EAFP Council meeting minutes 17-18 April 2009

/

EAFP Council meeting minutes 17-18 April 2009

Attendants: David Bruno (Vice president), Steve Feist (Meetings secretary), Roy Palmer (Publications officer), Lone Madsen (General secretary), Sven Bergmann (Treasurer) (absent on 17 April)

Absent: David Alderman (President)

The EAFP council met at Split, Croatia, for a two-day meeting. The minutes of the council meeting held on 24 October 2008 were approved.

AGENDA 17 April

This day included visits to possible future conference locations, including the conference hotel as well as potential locations for gala dinner/banquet, reception. It also included meetings with members of a local organising committee and a local agency.

AGENDA 18 April (council meeting)

1)    2009 Conference updates

2)          30 year celebration

3)           Honorary memberships

4)   2011 conference planning

5)   2013 conference bids

6)  Treasurer: detailed information for 2007-2008 (especially administration costs)

7)   Validation of the account 2005-2006-2007-2008

8)   Change of bank

9)   Fees 2008-2009 (membership fee in Swiss francs or Euro)

10  Online payment of membership fees

11  Council elections updates

12  Membership database

13  Attracting new members – including sustaining: writing of a circular on the EAFP

14  EAFP Bulletin

15  Changes to the appearance and format of the Bulletin and EAFP logo

16  EAFP website

17  WSID freshwater

Reimbursement (in Euro), council meetings

Any other business

EAFP Council Meeting Weymouth, UK, 24th October 2008

/

MINUTES

 

Attendants: David Alderman (President), David Bruno (Vice-President), Steve Feist (Meetings Secretary), Roy Palmer (Publication Officer), Lone Madsen (General Secretary)

Absent: Sven Bergmann (Treasurer)

The EAFP council met at Cefas, Weymouth, hosted by the meetings secretary, for a one-day meeting.

 

Council reports

Vice president:

The vice-president reported on the hacking and defacing of the website in August 2008. Consequently the website had to be reconstructed and hosting moved from Verio to Squarespace, The vice-president regards this as an easier system to run and has a higher level of security for our site. The council appreciates the work done by Graham Bruno in reconstructing and developing the new EAFP website. It was agreed that the slightly higher payment (30 $ compared to 20 $ per month) to Squarespace would be useful as we could include the possibility of form design on the site that can collate conference information (e.g. electronic submission of abstracts). This was agreed by the council. The domain name eafp.org will be transferred from Verio to a company called Godaddy. The suggestion by the vice-president of moving away from hosting the software on Verio and letting a company manage maintaining and upgrading the message board software was supported by the rest of the council. It was also agreed that the EAFP sustaining members should be highlighted on frontpage of the website.

Actions: The vice-president will change the package with Squarespace as well as take steps to move the maintaining and upgrading the message board software to the new company. The vice-president will change the frontpage of the EAFP website giving the sustaining members list a more prominent place. The contract with Verio will cease. Members who have registered for the message board will be contacted with new passwords to ensure they can access the new site.

The president agreed to provide PDF file from the bulletin articles published in volume 11-19 to the vice president to upload onto the web site.

 

General secretary:

The general secretary reported on the current membership status, this being 968 members. 132 members have resigned this year, whereas there are 59 newcomers. It has taken some time to update the membership database as updated lists from branch officers in some cases have been delayed. Members not having paid by July 2008 were contacted by email by the EAFP secretariat and that gave some positive responses. Thereafter membership cancellations were completed. Updated lists from SWETS and EBSCO on library members have been received. It was discussed within the council that cancellation of membership should be done earlier in the year, as there are no reasons for sending out the EAFP bulletin to members who do not want to be members of the association.

Actions: The general secretary will send out letters for branch officers concerning membership fees early November (after the 2009 membership fees have been calculated by the treasurer). Members paying directly to the EAFP as well as sustaining members and libraries will be contacted by email in the same period. Final payment will be 1 February – otherwise membership as well as the sending of the EAFP bulletin will be cancelled. This will be specified in the letter from the general secretary to the branch officers.

 

Publications officer:

The publications officer presented the bulletin status. From October 2007 to October 2008, 85 manuscripts have been under review. There has been a 21 % rejection rate, 26 % are on-going, and 48 % has been printed at this stage. Manuscripts are being submitted from many countries. The average time from submission to print is around 9 months, that is primarily due to time used by reviewers (the publication officer allows reviewers 3 weeks to do the review but usually more time is required), and authors also take some time before they answer back. For the past year the publications officer has received 765 emails regarding the Bulletin and 320 emails regarding council correspondence. The publications officer presented data from SCOPUS regarding e.g. total citations, as well as comparisons with other journals such as Journal of Fish Diseases, Diseases of Aquatic Organisms Journal of Aquatic Animal Health.

