FY2012 JAT Board Face-to-Face Meeting Minutes
1. Date and venue
09:30-18:00 Friday, October 19, 2012
TKP Shibuya Conference Center
2. Officers in attendance
Total number of directors: Eight
Directors in attendance: Charles Aschmann (CA), Koji Himeno (KH) (from 11:00), Helen Iwata (HI), Megumi Kimoto (MeK), Marian Kinoshita (MaK), Karen Sandness (KS), Yoichiro Tachibana (YT), and Fred Uleman (FU)
Total number of auditors: Two
Auditors in attendance: Frank Moorhead (FM) and Emily Shibata-Sato (ES)
Chaired by HI
Minutes taken by ES
3. Agenda
1) Anthology
2) Paid admin
3) SNS commitment
4) Guidelines on making IJET videos public
5) IJETs 24 & 25
6) JAT Mission Statement
7) Priority of Board projects
8) IJET Manual Version 9.2
9) JAT PR (paid ad)
10) Bylaws
11) E-versions of the Anthology
12) IJET proceedings
13) Treasury
14) Invitation to JNTO event
4. Discussions and Decisions
1) Anthology
FU gave a breakdown of Anthology expenses to date (total \513,226). Around half of the total 1,500 copies have been distributed so far. CA reported that Kindle and other electronic versions are now downloadable.
MOTION: Publish an anthology again next year with a more focused theme.
Proposed by FU
Seconded by MaK
Result: Adopted by acclamation
2) Paid admin
MeK has found a candidate to undertake some of JAT’s routine work and ease the burden on volunteers, and asked the company to attend the TAC meeting on October 20.
3) SNS commitment
A committee has been established with six SNS-savvy members and has started working on JAT SNS (Twitter and Facebook at the moment).
MOTION: Approve the SNS annual budget of 220,000 yen proposed by YT.
Proposed by CA
Seconded by HI
Result: Adopted by acclamation
4) Guidelines on making IJET videos public
The Board discussed the guidelines proposed by CA and YT (the webmaster and the assistant webmaster) on videos taken at IJETs (Reference 1)
MOTION: Approve the guidelines proposed by the webmaster and assistant webmaster
Proposed by CA
Seconded by MaK
Result: Adopted by acclamation
The guidelines will be reflected in the IJET manual.
5) IJET-24 & 25
KS reported on the progress of IJET-24 (plans on how to use the interpreting facilities, hotel arrangements, etc.) and the proposal made to hold IJET-25 in Tokyo in 2014.
MOTION: Accept the proposal to hold IJET-25 in Tokyo in 2014 submitted by Cathy Eberst.
Proposed by KS
Seconded by MeK
Result: Adopted by acclamation
6) JAT Mission Statement
The Board discussed a JAT Mission Statement draft prepared by FM. As Membership Officer, MaK expressed the view that it would be very useful in explaining what JAT does and what its objectives are. The Board agreed to vote on it after editing the draft to align with the JAT Constitution, prepare a Japanese version, and post both the English and Japanese versions on the JAT website.
7) Priority of Board projects
CA said that with JAT activities expanding so much over the past few years, and particularly within the past few months, the Board needs to refocus its roles. Basecamp, the major means of communication for the Board and committee members, is getting very complicated with too much information and too many projects and threads. CA stated, however, that Basecamp is used to keep JAT records. FM pointed out the importance of Auditors being able to monitor all of JAT’s activities to ensure compliance with the relevant laws and regulations.
CA noted that moderator discussions do not take place on Basecamp. Instead, for reasons of confidentiality, moderators carry out discussions privately and report the results on Basecamp.
The Board agreed that
- Discussions on Basecamp should never be reported or discussed outside of Basecamp without explicit Board approval – what happens on Basecamp stays on Basecamp
- Board members writing to the JAT mailing list and other media should be clear about the capacity in which they are writing, i.e., as individuals or as Board members
The Board agreed to establish a system to reduce the burden on Basecamp users and to create guidelines (including rules on confidentiality) and to make better use of the tools already available in Basecamp. CA and YT will work on these issues.
HI will list the Board’s priorities and create a Gantt chart to clarify priorities, timing, and who is leading each activity.
The officers stated their priority issues:
CA and YT
- Complete 14 web priority issues (Reference 2)
MOTION: Establish an IJET registrants (non-JAT members) group (tentative name) to have access to the IJET content including videos with limited duration (until the next IJET).
Proposed by CA
Seconded by HI
Result: Adopted by acclamation
Among the 14 priority issues CA highlighted
- Complete SIG infrastructure development, including multiple mailing lists
- Set up reusable structure for IJET site and complete IJET-24 site
- Eliminate the forums and establish an admin list for members to discuss JAT administrative issues
KH
- Publish a new JAT flyer
The Board agreed to reduce the text (KH Japanese and FU English) to ask the designer to refer to other JAT designs (e.g., the website and anthology cover) to ensure consistency, and to establish consistent JAT branding. The flyer should be ready for distribution by the next IJET at the latest.
