SOCIETY MEMBERSHIP

9.0 Types of Members

9.1 A Member is either an Individual Member or a Life Member, but not an Honorary Member or an Associated Member.

(a)     A person in a Family Membership is deemed to be an Individual Member.

9.2 An Individual Member has the rights and responsibilities set out in these Rules.

9.3 A Life Member is a person who is acknowledged as a longstanding Member of the Society. A Life Member has all the rights and responsibilities of an Individual Member (including the right to vote), but does not have to pay fees, subscriptions, or levies.

9.4 An Honorary Member is a person who is acknowledged as providing or having provided important services to the Society. An Honorary Member has none of the rights or privileges of a Member.

9.5 An Associated Member is maintained on the registrar of members. An Associated Member has none of the rights or privileges of a Member. 

10.0 Admission of Members

10.1 To become an Individual Member or an Associated Member, a person (“the Applicant”) must:

(a)   Complete an application form, if the Committee requires this;

(b)    Have an active profile on Geocaching.com;

(c)    Have correctly logged at least one (1) active Cache (excluding Event Caches) as defined by the rules of Geocaching.com;

(d)   Be a New Zealand Resident, Expatriate, or be actively involved in Geocaching in New Zealand and provide proof of this if required;

(e)   Pay any specified fees;

(f)    Supply any other information the Committee requires.

10.2 To qualify for Family Membership, a person (“the Applicant”) must:

(a)   Be a recognised family or group member of a Geocaching.com profile;

(b)   Meet the requirements of an Individual member, as specified in Rule 11.1;

(c)    Be one (1) of a maximum of two (2) Individual Members per Family Membership.

10.3 The Committee may interview the Applicant when it considers Membership applications.

10.4 The Committee shall have complete discretion when it decides whether or not to let the Applicant become an Individual Member or an Associated Member. The Committee shall advise the Applicant of its decision, and that decision shall be final.

10.5 An Individual Member may become a Life Member only if:

(a)   The Committee recommends that the Society should appoint the Individual Member as a Life Member; and

(b)   The Society passes a resolution appointing the Individual Member as a Life Member by a two-thirds majority of those Members present and voting.

11.0 The Register of Members

11.1 The Secretary shall keep a register of Members (“the Register”), which shall contain the Membership Type, Name(s), City / Region, Country, Email address, Geocaching.com profile name and the Member Name of all Members, and the dates at which they became Members.

11.2 If a Member’s Name(s), City / Region, Country or Email address changes, that Member shall give the new Name, Address or Email address to the Secretary.

11.3 Each Member shall provide such other details as the Committee requires.

12.0 Cessation of Membership

12.1 Any Member may resign by giving written notice to the Secretary.

12.2 A Member may have his or her Membership terminated in the following way:

(a)   If, for any reason whatsoever, the Committee is of the view that a Member is breaching the Rules or acting in a manner inconsistent with the purposes of the Society, the Committee may give written notice of this to the Member (“the Committee’s Notice”). The Committee’s Notice must:

a.     Explain how the Member is breaching the Rules or acting in a manner inconsistent with the purposes of the Society;

b.     State what the Member must do in order to remedy the situation; or state that the Member must write to the Committee giving reasons why the Committee should not terminate the Member’s Membership.

c.     State that if, within 14 days of the Member receiving the Committee’s Notice, the Committee is not satisfied, the Committee may in its absolute discretion immediately terminate the Member’s Membership.

d.    State that if the Committee terminates the Member’s Membership, the Member may appeal to the Society.

(b)   14 days after the Member received the Committee’s Notice, the Committee may in its absolute discretion by majority vote terminate the Member’s Membership by giving the Member written notice (“Termination Notice”), which takes immediate effect. The Termination Notice must state that the Member may appeal to the Society at the next Meeting by giving written notice to the Secretary (“Member’s Notice”) within 14 days of the Member’s receipt of the Termination Notice.

(c)     If the Member gives the Member’s Notice to the Secretary, the Member will have the right to be fairly heard at the next Society Meeting. If the Member chooses, the Member may provide the Secretary with a written explanation of the events as the Member sees them (“the Member’s Explanation”), and the Member may require the Secretary to give the Member’s Explanation to every other Member within 7 days of the Secretary receiving the Member’s Explanation. If the Member is not satisfied that the other Society Members have had sufficient time to consider the Member’s Explanation, the Member may defer his or her right to be heard until the following Society Meeting.

(d)   When the Member is heard at a Society Meeting, the Society may question the Member and the Committee Members.

(e)   The Society shall then by majority vote decide whether to let the termination stand, or whether to reinstate the Member. The Society’s decision will be final.

13.0 Re-admission of former Members

13.1 Any former Member who has resigned may apply for re-admission in the same way as a new applicant, but if the former Member's membership was terminated by the Committee or the Society, the Applicant shall not be readmitted without the approval of the Committee by majority vote.

14.0 Obligations of Members

14.1 All Members (and Committee Members) shall promote the purposes of the Society and shall do nothing to bring the Society into disrepute.