Working Groups

Official representation of the MSIA is deemed to be any forum or event whereby a member is representing the views or acting on behalf of the MSIA either in 'ex officio' capacity as an MSIA office-holder or as a representative nominated by the membership or committee to represent the MSIA for a specific forum or area of endeavour.

At times and in forums when official representation of the MSIA is being undertaken:

• To at all times conduct themselves in a professional manner.
• To, at the first opportunity, declare any interests which they may have which has the potential of being of concern or interest to any of the members of the forum which the representative is attending. This declaration should be repeated for any new attendees from time to time.
• To at all times fairly represent the opinions of the full MSIA membership. Representatives are required to represent the majority view of the MSIA membership whenever this is evident or available.  If an issue demands a clear directive by the membership as a whole, the representative will endeavour to seek a majority view by ballot, seeking of written input or other canvassing means prior to making the representation. Otherwise, the representative will use their own experience and judgement to best represent the views of the membership of the MSIA.
• To openly pass on, in a timely manner, to all MSIA members, any information which may be shared with them as the MSIA Representative, which may have any impact on the conduct of the business of any member.
• To at no time use the privilege of attending any meeting organisation relevant to the representation duties to further any commercial advantage of their own company or software over that of other members of the MSIA.
• To at no time speak on behalf of, or make representations for the company for which they work or any commercial interest they may have other than the MSIA.
• If asked to offer an opinion or make a statement on behalf of their company, the representative should decline with the explanation that this would contravene MSIA Representation Guidelines and that such a statement can be sought in person at another time.

• To advise all members of all meetings of the Organisation to which they represent the MSIA. Where a projected schedule of meetings is known in advance, this should be circulated to all members.
• Where an agenda is know, to circulate the agenda to all members and where appropriate, to highlight any matters thought to be of relevance to MSIA Members.
• Call for any comments or input required by members, giving a return-by date.
• Collate such comment or input and present, if possible, a consensus opinion to the organisation. If and when members have differing views, these should be expressed.
• Present a considered opinion to the organisation for any topic that may come up during the course of meetings of that organisation.
• Should, during a meeting, a situation arise where it is believed that the opinion of the membership should be sort prior to comment, this should at all times be stated, and that opinion gathered and presented to the organisation.
• Ensure the distribution to all MSIA members any documents that are made available at the meeting/forum or which are an outcome of the meeting.  Exceptions to this are documents that are declared 'confidential' or 'in confidence', and in these cases, the representative shall seek permission to make the documents available to all MSIA members, in confidence, or at least to the MSIA Executive.
• After any meeting, a representative will ensure that the MSIA membership is updated on the outcomes of each meeting/forum with at least a short single paragraph report distributed by email or web forum to all MSIA members. This should be done within 2 weeks of the meeting date, or sooner if possible. When formal meeting minutes are received, these should be forwarded to all MSIA members.