SecondPride.com

 Article I

Second Pride

OUR MISSION

To serve, support and empower the diverse LGBT communities of Second Life®

OUR OBJECTIVES

• Hold an annual Second Pride Festival to bring together the diverse LGBT Communities, clubs, businesses and individuals in Second Life in a celebration of Pride  

• Host LGBT social, educational and advocacy events throughout the year and encourage our partners and members to host events that bring together our communities,  support each other and raise funds for the festival and our mission

• Participate in creating, developing, and maintaining an LGBT Gateway in Second Life for both new and continuing LGBT residents as a safe haven and resource center showcasing the diversity of the LGBT Communities in Second Life

• Provide a directory of the various and diverse LGBT support groups and organizations inside and outside of Second Life for those seeking support for legal, health and social issues in their real lives

• Maintain an archive of real life and Second Life LGBT history.

OUR GOAL

To commemorate our heritage, celebrate our culture and liberate our people

Article II

Membership

Section 1

Eligibility for Membership

ALL LGBT residents, friends, family and allies

Section 2

Rights of Membership

Second Pride is a democratic organization. The most important right is the right to be heard. This applies to the Annual Meeting, regularly scheduled Public and/or Board/Work meetings, and certain special meetings as determined by the Board. The forums are always available for public discourse and the membership is encouraged to use the forums.

 Section 3  

Termination of Membership

Any member who knowingly and capriciously brings harm or disrepute to Second Pride may be removed as a member by a 3/4 vote of the Board.

Article III

Meetings and Members

Section 1

Annual Meeting

1. The membership will have one annual general membership meeting to be held the first Saturday following the conclusion of the Annual Pride Festival.
2. The  purpose of this meeting will be for the membership to offer questions to the board in an open, unrestricted and unfettered forum, AND for the Chairman to announce election dates for the next Second Pride Board and certain election guidelines.

Section 2

Regular Meetings

Periodic meetings on a set schedule, determined at the discretion of the Board, for the conduct of Second Pride business. The Schedule of all meetings will be placed in the Second Pride website for the membership to view

1. Public meetings will be open to the membership to actively participate in, and the Board will allow, a question and answer period from the membership.
2. Board/Work meetings are considered “open sessions” will be open to all the membership to sit in, and the Board will allow, a question and answer period from the membership attending at the “end of the meeting if time allows”.

  Section 3

Special Meetings

A Special meeting may be called by a 2/3 majority of the Board, for any purpose, with at least a 24 hour notification of the membership.

1. Closed meetings may be necessary for reasons of confidentiality. A closed meeting can only occur after a majority of the Board approves. A closed meeting will be limited to informational purposes only. NO formal action may take place at a closed meeting. The Board must reconvene in “open session“ for any vote or formal action to occur.
2. Informal Meetings: The Board may convene for “consensus” building and discussion in private at any time. These informal meetings may be closed and there is no requirement for the secretary to keep minutes of these meetings and no requirement for posting a time for these meetings in advance. The purpose of these meetings is for the Board to share ideas, create consensus and candidly discuss issues amongst themselves. These meetings are for informational purposes only. Any “action” resulting from an Informal Meeting would need a resolution or motion submitted at a Public, Board/Work or Special meeting.

Section 4

Notice of Meetings

All meetings will be posted in advance using the the website’s most convenient way of displaying them (i.e. – Calendar, homepage info, etc…) The time and location of the meeting must be included in the posting in an area where all members are able to teleport in.

1. A notification for Regular meetings will be posted on the Second Pride calendar at least five days prior to the meeting.  A reminder will be sent out in-world three days prior to the meeting and one hour prior on the day of the meeting
2. Agendas of all meetings will be posted for members view preferably 5 days and minimum 2 days prior to any meeting. The membership and the Board shall have the opportunity to discuss items openly and state their positions.
• The Secretary will, in addition to posting the agendas, notify the membership of them in any means he sees fit ensuring the widest distribution.
• Agendas, once posted, can be added to unless the Chair decides to postpone an action to solicit further discussion in the forum. No additions to the agenda may be made 72 hours prior to the meeting without the express permission of the Presiding Chair who may make additions to the Agenda at any time, including last minute additions at the meeting should it be necessary.
3. All meetings are subject to change or cancellation.

