AGM

We communicate all AGM messages be email. Please ensure that your email address is correct - you can update your details in Edit my contact details. If you are not receiving any email communications from us, please contact [email protected].

You will receive all of the relevant information about attending the AGM, what you will be voting on and how to register to attend the AGM. 

We upload all of the documents relevant to the meeting here. 

Our AGM's are only held online.

Once you have received the instructions for the AGM, you will need to register to attend. 

Clicking the orange button in the email to lets us know you are attending the AGM. If you are planning to attend the AGM you should register in advance, even if you have already voted.

Clicking the blue button on the email communication you receive prior to the AGM allows you to vote in advance of the meeting. You will be asked to appoint a proxy (the Chair of the meeting or another individual) but you can instruct them how to vote on your behalf. You can vote in advance, even if you are planning to attend the meeting.

 

The notice for the AGM is sent out 21 days before the meeting in line with the Companies ACT 2006. Anyone who joins after the notice has been sent may join as an observer but cannot pass comments or vote. This approach is common practice across all sectors. Please contact Mi-Voice [email protected] if you wish to attend as an observer. 

The AGM is run on the Zoom platform. Information about how to log in to participate in the AGM will be included in the joining instructions. If you do not use Zoom regularly you may wish to test your connection by joining a test meeting at https://zoom.us/test

You can log on to attend the meeting from 09:45 on the day of the AGM. In the email containing the details of how to attend, click the button marked Log on to the meeting. This will establish a connection with Zoom and admit you to the meeting. When you log on you should see a screen welcoming you to the AGM and hear some music playing.

During the voting process if you accidentally log out of either the Zoom webinar or the voting site please click the appropriate button in your email to regain access, but remember that once you have cast your votes on all motions you will not be able to access the voting site again. 

If you have any problems with Zoom during the AGM please contact [email protected] or call 023 8076 3987 to speak to someone who will be able to help.  

Attendees will be able to have their camera on if they wish to be seen by other attendees, however all microphones are muted so that speakers are not interrupted and background noise is minimised. If the chair invites a member to speak then their microphone will be enabled. 

As there will be many attendees you might find it helpful to switch from 'gallery view' to 'speaker view' so that you can clearly see the key speakers. Pinning a participant will 'fix' them as the largest video for your view of the meeting. Further guidance is available at: Adjusting your video layout during a virtual meeting – Zoom Support

We ask people not to move around too much while the AGM is happening as it will be distracting for the speakers. 

The Chat function is enabled at the start of the meeting so you can say hello to other attendees.

The Chat function will be switched off shortly after the meeting starts to allow everyone to focus on the business of the meeting. This ensures that we are all part of one single conversation and that vital points of information are not missed. The Chair will allow attendees to take turns to speak as appropriate so that everyone has a chance to express their thoughts and ideas without any distractions.

Use the Q&A function in Zoom to submit a written question, prefacing any questions with a 'Q'. This allows us to easily distinguish questions of business from technical questions about using Zoom or the voting process.

Use the Raise hand function in Zoom if you would prefer to ask your question verbally. If the Chair invites you to speak, we will enable your microphone. At this point you should unmute your microphone and ask your question. Please be concise.

1. Use the chat function in Zoom to submit a written question - Preface any questions with a 'Q'. This allows us to easily distinguish questions of business from technical questions about using Zoom or the voting process.
2. Use the Raise hand function in Zoom if you would prefer to ask your question verbally. If the Chair invites you to speak, we will enable your microphone. At this point you should unmute your microphone and ask your question.

Please keep questions brief and relevant to the subject under discussion at that point in the meeting. If the device you are using to attend the meeting does not have a microphone, please use the Q&A function in Zoom to submit your question in writing.

The information will be emailed out to you. If you are unable to find this email we also upload the documents for the AGM here. 

When we have Special Resolutions we allow the proposers of the resolutions a minute each to give a short introduction to each one.

If you are a voting member you will have received the email, containing two buttons. The first (dark blue) button is to join the AGM. The second (orange) button marked Click here to vote enables you to cast your votes on the motions being considered at the meeting.

You can vote on the motions at any time until the Chair announces that voting has closed. Voting will close shortly before the end of the Question and Answer session.
Votes cast at the meeting will be added to those cast by proxy in advance of the meeting and you will be notified of the results towards the end of the meeting.

The full text of the resolutions is set out in the Notice of Meeting. This is the email that has been sent to you or can be found here.

At your convenience, go through the list of resolutions and cast your votes by simply selecting the direction in which you wish to vote for each resolution.

To access the online voting site, click the orange button marked Click Here to vote from the email you received that gives details on how to attend the meeting. The email will also tell you when you can log on to the voting site from.

When you click the orange button it will open a new tab or window in your web browser to enable you to vote. You can also open the voting application on a different device, such as a phone or tablet if you prefer. You do not need to close the Zoom window to do this.

