MINUTES OF THE EACD GMC MEETING HELD AT TIVOLI HOTEL, COPENHAGEN Present Giovanni Cioni (GC) Chairman EACD Arnab Seal (AS) Secretary EACD Jenny Carroll (JC) Treasurer EACD Bernard Dan (BD) Member (Chair Scientific Committee) Nicola Joleff (NJ) Member (Newsletter Editor) Alain Chatelin (AC) Co-opted parent member Oleh Kachmar (OK) Co-opted member (Education Website) Jens Bo Nielsen (JBN) President Copenhagen Meeting 2015 Ann-Christian Eliasson (ACE) President Stockholm Meeting 2016 Jules Becher (JB) President Amsterdam Meeting 2017 Invited attendees Goran Krakar (GK) Chair Nomination Committee (for 30 minutes) Ann-Marie Halligan (AMH) MacKeith Press (present for 30 minutes) Apologies Guro Andersen (GA) Member Friedrich Brandstetter (FB) Past President Vienna Meeting 2014 The meeting was opened on 28 May 2015 at 08:00hrs by Giovanni Cioni. Apologies were received from GA and FB. GK attended for the Nomination Committee discussions and AMH attended for the discussions on the renewal of contract with MacKeith Press. Previous minutes and matters arising The Minutes from the Mid-Term GMC Meeting held at Stockholm were read and accepted without any changes. All matters arising from the minutes have been covered in the discussed items. Chairman s Report (GC) GC welcomed the new members to the GMC and reflected on his one year in office. Secretary s Report (AS) AS reported that there were currently 384 active members and there were expected to be an additional number added at the end of the Copenhagen Conference. GMC members suggested that the renewal letter sent out to members when their membership expires should mention the benefits of being a member of the EACD and the sense of belonging to a community with a purpose. AS tabled a draft of the role of the Secretary for discussion by members of the GMC. An additional point suggested one inclusion was that of the secretary s role in ensuring Page 1 of 8
compliance with the constitution, rules and regulations for any meeting, negotiation or action that the EACD is involved in. AS discussed the current policy around reimbursement of expenses. The mid-term meeting expenses for committee members are reimbursed in full. The annual meeting expenses are partly covered by the EACD for the day of the GMC meeting, the conference costs are waived by the local organising committee; however the accommodation cost, subsistence cost and transport costs can be significant in addition to obtaining leave to attend the conference. AS proposed that the EACD should reimburse members up to a capped amount if the member has not been able to obtain reimbursement from their employing organisation or other funding source. GC pointed out that the annual conference gains from the GMC members chairing sessions, providing lectures and workshops, helping with practicalities of organisation, judging posters and other additional roles. AC mentioned that his work on behalf of the EACD often means travelling to different countries but he is not fully reimbursed. It was agreed that the EACD will consider reimbursement of expenses for annual meetings and other activities related the core business of the EACD. JC and AS will collaborate to produce a draft policy regarding reimbursement of expenses. AS will alter the renewal letter which goes out to members for membership to include the benefits of membership and the advantage of belonging to a community with a shared vision and purpose. AS will alter the receipt which is sent to members when they renew their membership. This will acknowledge the payment but also state clearly that the person is now a member of the EACD. AS will alter the draft document on the role of Secretary EACD and present to the GMC members by email for approval. JC and AS will produce a draft Guideline on Reimbursement of Expenses. Treasurer s Report (JC) In the financial year ending 31 March 2015 the EACD Income was 62,509 this included subscriptions from two years annual meetings and their profits/losses. The Expenditure in the same period has been 51,151 this includes two loans to the annual meeting in Vienna and Copenhagen, the food expenses for Vienna which the EACD subsidised, additional VAT expenses from Vienna and bursaries. There was a surplus of 11,358. The current total funds are 154,604. The EACD now has 50,000 put in a Virgin Money Account which has yielded better interest. A second 50,000 cheque is being put into the Virgin Money Account. The IAACD expenditure was provided in full. The main expenditure has been supporting Hans Forrsberg to travel to the USA. The EACD also subsidised the cost of Diane Damiano s attendance at the East African Congress. Paul Gorham is the current scrutineer and has scrutinised the accounts. Page 2 of 8
Copenhagen Meeting (JB) JB reported that there were 557 registrations and 17 cancelations to date. He provided a breakdown of the current registrations. This included 105 physicians, 256 non-physicians, 43 parents and children. There have been 215 abstract submissions, 120 have been accepted for poster presentations and the rest for oral presentations, 3 dynamic posters (on television screens) are being showcased. The video recording and production of slides is being done by the Copenhagen team. The requisite permissions and signed consent will be obtained by JBN. There have been 8 applicants for the bursaries and 6 have been provided. JB will provide the email addresses of the bursary recipients to NT. NT will ask them for contributions to the newsletter. At present the Copenhagen meeting budget is in deficit of just over 130,000. This is likely to change as there will be further day registrations through the course of the meeting. However it is anticipated that there will be a deficit. JBN reported that he has been in touch with The Helene Elsass Foundation and the University of Copenhagen for additional funding to manage the deficit. Sponsorship details for the conference were also presented by JBN. The lessons learnt by the EACD from the Copenhagen Conference are a. The cap on subscription fees should be clear at the time of the initial bid process. b. The financial obligations of the local organising committee and the EACD should be clear at the initial bid process. c. The venue costs are the most significant cost followed by the catering and organisation. If these are actively managed the finances will be easier to manage and the conference is unlikely to run into deficit. d. The EACD should create a website and apps which can be used by successive Annual Meeting Organising Committees e. There should be a budget tool which outlines the possible expenses for local organising committees to consider. This should also include the projected attendances based on past experience and the distribution of members who attend the conference i.e. physicians, non-physicians, students, parents etc. The GMC provided approval for OK to explore the requirements of a suitable website for the EACD and apps which can be used during the programme. OK will liaise with JBN and FB regarding this. JC will produce a budget tool with clear guidance regarding main expenses, revenue sources and measures which local organising committees can take to reduce costs and attain fiscal balance. Page 3 of 8
