Team Charter

Mission Statement

The Birmingham Furs organising team has been formed to organise the regular Birmingham Furmeets, to ensure that everyone who attends the meets has fun (including ourselves!), to handle issues which may arise regarding the meets, and to resolve queries from our attendees. We also, where relevant, represent the community in Birmingham and the surrounding areas, and promote our local community to the wider fandom.
 

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These are the organisers as of 21st November, 2023:
 

• Mazzy

• Gamepopper

• Gops

• Rufe

• Torikabuto

 

Our commitment to attendees...

• We organisers want all of our attendees to have as much fun as possible. These are your meets as much as ours.

• We all have a role in making attendees feel welcome and accepted in our group.

• Therefore, we commit to making these meets as fun and as friendly for you as possible.

• We will be friendly and approachable to everyone, whatever their background, both in person and online.

• We will treat everyone in our Birmingham Furs community with respect.

• We will uphold our Meet Code of Conduct, fairly and justly.

• If you have a comment about the meets, we will listen to you, and if necessary, we will work with you towards a solution.

• If you feel that an organiser is not upholding this commitment, you may speak to the Management Team, or appropriate Team in complete confidence.

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Teams

We have different teams. Tasks are divided between teams, playing to everyone’s strengths. A role may be shared by two or more organisers or teams.
Despite these Teams, all organisers help one another. We are one team overall. If an organiser makes a reasonable request for help, we will offer help.
Each organiser has equal standing in the overall team. There is no ‘head organiser’ or ‘chairperson’.

Our roles are as follows:

Management

• Setting the overall direction of the team

• Ensuring that all organisers are happy in their roles

• Updating the team To-Do List

• Maintaining the meet inventory

• Keeping a record of lost and found property

• Approving meet expenditure and finances

• Maintaining the team documentation

• Writing and reviewing the meet Code of Conduct, in discussion with all organisers

• Writing and reviewing this Team Charter, in discussion with all organisers

• Chairing and facilitating team meetings

• Taking notes/minutes at team meetings

• Keeping a record of organiser and attendee feedback, to ensure it is actioned

• Leading on Public Relations matters

• Representing the Birmingham Furs at the UK Furmeet Roundtable

• Monitoring staff levels, and recruiting new organisers, in consultation with other heads of department

 

Venue

• Finding, contacting, and liaising with host venues and potential host venues

• Being the first point of contact between organisers and the venue (and by extension, between attendees and the venue)

• Agreeing on future meet dates with the venue

• Resolving any venue-related issues

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Attendee

• Investigating more important queries and issues

• Acting as moderators in attendee disputes, working towards a solution

• Ensuring that meet Code of Conduct is being followed

• Issuing warnings and bans, ideally during the relevant meet, and after discussing with all organisers present

• Identifying new people who are interested in attending

• Contacting these new people before the meet

• Directing them to the pre-meet or to the venue

• Helping them feel welcome and integrated in the group

• Arriving early at the Pre-Meet location, ideally by 11am.

• Meeting and greeting furs at the Pre-Meet.

• Leading those gathered to the venue at 12 noon.

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Communications

• Announcing future meet dates

• Posting event details online

• Posting final important information online, including last-minute plans and weather details, in the week before the meet

• Writing the Post-Meet Post

• Making other public announcements

• Monitoring social media related to the meets (Facebook, Twitter, Telegram, Instagram, etc.)

• Answering quick questions

• Adding people to groups, ‘liking’, ‘following’, ‘retweeting’, etc.

• Identifying online matters which the whole team need to discuss, and bringing them to the team’s attention

• Providing a website for the Birmingham Furs

• Communicating with web designers, if necessary

• Keeping the website up to date, alongside the Management Team

• All associated website matters (e.g. web hosting)

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Art

• Leading and providing input on matters of art, design, and theming

• Arranging theming for special meets (e.g. Christmas, Halloween, Park Party)

• Arranging the Artist Alley

• Working with the Art Team on general design matters

• Finding Guest Artists as necessary

• Creating art, pictures etc. for furmeet use

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Fursuit

• Leading on fursuit-related queries

• Overseeing the fursuit area, setting up fursuit area equipment at the start of the meet, and taking it down at the end

• Ensuring that fursuiters are happy and comfortable, and that the area’s rules are being followed

• Agreeing the route for the fursuit walk

• Bringing radios and high visibility jackets for walk watchers

• Deciding, by 2pm on the meet day, whether a walk should be cancelled due to weather

• Managing the Walk Watchers

• Deciding how many Walk Watchers are needed for a particular walk, and finding them

• Deciding ‘which Watchers go where’ in the parade (front, middle, back)

• Briefing Watchers and volunteers ahead of the walk

• Leading the fursuit walk (The Head of the team is the final authority for all decisions during the walk.)

