Ecsite-uk
Minutes of the 2008 AGM
Location: The BA Festival of Science, Liverpool
Date: Thursday 11 September 2008

1 Opening of the meeting
Nick Winterbotham, Chair of Ecsite-uk, welcomed all Ecsite-uk members and thanked the BA and The Conservation Centre (NML) for their hospitality.

2 Apologies 
A list of attendees and apologies can be found at the end of these minutes. 

3 Minutes of the 2007 AGM
The Minutes of the 2007 AGM in York were approved.

4 The Chair’s report by Nick Winterbotham

Nick Winterbotham began by summarising that two events had dominated the year: 
1.	The appointment of the new Director. Welcome to Dr Penny Fidler 
2.	The House of Commons Inquiry

The House of Commons Inquiry
Linda explained that Ecsite-uk has been working hard over a long period first through Colin Johnson, then through John Durant to prove that science centres are worth supporting and are doing an excellent and cost-effective job. She stressed that Ecsite-uk has been pursuing a concentrated and concerted effort over a considerable time in terms of meeting with civil servants, lobbying, and more general profile raising.

In summary:
•	The outcome of the enquiry is expected (optimistically) in October.
•	The spirit was friendly and warm and approving of what we already do. 
•	The Ministers were newly appointed to the posts.
•	The support from the Wellcome Trust was very powerful and positive for us.
•	Linda wrote immediately to the Minister and is awaiting a response regarding a future meeting.
•	Civil servants are now extremely keen to see how our outreach project (SCEAG) progresses, as an example of what we can do.
•	A future major challenge for Ecsite-uk is to get consistent data collection so we can prove in a robust way that what we are doing works.

The sustainability of projects
Linda reported that it is very encouraging that many of our projects take on a life of their own once the actual funded project has finished – for example the dialogue work, facilitation training and meet the scientist is becoming part of other projects. It is clear we learn from these projects, collaborate, disseminate and adhere to best practice.

Linda encouraged members to look at the Ecsite-uk website which has a whole host of information about all the Ecsite-uk projects.

Presentation by Dr Penny Fidler, Director

Penny Fidler gave a PowerPoint presentation giving an overview of the past year (the different activities that Ecsite-uk has been involved with since the last AGM).
 
Penny highlighted the spread and diversity of members across the UK. This was also represented using new maps that Penny had commissioned as part of Ecsite-uk’s reporting to Government (promoting a unified network, highlighting Government regions etc), demonstrating how as a network we can work at a regional and national level. 

In terms of the DIUS Science and Society Strategy: our messages to Government are that we are a UK-wide network that have physical spaces and can act as hubs. We have 19.5 million visitors each year, who are not just made up of school children. We work actively with other networks e.g. the BA. And we could therefore contribute more to a national strategy.

Lobbying – Select Committee Report & response from Ecsite-uk

Penny also talked of the Inside DNA project being developed by At-Bristol on behalf of Ecsite uk. This is funded by The Wellcome Trust with support from The Sanger Institute. It launches on 29 November and eight Ecsite-uk centres will have the opportunity of hosting the Exhibition as part of the project.

She went on to say “we’re poised at an exciting time in science and science engagement with some major global challenges to address in the immediate future, such as reducing carbon emissions, securing water supplies and ensuring the health and vitality of our ageing population. We need to inspire a new cohort of science specialists as well as increasing the scientific literacy of the population and creating opportunities for dialogue within society relating to all matters of science.

The UK network of science centres represents an extraordinary resource for the future of science in this country, and we are perfectly placed to deliver a number of strategic objectives on behalf of the government and other partners”

She closed by saying that Ecsite-uk is about people and partnerships and talked of her desire to work closely with all the Ecsite-uk members, as well as other national networks such as the Science Learning Centres, The Beacons for Public Engagement, STEMNET and a host of other partners.

5 Treasurer’s report
Peter Trevitt reported finances for 2006. 

He began by thanking the BA who host the Ecsite-uk finances and submit them to The Charity Commission. This is an important contribution to Ecsite-uk administrative life and we particularly thank John Gagg for all his work.

Thanks to Dr Ros Mist and Dr Louise Webb for their tremendous work, including their attention to detail in the accounting of projects, their effort, extra hours and dedication.

2006 (calendar year)
•	Core made £3K surplus (against budgeted loss of 30K).
•	Projects contributed £50-60K.
•	Overall, £96K surplus against a budgeted value of £23K.
•	Adding to the reserves, this is a very healthy situation.

The Position is strong and this year we are doing well against the targets

 Longer term trends
•	Ecsite-uk has been steadily building up a reserve. 
•	There has been increasing activity on projects from £50K in 2003 to £307K in 2006 
•	It is likely that this will drop back in the coming year as there are currently fewer projects in the pipeline
•	Core is reliant on support from OSI and the Wellcome Trust: we need to ensure that the fundamental organisation at the heart of these networks – Ecsite-uk - can get on-going core support

6 Elections to the committee 
Official Thanks
•	Linda noted that she will be stepping down after 6 years on the Committee and 2 years as Chair. 
•	Gillian Pearson will be stepping down after 6 years on the committee, and as deputy Chair. Many thanks particularly on constitutional matters.

