SLSA Constitution

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PROPOSED non-ratified Version 1.3

NB the current ratified version of the constitution can be found on the main web site under "Rule Book"

Constitution Preamble: The Clauses in the following document represent the rules and procedure for the operation of the Second Life Surfing Association (SLSA) and collectively form the associations constitution (SLSA constitution).. The SLSA Constitution defines the structure, the purpose, and the operation of the association. The constitution represents one of four documents which govern the SLSA overall. The other documents are; the SLSA Event Rules (which provide the rules for running competitions and series), the SLSA Sportsmanship Code (which provides a guide to behavior which is respectful to other members rights and enjoyment), the SLSA Financial Management (which provides a standardized method for calculation of prizes and fees for event day volunteers, and sets standards for external payments and monthly reporting), and the SLSA Hearing Procedure (which provides guidelines for hearing protests and alleged rule transgressions).

1.0 Structure

1.1. Association Structure


1.1.1. The SLSA is a Non-Profit Organization.
1.1.2. SLSA Purpose:
1.1.2.1. Organize and run surfing and surf-related events for the benefit of its membership.
1.1.2.2. Administer individual and team rankings for surfing and surf-related events and series.
1.1.2.3. Promote SL surfing and surf-related sports.


1.2. Mission Statement The Second Life Surfing Association (herein known as “SLSA”) is the governing authority for surfing and surfing-related events throughout Second Life (herein known as “SL”). The SLSA governs competitions; promotes surfing and surf-related sports; and provides guidance and advice to its members on matters such as competition organization, judging, and sport instruction.


1.2.1. The objectives of the SLSA shall be:
1.2.1.1. To establish and maintain an international association to promote the interests of surfing in all its forms throughout all of SL, to which all concerned with the sport of surfing or its related activities may gain affiliation.
1.2.1.2. To promote and co-ordinate surfing and surf-related activities throughout SL.
1.2.1.3. To establish rules, criteria and standards for judging at, and for conducting SL surfing and surf-related contests. These measures shall inter-alia apply to the sport and to those participating in it.
1.2.1.4. To promote uniformity of rules for the control and regulation of surfing and surf riding throughout SL, by encouraging Sim Owners and Vendors to adopt the SLSA’s established rules and standards.
1.2.1.5. To co-ordinate the SL surf activities of Sim Owners and Vendors by providing a forum for arranging SL contests and events.
1.2.1.6. To authorize and assist in organizing a member and/or third party to host SL surfing competitions and any other SL surf events, and to list such events as “sanctioned by the SLSA”.
1.2.1.7. To work for the conservation and improvement of beach and wave Sims and the protection of surfing resources throughout SL.
1.2.1.8. To promote the values of good sportsmanship amongst surfers and surf-related participants, organizers and officials.
1.2.1.9. To promote the educational, scientific, literary and charitable aspects of the sport, improving cultural and sporting contacts between the surfers of SL.
1.2.1.10. To enter into any contract, association or negotiation for the purpose of giving effect to any of the aforementioned objectives.


1.3. Membership


1.3.1. Membership is open to any SL resident, provided they have not previously been ejected and banned by the SLSA.
1.3.2. There are no fees for membership.
1.3.3. Termination of membership. The sitting SLSA board of Directors is granted the authority to remove any member from the SLSA in a board vote with no more than one dissenting director. The authority shall be exercised, in cases where:
1.3.3.1 the reputation and mission of the SLSA (not the board) is compromised or publically slandered or libeled,
1.3.3.2 where an expulsion severity breach of the SLSA Sportsmanship code is observed and corroborated,
1.3.3.3 where an expulsion severity breach of the SLSA Event Rules is observed and corroborated,
1.3.3.4 where SLSA assets, funds or equipment are misappropriated, 1.3.3.5 where a member solicits for money or business in the SLSA Group chat or SLSA forum.


1.4. SLSA Board of Directors


1.4.1. The SLSA board of directors shall be comprised of five (5) SLSA members.
1.4.1.1. The Directors will collectively govern event organization, rules, scheduling, and finances.
1.4.1.2. The Directors will collectively govern and administer the provisions and rules within the SLSA constitution.
1.4.1.3. The Directors may propose amendments to the SLSA constitution.
1.4.1.4. The Directors may amend SLSA Event Rules, SLSA Financial Management and SLSA Sportsmanship Code (all of which are separate adjuncts to this constitution).
1.4.1.5. Decisions of all types require that all of the sitting directors agree, or that there is no more than one (1) dissenting opinion.
1.4.2. Decisions relating to items 1.4.1.1, 1.4.1.2, 1.4.1.3 and 1.4.1.4 will be enacted immediately after director agreement.
1.4.3. Proposals for amendments to the SLSA constitution shall be voted on by the SLSA members (see Section 3).
1.4.4. Directors must actively participate in SLSA meetings and/or event planning and organization. If a director is out of contact (providing no written or other form of communication with the other directors) for one month then their position shall be declared vacant and a byelection held to fill their position.
1.4.5. Directors performing their duties must act in the interest of the majority of SLSA members, any unauthorized use of SLSA financial resources for personal gain, shall result in immediate dismissal from the board and ejection from the SLSA. This to be determined by a unanimous vote of the remaining board members.


