Minutes from the General Assembly, Ljubljana 2013

16 July 2013, Ljubljana, Slovenia

1. Minutes of the previous meeting were agreed as a true record with the exception of an erroneous entry relating to the list of committee members.
2. Report from the President (Professor Patrick Sturgis).
   Professor Sturgis reported to the membership the new management, financial and constitutional arrangements for the Association. These included a new website, hosted on a new platform and managed at University of Southampton. The new streamlined constitution was explained, along with the new banking arrangements and the Association’s new status as a Registered Charity in the UK. Changes to rules for institutional membership were also presented.
3. Report from the Treasurer (Dr Jon Burton).
   Dr Burton delivered the treasurer’s report, which described an increase in the cash surplus that ESRA holds, along with details of expenditure and income.
4. Report from the editor of Survey Research Methods (Professor Rainer Schnell).
   Professor Schnell reported that the journal was moving to a new web platform and that from 2013 the journal would have an ISI impact factor. Professor Schnell announced his stepping down from the editorship and announced Professor Ulrich Kohler as his successor. The meeting recorded a vote of thanks to Rainer for his service.
5. Planning for 2015 conference (Professor Bart Meuleman).
   Professor Meuleman, the conference chair for the 2015 meeting invited proposals and offers for locations for staging the conference in 2015.
6. Elections to the committee.
   Professor Jaak Billiet retired from the committee and a vote of thanks were recorded by the meeting.
   Ms Gerry Nicolaas (Ipsos-MORI) was elected unopposed to membership of the committee, replacing Professor Billiet.
   Professor Eldad Davidov was elected unopposed as Vice President; Professor Meuleman to the role of Conference Chair. The role of Conference Vice-Chair was left vacant (subsequently filled by Dr Annelies Blom).
7. Any Other Business.
   A general discussion took place about the number of members currently in the Association, potential role for off-conference-year events and other sundry topics.