NMG overhauls structure
New Mardi Gras (NMG) is overhauling the way its board works ahead of its AGM, which will also see changes to the way members and candidates interact.
The board will no longer be involved in the operations of the company and will limit itself to corporate governance and strategy roles while overseeing the company’s finances.
And a new code of conduct has been drawn up for board nominees, and candidates will no longer be provided with member email addresses.
NMG will create seven new subcommittees — on top of its existing governance, finance, nominations, and audit and risk subcommittees — each to be run by a board member.
The new committees will cover the areas of strategy, women, youth, fundraising, legal and community engagement and will include NMG employees from relevant parts of the organisation.
NMG co-chair Peter Urmson told the Star Observer the organisation was in a state of transition.
“In the past the board has been very hands-on and operational,” Urmson said. “But the board is moving from an operational board to a board of governance so it can focus on the strategy and the direction of the organisation and oversee what’s happening financially to make sure we have those additional controls and measures in place.
“We have reached the point in our maturity that if we don’t do this we won’t necessarily have subject matter experts we need from an operational perspective.”
At the August 6 AGM, members will be again be asked to consider ways of protecting the company’s intellectual property rights, as well as applying for Deductible Gift Recipient (DGR) status.
Co-chair Steph Sands said NMG had been trying to determine how to move forward with intellectual property (IP) protection for almost a decade.
“The board will be taking to the AGM a proposal around IP protection and structure. That will be preceded by a round of community consultation so that by the AGM everyone will have had time to read the material and come back to us with any questions, so it’s a matter of a simple vote yes or no,” she said.
“There will also be a couple of motions regarding the DGR status of the company which will allow us to be, in all cases, a charity.”
At the last AGM Sands told members she would not stand for the board again. However, Urmson told the Star Observer he had asked her to reconsider.
Urmson said as well as the new nominee code of conduct at this year’s AGM — which is voluntary — NMG would consider legal action against any past nominees using the membership base to email members.
“If they’re not standing then that would be considered spamming and they would be contravening the Spam Act and we would follow that through to protect our members,” Urmson said.
info: The New Mardi Gras Members and Community Forum is at 10am on Saturday, June 25 at the new ACON premises at 414 Elizabeth St, Surry Hills. The AGM is in the same venue from 1pm on Saturday, August 6.
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Gosh Oubliette were you wearing an eye-patch when you read my note? You say I was one-sided against Sands. I mentioned her name 4 times and Urmson 3 times. Basic counting aside, your point that they are CO-CHAIRS is good and I’m ever so glad you mentioned it. They are EQUALLY responsible for the disaster that is Mardi Gras. We violently agree which is wonderful and it pleases me to no end.
Thank you so very much for reminding us all about the worst Parade in history. I’d somehow managed to block from my memory how truly awful it was. You are ever so correct about that GOD too. What ever did happen to Mr Jones? Much hoo-hah about his arrival as Lord High Creator but deathly silence and a quick exit for him soon after that horrendous event. We agree on so much. I’ve taken quite a shine to you and I think you should quickly join MG so that like me you can cast a vote and not just an opinion at the AGM. Kisses Darling.
Oubliette I am going to dissect your argument piece by piece to make sure it clear where you have your facts wrong in your response to Possum (who is neither me nor someone I know).
1. Peter Urmson was only Co-Chair for one year Oubliette, whereas Steph Sands has been Co-Chair for the last three years (including a year when there was a good profit and the year when the GREATEST loss ever was made), so I can see why Possum is willing to discuss Steph more than Peter.
2. I have known a number of people on the board though my long time involvement with both Mardi Gras and New Mardi Gras and almost all boards (including the current one) ARE run by the Chair or Co-Chairs as are the Boards of most corporations. Why do you think there is so much bargaining in the lead up to the first Board meeting each year over who gets to be Chair or Co-Chairs.
3. Steph ED: TEXT REMOVED (i.e. her statement that she wouldn’t run again and her recent back-flip on that issue). This is directly related to her capacity to be open, honest consistent, committed and complete her work on the Board.