The publications officer would like to acknowledge the work done by subject editors (generally anonymous to-date).

Actions: The publications officer will ask people to volunteer to act as referees to speed up publication time. The publications officer will be strict with authors so they follow instructions for publication in the EAFP bulletin. The publications officer will sort out subject editors as well as look into reproducing the SCOPUS data. If possible it will be a good idea to present figures regarding comparison of the bulletin with other journals on the EAFP website.

 

Treasurer:

The vice-president presented the report sent by the treasurer. Questions were raised regarding the costs on the bulletin as well as the costs for administration.

Actions: The treasurer is to present a more detailed budget regarding the costs for the EAFP bulletin as well as the costs for administration. The council authorized the treasurer to change the bank accounts from Norway, but noted that the treasurer makes sure that there will not be any problems when another person takes over as treasurer – it should be possible for other people (including people from outside Germany) than the current treasurer to have access to the EAFP accounts. At least one account in the current bank used by the EAFP should be left open in Norway until membership payment for 2009 has been achieved.

 

Meetings secretary:

The meetings secretary reported on the progress with the EAFP conference in Prague next year. The first announcement is due to be printed in the next edition of the Bulletin and will be placed on the EAFP website. The second is in preparation and will need input from the local organising committee and the conference company in the Czech Republic. The abstract submission changing into an electronic format will also require work in drafting the templates. Keynote speakers were discussed and names agreed. Until now there are three suggested workshops on: histopathology, myxozoans and zoonotic pathogens. These were supported by the council.

Action: the meetings secretary will draft the second conference announcement for the end of December and contact the agreed keynote speakers.

 

Council communication

The Council discussed continuity of communication, where there is unavoidable absence of individual Members.

 

Statutes: voting, outcome and revision

The vice-president reported on the results of the electronic voting via the message board on the EAFP website (a summary of the voting results are available on the message board). Taking into account the results of the voting on statutes revision, the new statutes will now be published on the web.

Action: the vice-president will revise the statutes according to the statutes voting results, circulate to the council, and add the revised statutes to the webpage.

 

 

Web page update

Dealt with under vice-president report.

 

Legal status of the association

The meetings secretary had approached solicitors and explained the nature of the EAFP, showed the members handbook and statutes and explained our concerns. The EAFP has 3 options: form a company; seek charity status; stay as we are. The first is probably expensive but also not appropriate for the EAFP. For the second option this will be investigated by calling the Charity Commission – the benefit of this option is that the EAFP obtain a “charity number”. The final option was considered to be preferable, but with further actions needed. The actions include appropriate statements to reduce or eliminate liability concerning provision of scientific information via the website and the Bulletin and a disclaimer for conference attendees. Any personal or other liability should be avoided where possible or at least limited to the assets of the EAFP. Text relating to this will be added to the web and the membership application form.

 

Actions: Insurance status for publisher as well as conference companies should be checked. The Charity commission should be approached by the meetings secretary who will also draft a liability clause for consideration by the council.

 

EAFP Secretariat from 1st January 2009

The current secretary for the EAFP secretariat retires in 2009, and a replacement is needed for helping with typesetting the Bulletin, keeping the membership database as well as helping the treasurer and meetings secretary. The meetings secretary will use the agreement between the institute of the current EAFP secretary and EAFP to decide if Cefas will support this work. The current secretary has used 300 hours in 9 months, but will probably use around 500 hours over the whole year.

Action: Meetings secretary to contact Cefas for agreement on support.

 

Membership fees for 2009

Due to higher expenses on the Bulletin printing and postage it was decided to raise the membership fees for next year.

Membership fees (in Swiss franc) for 2009:

Regular member: 70 to 75

Student member: 35 to 37

Library member: 120 to 135

Sustaining member: 490 to 555

Action: The general secretary to contact the treasurer to fix conversion rates for membership fees for 2009.

 

 

Bank accounts

The treasurer is authorised to change banks – see Action under the Agenda point concerning Council report treasurer.

 

Discrepancies of old year accounts

 

This matter is closed – former treasurer Brit Hjeltnes answered by mail that to her knowledge it was a minor discrepancy.

 

Council election planning

In 2009 the following posts will be on election: president, treasurer, meetings secretary. Announcement for nominees will be out in issue 1 of the 2009 EAFP bulletin as well as placed on the website. Voting will be done on line. The possibility of meeting with the new council prior to September will be discussed at the spring council meeting.

