choosing from among the 5 primary members: President, Vice President, Treasurer, Secretary, Spokes-Person and Public Relations Manager.
  2. Official legal establishment of IMSBC and its charter
  3. Opening an official IMSBC bank account
  4. Finalizing IMSBC’s official logo, and creating IMSBC’s website/online presence
  5. Creation of membership registration form, establishing membership fee and commencement of registering members
  6. Establishing a regular meeting place for IMSBC
  7. Choosing an Operational Manger if needed.
  8. Choosing a legal consultant or a lawyer

Ongoing duties:

  1. Sourcing funding resources for IMSBC (through individuals or organizations)
  2. Planning the yearly agenda of IMSBC, based on outlined goals in the  charter.
  3. Inviting members to General Assembly meetings
  4. Installing and removal of all personnel in charge of running IMSBC (in the absence of an operational manager.
  5. The board is welcome to invite volunteers to help with operations and implementation of IMSBC’s goals and programs.
  6. Drafting and passing of internal orders of business and resolutions for actions.
  7. Organizing and establishing various specialized operational committees
  8. Decision making regarding management of funding and government grants
  9. Preparation and presentation of  financial and operational progress reports for the general assembly.

Clause 11 – Membership:

Membership is divided in 4 tiers:

  1. Primary membership
  2. Affiliate membership
  3. Honorific membership
  4. Volunteers

Clause 12 – Primary Membership:

  1. Primary members are those active in at least one genre of music (in educational, research or performance capacity). They are also specialized in Iranian music, either through an accredited music degree or minimum 10 years of actively perusing music at a professional level.
  2. Primary members can attend all general assembly meetings; they each have one vote and can be elected as members of the Board of Directors.
  3. Primary members who are active in IMSBC, on invitation of the president and in their absence, vice present may attend Board of Director meetings as consultants.
  4. Board of Directors may place some responsibilities of operations of IMSBC in the hands of a Primary member, as needed.
  5. Primary members must be at least 22 years of age at the time of membership. They will be able to join IMSBC by submitting an official application form, paying the membership fee, acceptance of the IMSBC charter and approval of the Board of Directors.
  6. Leaving the IMSBC requires a written request and approval of the Board of Directors.
  7. Failure to pay the membership fee, actions that are deemed unfit to moral and artistic code of IMSBC, or crimes that would result in imprisonment, are grounds for removal of membership privileges, by the decision of the Board of Director.  
  8. A professional resume, and CV containing all professional artistic history of the applicant is mandatory.
  9. All primary members must be residents of British Columbia.

Clause 13 – Affiliate Membership:

  1. Affiliate members are those who are either music students, or are not actively pursuing music as a professional and those who are music enthusiasts. 
  2. Affiliate members, upon acceptance the IMSBC charter, paying the yearly membership fee, and submitting an official application, and obtaining approval of the Board of Directors will join IMSBC.
  3. Affiliate members must be 19 years of age at the time of membership.
  4. Affiliate members can attend all general assembly meetings and can vote. However, they are not able to run to become a member of Board of Directors or an inspector.
  5. Affiliate members, upon achieving the requirements needed to become a primary member may submit an official application to be elevated to primary membership status.
  6. Board of directors may invite affiliate members to participate in operations and perusing of the goals of IMSBC.
  7. All affiliate members must be residents of British Columbia.
  8. Termination of this membership is similar to items 6 and 7, clause 12.

Clause 14 – Honorary Membership:

  1. Honorary members of IMSBC are well known individuals who are specialized in various genres of music, arts, medicine, law, literature, poetry, and philosophy. Who are intellectuals, university professors, cultured individuals, investors, businesspersons, politicians, engineers and more. These members are identified and chosen by Board of Directors.
  2. Honorary members may attend meetings of the Board of Directors to exchange ideas and as consultants upon invitation from the board.
  3. Honorary members may attend general assembly meetings, but they may not vote, or be elected as a board member.
  4. Honorary members can offer support by sharing their artistic, scientific and professional knowledge in order to assist in programming and attaining the goals set by IMSBC.
  5. Honorary members are not involved in selection or removal of other members.
  6. Board of Directors can invite honorary members to take on certain responsibilities.
  7. Honorary members do not have to be residents of British Columbia.
  8. Honorary members do not have to pay a membership fee.

Clause 15 – Volunteers:

  1. Volunteer membership is for those individuals who wish to offer their time, expertise and energy to furthering the goals of IMSBC in a voluntary basis. 
  2. Volunteer members can attend all general assembly meetings. They do not have a vote and may not be elected as a board member.
  3.  Volunteer members can assume responsibilities under the direct supervision of the Board of Director.
  4. Volunteer members are exempt from paying the yearly IMSBC membership annual fee.
  5. Volunteer members must be residents of British Columbia.

Note 2: All members may take equal advantage of benefits offered by IMSBC.

Note 3: Upon departure of a member, all access to privileges offered by IMSBC will be revoked. Membership will not be reinstated.

Clause 16 – Inspectors:

  1. In the general assembly, 2 primary members, by secret ballots will be chosen from a list of volunteers to be inspectors, for a term of 1 year.
  2. The member with most number of votes will be the primary inspector and the runner up will be the alternate.
  3. Upon resignation, illness that would require long-term rehabilitation, or unaccounted-for absence of 3 months by the main inspector, they will be removed and the alternate inspector will take their place.
  4. Inspectors may be reelected for subsequent terms in the general assembly.

Clause 17 – Duties and privileges of Inspectors:

  1. Attendance in Board of Director meetings
  2. Overseeing the bylaws and resolutions as they are put forward by the Board of Directors, to be sure they fall within the outlines of the charter and goals of IMSBC.
  3. Access to all financial records, consisting of incoming and outgoing funds.
  4. Call for general assembly meeting, in the event that the Board of Directors for various reasons are not interested in doing so. It is required that the reason for this decision by the inspector be clearly outlined in the official invitations sent to members.
  5. Assisting in drafting complains directed at the operational activities of the Board of Directors; presenting them in the general assembly and to formally request follow-ups and resolutions by IMSBC.
  6. Inspectors are held accountable and must answer to the General assembly.

Clause 18 – Sources of Funding:

  1. Funding from the government of Canada, individuals, organizations, financial institutions, philanthropists, etc. (from reputable sources)
  2. Yearly membership fee
  3. Income from various music related activities, such as sales of music books, albums, concert tickets, musical instruments, organizing concerts and more.
  4. All financial transactions of IMSBC will be conducted through reputable financial institutions like national banks.
  5. All financial transitions will be done through the official bank account of IMSBC, upon approval of the Board of Directors. This approval needs at least 2 signatures of 3 qualified board members  (President, Vice President, Treasurer)

Clause 19 – Disbandment of IMSBC:

  1. Disbandment of IMSBC requires the motion to be put forward by the Board of Directors, offering enough evidence and reasons and approval of the emergency general meeting.
  2. The emergency general meeting will assign a disbandment committee and will decide the details of how this decision will be carried out.

This Charter includes: 1 introduction, 19 clause, and 3 notes. It has been approved in 7th December 2018 by the founding members and been officially approved by general assembly in 13th May 2018.

Proudly powered by WordPress