ICGA tri-ennial meeting

Abstract

In accordance with the By-Laws the International Computer Games Association holds a tri-ennial meeting during the World Computer Chess Championship as appropriate. This year’s Chess events were held in Stockholm, while the Computer Olympiad and Games Conference took place in Taiwan during almost exactly the same period. It was therefore decided initially to hold the meeting via Skype or a similar means, on July 13^th, in the morning (in Europe, early evening in Taiwan), so that participants in both locations could be present at the meeting. It was then discovered that most of the participants in Taiwan would have left for home by the late afternoon (Taiwan time), and would not be able to attend the meeting in person, so it was decided that for the one matter which required a formal vote the participants in Taiwan could vote by proxy.

Financial report

The meeting received with thanks the financial report by the ICGA’s Secretary-Treasurer, Hiroyuki Iida. The key point in Professor Iida’s report was that, as of June 1^st 2018, the ICGA had approximately 86,000 Euro in reserves. That is before allowing for the costs of the Chess events in Stockholm, all of which, apart from the prizes, were being met by the ICGA. The prize fund for Stockholm, amounting to 5,000 Euro, was provided by a generous sponsor who wishes to remain anonymous. That same sponsor has confirmed their decision to support the 2019 Chess events in the same way, with a donation of 5,000 Euro.

Professor Iida also pointed out that the ICGA has several strong computer games groups in the Far East, particularly in Taiwan and Japan. For example, there are around 100 participants in the annual workshops that have been held in Japan since 1994. And thanks to the great efforts of Professor Hsu and his colleagues there are also regular computer game tournaments in Taiwan with good numbers of participants, within the aegis of the Taiwan Computer Games Association. Given all this interest, Professor Iida believes that there is excellent scope for attracting new members to the ICGA from the Far East.

Office-Bearers for 2018–2021

There was only one person nominated for each of the ICGA offices so there was no need to hold an election. The office-bearers for the period 2018–2021 are:

President – David Levy

Vice-Presidents: I-Chen Wu (for Asian countries); Mark Winands (outside Asia);

Secretary-treasurer – Hiroyuki Iida

Programmers’ Representative: Mark Lefler

During the meeting I announced that this will definitely be my final period as President. I have held the position from 1986–1992 and from 1999 to the present day, and it is high time for someone younger to take on the Presidency.

New Constitution and By-Laws

The Articles of the ICGA’s Constitution and the By-Laws had not been revised for several years, and a new set were proposed in order to bring them up to date with the current aims and activities of the ICGA. The draft was put to a vote, and there were 21 votes cast in favour of adopting the draft, no votes against, and one abstention. The new Articles and By-Laws are presented below.

In conclusion

On behalf of the ICGA I would like to thank all those who have toiled since the last tri-ennial meeting, to enable the ICGA to take on a new lease of life. In particular I would like to single out Professor Jaap van den Herik for the incredible amount of his time, effort and skill which he has devoted to the ICGA, including finding a regular academic journal publisher, IOS Press, to take over the production and distribution of the ICGA Journal. This has been a very positive step, and secures the ICGA Journal for the coming years. Also of course our thanks go out to Joke Hellemons, who has similarly devoted a great amount of her time to supporting the ICGA in various ways; to Hiroyuki Iida for his conduct of the financial affairs of the Association; and to Jan Krabbenbos, our tournament director, for his tireless efforts, supported by Grace Krabbenbos, in making our Chess tournaments and most of our Computer Olympiads run so smoothly.

THE ARTICLES OF THE CONSTITUTION AND THE BY-LAWS

CONSTITUTION

Article I: Name

The name of this organization shall be the International Computer Games Association.

Article II: Object

The organization is a non-profit group devoted to providing an international framework for activities in computer games and encouraging advances in this field.

Article III: Qualification of Members

Members of the ICGA are individuals, honorary members, and institutional members. Individual membership is open to anyone interested in pursuing the objectives of the organization as stated in Article II, who makes application and pays the current dues. Honorary and Institutional Membership shall be set forth in the By-Laws.