Action: This announcement for the Bulletin will be drafted by the general secretary.

 

Progress on Prague conference

See council report from the meetings secretary.

A clarification of the facility for the banquet is required.

The EAFP 30 year celebration was discussed. It was decided that the president will highlight the 30 years at the opening ceremony. Further suggestions included a photographic competition (members to send in EAFP-related pictures beforehand), a “light-hearted” presentation on EAFP in general and 30 years celebration as well as a toast on the celebration. An increase in the number of student awards was also suggested. The council will discuss this further at the next council meeting. The members are being asked for ideas concerning the 30 years celebration at the EAFP conference in Prague.

 

Actions: The programme for the 30 year celebration will be finalised at the next council meeting.

Publicise our conference as well as EAFP in for example other journals, websites (the American association etc.)

 

Future EAFP conference venues

 

Future conference venues under discussion are Croatia, Greece, Portugal (2011) and Finland, or Portugal (2013). Other countries are encouraged to prepare a bid for the council to review.

 

Action: These will be discussed at the next council meeting.

Spring meeting dates

Friday 17th April - location Split, Croatia

 

Actions: Meetings secretary to contact local organizer in Croatia. The general secretary to update the treasurer concerning meeting date.

 

 

Any other business

Concerning membership stagnation:

It was decided that more should be done for the sustaining members, which will include their names on the front page of the EAFP website as well as the new statute change that will allow sustaining members to take 5 to the conference for membership registration fee. The sustaining members will be approached by the council to hear what EAFP can do for them.

Publish information on the conference as well as EAFP details in for example other journals, appropriate scientific association and society websites.

Contact trade organisations with an interest in fish health. Contact CRL’s (including reflabnet), ICES, branch officers (suggesting them to make inquiries for new members in their country).

Brief articles for Fishfish News, Shellfish News and Fish Farmer should be produced as well as a short folder has to be prepared – for sending to possible new members (or societies).

 

Action: The president or the vice president to contact e.g. sustaining members. The meetings secretary to prepare a draft for a “circular” on EAFP.

 

 

 

18th November, 2008

General Secretary

EAFP Council Meeting, Prague April 21-22nd 2008

/

MINUTES
Attendants: David Alderman (President), David Bruno (Vice-President), Sven Bergmann (Treasurer), Steve Feist (Meetings Secretary), Roy Palmer (Publication Officer), Lone Madsen (General Secretary)

Monday April 21st Subject: EAFP conference 2009
The council met at the Clarion Congress Hotel Prague with the local organising committee for the EAFP Prague conference in 2009 represented by Iva Dykova, as well as the conference organising company Czech-In represented by Alexandra
Chroma. First the hotel conference centre facilities were visited. Thereafter project management director Tomas Maxa and project manager Alice Trägerová, both from Czech-In, joined the meeting. A conference budget draft (based on 400 delegates attending the conference) as well as a conference agreement draft was presented by Alexandra Chroma. The two drafts were discussed and amendments were suggested. The following morning the amended conference agreement and the budget were discussed within the council. After further adjustments together with Czech-In the agreement was signed in the afternoon. The revised budget will be checked by the council members shortly after this council meeting.
Possible facilities in Prague for the reception as well as the banquet were visited Monday late afternoon. It was agreed to use the St. Agnes Convent for the reception. Further discussions will be undertaken with the local organisers regarding the
banquet venue.


Tuesday April 22nd Subject: Routine council business
Name of the EAFP conference:
Changing the conference name from “14th International conference of the EAFP” to the name “14th International conference on diseases of fish and shellfish” (organised by the EAFP) was discussed. A vote in the council (4 votes to 2) was in favour of the latter name


Statutes:
At the General Assembly in Copenhagen 2005 it had been decided that a revision of the current statutes for the EAFP should be considered. A statutes review committee with specific terms of reference was established. Their review and suggestions for statutes amendments were presented at the General Assembly in Grado 2007. The work done by the statutes review committee is very much appreciated by the council.
Since then EAFP members have had a possibility of stating their point of view concerning the proposed revisions. Based on the work done by the statutes review committee, input from members as well as discussions within the council, the President presented a written document on Council proposals for updating of Statutes 2008, divided in two parts, part two being the Council’s proposed statute revision and part one being comments and explanations for these statutesproposals. Within the next month this document will be finalised. All documents concerning the statutes review will be made available to the members on the EAFP webpage through the message board. The documents will include statutes review committee proposal and background information as well as the council proposal and background information. The old statutes are already available on the webpage. The different suggestions relating to amendments of the statutes will be made as clear as possible and it was agreed that a single document should be made, where the old statutes are presented together with new suggestions. The timeline for having all documents on the internet is 1st June. Voting on statutes will be done electronically and will be possible at the EAFP webpage at the member pages. Members will have to register for the message board, before the documents are accessible as well as voting on the relevant statute changes. Voting electronically on the internet should be done within a limited time span. A draft text for the Bulletin (number 2 is going to the printers shortly) on the statutes revision will be provided by the President and Vice-President.

