General Meeting Minutes for 2005

A General Meeting of the British Mathematical Colloquium was held in Dale Hall Reading Room, Carnatic Halls of Residence, University of Liverpool at 8.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 5 April, 2005.

There were no apologies for absence.
Minutes of the AGM in Belfast, April 2004 were approved.
There were no matters arising.
There was no summary of accounts from Birmingham 2003, as these had been circulated at the previous AGM.
The summary of accounts for Belfast 2004 was noted.
The Chair of the meeting proposed that the term of office of each Chair of the Scientific Committee be 3 years starting 1 June following the AGM in which they are elected, and that they should serve as a member of the Committee immediately following their election. This proposal was accepted.
Election of a new Chair for the Scientific Committee.
Edmund Robertson, of the University of St. Andrews, was proposed by Rob Curtis, and seconded by Garth Dales.
The proposal was carried by acclamation.
Prof. Robertson will serve as Chair from 1 June 2005 to 31 May 2008.
The current Chair, Garth Dales, summarised the role of the Chair of the Scientific Committee, as it has developed over the previous three years.
The memorandum of agreement with the London Mathematical Society was commended to the meeting. The Scientific Committee is charged with broad planning of future meetings, and offering help and guidance to local hosts.
Responsibility for each BMC rests with the local hosts, including any financial surplus/loss, although the LMS was noted as being potentially sympathetic to adverse circumstances beyond local control.

Recent meetings were commended as being well-organised, with a very high standard of speakers, although there was concern about the lack of established people, other than those directly involved, who attend.

Continuing problems with finding future hosts were reported, particularly from the South East.

It was noted that the LMS grant for the BMC did not include any money for the use of rooms as a matter of policy.

Relationships with the BAMC, and the questions of how, and whether, to continue organising joint meetings, were described; the difficulties of communication looked like being resolved by developments in a committee structure for the BAMC with some resemblance to the Scientific Committee of the BMC.
The current meeting in Liverpool had included format changes so as to allow for an overall pattern which would be reasonably familiar both to BMC and to BAMC participants.

No further joint meetings would take place before 2009, but discussions are expected among BMC and BAMC representatives for a potential joint meeting in 2009.

A vote of thanks to Garth Dales for his three years as founding Chair of the BMC Scientific Committee was proposed by Peter Giblin, and approved.
David Chillingworth (Southampton) was elected as the representative of the 2005 BMC AGM to serve on the Scientific Committee from the end of the AGM until the end of the AGM at Newcastle in 2006.
A brief report on the current meeting, Mathematics 2005, which included both the BMC and the BAMC, mentioned the fact that there were about 520 participants, including at least 170 postgraduates. It was anticipated that the finances would break even, with a larger than usual income from exhibitors covering the hire charges for the large central venue for refreshments and exhibitions.
Michael White reported on progress for the 2006 meeting in Newcastle. The principal speakers and special sessions are already lined up, and morning speakers are under active consideration, with further input expected from the Scientific Committee.
Niels Jacob invited the BMC to Swansea on 16-19 April 2007, and Maurice Dodson invited the BMC to York on 17-20 March 2008. Both invitations were accepted by acclamation.
Michael White proposed thanks to Liverpool for the organisation in 2005, which was approved.

The meeting closed at 8.27 pm.

Minutes signed by H R Morton on 18 April 2005.