MISSION STATEMENT

The Purpose of the Tour Guides Association of Greater New Orleans is to represent, promote and protect the common interests of tour guides in the Greater New Orleans area by :

Providing a forum through which members can continue their education and exchange information.

Raise private, public and governmental awareness locally of the tour guide's role.

Establish a channel of communications between tour guides and the tourism industry.

Article I  Name/Structure

Article II  Objectives

Article III  Membership

Article IV  General Meetings

Article V  Dues

The Association’s calendar year is January 1 through December 31. The annual dues shall be fixed by the Executive Board. A unanimous vote is necessary by the Board to change the dues.  Membership applications will go out to all members in November and dues shall be payable by February 15 of each year. Only the names of the members whose dues have been received by February 15 will appear in the Tour Guide Directory.  Dues are non-refundable.

Article VI  Officers

There are ten (10) elected officers (listed below) in the Association. These officers must be elected each year. The term of all elected officers listed below, except for the Treasurer, shall be for a period of one (1) year, or no more than two (2) consecutive years in the same office. The Treasurer must be elected each year.

PRESIDENT 

 The President shall preside over and maintain order at all official gatherings of the Association. He/she shall assure that all meetings start and end on time. The President shall promote and safeguard the aims and purposes of the Association and shall be active in the tourism and hospitality industry of the community. The President shall appoint all committees not otherwise provided for in the Bylaws. The President shall be an ex-officio* member on all committees with the exception of the Nominating Committee. The President does vote in the general election, but votes only to break a tie at the Board meetings.  The President will have a transitional meeting in December  when all important papers of the Association are to be turned over to the new officers. The President is responsible for a quarterly report to be published in the Association’s official newsletter.   

* Ex-Officio Definition: The President by “ reason of office” may be a member on all committees and has the same rights as other committee members. He/she, however, is not obligated to attend the meetings of the committees. The committee chairman, nevertheless, is in full charge of all committee meetings and will bring his/her findings to the Executive Board for approval.

FIRST VICE-PRESIDENT 

The First Vice-President shall function as Parliamentarian and Ways and Means chairman for the Association. He/she should be thoroughly familiar with the Bylaws and other rules of the organization. He/she must take under advisement any discrepancies concerning procedures and interpretation of the Bylaws and make a final decision. The First Vice-President will be chairman of the Bylaw sub-committee and will follow procedures of article XII for amendments to the Bylaws. The First Vice-President as Ways and Means chairman shall devise ways for increasing the revenue of the Association. A report must be given to the Board on estimated income and expense of each event, showing the approximate profit the Association could expect. All monies are directed to the Treasurer to be put into the general fund. The First Vice-President will work with the 2^nd Vice President for the Installation meeting in December. The First Vice-President is responsible for a quarterly report, which must include any changes in Bylaws for publication in the Association’s official newsletter. 

SECOND VICE-PRESIDENT

 The Second Vice-President shall be the Program chairman and will be responsible for all planning, scheduling and location of educational programs to be presented at the monthly general membership meetings.  He/she is also responsible for giving to the Administrative Assistant, well in advance, all information concerning the general meeting so notice can go out to members.  He/she must appoint committee members to serve as hospitality, food, entertainment, decoration, etc. Because of the educational nature of Programs and Standards (CEP) the Second Vice-President should coordinate and cooperate when possible in the promotion of educational endeavors. The Installation /Christmas meeting in December is a combined responsibility of the 1^st and 2^nd Vice-Presidents. The Second Vice-President is responsible for quarterly reports for the Association’s official newsletter.

TREASURER/FINANCIAL SECRETARY

The Treasurer is entrusted with the custody of the Association’s funds and is required to follow the budget given to him/her at the beginning of the year. All monies taken in by the Association must be directed to the Treasurer and designated to the appropriate category. The Treasurer is to give a written report to the Executive Board each month on the income, expense and balance in the accounts of the Association. The Treasurer must produce a new budget each year, which is approved by the Board in December and turned over to the new Treasurer. This budget is based on the previous year’s income and cannot exceed the actual income of the current year without the approval of the Board. If a motion is made for expenditure over $1,000, this must be taken to the membership for approval. The Treasurer will submit an end of the year financial report and the new budget to the Newsletter Editor for publication in the Association’s official newsletter. The Treasurer’s books will be audited each year. Both the Federal IRS (Form 990) and the State Annual Domestic Reports are due on May 15.

