Notes from the 2020 Society Annual General Meeting

𝔓er §5 of the Tales after Tolkien Society Constitution, and in response to the cancellation of the 2020 International Congress on Medieval Studies, the Annual General Meeting of the Society was held online at 5:30pm, US Central Time, on Monday, 20 April 2020. In attendance were Molly Brown; Shiloh Carroll; Rachel Cooper, Society Secretary and Social Media Officer; Xenia Moos; Gillian Polack; Luke Shelton, Society Vice-president (US); and Kristine Swank. Presiding over the meeting was Geoffrey B. Elliott, Society President.
Announced agenda items for the meeting were panels to propose to the 2021 International Congress on Medieval Studies and the election of the Secretary and the Vice-president (At-large) for their 2020-2023 terms. Following announcements from the Congress, the Society determined to re-submit the panels that had been proposed for the 2020 Congress: Legacies of Tolkien's Whiteness in Contemporary Medievalisms and Deadscapes: Wastelands, Necropoli, and Other Tolkien-Inspired Places of Death, Decay, and Corruption. Panelists who had been previously invited will be re-invited with the caveat that they are not obliged to present for the Society, and submissions will be re-opened. (Prior discussion of the panels is here; more information will be forthcoming once submissions are made to the Congress.)
Elections followed. Incumbent Secretary Rachel Cooper allowed her name to stand for reelection; with no other candidates proposed, Secretary Cooper was acclaimed to the position. After clarification of the office's role in representing the Society to conferences outside North America and coordinating Society activities, incumbent Vice-president Andrew Higgins was nominated to the role. The Society determined to ask him to retain the role, with elections to follow if he did not accept; later communication from the Society President confirmed that Vice-president Higgins accepted the request of the Society to remain in office.
After elections were concluded, the meeting turned to new business:

• Gillian Polack discussed a submission to the Science Fiction World Con, which will be held online at the end of July 2020. A fee for participation was noted, as was the less-academic nature of the panel to be proposed. Arrangements were made to assemble and propose a panel; as of this writing, the proposal has been made by Vice-president Shelton, with additional news forthcoming.
• Following a request for information from member Carol Robinson, the Society determined to let the WordPress website it had been using lapse, but to retain the domain name talesaftertolkien.org. Secretary Cooper agreed to lead the work of setting the domain to forward to the Society blog.
• The matter of proposing a panel to Southwest PCA was discussed. Per Kristine Swank, the Society is not a good fit for the conference. The matter was set aside.
• The matter of contributions to the Society blog was discussed. President Elliott called for contributions from members and from those outside traditional academic structures. Vice-president Shelton and Kris Swank both reported having leads on discussion of The Witcher, with Swank having later established a connection around which work is ongoing as of this writing. Reblogging of members' other efforts was endorsed, and news from members called for.
• Gillian Polack noted being in contact with a number of authors who may be interested. Responding authors will be directed to contact via the Society email, talesaftertolkien@gmail.com; the Society will draft a set of questions to pose, focusing on authors' engagement with / response to Tolkien.
• From discussion, it was determined that the Society will work to expand its online / virtual offerings, including incorporating teleconferencing into future meetings as is practicable and motion toward setting up an online presentation archive, to which members can submit. Vice-president Shelton noted the Tolkienists.org discussion forum as a model and resource for the same.

At 6:15pm, US Central Time, Kris Swank moved to adjourn. The motion was seconded by Vice-president Shelton and Gillian Polack; no opposition being heard, the motion carried.