Section 5

Quorum

A quorum will be met when one seat more than half of the filled positions of the Board are present.

1. Any Board member may appoint his Co-Director to fill in for him at a regular or special meeting after notifying the Board at least ten minutes prior to the Board meeting. The “stand-in” Co-Director will count towards meeting quorum, may participate in discussions, and act in all ways as the elected Director. This procedure cannot be used for more than three consecutive meeting.

 Section 6

Voting

1. For the purposes of Public, Board/Work and Special meetings a proposal, resolution or motion will be considered carried or approved by a majority vote of the Board. All proposal, resolution or motions will be placed on the SP Vote Website for the membership to review within 48 hours of the meeting
2. The Board, at its discretion, may see reason to poll the membership on a particular issue. They may call for a “voice” vote of the members present, use the “proposal” feature of the Second Pride Group in-world, or may use any method they see fit.
3. When a vote of the Second Pride Board is contested, the concerned party has 7 days following the vote to gather a minimum of 10 supporters within the group of registered voters and re-open the vote to the entire membership. and re-open the vote with a counter proposal to the entire membership. Supporters within the registered voters group must have registered themselves as voters at least 7 days prior to when the original vote has been contested to avoid abuse.
4. In referring to the Board in this document, “the Board” shall be defined as the Board members present that constitute a quorum.
5. Each voting representative of the Board must be an elected member or confirmed by the membership or the Board. Interim board members, or appointed Board members may be confirmed through a vote as described in Art III, Section 6b, above.

Department Meetings

• Any committees formed by any of the individual Board Directors, (i.e.-Building Department, Security Department, Events Department, etc) are less formal in nature and are not required to maintain minutes, have formal votes, or meet any quorums. These are informal committees formed by a Board Director for the purposes of conducting the business of the Director’s Department.

Article IV

  Board of Directors

 Section 1  

Board Role Size Makeup

Second Pride is administered and facilitated by a Board of Directors consisting of elected officers and Board Directors whose titles are easily recognizable online.

• The Board is a representative body, elected by the Second Pride membership to administer Second Pride and carry out its Mission.
• The Board is, and through its actions, the sole representative of Second Pride to the Real and Virtual world.
• The Board is encouraged to solicit participation from the membership at Public, Board/Work and Special meetings, and will avail itself of the membership as often as is practical
• The members of the Board are as follows:

Chairman

Secretary & Co-Chair

Treasurer

Events Director

Membership Director

Building Director

Security Director

Marketing Director

Communication/IT Director

Section 1A

Second Pride Avatar

Section 2  

Terms

1. Each Director is elected to a one year term and will assume office no more than 7 days after certification of the election results.
2. Any person may hold a department or any combination of departments for no more than two consecutive years. After a one year absence from the board a member may hold office again as stated in Section 2-a), above.
3. A Director’s term will be completed once the new Board takes office. All terms of the at-large members of the Audit and Election committees will be completed on that date as well.

 Section 3  

Board elections

At the annual meeting (Article 3, Section 1) the dates of The Board of Directors elections will be announced by the standing Board. A polling period of no less than 24 hours will be announced to the general membership with all procedures, requirements for registration, or locations.

1. The Election committee will have sole responsibility of conducting the election and must certify the results of the election to the Board and the membership within TWO days of completion of the election.

 Section 4  

Election Procedures

The election of the Board shall be completed no later than 8 weeks after the Annual meeting.