•	Thank you also to the Treasurer, and to Roland Jackson for hosting Ecsite-uk, and John Gagg for his financial assistance.

•	Also thanks to Dr Jenny Search for the project development work on Inside DNA.
•	Rachel Simmons who has kept the admin up to date and made all the arrangements for this AGM – Many thanks.
•	Martin Glancy for great work on the web site.
•	Simon Chambers for his work on SCEAG management.
•	And particular thanks Ros and Louise for their excellent work particularly over the past 7 months.

Voting introduction

Ecsite-uk’s statutes specify a Committee composed of:
•	The Chair 
•	8 -10 members (8 elected and up to 2 more co-opted), 
•	The Chief Executive of the BA, Roland Jackson

Committee members must be re-elected after a two year term. The following Committee members were elected last year and therefore are not up for re-election.
•	Heather Mayfield, Science Museum, London
•	Stuart Monro, Our Dynamic Earth, Edinburgh
•	Peter Trevitt (Treasurer), Techniquest, Cardiff

The AGM was presented with nine candidates for election or re-election to five open positions. The candidates were as follows: 

1.	Kelvin Boot, National Marine Aquarium, Plymouth
2.	Vicky Brightman, Horniman Museum
3.	Robin Hoyle, Glasgow Science Centre
4.	Phil Winfield, Intech Science Centre
5.	Goéry Delacôte, At-Bristol
6.	Sean Gaffeny, Museum of Science and Industry, Manchester
7.	Judith Harvey, W5, Belfast
8.	Ian Simmons, Centre for Life, Newcastle
9.	Leigh-Anne Stradeski, Eureka! The Children's Museum, Halifax

Ballot papers were distributed and votes (including proxies) cast. 

Election Results
The following members were voted onto the Committee: 
•	Kelvin Boot, National Marine Aquarium, Plymouth
•	Goéry Delacôte, At-Bristol
•	Sean Gaffaney, Museum of Science and Industry, Manchester
•	Judith Harvey, W5, Belfast
•	Leigh-Anne Stradeski, Eureka! The Children's Museum, Halifax

They join those already on the Committee: 
•	Heather Mayfield, Science Museum, London
•	Stuart Monro, Our Dynamic Earth, Edinburgh
•	Peter Trevitt (Treasurer), Techniquest, Cardiff
•	Roland Jackson, the BA

The following member was co-opted by the Committee later in the day.
•	Phil Winfield, Intech Science Centre, Winchester 

The new Chair of Ecsite-uk 
The current Chair, Linda Conlon, officially handed over to Dr Nick Winterbotham, CEO of Thinktank, Birmingham to take up his position as the new Chair of Ecsite-uk. 

The AGM was followed by a discussion led by Nick Winterbotham, the new Chair.

List of Attendees to the 2007 AGM

First Name	Last Name	Company	
Bob	Bloomfield	The Natural History Museum	
Linda	Conlon	Centre for Life	
Goéry	Delacôte	At-Bristol	
Penny 	Fidler	Ecsite-uk	
Alan	Fielding	Prodir Ltd	
Sean	Gaffaney	Museum of Science and Industry	
John	Gagg	the BA	
Judith	Harvey	W5	
Noel	Jackson	Centre for Life	
Colin	Johnson	Ecsite	
David	Morgan	Thomas Hardye School	
Rosalind 	Mist	Ecsite-uk	
Stuart	Monro	Our Dynamic Earth	
Gillian	Pearson	The Oxford Trust	
Kirk 	Ramsay	Glasgow Science Centre	
James	Rudoni	The Science of…	
Angela	Ryde-Weller	INTECH	
Ian	Simmons	Centre for Life	
Leigh-Anne	Stradeski	Eureka! The Museum for Children	
Alice	Taylor-Gee	the BA	
Naomi	Temple	Royal Institution	
Peter	Trevitt	Techniquest	
Louise 	Webb	Ecsite-uk	
Nick	Winterbotham	Thinktank	

Ecsite-uk AGM, 13 September 2007, List of apologies	
				
First name	Last name		Organisation	
Matthew 	Beck		Magna	
Colin 	Brown		The Deep	
Jodie	Cole		the BA	
Karl	Hansen		The Living Rainforest	
Robin	Hoyle		Glasgow Science Centre	
Roland	Jackson		the BA	
Ben	Johnson		Graphic Science	
Tom	Mason		Armagh Planetarium	
Steph	Mastoris		National Waterfront Museum	
Heather 	Mayfield		Science Museum	
Sally 	Montgomery		W5	
Ian	Thomas		National Stone Centre	
Janet	Vitmaner		Horniman Museum	
Philip	Winfield		INTECH	
Kelvin 	Boot		National Marine Aquarium	
Joanne 	Ward		Office of the Chief Scientific Adviser	
Isabel	Bruce		Office of the Chief Scientific Adviser