The first step in the Meeting Hub end-to-end process, is to create a new meeting, which is covered in this first section of the guide. The ability to create a new meeting is available to all Meeting Hub users - both with 'Standard' and 'Administrator' privileges.
To create a new ballot, please see New Ballot Creation.
After creating the meeting, the Meeting Details screen will be displayed, which is covered in the next section of this guide. Please see Meeting Details to learn about that screen.
Meeting Creation Overview
- The creation process for meetings and ballots is separated and therefor has two different buttons: New Meeting and New Ballot.
- The ‘Exit Meeting Creation’ allows you to exit the creation process at any point, whilst the ‘Complete Creation’ button finalises the creation of the meeting, provided all required sections are completed.
- Each section that has been completed will display a green tick in the header, whilst incomplete sections will display a red warning icon and additional warning messages appear in each section if the 'Complete Creation' button is clicked prematurely.
- As you scroll down the page, each section will automatically collapse and can then be clicked to quickly expand that section.
Meeting Creation Demo Video (6m21s)
This short demonstration video covers the meeting creation process.
Building
Click the Select Building... drop-down menu, and use the Filter... field if necessary to locate and select the required building.
The Meeting state, Regulatory module and Building type will be selected automatically (synced with Building Information), and are displayed in Meeting Hub to assist with the setup of the meeting. They will affect the meeting content and the way the meeting is run, in particular the meeting state determines the resolution types that are available and how resolutions are determined. If these details are incorrect for the selected building, they can be adjusted in Building Information before restarting the meeting creation process.
Quorum Required
This field defaults to the quorum percentage recorded in the Building Information. You can opt to use this default value or manually enter a different quorum for the meeting.
Meeting Type
Click the required selection for the Meeting Type . This is state-specific for the meeting types that are available, and the type selected, will determine which Standard Meeting Template will appear when the Use an existing standard meeting template box is ticked (next step). This selection will also alter any sections available further down the page. For example, selecting the Committee Meeting radio button will add another section to the page called 'Committee Members'.
Standard Meeting Template
Select one of the two tick boxes here. The Use a blank meeting template box will result in you having to manually add all the agenda items, motions and Template Groups afterwards in the Meeting Details screen.
By ticking the Use an existing standard meeting template tick box:
- A list of saved Standard Meetings will appear to chose from, and a Filter... field can be used to locate and select the required Standard Meeting. This will be used as a basis for the new meeting with all of its details, such as motions, template groups, etc. being visible in the Meeting Details screen. If a standard meeting contains a standard motion with an invalid resolution type, an alert icon will be display advising that the standard meeting ‘Contains a Standard Motion with an invalid Required Resolution for a Committee Meeting’. This must be corrected by editing the Standard Meeting first and then starting the meeting creation process again so that the Standard Meeting can be selected.
- The Standard Meeting can also be previewed by clicking the 'glasses' button. This will display any Standard Motions or Standard Agenda Items it contains, which can also be previewed by clicking on them. This is how they will appear in VoteMax.
Meeting Date and Time
The dates for meetings will default to the system date. You can either confirm these default values by selecting ‘Confirm use of default values’ or manually enter the required dates. The small, blue 'info' icon displays that 'The meeting time zone is determined by the location of the meeting'.
Meeting Location
Start typing the address of the meeting in the Meeting Location field, then choose an address from the list. By clicking the Map Pin icon on the right it will open a new window with Google Maps displaying the selected address, which will also be visible in VoteMax.
There is also an optional Meeting Location Details field, which is a free-text field to provide further details to the owners. This could also be used for a Zoom meeting URL for example.
VoteMax Settings
VoteMax Settings determine if a meeting is visible to lot owners / committee members in VoteMax, and whether voting is enabled before and during the meeting. After selecting and configuring one of options below click the Next button to progress to the next screen.
Show in VoteMax without voting will make the meeting visible in VoteMax with all of its details including the agenda items and motions. However, attendees will not be able to cast votes in VoteMax.
Show in VoteMax with voting will display the meeting details to the owner in VoteMax, and allow them to cast and declare their votes electronically in VoteMax. Additional tick boxes will appear when this is selected.
- Enable Committee Election Voting in VoteMax is displayed only for certain meeting types and buildings in certain states. If applicable, attendees can then cast their votes for committee members using VoteMax.
- Enabled Pre-Meeting Voting gives attendees the ability to vote in VoteMax before the meeting starts, during the configured voting window. In the Voting Open Date and Time field, voting must be set in the future, and the Voting Closing Date and Time field must be set prior to the scheduled meeting date and time. It is also recommended to allow sufficient time for pre-meeting votes to be checked in the Attendance Register, and for any issues to be resolved. Setting the voting window close time no later than 4pm (AEST) will also allow StrataMax to provide support if necessary.
- This will add two more sections to the meeting notice: 'ONLINE VOTING' and 'IMPORTANT INFO ABOUT PRE-MEETING ELECTRONIC VOTING'. These are hard coded into the '"OTS" templates and will either need to be edited on each notice before it is distributed, or you can request a custom template from the StrataMax Support team (costs may apply).
- This will add two more sections to the meeting notice: 'ONLINE VOTING' and 'IMPORTANT INFO ABOUT PRE-MEETING ELECTRONIC VOTING'. These are hard coded into the '"OTS" templates and will either need to be edited on each notice before it is distributed, or you can request a custom template from the StrataMax Support team (costs may apply).
- Enable In Meeting Voting gives attendees the ability to join the meeting at or after the configured date and time, and cast their votes, which will automatically update each motion during the meeting, provided the motion outcome hasn't been determined already. You will need to configure Join Meeting Dateand Time fields to coincide with the meeting start date and time.
Hide from VoteMax will simply not display the meeting in VoteMax.
Committee Member (Committee Meeting only)
If Committee Meeting or Budget Committee Meeting is selected as the Meeting Type, then an additional section for Committee Members will be displayed. The list is generated from the members in Office Bearers in StrataMax. The committee members that are selected for the committee meeting can also be adjusted once the meeting has been created. And when distributing the meeting notice, members can be custom selected as recipients.
Summary
Once all sections have been completed (note the green tick icons for each section), the details of the new meeting will be displayed in the Summary section. You can either click in the green text box or the Complete Creation button at the top of the screen to proceed to the Meeting Details screen.
