LRPWNG By-laws

Amended and Consolidated 2011
    Adopted Feb 2011

The Lakewood Ranch Professional Women’s Networking Group is a non-competitive, women-only networking business organization that has been organized for the purpose of assisting its members in the growth and support of their respective businesses.

Membership
Only one membership per non-competitive business category is allowed in the Group.  A member in good standing must:

• Have good business ethics
• Respond to electronic meeting invitations
• Arrive on time, and be present for at least the majority of monthly meetings (see Attendance)
• Pay all monthly dues
• Present 10 minute infomercials as scheduled (see Speaker Requirements)
• Actively participate in the recruitment of new members
• Participate in the passing of referrals
• Participate in one on one personal member to member meetings
• Participate in the necessary support positions and committees of the group.

The group is limited to 40 members.  Seasonal members and those requiring frequent leaves of absence, are not appropriate members for the group. If there are two women representing the same business, only one person is to be considered the member and only the member can do the intro and voting.

Attendance
Regular meeting attendance is expected.  On-time attendance includes a 15 minute networking period prior to the beginning of the meeting.  Representatives of a business (substitutes) will be permitted to attend on behalf of the member for attendance purposes. 
Each member is allotted a total of 12 absences for the year. However, three consecutive unexplained absences also constitute failure to meet the membership attendance requirement (also see Leave of Absence policy).  

When a member reaches 10 absences in a one year period, or the member exceeds the attendance limits in any other manner, the member will receive a letter from the Membership Chair advising that their membership is then in review status.  A review by the Group will determine whether the membership will be cancelled and the position opened for new application.  During the review, the member must show reason why membership should continue.  If a member does not respond to the membership review letter and/or continues to miss meetings, it will be considered a withdrawal from the organization.  At this time the member’s business category will become available for a new applicant.

When a member attends a “Mixer” their attendance at that mixer will count for attendance at one of our regular meetings.

Leave of Absence

Members will be allowed excused absences for a period of up to two months for family illness, death, emergencies, etc.  In advance of such absence, the member shall provide an explanation to the Director for the Group’s records.  To continue membership during this period of absence, the member is required to pay dues.

Guests and New Member Applicants
Guests of members may visit the group at the member’s expense.  If the guest qualifies as a potential new member, the group will provide the guest with a complimentary lunch during the first visit. 

A guest must attend two consecutive meetings before being considered for membership. Guests must submit an application after a maximum of three visits to continue to attend group meetings.

A guest wishing membership should submit a completed application to the Membership Chair.  Once the completed application is submitted, the Membership Chair will check references, then, submit the application to the group for vote at the group’s business meeting. The business meeting is held on the last Wednesday of the month and is attended by members only.   

Former members of the Group may visit the group, but may not promote any business that competes with an existing member.

Non-competitive Membership Categories

Non-competitive membership categories form the foundation of the Group.  “Non-compete” means that one member per professional specialty (herein called “Business”) is accepted into the group at one time.  Frequently, businesses will represent “broad categories” of services or products (for example, an insurance agent may represent life, health and property insurance).  When this happens, the applicant for membership should consider their primary area of business (for example the primary business may be property insurance) to be the appropriate membership category for the application.  Only one category of business will be approved per member.  Membership applications will not be approved when the applying business will compete with the business of an existing member.

As an applicant may not know of a conflict with an existing member prior to application, it is appropriate for the existing members to get to know the guests to find out if there is a conflict prior to the Group receiving an application.  This is best done by members attending meetings regularly, and being present during the networking period prior to the beginning of the meeting.

Applicants for positions within the Group are required to complete the membership application with specific details of the products or services they will offer to the group.  This description will determine whether or not the applicant competes with an existing member, and will be referred to, should conflicts arise.  If an unintended conflict does arise, the members will be asked to settle the conflict themselves in a professional manner.  If this is not possible, the conflict will be referred to the Conflict Resolution Committee.

To prevent member conflict, a member who has a business component that competes with another member’s approved membership category, is expressly prohibited from marketing the conflicting product/service to members or member referrals.  Additionally, no member will impair or hinder another member’s business.

When members market an event to LRPWNG, they will be sensitive to not promote a service or product item which conflicts with another member’s specialty, unless they plan to include that member’s products and services in the event.

Members wishing to change or amend their non-competitive categories must submit a new membership application explaining their proposed category change.  The membership will vote upon the application as though the member were a new applicant.   Such change of category will not require a new application fee.

Further discussion and example of non-competitive business situations is attached to the membership application.

Professional Dues and Expenses
A $30 application/initiation fee will be due upon acceptance into the group. This will be paid to the treasurer at the time membership is granted. Professional dues, in an amount determined appropriate by the group, will be paid to the treasurer by the first meeting of every month. Dues are non-refundable.