• Co-ordinating the Watchers during the walk, for example ensuring road crossings are covered

• Arranging rest-stops for fursuiters

• Holding a debrief, if deemed necessary, for all Watchers and volunteers after the walk

• Leading the Setup and Takedown Team

Some organisers are responsible for volunteer teams. The volunteer roles, and their respective departments, are:

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• Setup and Takedown Team - Fursuit

• Walk Watchers - Fursuit

• Guest Artists - Art Team

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Enquiries

Queries from attendees should be directed to the relevant organiser(s). If we receive a query related to another organiser’s role, we will pass on that query to the relevant organiser. To summarise:

• Venue: Venue

• Fursuiting: Fursuit

• New Attendees: Attendee

• Social Media: Communications

• Art, Design, Theming: Art

• Anything else: Attendee

 

Minor Matters

A minor matter is a question that can be answered quickly, or a matter that can be resolved quickly (i.e. with a simple ‘do this’ or ‘don’t do this’).
 

• Any organiser is free to handle a minor matter.

• This freedom also applies to walk watchers, during the fursuit walk.

• The organiser will them raise the minor matter at the next post-meet chat.

• If the matter becomes more complex or begins to escalate, the organiser will contact the Attendee Team.

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Frequency of Meets

We will organise one meet every month of the year, with the exception in May, due to Confuzzled.
We may organise other meets from time to time.

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Organiser attendance at Meets

Organisers will attend most meets. They do not have to attend every meet, however.
On a meet day, they will stay at the meet venue as much as possible, so they are on hand to help attendees.
All organisers at a meet will be available and contactable from 1200 to 1900 (12 noon to 7pm).
If an organiser cannot attend a meet, they need to find another organiser to cover their role(s).
 

Team Chats

The team will hold voice chats:
 

• To discuss important matters

• To review previous meets, and

• To plan for upcoming meets

These chats will be held via Discord or another appropriate voice app:
 

• The Monday before each meet at 7:30pm

• The Monday after each meet at 7:30pm

The chats will go ahead once a majority or organisers are in attendance

The Management team will prepare an agenda for each chat.

As important matters will be discussed, it is beneficial for all organisers to attend. If an organiser is unable to attend, and a relevant matter is on the agenda, they will make a report and ask another organiser to share it.

A member of the Management team (or a nominated deputy) will chair and facilitate team chats (in other words, keep them running).

The Management Team will send out notes/minutes within 3 days of each chat.
In addition, there is an ongoing Telegram text chat, where quick or important matters can be raised.
 

Decision Making

Any organiser can put forward a suggestion. Suggestions not covered in the Teams above are particularly welcome.

The Management Team will keep a record of suggestions, and will put reasonable suggestions to a vote. The Management Team cannot make a decision by Themself.
A majority vote is needed to make a decision.
This Charter itself can be amended in the same way.

The exceptions are:

• Approving new team members (as the last stage in the recruitment process), when all continuing organisers must agree

• Organiser dismissal (see below).

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Organiser Dismissal

An organiser can only be dismissed in extreme circumstances. This might include zero attendance at meets or chats for a number of months, zero contribution to meet organisation, or serious misconduct.
The remaining organisers must agree unanimously that dismissal is necessary, and they must state their case to the person in question.
The person in question has a right to appeal. After hearing the appeal, a final vote will be taken among the other organisers. This vote must be unanimous among the other organisers.
 

Organiser Resignation

If an organiser is considering resigning, they should consider discussing the reasons with their team-mates before making a final decision.

If the organiser still wishes to resign, they will serve a notice period up to and including the team chat after the following meet.
 

Approval

This Charter was approved by all organisers as of 2022.

Gamepopper, Gops, Torikabuto, Mazzy, Rufe
The Birmingham Furs Organisers