Branch officer elections:
It was emphasized that branch officer elections shall be arranged by the general secretary and not conducted without an open democratic process.
Bank accounts:
The Treasurer proposed to change the bank. The communication between the Norwegian Bank and the Treasurer has been poor since the current non-Norwegian Treasurer took over. The council decided that the Treasurer should investigate the possibility of the EAFP using a bank in the home country of the current Treasurer.
The Treasurer needs to make sure that when another treasurer takes over (maybe from another country) then this person will also be able to use this bank. Bank arrangements need to be clarified in dialogue with other council members before the next council meeting in September.
Account used for credit card payments:
The possibility of paying the membership fee by credit card is currently not available and missed by a number of members. The Treasurer will take this into consideration while negotiating with possible banks.
Discrepancies of old years accounts (2004, 2005, 2006):
The President has been in contact with the former general secretary and treasurer Paul Midtlyng, who has promised to look into the matter. The current Treasurer will contact former treasurers Kristin Thorud, Paul Midtlyng and Brit Hjeltnes to ask about the amount of the error (the approximate figure). If this sum is confirmed to be small the council will consider the matter closed.
EAFP 30 years in 2009 - awards/celebrations at the Prague conference:
It was suggested that a note on the subject will be put on the EAFP website, asking for celebration suggestions from members. A note in the EAFP bulletin will lead members to the webpage. Suggestions from members should reach the council before the next meeting in September. The Meetings Secretary suggested a memento due to the 30 years celebration (maybe Bohemian glass, pen or equal) in the bags for all delegates attending the EAFP conference 2009.WSID Marine version in Spanish - ideas for use: It was decided that if members will pay for postage they can get a copy for free. The Vice-President will put this on the webpage.
EAFP Secretariat:
The current secretary for the EAFP secretariat retires in 2009. The President recognises the need for a replacement – helping with typesetting the Bulletin, keeping the membership database as well as helping treasurer and meetings
secretary. This was agreed by the council members. The Meetings Secretary will investigate the possibility of Cefas managing such a job before the next council meeting. Other possibilities will also be considered.
Locations for future EAFP conferences:
EAFP council received a formal request from Greece which is much appreciated by the council. This proposal will be considered along with one from the Croatian branch which is in preparation. The Finnish branch has expressed the interest of hosting the EAFP conference in 2013.
Council elections next year:
In 2009 the following posts will be on election: President, Treasurer, Meetings Secretary. Nominations are invited – it is emphasized that nominees for President should either serve or have served in the council. The call for nominations will be
advertised in issue 4 or 5 of the Bulletin 2008 (at the same time it will be advertised on the website).
Any other business:
The EAFP status was discussed. There is a need for seeking professional advice with regard to legal status and its implications, wherefore a professional accountant should be contacted. The President together with the Meetings Secretary will report before the next council meeting.
Currently all branch officers have not settled this years membership payment. The General Secretary will contact these branch officers after having compared payments to the EAFP accounts together with the Treasurer.
A point was raised about online access to members list. The Meetings Secretary was worried about having member details such as email addresses on the web. The Publication Officer suggested locking the list so it cannot be saved from the web.
The Vice-President (being the webmaster) advised that it is easier to have a members area only and this will be included in the message board area. The files will go onto the message board where only members will be able to access this
particular area. Other non-EAFP people can use the message board but will not see the statutes or the members handbook.
Next council meeting is scheduled for September. The President will contact the council members concerning dates. A one-day meeting was suggested at an easy accessible site like Stanstead, Manchester or Southampton.

May 8th
2008
General Secretary

 

EAFP Council Meeting. Oslo, 26 April 2007

/

Minutes of the EAFP Council Meeting. Oslo, 26 April 2007

Present: David Alderman (President), David Bruno (vice president), Paul Midtlyng (General Secretary), Sven Bergmann (Treasurer) and Steve Feist (Meetings Secretary).

Apologies: Ellen Ariel (Publications Officer)

The meeting opened at 09:00 at VESO, Oslo, Norway.