Late Dues:  The Treasurer will send each member an email notice if a member has not paid by the third meeting of the month. If late dues have not been received by the business meeting, the Treasurer will report those delinquent members to the Group.  Failure to pay the required dues will result in the membership being placed in review.

Speaker Schedule and Requirements

Members will have time at each meeting to give a 30-45 second promotional message to introduce themselves and their businesses.  Additionally, members will rotate on a speaker’s schedule, for an opportunity to present a longer, ten-minute presentation to educate the group on the products and services of their businesses.

New members must complete two months as a member in good standing before being eligible for placement on the speaker’s schedule.  Two speakers will usually be scheduled for each weekly meeting, with only one speaker scheduled for any 4 top networking meetings.
 
When a member is scheduled but unable to speak on the date indicated on the Speaker’s Schedule, it is the member’s responsibility to find another member to substitute. It is preferable that the substitute speaker be “exchanging” a spot scheduled close to the original spot.  The member that manages the schedule for the group is not responsible to find substitute speakers, but should be notified of any changes.

Officers
Officers consist of a director, an assistant director, a secretary and a treasurer. Additionally, there are many Group support functions and committees that require member participation.  All the officers and support and committee participants shall serve 6-month terms. All may be re-elected and/or reappointed at the ends of their term.

Conflict Resolution Committee
The purpose of the Conflict Resolution Committee is to deal with “issues” that may arise within the membership.  When this is a member to member conflict, the Committee will attempt to intervene if the members are unable to resolve their conflict in a professional manner.   Resolution may result in the Committee bringing the issue to the Group for decision, and/or asking the offending member to resign.

Voting Procedures
Occasionally, operation of the Group will require a vote of the membership. Prior to any vote for changes within the Group, the item under consideration will be advertised to the Group in the meeting announcement or at a meeting prior to the actual discussion. The topic may be debated by the membership up until the vote.  Any issue that cannot be resolved by Group consensus may then be submitted for a vote of the membership. 

Discussion time will be limited.  When a topic is introduced to the members for discussion, the timekeeper will set the timer for 5 minutes. When the 5 minutes has expired, the members will do one of two things:
1.         Bring the discussion topic to a vote.
2.         Vote to continue discussion for another 5 minutes.
If the members choose the second option, and the majority votes in favor of continuing the discussion, the timekeeper will reset the timer for another 5 minutes. At the end of the second five-minute session, the membership votes on the topic/issue, or the discussion will be tabled until the next meeting. 

Submission of proposals for voting and participation in voting is open to those who have been members for a minimum of three meetings.

If there are two women representing the same business, only one person is to be considered the member and only the member can vote.

Two-thirds or more members must vote yes for a vote to be approved. Member may vote by proxy to the director.

By-Laws Changes

The By-laws of the Group will be reviewed regularly. Changes to the by-laws will be made by the Group according to Robert’s Rules of Order.  The proposed changes will be posted (sent to each member by email), discussed at a minimum of two meetings, voted on and approved by two-thirds of the members in attendance at the scheduled approval meeting.

Changes to the by-laws:

September 2003: Instituted the Exchange of Referrals, phone message book for our referrals.

Regarding membership: If a member misses 3 meetings in a row without an excused absence, their membership will automatically be forfeited. We will phone to make sure the absence was not to due a serious illness, etc., and then will send a letter to that member. When a member reaches 12 absences in a one year period, then the member will receive a letter from the Membership Chair advising their membership is in jeopardy, and if that member misses an additional 3 meetings their membership will be forfeited. When a member attends a “Mixer” their attendance at that mixer will count for attendance at one of our regular meetings.

January 2005: Revision made to Professional Dues and Expenses

March 2005: Limiting our group to 40 members. If a new member does a variety of activities within their profession and one of those things conflicts with a current member it needs to be made expressly clear that they cannot mention any area of conflict. Guests are required to make an application after a maximum of 3 visits. Two candidates who apply for membership the same month, it was discussed that the most qualified woman will be give the most consideration for the spot. No seasonal memberships. No speakers at the monthly business meeting. Monthly treasurer’s report.

May 2005: Visitor policy, past members of the LRPWNG may come and visit the group, but if there is a member occupying their former position, the visitor will not be allowed to promote their business.

March 2006: Members changing jobs to a new category must resubmit a membership application relating to that category and will only be voted upon if that category is open.

June 2006: Leave of Absence: It was discussed and voted on that if members take a leave of absence they will be required to pay dues to hold the position open. This was approved by unanimous vote.

January 2007: Membership and Lunch fees increased.

June 2008: Instituted the definition of Non Compete Membership in the LRPWNG Membership Application. By-Laws will be a separate document presented to the new member at the first Wednesday meeting of the month voted into the group.

Other Policies