You can vote on the motions at any time until the Chair announces that voting has closed. Voting will close shortly before the end of the Question-and-Answer session.

To cast a vote, you should click the green Select button to the right of the motion.

On the next screen, choose whether you wish to vote by selecting Yes, No or Abstain. Click the green Next Step button to review your selection.

Click the red button marked Cast My Vote Now to submit your vote for that motion. Once you have submitted a vote for a motion it cannot be changed.

You will see a message saying Vote Recorded and will have a choice of two blue buttons so you can continue voting. Click Next Motion to go directly to the next item or Return to Motions to go back to the voting menu.

When you have voted for a Motion the words Your vote has been recorded will appear next to that motion on the main voting menu screen. When you have voted on all the motions you will see the Vote Recorded screen, but you will no longer be able to return to the voting menu.

If you have previously voted by proxy, your vote will be recorded automatically, and you do not need to take any further action. However, if you wish to rescind your proxy and vote in person on the day you should contact [email protected] immediately with your full name and the email address that your ITI email communications are sent to and they will reset your voting code.

If you have been appointed as a proxy, you will have been contacted separately by Mi-Voice to explain how to cast the votes on behalf of the members who have appointed you.

If you have elected to vote by proxy, your vote will be recorded automatically, and you do not need to take any further action. However, if you wish to rescind your proxy and vote in person at today’s meeting you should contact [email protected] immediately with your full name and the email address that your ITI email communications are sent to and they will reset your voting code.

If you have been appointed as a proxy, you will have been contacted separately by Mi-Voice to explain how to cast the votes on behalf of the members who have appointed you. If you need further adive contact [email protected]. Additional information about proxy voting can be found in a seperate section below.  

We would review your concern with reference to our Articles of Association, which can be found here. The relevant article is Article 35 which is detailed below.  

Article 35: The Board may resolve to enable persons entitled to attend a general meeting hosted on an electronic platform (such meeting being an electronic general meeting) to do so by simultaneous attendance by electronic means with no member necessarily in physical attendance at the electronic general meeting. The members or their proxies present shall be counted in the quorum for, and entitled to vote at, the electronic general meeting in question, and that meeting shall be duly constituted and its proceedings valid if the chair of the general meeting is satisfied that adequate facilities are available throughout the electronic general meeting to ensure that members attending the electronic general meeting who are not present together at the same place, may, by electronic means, attend, speak and vote at it.

 

Members have the option to Abstain on any resolution. An abstention is not a vote in law and is not counted in the results of voting on the resolutions.

You can find out who has given their proxy to the Chair by looking at the AGM minutes.  AGM minutes can be found here.  

Yes, you can from 2023. It will be added to the website for you to view.  Further information to follow.  

If a member has given you their proxy you will receieve a summary of proxy holding from Mi-Voice before the AGM. The table in the summary will show you the names of the members who have appointed you and whether they have instructed you how to vote or left it to your discretion. 

Example  

The vote will be cast automatically when you vote at the AGM. Mandated votes will be cast as instructed. Distrectionary votes will be cast in the same way as your own votes. 

You will still need to register to attend the AGM. 

Any questions about being a proxy please contact:

e: [email protected]
t: 023 8076 3987

Whether or not you plan to attend the AGM, you can appoint a proxy to vote on your behalf. You can instruct your proxy on how to vote or leave it to their discretion. If you are unsure whether you can attend the AGM, appointing a proxy is the safest way to ensure your voice is heard. If you attend the AGM and have appointed a proxy, you can either leave your vote with your appointed proxy or rescind your proxy vote by contacting Mi-Voice before the AGM e: [email protected] t: 023 8076 3987.

AGM minutes from previous years can be found here. 

The restricted fund includes monies given and managed for prizes. 

The amount of the designated fund can be found in the Financial report for the year that you are interested in. The designated fund (sometimes referred to as the City Road Fund) originally came from donations made so that ITI could have premises (the City Road offices). These wer sold in 1998 when ITI moved to Milton Keynes and the residual amount plus interest is in a fund for ITI to use for offices.

In 2022 the Board also added £12,000 to this fund from the surplus. These additional funds were for the sole purpose of marketing and promoting ITI within that financial year. Ring-fencing them ensured this spending was undertaken even though we expected it will be a tough financial year.

The Income and Expenditure account includes the surpluses made in this and previous years and provides a buffer to ensure we can continue to offer all our member services.

There is no legal obligation to publish either the Board Minutes or the Management Accounts, and good governance practice states that these papers should remain confidential to members of the Board. We have therefore removed these documents from the ITI website. Information about ITI's performance can still be found in the published Annual Reports.  

Yes, you can always send an email to [email protected] and ask for the question to be passed on to the CEO who will reply as soon as they can.

You can submit your questions or comments to the Board here. Board members undertake their duties voluntarily but they will do their best to respond to you within 28 days of receiving your form.