1.5. Appointed Officers Appointed officers will be appointed, or re-appointed, every three (3) months in correspondence with the Board of Directors elections, except as noted. A director may serve as an appointed officer, or the directors may, as a whole, appoint a non-director for the office. An officer who is not a director, does not have a vote on Board of Director decisions. Officers may be removed from their position at the discretion of the Board of Directors at any time.


1.5.0 Human Resources Officer – appointed, director only. Is responsible for recruiting and training appointed officers and maintaining a pool of trained event day staff.
1.5.1. Financial Officer – appointed, director only. Is responsible to oversee all aspects of financial areas. Duties include: making payments, collecting receipts, and keeping an accurate record of all transactions and the current balance of SLSA funds. A financial Officer must keep other directors apprised of financial payments. Only the Financial officer may make payments on behalf of the SLSA.
1.5.2. Communications Officer – appointed. Is responsible to oversee all aspects of communication to the SLSA membership and surfing community. Duties include: Maintain website; advertise surfing events via group notices, and SL events postings, and via web publications.
1.5.3. Events Officer – position is appointed by Board of Directors and may be changed from event to event in order not to place an undue burden on any one person. Is responsible to oversee all aspects of a single contest or event and ensure the surfing aspect of the event runs on schedule and according to the rules and that the staff is not making any errors. The Events Officer is the only person who can give the exact schedule of events and rules in all protests in collaboration with the Judging and Marshaling officers. Any member of the SLSA who performs this role at an event shall be entitled to a payment in accordance with the “SLSA schedule of fees”.
1.5.4. Head Judge – position is appointed by Board of Directors and may be changed from event to event in order not to place an undue burden on any one person.
1.5.4.1 Is responsible for making Event Heat Draws;
1.5.4.2 Is responsible for making competition day rulings
1.5.4.3 Is responsible for updating Season Scores.;
1.5.4.4 Is responsible for keeping in communication with other judges in preparation for events. Any member of the SLSA who performs this role at an event shall be entitled to a payment in accordance with the “SLSA schedule of fees”.
1.5.5. Marshal – position is appointed by Board of Directors and may be changed from event to event in order not to place an undue burden on any one person.
1.5.5.1 Is responsible for making sure surfers for heat are present and in order, and that judges are aware of any no-shows.
1.5.5.2 Is responsible for making sure surfers do not begin until judges give go ahead.
1.5.5.3 Is responsible for obtaining assistants if needed. Any member of the SLSA who performs this role at an event shall be entitled to a payment in accordance with the “SLSA schedule of fees”.
1.5.6. Security – position is appointed by Board of Directors and may be changed from event to event in order not to place an undue burden on any one person.
1.5.6.1 Is responsible for maintaining secure competition area so that only officials and competitors are allowed within the area during the times they are needed.
1.5.6.2 Is responsible for communications with persons who are interfering with the competition.
1.5.6.3 Is responsible for obtaining assistants if needed. Any member of the SLSA who performs this role at an event shall be entitled to a payment in accordance with the “SLSA schedule of fees”.
1.5.7. Advisors Advisors are SLSA members with experience as a director or other appointed officer or supplier to the SLSA. Advisors shall be designated as such only after 4 or more out of 5 directors agree to the designation. The Designation may be revoked with a 4 or more out of 5 director vote. Directors stepping down from directorship shall be offered advisor designation at that time by the board. Advisors may;
1.5.7.1 be consulted by the board on matters of policy and constitutional rulings.
1.5.7.2 be consulted by the board on matters of event preparation and management.
1.5.7.3 if necessary, be deputized by the remaining standing board members, to act as election officers to ensure that 5 election officers are available at each election, in this role they are NOT empowered with Directorial rights or responsibilities. 1.5.7.4 Advisors may be appointed as officers of the SLSA.
1.5.7.5 Advisors are NOT voting members of the SLSA board. 1.5.7.6 Advisors must NOT speak on behalf of the SLSA board unless authorized to do so.
1.5.7.7 As appointed officers, advisors are entitled to normal fees for event day officer positions. Advisors may step down from the designation at any time, and should notify the existing board of that decision.
1.5.8. Teams A team is a group of SLSA members dedicated to supporting the mission statement and objectives of the SLSA and the surfing and surf-related community. Surfers and event participants are NOT required to be a member of any team.
1.5.8.1 Team Structure a) To be recognized as an official team within the SLSA, the team captain must submit a request to the SLSA directors through note cards submitted to each director. The note cards must contain the name of the primary and secondary contacts and a list of all team SLSA members in good standing with the SLSA. b) The team name shall not be lewd, offensive, or derogatory and in full compliance with the Second Life Terms of Service and Standards of Conduct.
1.5.9. Hall of Fame The SLSA Hall of Fame is a body of individuals that are recognized as outstanding surfers, sportsman and individual SLSA members that significantly contribute to the Mission and Objectives of the SLSA. The SLSA Hall of Fame also serves as a historical archive of SL Surfing. The SLSA Hall of Fame will be maintained by a curator appointed by the SLSA board in conjunction with the Hall of Fame members. The curator shall be responsible for maintaining the historical record, for organizing and announcing votes on induction, and for adding plaques and images of inductees in the designated building. SLSA Season Champion and Runner up will be automatic inductees to the Hall. Other inductees, shall be nominated by SLSA active members, and voted on by the SLSA sitting board together with Hall of Fame members. Membership of the Hall of Fame is open to all SL residents and is not contingent upon them being a member of the SLSA, thus allowing for induction of SL residents who the membership feel have made a significant contribution to the sport of SL Surfing, in all of its forms. As a historical archive, membership is not contingent upon membership in the SLSA, if the inductee was seen to make a significant contribution to the SL Surfing community, then that historical contribution remains a fact regardless of the inductees future participation in the SLSA or SL.
1.5.10. SLSA Forum The SLSA shall maintain a discussion forum on the Internet, which will serve as a place of record for rules, competitions, membership and general SLSA business. The SLSA Forum shall be open ONLY to SLSA Group members within SL. Members that leave the SLSA group, may be removed from the SLSA forum at the discretion of the SLSA Board of Directors.