1. The Membership Director will accept names of candidates for a period of two weeks after the announcement at the Annual Membership Meeting and ensure that all names are placed on a ballot along with candidate statements, and made available to the membership via the Second Pride website forums.
2. A timeline of the election process will be posted on the Second Pride calendar
3. The forums will be open for the membership to ask questions of the candidates and candidates may state their positions. The forums will be open for ten days.. Three days prior to the election will commence a period where no more posts will be accepted on the forums. Each candidate may make one final statement at that time
4. The Membership Director will send out daily announcements to the membership, in-world, reminding them of the election during this period and include the procedures for voting, locations, and any other pertinent information to effect a successful election.
5. The election will be conducted by the Election Committee (Article V, Section 4)
   

 Section 5  

Officers and Duties

The Chairman

Lead the Second Pride Board of Directors

• Act as the corporate liaison
• Facilitate the well-being and continued growth of the organization
• Initiate special elections that may be required in the event an officeholder is unable complete his or her term
• Advise design of the general framework, policies and operational procedures
• Report to the Second Pride membership
• Act as a member of the Finance audit committee
• Create a Job description for his/her position
• Collect and review of SOP and Job descriptions of each Director.
• Develop a Budget for the position and submit it to the treasurer within the first quarter of taking office.
• Review and discuss the Proposed Budget with the Directors

Secretary/Co-Chair

Act as Chair in the absence of the Chairman

• Apply all responsibilities of the Chairman when required
• Maintain accurate records of Second Pride meetings (minutes), activities, policies and decisions and post them on the Second Pride Website
• Conduct correspondence with external LGBT organizations
• Act as  a member of the Auditing Committee
• Maintain an archive of Second Pride correspondence and activities, both internal and external
• Create a Job description for his/her position
• Develop a Budget for the position and submit it to the treasurer within the first quarter of taking office

Treasurer

• Develop annual budget for Second Pride
• Develop annual budget for Second Pride from the Budgets submitted by the Board officers and Directors
• Coordinate fundraising efforts from residents throughout Second Life and possibly from other sources
• Collect and disburse Second Pride funds as directed by the Board
• Maintain accurate records of Second Pride finances
• Arrange for audit of records and reports of Second Pride finances through Audit Committee
• Post reports of financial status as directed by the Board
• Provide personal financial transaction clarification to directly concerned persons in cooperation with the Board
• Review major expenses such as sim rental for the Second Pride Festival and other events
• Represent the Board as directed in contract negotiations and fulfillment (payment)
• Assure the design, fabrication and distribution of an interactive Second Pride donation and information kiosk
• Develop a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for Financial Reporting
• Develop a Budget for the position within the first quarter of taking office
• Caretaker of the Second Pride Avatar.
• The date the next Treasurer takes office the Past Treasurer submits a ticket to Linden Labs to transfer the avatar to the new treasurer.
• The treasurer will give the avatar password to the new Chairman, Secretary and Treasurer as soon as they take office

Marketing Director

• Create a committee to assist him/her in the execution of his/her duties 
• Liaise with all groups of the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender community
• liaise with the Events Director for the promotion of organized and planned events or fundraisers
• Liaise with media in Second Life and media in the real world
• Create advertisement campaign to encourage membership and support the Second Pride Festival and other events throughout the year
• Create advertisement material both for within Second Life and outside Second Life and to make it easily available
• Coordinate with the Communication/IT Director on new ways of promoting Second Pride through any possible media, including social networks
• Coordinate with the Treasurer for incorporating advertising into the Second Pride kiosk
• Create a Job description for his/her position
• Develop a Budget for the position and submit it to the treasurer within the first quarter of taking office

