Is QUANTA stil alive / accepting members?

Thinking of joining QUANTA? Post any questions here.
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dilwyn
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Re: Is QUANTA stil alive / accepting members?

Post by dilwyn »

RichardCGH wrote:Dilwyn's suggestions sound very reasonable.
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IIRC Rich Mellor was working on a revised constitution (but tat was some time ago.)
Presumably he'd know the legal state of QUANTA - there may need to be a minimum number present at a meeting to wind it up for example.
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Given C-19 and other issues, wouldn't it better to have virtual meetings rather than try to get people to a geographical location for meetings ?
They can be recorded so any members who couldn't attend could see what has been discussed.
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Generally I'd like to ensure the library is maintained as best as possible so progs etc aren't lost.
The QUANTA mags need to be freely accessible as well.
It's easy for me to say what my views are, of course. The hard part will be finding people to actually do the changes, and of course to do so legally - I'm sure that my ideas would not strictly speaking be within the current constitution as it stands. I do not have any experience of pushing wholesale changes like this through and have made enemies when I tried in the past, so I no longer try unless it's to support someone else doing so.

The constitution exists, I have a printed copy. Section 7 explains the AGM quorum etc and section 11 deals with winding up the organisation. I had a look if it's on the website, but it's not there as far as I can see. The list of committee members seems to be up to date on the website. I genuinely hope that we never get to the "winding up" stage, but...

The invitation I had to the meeting this year was to an in-person meeting. Still can't remember if it was a committee meeting or AGM - I'm theoretically still on the committee but have not actively participated since before Covid19. I could have attended by video call, as I have done in the past - certainly the constitution and established practice both cater for participation by electronic means. I *think* the meetings were recorded, but for minutes purposes rather than publication. The trouble is, in the past not many members attended (in person or electronically), it was rare for the attendance to be much more than the minimum required for a valid meeting. Sadly, Quanta is not alone in that respect. There is potentially an issue with how long officers of the organisation can continue in a role, but without volunteers to do the work, it's hard to see how the rules can be adhered to as we go on. I know some organisations I'm also a member of have had these problems over the Covid19 period and the way they coped was to continue using reasonable exceptional circumstances or "special measures" temporarily. If the membership accepted that, it was fine. If anyone objected then you had to go through the "by the book" procedures which would in many cases cause the club or organisation concerned to close down, essentially. We did this with a local group for widowed people and a local crafts group and fortunately we got away with it in both cases, so it allowed the organisations to continue in very difficult circumstances and return to normality when circumstances allowed.

If I'm understanding things properly, there is no longer a membership charge for Quanta. At least there was a proposal before Covid19 times to make it a free membership organisation, as long as you were happy with a PDF magazine, or you could opt to pay to get paper copies - that might have ended up being expensive as the relatively small number of mags printed would probably have shot up in price.

I would just add to close that the views expressed are purely my own, speaking as me the member rather than the committee member that I am in theory.


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XorA
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Re: Is QUANTA stil alive / accepting members?

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Re: Is QUANTA stil alive / accepting members?

Post by NormanDunbar »

I see a stripper! :D

Cheers,
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dilwyn
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Re: Is QUANTA stil alive / accepting members?

Post by dilwyn »

NormanDunbar wrote:
I see a stripper! :D

Cheers,
Norm.
He he :D

Thanks XorA for preserving it (the library, not Norman's stripper!).

Strictly speaking, still for Quanta members only I guess.


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XorA
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Re: Is QUANTA stil alive / accepting members?

Post by XorA »

dilwyn wrote:
NormanDunbar wrote:
I see a stripper! :D

Cheers,
Norm.
He he :D

Thanks XorA for preserving it (the library, not Norman's stripper!).

Strictly speaking, still for Quanta members only I guess.
I found it on some random website after quanta disappeared so I figured it was already in the wild!


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tofro
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Re: Is QUANTA stil alive / accepting members?

Post by tofro »

dilwyn wrote:
NormanDunbar wrote:
I see a stripper! :D

Cheers,
Norm.
He he :D

Thanks XorA for preserving it (the library, not Norman's stripper!).

Strictly speaking, still for Quanta members only I guess.
When anyone can subscrbe to be a member on the Quanta website, isn't everyone a member, technically?


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Andrew
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Re: Is QUANTA stil alive / accepting members?

Post by Andrew »

tofro wrote:When anyone can subscrbe to be a member on the Quanta website, isn't everyone a member, technically?
How I see it: Now you don''t subscribe to become a Quanta member, you just subscribe to the magazine. But there is no magazine.


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tofro
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Re: Is QUANTA stil alive / accepting members?

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Andrew wrote:
tofro wrote:When anyone can subscrbe to be a member on the Quanta website, isn't everyone a member, technically?
How I see it: Now you don''t subscribe to become a Quanta member, you just subscribe to the magazine. But there is no magazine.
Not so sure. You clearly apply for (free) membership on this page and not as a magazine recipient.


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dilwyn
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Re: Is QUANTA stil alive / accepting members?

Post by dilwyn »

tofro wrote:
Andrew wrote:
tofro wrote:When anyone can subscrbe to be a member on the Quanta website, isn't everyone a member, technically?
How I see it: Now you don''t subscribe to become a Quanta member, you just subscribe to the magazine. But there is no magazine.
Not so sure. You clearly apply for (free) membership on this page and not as a magazine recipient.
If I understood it all correctly, I think any payment for the magazine is just that - covers the difference in cost between the PDF and printed magazines (postage, printing...).

I think ToFro is correct to say that you need to become a member, there are more benefits (theoretically, anyhow) to membership other than just the magazine, although a magazine is probably what most would join for.

Probably academic, given we are uncertain of Quanta's present status. Admittedly, ToFro is probably right to say that you could technically safeguard yourself in downloading the library by filling in the membership form and becoming a free member for a year (the website says the free membership is still renewable annually to be in line with data protection legislation). If enough people apply to join, it might stir Quanta back to life, even!


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Re: Is QUANTA stil alive / accepting members?

Post by NormanDunbar »

tofro wrote:Not so sure. You clearly apply for (free) membership on this page and not as a magazine recipient.
Somewhere back in this thread, I did subscribe to the PDF magazine. Unfortunately I have heard nothing back since applying and no PDF.

Cheers,
Norm.


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