2.0 Election Process of SLSA
The SLSA will be governed and managed by a Board of Directors comprising five (5) SLSA Members. Each Director has equal rights and responsibilities. The Directors shall be elected at a General Election as noted below.

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2.1. SLSA Members eligible to vote.


2.1.1. From the date of joining or rejoining the SLSA a Member is only eligible to vote for Directors of the SLSA Board, under one or more of the following conditions:
2.1.1.2. An SLSA Member must have competed (and been assigned a score) in at least one of the previous six SLSA sanctioned competitions prior to the election.
2.1.1.3. An SLSA Member shall be an SLSA Hall Of Fame inductee.
2.1.1.4. An SLSA Member must have served as an appointed officer or director at, at least, one of the previous three SLSA sanctioned competitions prior to the election.
2.1.2. SLSA Members eligible to vote will have the right to vote for each open director’s seat. If two directors’ seats are open, then each member will have two (2) votes to cast; if three seats are open then the member will have three (3) votes to cast.
2.1.3. SLSA Members eligible to vote cannot vote for a candidate more than once at a specific election, otherwise their complete vote for that election will become invalid and not counted.
2.1.4. SLSA Members eligible to vote cannot vote for less than the number of open seats otherwise their vote will become invalid and not counted.
2.1.5. SLSA members shall vote using the SLSA voting machine. The SLSA voting machine is a fully open source voting device, provided by the SLSA, which ensures accurate tallies, and total voter anonymity. To vote, the voter clicks the vote machine and makes their selections from a menu of candidates. The voter has the opportunity to confirm or restart their vote if they make a mistake. The voter gets a confirmation code with which they can use to check that their vote was recorded correctly.
2.1.5.1 the SLSA election committee shall consist of the five (5) standing directors, or may include one or more SLSA advisors when one or more directors are unavailable or are standing for re-election.
2.1.5.2 each SLSA Election Committee member shall post in the SLSA forum, the number of votes received, and the official vote codes received from the official vote machine. The total votes received for each candidate shall be posted , within 24 hours of the closure of voting.


2.2. SLSA Director Eligibility Any individual who is a current member of SLSA and who is an eligible voter is eligible to hold office as a Director of the SLSA Board, within the following rule(s):