Article IV: Officers and their Election

The elective officers, their terms of office, and their duties shall be set forth in the By-Laws.

BY-LAWS

Article I: Membership

Individual Membership. Individual Membership shall be as set forth in the Constitution.

Honorary Membership. Honorary Membership may be awarded by majority vote at general meetings to any person who has especially aided the organization.

Institutional Membership. Institutional Membership can be granted following the request of an organization to the ICGA. In particular, games organizations and computer organizations are eligible.

Article II: Meetings and events

The World Computer-Chess Championship and the Triennial Meeting. The ICGA will use its best endeavours to hold a World Computer-Chess Championship every year. A Triennial Meeting will take place during and at the site of a World Computer-Chess Championship.

Other Events. The ICGA will use its best endeavours to hold other appropriate computer games events, including conferences and Computer Olympiads, on an annual basis.

Quorum. A quorum at the Triennial Meeting will consist of at least twenty (20) members. Under exceptional circumstances the Executive Committee may decide by majority vote to reduce this number.

Article III: Officers

Elective Officers. The elective officers of the organization shall consist of a President, two Vice-Presidents, one representing Asian countries and one representing all other countries, a Programmers Representative and a Secretary-Treasurer. They shall constitute the Executive Committee of the organization.

Elections. Elections for the members of the Executive Committee will be held at each Triennial Meeting, with elected officers taking on their duties at the end of that meeting. Nominations are to be made to the ICGA no later than three (3) months before the elections, save for the Programmers Representative for which nominations will be taken at the Triennial Meeting. The ICGA will announce the nominations on its web site at least two months before the election. At least five (5) members are required for each nomination. All candidates for election must have been members of the ICGA for no less than two years. Officers are elected by a majority of those present and voting by secret, written ballot. Runoffs will be held if no candidate receives a simple majority. The candidate with the least votes will be eliminated from the ballot for each runoff, until one candidate receives a simple majority.

Terms of Office. All members of the Executive Committee serve for a three-year term.

Executive Committee. The Executive Committee shall be presided over by the President, who shall have a casting vote in any Executive Committee meeting.

Article IV: The ICGA journal

The ICGA will encourage the publication of technical and non-technical works on the subject of computer games. The official publication of the ICGA shall be the ICGA Journal. The Triennial Meeting will appoint one or more Editor(s)-in-Chief of the ICGA Journal. The Editor(s)-in-Chief shall be empowered to nominate Editors and editorial staff as (s)he or they see fit, subject only to the provision that Editors must be ICGA members. The Journal may accept acknowledged sponsoring. The Editorial Board is charged with ensuring that the ICGA Journal holds an acknowledged position in the roster of scientific publications. The Advances in Computer Games Conferences [and the Computer and Games Conferences] are official ICGA events. The Editor(s)-in-Chief is(are) responsible for helping to arrange the publication of the Proceedings of the Advances in Computer Games Conferences and the Computer and Games Conferences.

Article V: Dues and Finances

Annual Dues. Dues will be twenty Euro (20) per year payable in advance. Dues are normally collected during the month of January or when the member joins the ICGA, whichever is the later.

Disposition of Funds. No part of the net earnings of the ICGA shall ever accrue to or for the benefit of or be distributed to its members, officers or private persons, except that the ICGA shall be empowered to pay reasonable compensation for services rendered, and to make payments and distributions in furtherance of the express purpose for which it was founded.

Article VI: Amendment of the By-Laws

Presentation. Any proposed amendments for changing the By-Laws must be announced on the ICGA web site at least two months before a tri-ennial meeting.

Voting on Proposed Amendments. The adoption of proposed Amendments to the By-Laws require two-thirds of the members voting and present at a tri-ennial meeting to support the amendment.

Article VII: Dissolution

Dissolution of the ICGA. Upon winding up and dissolution of the ICGA, after paying or adequately providing for the debts and obligations of this organization, the remaining assets shall be distributed to a non-profit fund, foundation, or corporation whose purposes are consistent with the object of this organization.