AS will liaise with Lindsay Pennington, President of the Newcastle Meeting requesting the production of an Annual Conference Handbook to help future organisers. Stockholm Meeting ACE provided details of the Stockholm meeting including the proposed scientific programme and projected costs. The abstract reviewing process was discussed for the Copenhagen meeting. All GMC Members, National Coordinators and Scientific Committee Members were requested to review abstracts. In total there were 43 reviewers. Two people reviewed each of the abstracts and then there was further review by BD as Chairman of the Scientific Committee and JBN as the President of the Meeting. BD reported that not all NCs agreed to participate in the process. It was suggested that in future contacting the GMC, NC and SC Members well in advance with a clear timeframe (i.e. dates and expectations of what is required) would help in getting more members to participate. ACE reported that the Stockholm team had developed their own marking system. The EACD has a current marking system which is in use. ACE and BD will agree on the scoring system to be applied. ACE reported that the average expected attendance fee would be 450. The GMC suggested that this was far in excess of the optimum fee structure which should be 400 for non-physicians and 550 for physicians as the early registration fees, this includes the 50 EACD Annual Subscription Charge. The late registration fees are 50 in addition for each category. ACE will discuss this with the local organising committee and agreed to try and obtain more funding in order to try and bring down the costs. The GMC suggested that the local organising committee should actively look for cheaper accommodation options including the possibility of cheaper hotel contracts, availability of apartments and any other options which would reduce the attendance cost at the conference. It was noted that this is a longer conference lasting four days as opposed to the usual three-day EACD Conference. This is due to the conference being a joint one with the ICPS and the IAACD. ACE and BD will agree a scoring system both for the abstracts submitted to Stockholm. meeting in 2016 BD will inform potential reviewers well in advance regarding timeframes, scoring systems and numbers to ensure better participation from potential reviewers. ACE will actively work on trying to reduce the registration fees to conform with the EACD strategy of keeping the registration fee relatively constant in order to help members attend. ACE will liaise with AC to ensure appropriate parent participation in the programme. AC suggested that local parent groups should be contacted early to encourage their participation and the programme can be managed accordingly. In the event that local parent groups were not forthcoming then AC offered to organise parents from other Page 4 of 8
countries in the EU to attend the conference to provide sessions on topics which would be priority areas for parents. AC and ACE will collaborate regarding this. It was suggested that ACE is included in the Scientific Committee of the Stockholm Meeting to ensure appropriate parent teams across the whole programme. Amsterdam Meeting 2017 JB presented the Amsterdam meeting whose motto would be Steps Into the Future. JB proposed that this meeting was combined with the EEMcpdm. There was discussion regarding the pros and cons of doing this. The GMC gave JB and Hans Forssberg the mandate to further explore this option and then bring back the proposal with additional details to the GMC. The GMC confirmedregistration price guidelines to JB. This is already outlined above. JB was also asked to provide budget details and a more detailed scientific programme. JB provided some budget details. There is a significant venue cost, food cost and organisation cost. Help was offered by the GMC to try and help the local organising committee to reduce the costs. JB will contact JC with further budgetary details for advice on how to reduce costs. Proposal bids for 2018 There have been two proposal bids received including Switzerland and Georgia. The details of the bids were discussed including strengths and weaknesses. AS to discuss with each bid committee the financial responsibilities that they would be required to take on and also discuss with them the requirements for keeping low registration fees and specific issues relating to the bids. Scientific Committee BD reported on the role of the Scientific Committee the final document regarding this has already been uploaded in the Policy Section. The GMC felt that it was important for any country bringing an initial bid for a conference to provide details of the Scientific Programme. GC will produce a Draft Guidance regarding this which will be incorporated in the Proposal Bid Information. Based on the feedback from Past Presidents and the current President it was agreed that there should be regular contact between the Chair of the Scientific Committee and the President of the Annual Meeting. This should be at least every two months and the preferred format would be over Skype. The GMC discussed whether other members of the Scientific Committee could take a more active role and responsibilities could be delegated from the Chair of the Scientific Committee. At present ACE is heavily committed to the 2016 conference and Page 5 of 8