Response: Community Languages are important to us as much as the leading language groups. The ITI Board would be more than happy to listen to suggestions from members about how to change the view of Community Languages.  

Response: We don't currently have an ITI member representing ITI at FIT, however, at the next FIT Council elections we can revisit this. 

Hayley Carter-Smith represents ITI at FIT Europe.  

Question: Does ITI have a policy about regional groups’ and networks’ payment to translator colleagues invited to give talks? I’m asking because 2 colleagues have recently told me that they have been asked to do unpaid talks with a regional/subject group. I was quite shocked that an organisation that is supposed to campaign for our working conditions doesn’t appear to have a policy on this, or is it that there’s a policy but the groups aren’t following it? 

Response: ITI doesn’t have a central policy for this because the ITI Networks are all administered by themselves and so are at will to make up their own rules. This is how they have always been run as far as I am aware and I’m inclined to think that if we were to impose any policy upon them that there would be significant pushback. Having said that I think it important that all due respect is paid to anyone who is invited to talk and present to a Network and this should be reflected in the remuneration they are offered and the price that the individuals in the network are prepared to pay. We should not have to rely on the goodwill of a few people to support the rest of the profession.

We have updated the ITI Network Coordinators Guide to say that ITI Networks should always consider how they may remunerate a speaker and should not rely upon their goodwill.

Question: The minutes of the  AGM in 2021 do not include the text of the resolutions, merely the number of the resolution and its vote. This is a serious omission in my view. What are minutes for, if not that? The resolutions were the ‘meat’ of the meeting. Failure to include the text of them is like writing a restaurant review and giving stars to the individual dishes without saying what they actually were.

Please revise the minutes to include the resolution texts and upload the revised version to the voting website.

Response: We cannot change the minutes ot he AGM in 2021 as they have already been submitted for voting upon. However we can add an appendix and will seek to do this when the minutes are posted on the website. We will also ensure that the text of the resolutions is included in the minutes of this year's meeting.

Response: Further information on how to set up an ITI Network can be found here. 

Question: I would like to put forward a request for a new category of Membership tailor made for older members who - having reached retirement age - are eager to carry on working although at a more relaxed pace. We are less interested in Professional Development, and feel it's time to reap the benefits of a lifetime of investing in learning.

Response: ITI went through a long period of change that started in early 2014 and ended in 2016 with the introduction of the Retired Category. This included a motion at the 2014 AGM, Bulletin articles, consultation with members to understand their needs and a period where the Board considered various scenarios. Further information on this category can be found here. 

Question: The chair of the Professional Conduct Committee has now been vacant since I stepped down in 2017 on reaching the age of 70, the age of the statutory presumption of senility in judges. In the absence of a chair there is no Professional Conduct Committee.

Is the Board aware of the potential hazard this apparently permanent vacancy represents?

Does the Board have any plans to appoint a new chair and, thereby, a new PCC? And has the Board taken any steps to identify potential other members of a new PCC?      

Response: At the 2022 AGM we said that we would work on the PCC code and the process this year, unfortunately this hasn’t happened. The reason for this was the amount of time it has taken to recruit a new CEO. The recruitment process is long and involved a lot of work by the current CEO, Board Chair and both vice Chairs. The new CE will pick up this task in the near future.

20/10/2023 - Board member, Lloyd Bingham MITI, will be taking the lead in recruiting a new Chair of the Professional Conduct Committee.

Response: There are a few reasons why we don't hold the AGM at the conference:

• It wouldn't be logistically possible to add the AGM to the conference timetable. This is due to its complexity as an AGM and the complexity of adding it to a conference. It would be more time time-consuming and costly.
• The conference programme is also very full and it wouldn't be appropriate as the conference isn't just for ITI members. We wouldn't want to encroach on an attendee's time at the conference. 
• We are a membership organisation whose members are worldwide. Moving the AGM online allowed us to be inclusive for our whole membership and gives everyone the option to attend the AGM.  

Response: We moved the AGM online several years ago due to the dwindling numbers at the face-to-face AGM. By moving it online we allow all members the opportunity to attend. We would like more members to attend but we feel members don't attend on the day due to previous commitments.

People speak out when they’re not happy, but rarely have something to say when things are going well. When members trust their board and management, they might take a pass on the AGM, knowing the business is in good hands.

The membership has changed over the years and not everyone has a passion for the policy and procedure discussed at AGMs, and that’s okay. 

Yes, we are trialing this approach at the 2023 AGM. Attendees will be able to have their video on if they wish to be seen. 

As there will be many attendees you might find it helpful to switch from 'gallery view' to 'speaker view' so that you can clearly see the key speakers. Pinning a participant will 'fix' them as the largest video for your view of the meeting. Further guidance is available at: Adjusting your video layout during a virtual meeting – Zoom Support

We ask people not to move around too much while the AGM is happening as it will be distracting for the speakers.