1. Minutes of previous meeting were approved.
2. Previous action points were reviewed.
3. Meetings Secretary report.

Grado conference 2007
Following approval of the conference budget the 2nd announcement, registration and call for papers was placed on the EAFP website. The deadline for receipt of abstracts was the 23rd April and to date over 300 submissions have been received, many containing multiple submissions of oral and poster titles. There will be reviewed by the scientific committee in the coming weeks and submitters will be notified in sufficient time to meet the early registration deadline of 30th June 2007.

Session titles and workshops were agreed and are available on the EAFP website.
Subsequently is was agreed that the EAFP General Assembly will be moved to the Wednesday afternoon in order to attract more participants than in previous conferences.
The banquet will remain scheduled for the Thursday evening.
Four keynote speakers have been identified and have confirmed their willingness to provide these talks. The timing for their presentations has been posted on the EAFP website. Confirmation of two titles are still outstanding.

Conference bags will again be provided through the generosity of Schering-Plough and the Council accepted the design of conference logo for the conference literature and bags. It was agreed that the design produced by Paola Beraldo (member of the local organising committee (LOC)) was excellent and captured the spirit of the conference and venue
perfectly.

Details requiring further attention include the format of the opening session and feedback is anticipated from the LOC on this. In addition, Schering Plough have also generously undertaken to provide prizes for the ‘best posters’. The nature of these has yet to be decided. Three prizes, to the senior author.

It was decided that if required the meetings secretary will visit Grado to ensure all arrangements are in place.
2009 conference There has been progress with the development of indicative costs for the first choice venue for the 2009 Conference in Prague. We have a preliminary booking for the period between August 28th and September 12th 2009 for the Prague Congress Centre.
Information on possible alternative venues has been requested from the LOC.. Following correspondence with the proposed conference organiser on our requirements for the conference we are awaiting a preliminary budget. In particular, indicative costs of centre rental, audio visual support and the conference bureau services (project management
including registration etc.) must be estimated. A second conference organiser based in Praque has approached the General Secretary, wishing to tender for the service provision.
Thjs buereau has proposed an alternative conference venue in a less touristic part of Praque. Based upon experiences from earlier conferences, we wish to perform a tendering process before fixing venue and/or service provider in Prague.

The Council is seeking expressions of interest for the 2011 Conference and beyond and an announcement will be placed in a forthcoming issue of the Bulletin and on the website calling for suggestions.

Histopathology workshop - the production of the CD from the Histopathology workshop in order to reduce costs it was agreed that workshop participants continue to receive the CD covered by the EAFP. In the future, distribution of the CD to all members will discontinue and will be made available via the EAFP website.


Treasurers report
Fees for 2007 – There are still four branch officers who have not been able to provide the necessary information or arrange payment.

Library subscription companies – there are continuing problems with links between subscription company and payments for Institutions.

Problems regarding access to accounts from Germany has improved.

The accounts for administrative support (Lis Knudsen, Aarhus) need to be checked and if payments are outstanding complete these as soon as possible. A possible meeting in Aarhus to negotiate an extended support contract was proposed. Council expressed appreciation of Liz Knudsen’s efforts during the publications officers illness.

Financial updates for the Council are required every 3 months. It was agreed that the Council should investigate the possibility of establishing a secretariat to undertake routine accounting functions starting in 2008. This proposal is to be tabled at the EAFP conference general assembly.

General Secretary report
Elections were successfully held for the German and Slovenian Branch Officers and the Council welcomes them in their new positions.
Call for new Council positions has been published and nominations are in hand.

Eleven branches no updated member lists, 4 underway. A reminder with a deadline will be issued to branch officials and members. Bulletin issue will be discontinued after issue 2 unless notification of payment is received. After removal of non-paying members the list will be provided to NewTeam for guidance on collection of registration fees ie only members in good standing will be entitled to registration at membership rates.

Plans for electronic handbook were discussed. 2 options – web page to be updated allowing for updates of membership details or pdf of membership list for download. Council to review the 2 approaches at the next Council meeting.

Publications Officer
The Council approved the suggestion of DJA, who will digitise the old Bulletin issues up to volume 20 for placement on the EAFP website.

While the publication officer is on sick leave and had already indicated that she would not be standing for a second term in this position. Lis Knudsen (Aarhus Laboratory) has undertaken to manage the distribution and management of manuscripts. The Council gratefully acknowledges her work on this and offers to assist run the normal editorial
process as needed.
Following election protocol, a candidate for a replacement of Publications officer has been received. The new publications officer will visit Aarhus as part of the take-over procedure at a suitable time.