Events Director

• Create a committee to assist him/her in the execution of his/her duties
• Seek out artists and other potential partners for inclusion in Second Pride sponsored events
• Seek out sponsors to host Second Pride fundraiser events at their venues
• Create and distribute existing or new application forms for artists or events and hosts
• Coordinate with the IT Director to ensure that all Second Pride events are posted on the calendar and kiosks in a timely manner
• Represent the interest of event hosts and/or artists to the Second Pride Board.
• Take charge of the Second Pride Festival events’ schedule from start to end;
• Liaise with the Marketing Director for the creation of ads and publicity of events
• Create a Job description for his/her position
• Develop a Budget for the position and submit it to the treasurer within the first quarter of taking office

Security Director

• Create a committee to assist him/her in the execution of his/her duties
• To facilitate security at events for the benefit of Second Pride should a venue host request such security
• To be responsible for structuring, developing, documenting, and implementing a Festival-wide security plan as well as staffing, training, deploying, and managing the security enforcement teams.
• To be responsible for vetting all non-Group created objects which contain scripts.
• To ensure that no individuals at the festival are in violation of LL TOS
• To be responsible for ensuring that all Second Pride Board policies and guidelines regarding behavior, conduct, and access be enforced.
• To ensure these guidelines are up to date and effectively distributed to visitors of the Second Pride Festival.
• Create a Job description for his/her position
• Develop a Budget for the position and submit it to the treasurer within the first quarter of taking office

Building Director

• Create a committee to assist him/her in the execution of his/her duties
• To establish relationships with builders, scripters and designers to fulfill the demand in buildings, places, attractions and environmental design
• To coordinate a build team for the festival and other Second Pride sponsored events
• To create a detailed 3D layout of the Second Pride Festival and builds
• To liaise with the Membership Director about vendor and sponsor shops
• To liaise with the Events Management Director about venues that will be linked to events
• Create a Job description for his/her position
• Develop a Budget for the position and submit it to the treasurer within the first quarter of taking office

Communication/IT Director

Maintain domain registration

• Provide the Board with an indication of his/her knowledge of web-management tools (CNAME and DNS management, as well as basic HTML knowledge)
• Maintain Second Pride WEB site
• Coordinate, maintain, and facilitate all technical matters concerning the annual election of officers
• ensure that the voting system used in said election be as secure as possible
• Report to the Board and liaise with the Board on matters concerning voting security and reliability and seek new methods of voting   
• that create a stable and dependable system of balloting
• Maintain the forums and archive in a timely manner
• Keep Board members apprised of the Web site features and capabilities so that they might use the capabilities effectively
• Be available to the membership for troubleshooting and answer their questions to help them with access issues
• Together with the Membership Director will conduct the annual Board of Director election and serve on the Election Committee.
• Create a Job description for his/her position
• Develop a Budget for the position and submit it to the treasurer within the first quarter of taking office

Membership Director

Create a committee to assist him/her in the execution of his/her duties

• Liaise with all sub groups of the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender community
• encourage support of the Second Pride Mission and Objectives 
• Seek within the LGBT community potential collaborators, partners, vendors and sponsors for the Second Pride Festival
• Create, maintain, and monitor the second pride membership roles
• Cull through the roles for possible alt accounts and duplication
• Create or distribute existing application forms for the various membership possibilities of the group, and manage a data base of those members
• Administer the registration of voters within the general group
• Act as  a member of the Auditing Committee 
• Solicit membership into the Rainbow Merchant group of Second Pride and act as their liaison with the Board
• Together with the IT/Communications Director will conduct the annual Board of Director
• election and serve on the Election Committee
• Create a Job description for his/her position
• Develop a Budget for the position and submit it to the treasurer within the first quarter of taking office

Section 6  

Vacancies

In the event of a vacancy on the Board of Directors, through resignation or termination, the Board shall issue a “call for candidates” at the next Regular meeting of the Board. A vote by the Board for the replacement will be conducted at the next Regular meeting and that replacement will assume his/her duties immediately. This vote may take place at a Special meeting for expediency, as determined by the Board. As in any Board action, this should appear in the agenda prior to the meeting per Article III, Sections 2, 3 and 4

1. For the period beginning three months prior to the Festival, the board may waive any call for candidates and appoint a replacement immediately.
2. For the period beginning three months prior to the festival the Board shall waive the requirements outlined in Article IV, Section 2b. The remaining time will not be counted against the new Chairman of the Board for purposes in Article IV, Section 2b, term limits.

