Ionia Innovators

Official Rules

Rules

Please review the rules before joining Ionia Innovators.

Adopted 4/16/15 ORGANIZATIONAL RULES lonia Innovators

The Members of lonia Innovators (”Group”) have agreed to adopt the following rules:
A. Attendance

A.1. Requirements. Each Member must attend the Group meeting each week; however, three absences per quarter are allowed. A ”quarter” isthree calendar months and a new quarter begins on January 1, April 1, July 1, and October 1 of each year.

A.2. Substitutes. The Member will not be considered ”absent” if he or she sends a substitute to the Group meeting who is prepared to deliver a 60-second presentation.

A.3. Courtesy call. It is expected that a Member will call or text the Vice President if the Member is absent without a substitute.

B. Fees

B.1. Amount and due date. Fees are $75.00 per quarter, due on the first Thursday of each quarter. Fees paid are not refundable. Fees may be prorated for a new Member during his or her first quarter of membership in the Group.

B.2. Amendment to fees. The Leadership Team may amend the fee amount or due date at any time.

C. Organization

C.1. Budget Committee. The Budget Committee is made of two people, selected by majority vote of the entire Group before April 1 of each year (or as soon thereafter as practical) to a 12-month term that begins April 1 of each year.

Two signatures are required on all checks: the signature of at least one member of the Budget Committee, and another authorized signer who is appointed by the Leadership Team. The approval of both members ofthe Budget Committee is required for all distributions.

The Budget Committee is responsible to collect fees from the Members, to pay the Group’s bills, and to purchase supplies. All decisions of the Budget Committee must be unanimous. In the event of a disagreement between the two members of the BudgetCommittee, or if one memberof the Budget Committee is unavailable,the entire Leadership Team may decide the issue, with three votes required for approval.

C.2. Leadership Team. The Leadership Team is made of five people: the two members of the Budget Committee, the President, the immediate Past President, and the Vice President.

The Leadership Team is authorized to set rules for the Group, so long as those rules do not conflict with these Organizational Rules.

The Leadership Team is authorized to discipline or remove a Member, as provided below.

C.3. President. The President shall preside over Group meetings, and shall serve a six-month term. A ”six-month term” is six calendar months and a new six-month term begins on April 1 and October 1 of each year. The Member elected to serve as Vice President in the previous six-month term shall serve as President.

C.4. Vice President. The Vice President shall be selected by majority vote of the entire Group before the beginning of each six-month term (or as soon thereafter as practical).

The Vice President is responsible to: preside over Group meetings in the absence of the President;
schedule the ten-minute presentations;
take roll, or keep attendance, for each Member of the Group;
keep each Member’s current email, phone number, and address in a database and provide copies of that information to the Members at Group meetings at least once per month; and
keep time during the 60-second commercials and ten-minute presentations.

C.5. Vacancies. Vacancies in any office must be filled by a majority vote of the entire Group.

D. Group meetings

D.1. Meeting time. Group meetings begin Thursday morning promptly at 7:00am and conclude at 8:30 am. The location can be changed at any time by the Leadership Team.

D.2. Agenda. Each Group meeting shall substantially include the following elements (not necessarily in this order):

Presentation by a Member of good marketing tips
60-second commercials
Exchange of business cards
Budget Committee report
One ten-minute presentation (including door prize)
Referrals and testimonials
Provide visitors with information for joining the Group
Announcements by Members
Other business (such as presentation of award for best commercial, announcement of
raffle winner, etc.)

D.3. Expectations for each Member. It is expected that, at a minimum, each Member will come to the Group meeting on time, prepared with a 60-second commercial, one referral or testimonial, and shall be a positive, attentive Member during the Group meeting.

E. Mentoring of New Members

E.1. Person responsible. The person who sponsored the New Member is responsible for mentoring the New Member for at least 60 days after the New Member has been admitted to the Group.

E.2. Topics. The Mentor should help the New Member develop effective 60-second commercials and ten-minute presentations, and shall inform the New Member of the Group’s attendance policy, fees, and expectations regarding referrals.

F. Membership

F.1. Admission. On application of a prospective Member for membership in the Group, the Leadership Team shall meet to discuss the prospective Member’s qualifications and determine whether admitting the prospective Member into the Group is in the Group’s best interests, subject to the following section. The Leadership Team may require the prospective Member to submit references, to submit a short statement, to prepay fees, or set any other requirement for the prospective Member.

F.2. Non-exclusivity. The Leadership Team may not deny admission toany prospective Member because a current Member of the Group is a competitor. Additionally, no Member of the Group may discourage a prospective Member from joining the Group the prospective Member is a competitor of a current Member of the Group. This section shall become null and void after April 30, 2016.

F.3. Removal of a Member. A Member may be removed at any time by the Leadership Team for:

A violation of the attendance policy;
Failure to pay fees in full when due; or
A determination that the Member’s continued membership would not be in the Group’s best interests.

Notice of the removal must be sent to the Member, by email or U.S. mail, identifying one or more of the three reasons for removal. Membermay appeal to the entire Group,which may only overturn thedetermination by the Leadership Team by majority vote of all current Members of the Group, excluding the Member who is the subject of the vote.

F.4. Discipline of a Member. The Leadership may discipline a Member for violating any of these rules, or other rules established fromtime to time by the Leadership Team, in any way the Leadership Team deems appropriate.

Notice of the disciplinary action mustbe sent to the Member, by email or U.S. mail.

G. Amendments

G.1. Amendments. These Organizational Rules may only be amended by a two-thirds majority vote of all current Members of the Group. For example, if there are twelve current Members, and a vote is taken at a meeting at which four Members are absent, eight votes are required to amend these Organizational Rules.

Adopted by a unanimous vote of all current Members on April 16, 2015.

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This group of businesses are amazing!!! They have done wonders for helping growing my business. This group as well as the great personal and professional relationships that I have developed over the past two years!

Mitch Grieves 7/7/2017

The sole purpose if this group is to give its members more business. It is based on the concept of what goes around comes around. If you give business to me, I will give business to you. In BNI you have a edge over your competitors because none of them can join-we only allow one person per classification.

Michelle Baker 3/6/2014

This group has done wonders for getting my business recognized and connected locally. The professional contacts I've made through this group have been a tremendous asset as well.

Jesse French 3/1/2014