It has not been possible intersessionally to progress planned improvements to the administration systems and EAFP website. However, during the meeting the Council discussed a major upgrade to functionality (membership details, submission of papers, back numbers of the Bulletin and electronic payments) (see 5 above). M Hiney will chair a
group consisting of P Midtlyng, S Bergmann and Nacho de Blas to take this forward. DB suggested his son might offer assistance to the EAFP in this work as a summer job.

Vice President and President.
Student applications for the forthcoming EAFP conference have been received and the details will be forwarded to the local conference organisers. A total of 11 applicants have been approved.

The statutes committee is planning to meet in Hannover in the near future and it is planned to discuss their report at the next Council meeting in Grado and at the conference general assembly.

Council responsibilities
These are in revision pending the outcome of the statutes reappraisal and changes in management of the EAFP discussed above. These will be further discussed the next Council meeting and the conference general assembly in September. It is planned that these will be finalised during the next year with roles primarily having an oversight role for
each area of responsibility, reflecting the increased administrative support planned.

Council Membership – elections for 2007.
The General Secretary, vice president and publications secretary positions are due for election in 2007. A call for nominations for these positions was published in Issue 1 of the Bulletin and concurrently on the website for nominations to be received by 1 April 2007.
The call for new Council positions has been published and nominations are in hand.

The Council acknowledged the need to ensure clarity for the responsibilities for Council positions and of the support provided for these in order to encourage nominations.

The Council agreed the need to approach potential candidates for council positions required in future elections.

Links with PANDA
DJA informed the Council of the recent PANDA meeting held at Cefas Weymouth
Laboratory 20-21st
March 2007 where he represented the EAFP and discussed future links between the EAFP and PANDA. This depends to an extent on future financial support for PANDA but it is hoped that EAFP members will register with the PANDA network. PM
informed the Council of the EAFP forum on the PANDA website and demonstrated the forum on the PANDA website. DJA distributed the literature prepared for the workshop to council members.

Date and location of the next meeting.
The next meeting will be held in Grado at the end of the conference, provisionally the 16th

September 2007.

The meeting closed at 1515.

S W Feist
EAFP Meetings Secretary.

EAFP Council Meeting Stanstead, 3rd October 2006

/

Present: David Alderman (President), David Bruno (vice president), Ellen Ariel (Publications Officer), Paul Midtyling (General Secretary), Sven Bergmann (Treasurer) and Steve Feist (Meetings Secretary).

1. Minutes of previous meeting were approved.
2. Previous action points were reviewed.

3. Meeting Secretary report.

The Conference Scientific Committee is chaired by S Feist and includes members of the Grado Local Organising Committee (LOC), the EAFP Council, the EAFP Bulletin subject editors and informal assistance as needed. The input of latter will be acknowledged in appropriate fashion.

The role of the committee is to advise on possible keynotes. Consult on development of programme, assistance with reviewing abstracts and potentially acting as chairpersons.

There was some discussions on the session titles and workshops.

Budget documents from NewTeam were evaluated. Points for clarification were highlighted and negotiations with the conference organisers will be undertaken.

The Council is seeking expressions of interest for the 2011 Conference and beyond and an announcement will be placed in a forthcoming issue of the Bulletin and on the website calling for suggestions.

4. Treasurer’s report.

Problems with account access for the new treasurer have been identified and are being resolved.

Accounts for 2004 and 2005 will be presented for approval at the Council meeting scheduled for Spring 2007.

Facilities for direct electronic transfer in order to reduce charges associated with bank transfers are now in place and are being encouraged through dialogue with branch officers.

5. General Secretary report.

Membership database has been successfully transferred to Lis Knudsen (Aarhus Laboratory) and is now in Access format. Updates being dealt with efficiently, with good contact with the General Secretary. The Council acknowledges the progress made and agreed to continue to provide financial resource on receipt of quarterly reports. The Council intends to make the membership database more efficient and will enable access to financial information in order to check membership fees etc.

Membership status – There have been 46 new members, 98 lost to the association, giving a total current membership of 990. This reflects a continued decrease in membership in recent years.

The Council reviewed current membership fees. For 2007 will be as follows: Regular members, 50 Swiss Francs (SF), students, 25SF, libraries 120SF, sustaining members 490SF.

The Council agreed to establish a Croatian Branch Officer.

6. Publications Officer.

Approximately 40 submissions to the Bulletin with 35 papers published this year to date. The reduced length of papers has resulted in more papers being published. The editorial board system is working very well. The input of Lis Knudsen in particular for organisation of the Bulletin is gratefully acknowledged.

It was agreed that a project group be established to make proposals for improving present administration systems and the EAFP website. M Hiney previously agreed to chair this group (consisting of P Midtlyng, E Ariel, S Bergmann and Nacho de Blas).