RECORDING SECRETARY

The Recording Secretary shall record and maintain the minutes of the Board and the General Membership Meetings. He/she must submit to the Board written minutes of each meeting. This report is to be read at the Board meeting and corrections or omissions are made. He/she shall be custodian of all appropriate papers and non-financial records of the Association. An appropriate paper is ANY paper written or received by any officer or member concerning Association matters. He/she is responsible for reporting all motions approved by the Board and published in the quarterly issue of the Association' official newsletter.

ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT/CORRESPONDENCE SECRETARY

The Administrative Assistant shall assist the Executive Board and Committee Chairmen in correspondence of all matters. He/she will produce and mail the monthly membership meeting notification. He/she is to write all official correspondence of the Association and shall file copies with the Secretary.  He/she shall also be in charge of awards, gifts, and memorials. The Administrative Assistant must submit a report for the Association’s official Newsletter each quarter. 

STANDARDS/ EDUCATION

Standards/Education chairman shall promote the established professional standards of the Association through newsletter articles and continuous educational programs, working in close conjunction with the Program chairman. It shall be the duty of the standards committee to plan an annual seminar, in accordance with the mission of the Association, to promote a higher degree of professionalism for member tour guides. 

NEWSLETTER EDITOR 

The primary function of the newsletter is to inform and educate its members. The Newsletter Editor shall prepare, produce and mail the newsletter called "Guidelines." The “Guidelines” is sent out quarterly, April , July , October , and January. The Editor shall appoint committee reporters to write specific articles on upcoming events, meetings, seminars, tours, historical pieces and activities of the tourism and hospitality industry. The Guidelines will include reports from each member of the Executive Board.

MEMBERSHIP/REGISTRAR 

 The membership Registrar shall promote new and old membership through writing and phone calls. New members must be properly introduced to the membership at the General Meeting.  The Association has a  Membership Application Form to be sent out to each member in the month of November for renewal and payment of dues. All original Applications must be duplicated and the copy only is sent to the Data Base Office for the printing of the yearly tour guide “Directory” in April.  It is the responsibility of the membership Registrar to form a “ Directory Committee” for the preparation and printing of the Directory. The Registrar will register the members at the general meeting and keep current records. Monthly general meeting attendance rosters (numbers only) and the names of new members must be given the Board and the Editor for publication in the Association’s official Newsletter.

 PUBLIC RELATIONS/PUBLICITY

The Public Relations / Publicity officer shall be responsible for representing the Association at all tourism industry related functions, and then provide information to the Board. The Association is a member of many organizations and the duty of this office is to attend as many meetings as possible to gather information and promote the Association. This office should seek through various media to publicize the aims of the Association, election of its officers, announcements and issues of importance to the Association and the New Orleans community, subject to approval of the Board. A camera will be issued in order to help him/her in publicizing major events through the media and the “Guidelines.”  The Publicity chairman must submit pictures and a list of upcoming events for the Associations official Newsletter. 

Article VII Executive Board

The Executive Board of the Association shall consist of the following ten (10) elected officers, hereafter to be known as “the Board”. 

PRESIDENT                                                                   ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT

FIRST VICE-PRESIDENT                                            STANDARDS/ EDUCATION

SECOND VICE-PRESIDENT                                       NEWSLETTER EDITOR

TREASURER                                                                  MEMBERSHIP/REGISTRAR

RECORDING SECRETARY                                         PUBLIC RELATIONS/PUBLICITY

The Board shall have general supervision of the affairs of the Association between its regular meetings, fix the hour, place and agenda of meetings, make recommendations to the Association, and shall perform such other duties as specified in the Bylaws. At Board meetings, attendance by half the Board members plus one shall constitute a quorum. Any business transacted at a Board meeting will require a simple majority of those present. Exception Article IV and V .

The President (chair) will preside over all Board meetings and will vote only to break a tie. The President may call an emergency meeting  and all Board members will be duly notified of time and place. In the event that a Board member cannot be present for such a meeting, the opinion and /or vote of said absentee must be solicited. 

The Board shall be empowered to request the resignation of any Board member considered in dereliction of his/her duties. 

If the President for any reason vacates the chair or is absent, the First Vice-president presides, and in his /her absence, the chain of command follows in the order of officers listed above. 

In the event of vacancy from office of any Board member, the un-expired term will be filled by a vote of the Board.