KS
- Approve the IJET Manual (discussed in the afternoon)
MeK
- Pay bills and keep the record of daily transactions
MaK
- Create a Membership Officer manual
- Create a log of askjat (general inquiry e-mail) questions
- Create a contest manual
- Follow up on the contest (total 49 entrants as of October 18)
- Advertise the directory – for both clients and members
- Establish a jobs list
- Increase usability, e.g., changing color when pressing “submit”, how to find good translators through the directory (e.g., specialty), better search function, better ways of building a profile, creating a video to educate new members
ES
- Revise the Bylaws (no reply from the Tokyo Metropolitan Government on the amendment to the Constitution)
FM
- Start working on establishing an election committee and recruiting candidates
- Close the information gap between Board members and general members (e.g., by making a list of projects that the Board has been involved in as new people tend to ask questions without knowing what JAT has been up to
- Restart a system of self intros (new members introduce themselves)
HI
- Urge people to run for Director and Auditor
- Find ways to reduce the workload of volunteers (e.g., by hiring paid admin)
- Create manuals and guidelines for all different projects, events
- Determine what to do about IJET proceedings
8) IJET Manual Version 9.2
The officers reviewed the IJET Manual Version 9.2 in detail. It was decided to reflect the changes discussed in the draft (KS), review again, and then vote.
It was agreed during the discussion that communications related to JAT issues should not be conducted on free services including Twitter, Yahoo mail, and Google.
9) JAT PR (paid ad)
KH proposed appointing two PR directors and one PR person per committee. Since the PR issue is closely related with the website and SNS, KH agreed to work on this with CA and YT.
CA emphasized the need to manage information more efficiently and with less burden on members and to drive traffic to the JAT website.
The Board confirmed that JAT’s goal is to serve the translation community and that increasing members may be a result, but is not a goal. Among the PR ideas mentioned were regular columns in the major media, client education, and offering more for experienced or veteran translators and interpreters.
10) Bylaws
The Board agreed to amend sections on membership payment and honoraria based on recent changes in policies and practices. FM will prepare a revised English version of Section II.4.3 on payment options and submit it to the Board for approval.
11) E-versions of the Anthology
The Directors agreed that
- JAT members should be able to download the e-version of the Anthology and give it to others
- JAT should make the Anthology available on Amazon (at no cost)
- JAT should publish one or two essays at a time on the JAT website over several months
FU agreed to discuss these ideas with the Anthology Committee.
12) IJET proceedings
Considering the changes in the way conferences records are kept, the Directors agreed to ask participant opinions on proceedings at the October 20 Tokyo meeting. CA proposed creating abstracts with links to videos and relevant written materials to make available for download to JAT members and participants. Sending hard copies might also be an option.
13) Treasury
The Board agreed to give SIGs the option to either follow standard guidelines around honoraria and expenses or to have greater autonomy.
14) Invitation to JNTO event
The Board agreed to accept the invitation from the Japan National Tourism Organization (JNTO) to participate in Meet Japan 2013 in March 2013.
5. Appointment of signatories
Two signatories, FU and MeK, were appointed based on Article 38-5 of the Constitution, and HI adjourned the meeting at 18:10.
Helen Iwata, Chairperson
Megumi Kimoto, Signatory
Fred Uleman, Signatory
Reference 1 IJET動画の一般公開に関するガイドライン
1．公開時期
・IJETの動画のうち許可を得ているものについては、IJET閉幕から1年前後経過後に一般公開できるものとする。
2．公開範囲
・公開する場所は、JATウェブサイト（http://jat.org/）とする。一般公開後は、Facebookで公開してもよい。
・その他の媒体に掲載する場合は、JATウェブサイトへのリンクのみ掲載するものとする。
3．スピーカー／参加者の承諾
a. スピーカーの承諾
・IJET運営委員会は、講演者、パネリスト、ボランティアに対し、事前に動画撮影について通知しなければならない。
・IJET運営委員会は、講演者、パネリスト、司会進行役に対し、撮影した動画をJAT会員専用サイトで公開してよいか、IJET閉幕から1.0年経過後に一般公開してよいか、必ず確認しなければならない。承諾を得られない項目については公開を禁止する。
・IJET運営委員会は、講演者、パネリストに対し、セッションで使用した関連資料（プレゼンテーション資料、配付資料など）について、JAT会員専用サイトで公開してよいか、IJET閉幕から1.0年経過後に一般公開してよいか、必ず確認しなければならない。承諾を得られない項目については公開を禁止する。
b. 参加者の承諾
・IJET運営委員会は、上記3-aの承諾が得られた項目について、（1）各セッション会場にて撮影を実施すること、（2）JATウェブサイトのJAT会員専用ページで公開すること、および（3）1.0年経過後に一般公開する場合があることを以下の手段によって参加者に告知するものとする。
(1) IJETのプログラム冊子に明記する。
(2) IJETウェブサイトに明記する。
(3) IJETの開会式において告知する。
(4) 各セッション会場において、セッション開始前に動画撮影を行うことを参加者に告知する。
4．動画の撮影／編集／アップロード <略>
5. 次期ウェブマスターへの引き継ぎについて<略>
Reference 2 14 web priority issues
(1) Complete SIG infrastructure, including list selection,
robust list search page, collection pages for each SIG, etc.
(2) Move from forum to list based multiple communication system
(related to (1))
(3) Organize an upper-level tech team
(4) Develop and move to a new IJET registration system
(5) Move election system to EE
(6) Establish a JAT Store
(7) Revise Edit Profile page and system
(8) Integrate old JAT content into current website
(9) Continue site cleanup
(10) Implement jobs channel
(11) Establish SNS management policies
(12) Establish public release policies for IJET videos
(13) Continue to develop a Webmaster manual
(14) Add new member groups (IJET member, etc.) and reconsider structure