7. Vice President and President.

The Handbook has been updated and is currently in press. Distribution will be with issue 5 of the Bulletin at the end of October 2006.

The Council discussed the composition of the Statutes Committee and the following have been appointed - Inger Daalsgard (Chair), Barry Hill, H-J Schlodfeldt, Brit Bang Jensen and Andy Barnes. It is anticipated that initial proposals for the revised statutes be available for review at the Spring 2007 Council meeting.

8. Council Membership – elections for 2007.

The General Secretary, vice president and publications secretary positions are due for election in 2007. A call for nominations for these positions will be published in Issue 1 of the Bulletin and concurrently on the website for nominations to be received by 1 April 2007.

9. Any other business.

The CD of the Histopathology Workshop from the 2005 Conference has been issued with the latest EAFP Bulletin.

10. Date and location of the next meeting.

The next meeting will be held in Oslo, Norway provisionally for the 25/26 April 2007.

The meeting closed at 15.15.

S W Feist
EAFP Meetings Secretary.

EAFP Council meeting. Grado, 22-23 April 2006.

/

EAFP Council meeting. Grado, 22-23 April 2006.

Preset: David Alderman (President), Maura Hiney (co-opted as Web Advisor), David Bruno (vice president), Steve Feist (Meetings Secretary), Ellen Ariel (Publications Officer), Paul Midtlyng (General Secretary), Sven Bergmann (Treasurer). Marco Galeotti (Chair Local Organising Committee) and Newteam (Conference Organiser Company) (22nd only).

The President opened the meeting at 0915 and welcomed Marco Galeotti as Chair of the local organising committee (LOC) for the EAFP 2007 Conference in Grado to the meeting.


1) The structure of the opening session of the EAFP Conference was discussed.

The local organising committee (LOC) was appointed, led by Prof. Marco Galeotti.

Conference dates were confirmed for 17-21 September 2007. The histopathology workshop will be held during Saturday 22
September at the Conference venue.
Evening visit options and additional tours are to be proposed by the LOC and Newteam. The LOC will act on behalf of the EAFP in negotiations with Newteam but decisions requiring funding beyond set budgets will be referred to the EAFP Council.


2) Discussions with Newteam on the draft agreement were held and suggestions for additional options for standard services were considered. Newteam are to be responsible for ensuring that technical facilities are in place for the conference venue. A website link between EAFP and Newteam will be established in order to facilitate registration. Conference logo and graphic design will be the responsibility of the LOC. The Meetings Secretary will provide a list of responsibilities and timetable for LOC.

A conference scientific committee to include LOC members MG GB (virology) and PBeraldo (bacteriology) were appointed. Further members will be appointed as required to ensure coverage of the main scientific disciplines.


3) The Grado Conference Centre visit and other facilities were visited and were deemed to be acceptable for the requirements of the conference. The LOC will develop a more detailed plan for poster displays in relation to lunch and coffee.
Options and costs for video link from small meeting room(s) to display elsewhere are to be provided by the LOC. Audio visual company options are to be provided by the LOC. Options for additional space for poster display will be investigated.

Villa Romano was found to be an excellent venue for the banquet. The LOC are to confirm that facilities are in place to accommodate up to 300 persons. The proposed civic reception venue (ca’Tullo vinery) was also ideal for purpose and the LOC will investigate sponsorship to support this event.

The Council agreed to provide support for up to 10 students. This will include conference registration, accommodation and the banquet. Applicants must be EAFP members from 2006 or earlier. It was also agreed that Keynote presenters will receive support for conference registration and banquet. Cost recovery will be based on 400 paying participants.

4) General Secretary’s report.
Communications from members on the Statutes and members handbook have been received and it was agreed that a statutes committee be established in order to review and update as appropriate with recommendations to be considered by the EAFP Council at the Spring 2007 Council meeting.

Approximately 700 members currently paid up. An additional 310 yet to pay via branch officers – have been contacted. 30 new members have joined the Association.

There have been requests for ‘What should I do?’ and Histopathology Workshop CD’s. Regarding ‘What should I do?, printing costs for the original edition were provided by the EU. It was proposed that a project group be established, to identify potential funding sources. EAFP funds will be made available to initiate this process. Update existing information and introduce new sections on cyprinid diseases. It was proposed that the head of the project group approach the
Commission on behalf of the EAFP Council to enquire about similar support from the Commission for the updated booklet.


5) Treasurers Report
There are problems with accessing the account following the transfer of responsibility to the current Treasurer. Transfer of the EAFP account from Bergen to Germany (in Euro) is proposed. Electronic re-imbursement of expenses is working successfully. Internet connection costs and subscription for the treasurer to be supported in part by the EAFP.