therefore would not be able to provide any additional support for future conferences. It was agreed that BD would continue to provide the main input from the Scientific Committee. BD to ensure that there is a two-monthly meeting with all local scientific committees as this has been an area identified by past presidents as being deficient. GC to produce a guideline for countries providing an initial bid regarding the minimum amount of detail that they would need to produce regarding the Scientific Programme. Education Website OK demonstrated the Education Website and the new lectures and material added to the site. OK agreed to produce an initial scoping document regarding production of an EACD dedicated webpage and software. OK will produce a scoping document on an EACD dedicated webpage and software and subsequent costing estimate. Newsletter NJ reported on the production of 3 newsletters per year. These constitute a premeeting, post-meeting and one prior to Christmas. GMC members suggested various ideas by which the current newsletter could be made more interesting and attractive. Family task force AC reported that in spite of his efforts to liaise with the local parent group in Copenhagen there was limited involvement and there hasn t been a consistent parent strand running through the programme. He was keen to ensure that the Stockholm programme is more compliant. AC will be on the committee of the Stockholm Meeting and will also liaise with ACE regarding contact with local parent groups. AC reported that parents had not heard back from the CP Guideline Group. The parents had been requested to be involved in Vienna but subsequently there had been no communication. GC fed back that the work had stalled due to illness affecting the person leading the work but this would now restart. Further details are provided under the IAACD Section. IAACD GC fedback that he and Hans Forssberg have been the two people representing EACD on the Steering Group of the IAACD. The other people on the Steering Page 6 of 8
Committee include Diane Damiano, Robert Armstrong, Rich Stevenson, Sarah Love, Darcy Fehlings and James Rice. At the last Steering Group Meeting there were discussions regarding whether the IAACD should have a constitution or a loose Memorandum of Understanding (MOU). GC reported that both the Australian and the American Academy were more in favour of the latter. The issue was discussed by the GMC and a greater proportion of members favoured the latter option i.e. a loose Memorandum of Understanding. It was acknowledged that there would be pros and cons of each arrangement and appropriate legal advice should be obtained prior to making any decision. GC reported that the committee for the Global Best Practice Guideline has been agreed. It will be led by Iona Novak. So far the other members of the group suggested have been Darcy Fehlings and EACD will nominate Ilona Autti-Ramo and Hilde Feys. This is providing that the AGM of the EACD approves this. The Global Professional Education Programme in Childhood Disability received nominations of 2 people from each of the founding academies, the AACPDM has put forward Mauricio Delgado, Diane Damiano; the Australian ACPDM has proposed Sarah Love and James Rice and the EACD has proposed Arnab Seal and Jenny Carroll. The Steering Committee had nominated AS to Chair this group. The first task of the committee will be to make a plan for future work including different activities and then subsequently budget for these activities. The nominations would need to be also confirmed by the EACD AGM. Nomination Committee Goran Krakar attended the GMC meeting on behalf of the nomination committee. He presented an up to date situation of GMC post-holders. The secretary post is up for reelection. There have been no nominations for this post. AS agreed to stand for reelection. GK identified that there were multiple posts which would require nomination in 2017. There would need to be careful planning to try and stagger these are it might destabilise the GMC if there were a large number of new members. The posts include that of the current Chairperson (could be re-elected), the current Treasurer, the Newsletter Editor and the current Chair of the Scientific Committee, the latter three posts cannot be re-elected as it is their second term. NJ said that she intends stepping down in 2016. This will allow one of these posts to be staggered. This member post is usually from the UK as it helps with signatures for financial transactions. The GMC agreed that this arrangement should continue and N will help Dido Green from the Nomination Committee look for a suitable UK-based person to nominate for the post. It is anticipated that this person will also take on the task of Newsletter Editor. Page 7 of 8
MacKeith Press Agreement (MKP) Ann-Marie Halligan (AMH) from MacKeith Press attended the GMC. She had circulated a draft agreement which had been discussed by the GMC earlier in the day. The GMC informed AMH that the EACD would not be able to share the email addresses or personal details of its members but would be happy to circulate any email correspondence or marketing material to its members via its newsletter. The EACD GMC also pointed out to AMH that the proposal of MKP having first refusal on material such as guidelines, educational content and systematic reviews sponsored by the EACD would require clear interpretation, particularly when these materials are produced under the International Alliance of the Academies of Childhood Disability. The proceeds of meetings under the auspices of IAACD or any guideline educational content or systematic reviews created under the IAACD umbrella could not be offered to MKP for first refusal. All the other areas of the contract were agreed. AMH will redraft the proposal and the final proposal will be signed and accepted by the EACD subject to approval by the AGM. EU Liaison and EU Parliament BD reported that there has been no further contact regarding the EU liaison but there is a new chair and BD will make further contact. BD has been involved in more parliamentary activity and has represented EACD. BD reported that cerebral palsy is not formally recognised as a condition by the EU and there is lobbying and moves towards getting this recognised and acknowledged. East European and Geographical Task Force This was not discussed due to lack of time. There has been little activity due to instability in the region. Date and time of next meeting The date of the next Mid Term Meeting is Sunday November 29th from 1 pm to Monday 30th November 1pm in Amsterdam. Page 8 of 8