4. For someone who isn’t a member Oubliette (I am and have been for years) you seem to be willing to protest about Possum’s attack on the Board and to defend a single member of the Board.
5. You aren’t a member and you say that you don’t complain, but you then immediately attack the Parade as setting “the cause back about 1000 years”. The GOD who was meant to save the Parade didn’t do anything as far as I am aware either, but he did draw a salary for work that has always been done in the past by a volunteer (Mitzi did it for three years running for absolutely nothing and when she requested a small amount to cover loss of other income this request was rejected by a board which included Steph who was one of the people who went on to approve hiring the person who replaced Mitzi and his not insubstantial salary).
6. If you aren’t a member of NMG Oubliette then none of the Board members represent you in any way, shape or form. The comments about the performance of a person (Steph) or people (the Board) and their actions are automatically going to be personal attacks. The ‘het world’ as you label it isn’t a monolith and neither is the ‘non-het world’. If we are not willing to ask the sharp questions and turn the spotlight on the actions of the people who we elect (although as a non-member you don’t elect anyone) to head up one of the more public organisations behave, we allow ourselves to be seen as unwilling to face the hard truths.
7. ‘Women Speak Out’ was a great success, but all of a sudden Oubliette you have changed tack, now Steph is the reason that this happened, yet it’s the whole organisation that is behind everything else that happened. You can’t have it both ways. Either Steph is responsible for ‘Women Speak Out’ and the screw ups; or she is NOT responsible for the screw ups nor for ‘Women Speak Out’.
By the way Oubliette; Danielle Harvey and Siri May were the driving forces and the people who made the effort to organise and make Women Speak Out happen, Steph wasn’t behind that little ‘tour de force’. She was in front of it while Siri & Danielle did all of the work, she was simply the Spokesperson. Let’s not confuse getting your face on a lot of posters, the festival guide and almost all of the promotional material and actually doing the work.
Credit where credit’s due indeed.
I love how everyone attacks Steph Sands. Im sorry, is she not a CO-CHAIR? How is it Urmson gets no personal flaming from you? Possum, you seem to be a little biased in your personal attack, I mean critique.
There are MANY people involved in Mardi Gras, and a figurehead (or two) are not the drivers of the board, they are the public face of a larger organisation. Sands is a contract worker to my recollection so not only is your comment on how many jobs she has had (or not had) irrelevant (is that not the nature of contracts?) but it is also spiteful and pretty damn bitchy.
We should keep our comments to their work ON the BOARD.
If you have something to say about Mardi Gras, lets talk about all of us who are NOT members, who bitch and whine at everything they do, and yet are only around when the sun is shining (party season) and not there to do all the shitty work.
I am not a member, so I don’t complain. My biggest issue with Mardi Gras is I think the whole parade sets the cause back about 1000 years. This years parade was so goddamn awful (and where is the “GOD” who was going to save it and make it the best ever??? how come he hasn’t been slandered by you Possum?) that I just watched on in amazement as a community organisation celebrating a significant birthday milestone marched at the back of the parade while irrelevant dross marched in front.
Lets keep comments from being personal attacks on our own representatives. Otherwise lets just let the haters win and remain a minority with no real equality in the majority het world.
Oh, and as a female identified person, I would like to state for the record that Sands has done more to support US and make our voices heard this mardi gras than ever before. Women Say Something was one of the most successful events of Mardi Gras this year. The ONLY relevant event I attended and absolutely sold out. Sands was behind that little tour de force. Credit where it is due friend.
The rest? well, I wouldn’t be a board member and represent our community for all the tea in china.
Oubliette
Hello guys, its been a while. Thank god you have all come out of your hibernation and dare I say it……retirement !
So, do you have your knives ready, I bet you can hardly control yourselves. OMG, NMG is about to go to AGM. Yourdays must have just got so much brighter given they would generally be completely dull if not black.
It amazes many that you actualy think that people think you have anything constructive say , let alone DO. Youhave had your time, move on and get a life in your sad little ‘state’ of affairs.
you are good at personal attacks but actualy contribute NOTHING to the volunteers that have done so much over the year. I guess you think gay marriage should be nothing to say somthing about either. You just dont get it do you.