The Treasurer provided an update of the current financial situation including a summary of the final accounts for the 2005 conference.

7) Meeting Secretary’s report.
As a potential venue for the 2009 EAFP Conference in Prague, the Hotel Pyrimida and Congress Centre were visited. Indicative costs for the Congress Centre are to be requested and possibilities for alternative venues will also be investigated in liaison with the LOC.


8) Publication Officer’s Report.

41 submissions in last 6 months. Approximately 50% accepted. A difference between the types of contribution in the Bulletin and papers presented at the EAFP Conference has been noted, with a majority of parasitology and bacteriology reports being submitted. A system of subject editors has been established to good effect.
Their input is gratefully acknowledged and it was suggested that additional subject editors might be appointed for parasitology and bacteriology papers in particular. Additional financial support for editorial technical support was agreed.

9) President and Vice President’s reports.

Statutes review: The President tabled a draft letter for the members of the statutes committee to consider. The Council agreed to provide financial support for a single days meeting (possibly Copenhagen). The committee are to decide on when best to meet during the revision process. The Chair of the group should attend the EAFP Council meeting in Spring 2007.


10) Members Handbook

Hard copy update to be produced for 2006 (full details). It was agreed that this will be the last hard copy to be produced. The intention is to provide member contact information (without postal address) electronically by 2008. The General Secretary will liaise with D. Alderman and H. –J. Schlotfeldt for the updating of membership details with the aim to distribute the handbook with a forthcoming. Costs for this will be allocated from EAFP funds.


11) EAFP Leaflets and Website.

The leaflet has been updated. It was agreed that present administration systems for membership, website etc need updated. M. Hiney agreed to chair a project group (P. Midtlyng, E. Ariel, S. Bergmann and Nacho de Blas as members) to make proposals with a target implementation date for 1st stage in time for 1 January 2007.

It was agreed that the ‘News and Views’ section will be retained in the Bulletin but should also be included with additional items such as meetings announcements, reports and obituaries on the website.

12) Any other business.
Next meeting scheduled for 3rd October at a venue to be arranged close to Heathrow
airport. The meeting closed at 1800.

S W Feist
EAFP Meetings Secretary Action points

Action point. MG to advise on introductory presentation. Invite sponsors, Head of
veterinary service etc. Decide those to invite for opening session, reception and
Conference dinner. Single presentation at opening ceremony.

Action point. PM to provide written confirmation.

Action point. SWF to provide abstracts as pdf file and develop the programme. Newteam to arrange the printing. Deadlines provided by Newteam for provision of these. LOC to take responsibility for organising packing of conference bags.

(Action point. SWF to provide Newteam with previous registration documents for
information).

Action point. Newteam to revise list of services required, confirm with the EAFP council and develop budget accordingly. This should include an itemised listing of costs. LOC to the identify alternative options for ‘conference organisers’ for comparison and advise on options. It is anticipated that this list will form the basis for LOC responsibilities for future conferences.

Action point. Meetings secretary to amend standard contract to include annexes on list of services required and standard budget. Treasurer to represent the council in negotiations with LOC and Newteam on budget development.

Action point. SWF to confirm with LOC the agreed conference dates and request booking of the conference centre (lunches as buffet to be provided at the conference centre). MH to update website with dates and links for information on Grado.

Action point. SWF to propose after consultation with scientific committee.
Genotyping/virulence factors (Keynote possibility – OIE scientist?), ecological aspects of disease/climate change (large scale), micro scale environmental effects. ‘Standard topics of vir, bact etc.’ Update on sentience in fish/Welfare.

Action point. It was proposed that HJ Schlotfeldt be approached to form a project group, to identify potential funding sources. EAFP funds will be made available to initiate this process. Update existing information and introduce new sections on cyprinid diseases.

Action point. SB to provide a detailed breakdown of the EAFP accounts for the next Council Meeting including the 2004 accounts.

Action point. SWF to ask LOC to investigate alternative venues in Prague or even outside.

Action point. EA to contact new subject editor for bacteriology to update on responsibilities. Action point. DJA to finalise the draft letter and send to the statutes committee. Circulate to the Council by the end of February and following incorporation of comments send to the committee as soon as possible thereafter. Set of recommendations 15 March 2007 in
order to give the Council time to consider at the spring meeting. Release to the EAFP website for the membership for comment at the general assembly at the 2007 conference.

Action point. MH to place a notice on the website calling for comments from the membership for input to the statutes committee.