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INTERNATIONAL CANCER INFORMATION SERVICES GROUP

2003 Annual General Meeting of the ICISG Board

Dolphin Square Hotel, London, England • September 1, 2003 • 14:00-16:00

ACTIONS ARISING FROM THE MEETING

• Catherine and Anne Vz will draft a paragraph for the Governance Terms of Reference to address the resignation and replacement of Board members during the term in office.
• Catherine will coordinate the development of a draft partnership agreement between ICISG and UICC.
• Anne Vk, Monika and Cora will send a letter to members of ECL, which will include an invitation to join the ICISG. Monika will forward a copy of the letter to post on the ICISG listserv and website.
• Marion will send the article on the collaboration between US and Germany, and Monika will send the article on the collaboration between German CISs to Anne Vz for posting on the website.
• Doreen offered to start a log of “who helped who’.
• Anne Vz will test the draft Assessment Tool and the outline for the How To manual during the visit with the Korean National Cancer Centre and the Ligue nationale de lutte contre le cancer.
• Anne Vz will invite the Korean and French groups to join ICISG.
  
• Chris will send a draft questionnaire of the CAM survey to Doreen, Monika, Cora and Catherine for comments.
• Catherine will start a discussion paper on the desirability of ICISG becoming a non-for-profit organization with implications on membership, sustainability and legal requirements.
• Anne Vz will organized the ICISG conference call in December.

MEETING

1. WELCOME AND INTRODUCTION
Catherine welcomed everyone to the Annual General Meeting of the ICISG Board and introduced the agenda for the meeting.

2. MINUTES OF DECEMBER 9, 2002 CONFERENCE CALL
The minutes of the conference call held on December 9, 2002 were adopted with minor changes and will be posted on the website. Members were asked to send comments when draft minutes are distributed and to follow-up on actions.

3. BOARD MEMBERSHIP
Monika read a letter of resignation from Hilke who is retiring. It was also suggested that given Richard’s new job appointment, Doreen will ask him to a replacement from Singapore. The Governance Terms of Reference do not yet address the issue of resignation and replacement of Board members during their term. Catherine and Anne Vz will draft a paragraph and send to all for comments.

4. COLLABORATION WITH UICC
Catherine tabled the UICC Strategic Plan. She referred to the working groups and gave an update on the the last UICC conference call regarding ICISG’s involvement in UICC capacity building. She indicated that UICC is interested in the CIS How To Manual. The planning for the 2006 Global Conference 2006 in Washington has started. ICISG’s focus is relevant for track 3 and track 4.

A brief dicussion followed regarding memberships for ECL, UICC and ICISG. Catherine will clarify with Evelyn the implications of membership with ECL vs UICC.

Catherine will coordinate a small group to draft a Memorandum of Understanding with UICC. Our partnership with UICC will reflect a collaboration between 2 independent parties. The MOU will be based on the same duration as the UICC strategic plan and be renewable. Key points of the MOU will include:

UICC will provide ICISG with:
Participation in planning UICC conferences, and presence at plenary session
Free of-charge exhibit space at UICC conference
Access to UICC membership list
Recognition of ICISG as “the” credible cancer information group
Referral of countries getting involved in cancer information
Designated section for ICISG on UICC’s website
Inclusion of ICISG Faculty with UICC Faculty
Fee for service to facilitate the receipt of sponsorships for ICISG

ICIG will provide UICC with:
Support and participation in UICC strategic plan – capacity building
Support of UICC members interested in cancer information

5. PROGRESS UPDATE

5.1 Website development
Anne Vz gave an overview of the architecture for the website. There was general agreement on the proposed approach and content developed and uploaded in the next few months for a launch in January 2004. The importance of the website for ICISG’s exposure was emphasized and the support from Sparks (Jasper Smith) will be confirmed.

5.2 Profile and links with European Helplines/ECL
Anne Vk reported that the ECL does not want to continue organizing conferences. An informal European Network for Cancer Information and Support has been established and former ECL participants will be invited to join. Anne Vk, Monika and Cora will send the letter in October, which will include an invitation to join the ICISG. Monika will forward a copy of the letter to post on the ICISG listserv and website. (???)

5.3 ICISG member in the news
Mary Anne and Monika wrote an article outlining the collaboration between the US and Germany. Marion will send the word document to Anne Vz for posting on the website. Monika will send the electronic copy of the article on the collaboration between German-speaking CISs. Doreen offered to start a log of who helped who.

5.4 CIS Assessment tool and How to Manual
Marion distributed the draft Assessment Tool and the outline for the How To manual. Marion will revise with comments and Anne Vz will test these tools during the visit with the Korean National Cancer Centre and the Ligue nationale de lutte contre le cancer. Anne Vz will invite the Korean and French groups to join ICISG.

5.5 Logo Design and promotional brochure
Chris completed the draft design for the ICISG logo. This will be discussed with all present during the coordination meeting. (meeting following)

5.6 Research activity on CAMs
Chris gave a brief overview of the current CAM activities at NCI and expressed interest in including the participation of other countries in the survey. Chris will send a draft questionnaire of the CAM survey to Doreen, Monika, Cora and Catherine.

5.7 Sponsorship 4th Global conference
Doreen informed the Board of a potential sponsorship by Roche. This offer prompted some questions:

• What is the purpose of the sponsorship: support for the conference, project officer or secretariat?
• Should ICISG become a legal entity as non-for-profit organization?
• Should ICISG charge a small membership fee?

Board members agreed that initially, corporate sponsorship would be invited to provide financial support for the conference, the development of the How To manual and the ICISG website. Board members will only seek corporate sponsorship with the permission of their respective organization.

In time, ICISG may consider becoming a non-for-profit organization, possibly supported by membership fees for sustainability. It was noted that NCI would not be able to be a member of ICISG if it became a non-for-profit organization. Catherine will start a discussion paper on the desirability of ICISG becoming a non-for-profit organization with implications on membership, sustainability and legal requirements.

6. NEXT MEETING AND ADJOURMENT
Anne Vz will organize the next conference call in early December. Catherine thanked the Board for their participation and adjourned the meeting at 16:00.

Prepared by Anne Vézina, November 2003.

Last Updated: 8 January 2008