If a Board member resigns for any reason, a letter of resignation to the Board is required. At the next Board meeting following the date of the letter of resignation, the Board will vote to fill the vacancy for the un-expired term.

Un-expired Term: With regard to election and/or re-election of officers, if the un-expired term is less than six (6) months it will not count as a year in office. If the un-expired term is more than six (6) months it will count as a year in office

Article VIII  Committees

The Association has three types of committees, Special (Ad Hoc), Standing and Nomination.

1.                SPECIAL COMMITTEE or “AD HOC”

The President appoints special committees; such as hospitality, city hall liaison, audit, historian, research, insurance, community services, book discussion, and any other committees deemed necessary. These committee members will be appointed by the President from the general membership and will be assigned a specific task. These committees will cease to exist, when task is completed and findings are reported to the president.

2.               STANDING COMMITTEE:                CHAIRMAN:

                  Bylaws committee                                 1st Vice President 

                  Program Committee                             2nd Vice-President 

                  Newsletter Committee                          Editor of Newsletter

                  Membership Committee                       Membership/Registrar

                  Ways and Means Committee                1st. Vice President 

                  Standards Committee                           Standards/ Education

                  Public Relations Committee                 Public Relations/Publicity

Standing committees have a continuing existence and are chaired by elected officers for their term in office. The chairperson of each committee must give to the President a list of his/her committee members and report all of their activities to the Board. The President must be notified of all standing committee meetings. 

3.                NOMINATION COMMITTEE:

A Nominating Committee (hereafter “NC”) of five (5) members will be appointed by the general membership at the January meeting each year, to organize the election of Officers for the following year. The NC will decide which member will act as chairperson. (See Art. IX for the formation of this committee

Article IX Nominating Committee

FUNCTION AND DUTIES

The NC is to submit to the Board and Membership, all qualified licensed nominees for each office. The Board as well as any member is welcome to submit qualified names for nomination, but the NC makes the final decision on nominees and qualifications. The NC does not have to justify its reason for nominations to anyone. This committee is self-governing but must abide by the Bylaws of the Association. If an NC member is derelict in his/her duties, it is the duty of the NC Chairman to replace him/her.  If an NC member decides to run for any elected office, it is his/her duty to send in a letter of resignation and be replaced by the NC before September 1. It is the duty of this committee to print all ballots, including absentee ballots with a cut off date, and return address envelopes, to be distributed in October .

MEETINGS 

Article X  Election and Installation

 ELECTION

The NC will tally votes outside of the general meeting room. The President will appoint two members to observe the counting of votes. The President will announce the winners and call up all officers for recognition.

There are ten (10) officers to be elected at the Annual meeting. (See Article VI)

 ELECTION PROCEDURE

November Annual Meeting : 7:00 PM until 7:30 PM door registration and issuing ballots to _Licensed) members by the NC. The ballots received at the door will have the office and names of the nominees.

At 7:30 PM doors will close and the elction will begin.

To cast a vote, each member is requires to check his ballot for one person of his/her choice for each office.

Outside the meeting room the Tally Committee will open all ballots, including absentee, and tally the votes. The names of the elkected officers are to be announced by the NC chairperson.

In case of a tie for any office, ballots will be reissued and members will be asked to re-vote. (Absentee ballots will be counted on the first vote only.)

The Nominating Committee Chairman must save all ballots in case of any discrepancy.

Only the President and Board Members present may call for a recount.

INSTALLATION OF OFFICERS

A formal installation ceremony will take place at the December Christmas meeting. The outgoing President may choose an Installation Officer to perform the ceremony. The installing Officer will present the outgoing President with the Presidential pin and then proceed with the Installation in reverse order ending with the new President. Following the ceremony, Officers are duly installed and responsible for the duties of their respective offices.

The Coachman of the Year award will be presented at this meeting.

Article XI   Use of Association Property

No member of the Association may use any property, title of the Association, the logo, or the title of the organization’s newsletter  without the expressed agreement of the Board.

Article XII  Amend the Bylaws

The Board will form a Bylaws committee when necessary.

After the Bylaws committee agrees on changes, first they must be submitted to the Board for corrections or omissions.

Only the proposed changes are submitted to the general membership in writing thirty days before the General meeting.

All changes are presented at the General meeting for approval and final   ratification by the membership.

Present the amended Bylaws to the Board for date of adoption.

Print only the changes in Bylaws in the newsletter.