Proposal: Quarterly board meetings

{{proposal|member1=John Vandenberg|member2=Steven Zhang|status=approved}}
The board has monthly meetings.  To improve community access to the board, this proposal introduces board meetings being held in-person quarterly.  These board meetings will usually be timed to be part of the [[wmau:Proposal:Wikimedia Australia Meetups|Wikimedia Australia Meetups]] and will be held at various locations around Australia.  Three in-person board meetings will be during the term of office.  A fourth in-person board meeting may be held before or after the AGM, if the outgoing committee can justify the expense.

This proposal supersedes [[wmau:Proposal:2013 national town hall meeting program]].

== Location selection ==
Each location ''may'' put forward a mini-bid, providing the committee with information they may not be aware of.  However it is highly desirable that the local organisers run [[wmau:Proposal:Wikimedia Australia Meetups]] first, in which case the meetup reports will provide the committee with information about the local community.

The location for the board meeting will be determined by the board, using the following selection considerations for each location:
# Cost.  Some locations within Australia will naturally be cheaper, and there is a cost saving in holding the board meeting in a location where a number of board members live and therefore do not need accommodation.  There should be other Wikimedia events held in most capital cities every year or two, which would be of interest to board members.  The board will hold their board meetings to coincide with local events where possible, reducing the overall cost and maximising the impact.
# Size of community.  The utility of meeting locals is dependant on the number of Wikimedia contributors or enthusiasts who want to be involved in real live activities.  Meetups are a good way to demonstrate the viability of holding a board meeting in a location.
# Geographic 'spread'.  Over time all regions of Australia should have 'reasonable' access to the the board.  The board should select locations it has not visited before where there are sufficient community members, and the cost is not prohibitive.  The distance that is 'reasonable' for a community member to travel to meet the board varies significantly depending on how remote they are.  Our [[Meeting:2011 AGM|2011 AGM]] meeting in Ballarat demonstrated that some Australians are happy to drive seven hours (each way) to meet a board member at a regional hub.

== Board member activity levels ==
In lieu of a proper policy regarding inactivity within the committee, or low impact, this proposal proposes a limitation on which committee members will be able to attend the in-person board meetings.

Travel expenses will only be covered for board members who have been actively performing their expected duties, are participating in routine maintence and development of the website as required, and engaging the public via social media or real-life events.  Therefore the first face-to-face meeting after each change of committee is to be held a few months after the change over. 

== Budget ==
In January 2013 the board met in Melbourne with a budget of $5,000.  That budget was sufficient; however Melbourne was selected as it was the cheapest location.  More regional locations will be more than $5,000.

The budget for each board meeting will be $5,000.

The total budget for 2013 is $20,000 of which a bit under $5,000 has been spent on the January 2013 board meeting.