Section 7

  Resignation/Termination and Absences

Any Board member may be terminated for failure to perform his/her duties as described in Article 4, Section 5,

1. Failure to attend meetings for three consecutive sessions without prior permission from the Chairman of the Board
   
2. For reasons discussed in Article II, Section 3
3. Resignations should be addressed to the Board by Second Pride mail and submitted by the Secretary to the Board at the next regular meeting. The Board may act to fill the vacancy immediately.

  Article V

Committees

Each Director of the Board shall create his/her own Committee to assist in carrying out his/her duties. A Board Director is required to appoint a deputy who could represent him/her at Regular and Special meetings where he/she is unable to attend. When a Director resigns or the position is Terminated the co-Director will take over until a new Director is appointed”

1. Any record of any committee meeting will be forwarded to the IT Director for inclusion in the Second Pride Forums.
2. A permanent Audit Committee will consist of the Chairman of the Board, the Co-Chair/Secretary and the Membership Director. Two additional positions on this committee will be selected from the membership at large with preference for Past Treasurer or Past Presiding Chairman. This committee will review records of all financial transactions of Second Pride for accuracy and the committee will certify the monthly financial report to the Board and the membership.
3. A permanent Election Committee will consist of the Membership Director and the Communication/IT Director. The Membership Director will solicit three volunteers from the membership during the annual membership meeting to serve on this committee. Only volunteers that have been members for one year or more will be accepted. The purpose of this committee will be to manage the annual election of the Board of Directors of Second Pride and certify the results to the general membership.
4. The Chairman may appoint any Ad Hoc, temporary, or special committee at any time for the any purpose.

Article VI

 Amendments

1. Amendments to the by laws maybe introduced by the Board at a meeting (attended by members) and then must be posted in a communicated official Second Pride forum, with public access, for discussion for a minimum period of 10 days. After this time has passed, there must be a 2/3 vote of the Board for the amendments to be passed into the By Laws. In case during discussions the Board feels a change needs to be made for any reason, they may do so, but must then add a further day to the deadline set.
2. If ten or more registered voters object to an amendment passed by the Board, the Amendment must be put before the general membership for a vote.
• Members have 7 days from the date the amendment was passed into the By Laws to submit an objection and counter proposal after which time this may not be done under the form of an objection anymore. A new process of amendment(s) would be required to correct or modify previously approved texts.
• The Board shall place the Amendment(s) objected against in forums for one additional week. At this time the Board and members may enter their arguments for or against the proposed change. A vote may occur at that time.
• Registered voters must have registered themselves as voters at least 7 days prior to when the Amendment was introduced. The measure will be considered passed if 2/3 or more of the members voting vote in favor of the proposal
3. Article I (one) may ONLY be amended by a vote of the general membership and a vote may occur only during the annual “Election of The Board of Directors”.
• A vote of 2/3 of the membership, as registered on the Second Pride website, is required to carry any amendment to Article I (one)
• Article I (one) amendments may be proposed by the Board of Directors with approval of 2/3 of the Board of a resolution to do so. 
• The membership may also propose an Amendment to Article I (one) by obtaining agreement of 10% of the membership registered on the Second Pride Website on the date the proposal is presented. 
• The proposed amendment would then be placed on the ballot during the annual election of officers.
4. The above item, Article VI-3, will be treated the same as Article I (one), and may only be amended by the procedure as outlined therein.

HISTORY:

This text was approved in an open vote by the membership who have registered to vote according to the communicated and repeated deadlines to do so.

It becomes effective on July 4th 2010.

Amendments to part of the document were made on October 18th 2010 and on December 13th 2010.