I heart Possum …. If i could like your comment 1,000,000 times I would !
I HEART Possum.
Mardi Gras, time to call it a day.
Ahhh Winter in Gay Sydney! The glitter of MG has well and truly settled and the mud starts flying!
Instead of attacking Sands and Urmson for their plan to rescue MG by recruiting persons who might actually know what they’re doing, they should be applauded for finally admitting that they’re clueless about how to manage MG’s affairs and doing something proactive about it. Poor old Sands has had a rough trot. Each year she’s sat high on the MG throne, they’ve lost money. When this year’s profit or loss is announced we’ll see whether the self-proclaimed master of the universe Urmson really does have the credentials he claims to drive big business.
It hasn’t been much of a gay old time at MG for a decade now but more of a rocky road since it last went belly up. This last couple of years could most politely be described as a comedy of errors and more correctly be described as a totes buggers muddle. Here’s the Top 10 Highlights:
1. The famous “whoops” that pushed the Parade and Party a week apart followed by the worst attempt at PR spin ever “we planned it this way”.
2. At a time when they were about to lose half a million, the colossal waste of $150,000 in members’ funds on the now forgotten nude photo that was to have put Sydney on the map, like it wasn’t there already. Oprah did a much better job this year anyway. I love Oprah!
3. The loss of $600,000 announced only weeks after co-chair Parker advised members it would be $400,000. He’s one clever cookie.
4. The worst Sleaze Ball ever with that stupid stage in the middle, followed by the quiet exit of the event manager originally heralded as a God when she was hired.
5. The circus that was last year’s pre-AGM election campaign. Megaspam, Facebook wars, lawyers at 20 paces, allegations of proxies being bought and sold, nominations made and withdrawn, threats galore… Truly delicious, more entertaining and more colourful than MG itself.
6. The AGM itself and co-chair Parker’s attack on this very newspaper, closely followed by the editor’s scathing printed response about TRUTH. Star 1, Parker 0.
7. The month-late arrival of this year’s MG guide, and even then they were impossible to find on the street anywhere. Why bother even looking?
8. The cringing embarrassment that was Foxtel’s coverage of the Parade. I considered turning straight out of pure shame.
9. The leaking of confidential financial information by a current board member to the press, and the ensuing witch hunt. Whatever happened about that anyway? Did they catch the culprit and cover it up in their growing file of not-so-secret MG blunders?
10. Sands standing for re-election despite her PROMISE at last year’s AGM not to do so. Having had three or four jobs in three years you’d think she’d concentrate on her worklife more and on MG less. It would have to be better for her and better for MG. Talk about win-win.
Now we’ll just have to wait and see what the annual financial report says. If it’s anything less than a big fat profit, I cannot wait to see how they try to spin it.
But at least co-chairs Sands and Urmson are doing the right thing and trying to recruit people who might actually be able to manage MG. Don’t criticize them for that, it’s the smartest thing they’ve done so far.
So we go back to the Board Structure that was in place when NMG lost so much money in 2009. That would be the Board structure under the Co-Chairs of Nick Parker and Steph Sands that lost over $600 000
Further we see Steph Sands renege on a public promise that she PERSONALLY made to the last AGM.
When are the Board members going to realise that the ‘hands off’ Board doesn’t work?
The funny thing is that I think they have realised it but they want to pretend that things have changed to something new when in fact they are going back to the model that Worked in the early 2000s. By having Board Sponsors on seven committees, the Board will retain complete control of all of the new committees so what will change except for having paid employees do the work that volunteers did in the past and making them all answerable to Michael Rollik?
Finally I am amazed that Mr Urmson who used the membership lists last year to spruik his credentials along with all of the other candidates is now saying that a list openly obtained from NMG can no longer be used and that the organisation will consider taking legal action against people in possession of the list who use it.
How does he intend to frame such an action? The lists of members were not illegally obtained, nor illegally used.
Might I suggest that Mr Urmson pays a lot more attention to his new job and a lot less to the organisation he is about to run away from.