2.2.1. Not more than two (2) representatives from
2.2.1.1 the same surf team (as defined in section 1.5.8)
2.2.1.2 the same surf product vendor company (product developers, not affiliate sellers)
2.2.1.3 the same surf sim(s) ownership group (sim owners, not sim renters) shall be Directors of the SLSA Board at any single time. Candidates will be accepted on a first come, first serve basis for this election condition. (e.g Continuing Director A is Surf Team X, Candidate B and Candidate C are also Surf Team X, then Candidate B would be accepted as a nominee if their application was received first, Candidate C’s nomination would not be accepted)
2.2.1.4 A current SLSA member who is not an eligible voter may petition the board for the privilege of running for a Director seat. Their petition must state why their candidacy would be a benefit to the SLSA. If the board unanimously agrees that it is in the best interest of the SLSA the eligible voter requirement may be waived. This will be on a case-by-case basis and does not imply an endorsement of the particular candidate.
2.2.2. General Election Candidates shall apply in writing to all members of the standing board of directors (via note-card, IM’s are not admissible) not more than 21 days and not less than 14 days prior to an election. Candidate Applications must state their willingness and ability to serve their full 6 month term and must also state any team, product or Sim affiliations as defined in 2.2.1.1 through 2.2.1.3. 2.2.3. By-Election Candidates shall apply in writing to all members of the standing board of directors (via note-card, (IM’s are not admissible) not less than 2 days prior to an election, stating their team, product and sim affiliations as defined in 2.2.1.1 through 2.2.1.3.


2.3. Election of Directors Rules for the Election of Directors of the SLSA Board:


2.3.1. General elections.
2.3.1.1. SLSA directors shall be elected by a simple majority of SLSA members that voted at the general election, and shall hold office for a period of six (6) months:
2.3.1.2 Elections shall be held every 3 months, so that not all of the Directors will run for office at a single election.
2.3.1.3 The election pattern will be 2, 3, 2… (where two directors’ seats will be open for election, followed by three directors’ seats three months later, then followed by two directors’ seats, in a repeating sequence.)
2.3.1.4. The candidates will fill the open directors’ seats in order of the total number of votes each received. If a tie occurs for the last open position, then a run-off election will occur seven (7) days later.
2.3.1.5. If there are less candidates eligible or willing to run for election than there are numbers of open Director’s seat(s), all events shall be suspended and the election re-scheduled.
2.3.2. By-Elections 2.3.2.1 Should a vacancy occur in the SLSA Board between scheduled elections such vacancy shall be filled with a by-election of SLSA Members eligible to vote within 4 days of the vacancy. The director elected in such a by-election shall fill the remaining term of the director replaced.
2.3.2.2 A vacancy can occur where a director resigns from the board, is suspended from the board (1.4.5), leaves the SLSA or has made no contribution to the board for one month.
2.3.2.3 By-elections shall only be held if the vacancy occurs more than 28 days prior to a regularly scheduled election for that position.


2.4. Election Dates


2.4.1. September 1st – Two Directors’ seats open (application dates August 11th – 18th.)
2.4.2. December 1st – Three Directors’ seats open (application dates November 10th – 17th.)
2.4.3. March 1st – Two Directors’ seats open (application dates February 9th – 16th.)
2.4.4. June 1st – Three Directors’ seats open (application dates May 11th – 18th.)
2.4.5 Elections shall run from 00.01 hours to 23.59 hours SL Time on the designated Election Day.



3.0 Modifications to the SLSA Constitution

3.1. Eligible Voting Membership


3.1.1. SLSA Members are eligible to vote for modifications to the SLSA Constitution, under the following condition:
3.1.1.1. An SLSA Member must have been an active member of the SLSA forum within the six (6) months prior to the announcement of the vote. “Active member” is an SLSA member that has made one or more posts to the SLSA forum within the six (6) month period prior to the announcement of the motion to modify the constitution. The SLSA member must be a current member of the forum at the time of the vote.


3.2. Motions to modify or add constitutional clauses.


3.2.1. The SLSA Constitution may only be changed via a Special General Meeting of the SLSA. Said meeting will take place similar to SLSA General Elections, via SLSA voting machine so as to accommodate all SLSA members eligible to vote in different time zones.
3.2.2. Only motions proposed by the SLSA Board, SL/Linden Labs Officials, or via a petition signed by a majority of the SLSA’s active (defined as – a member of the SLSA forum who has made one or more posts within the last six (6) months) membership, shall be considered. Petitions should be sent either as Note-card, or URL, to all sitting directors
3.2.3. A motion must be approved by a two-thirds (2/3) majority of SLSA members eligible to vote that vote for the proposition in order for the constitution to be amended.
3.2.4. Proposed Motions for SLSA Constitutional change shall be provided in writing to SLSA members eligible to vote not less than seven (7) days prior to the Special General Meeting.
3.2.5. The result of the Special General Meeting shall be provided in writing to all SLSA members not more than seven (7) days after the meeting.


4. Dissolution

4.1. Should the SLSA cease to operate, defined as no events run for 4 continuous calendar months, then the SLSA will dissolve, any funds net of prorata sponsor refunds and debt cancellation, will be split equally among members of the group who were active (see section 3.1.1.1) at the last competition, and the group closed.