MINUTES OF MEETING
BACKGROUND
You work for ExtremEvents, an events company that specializes in organizing social events of an
unusual nature. Ms Vanda, the manager of this company, has called a general staff meeting, at
which you are going to write the minutes of agenda item 3.2 of the meeting to be held in the
boardroom at 11:00 on 15 May, 2016.
INSTRUCTIONS
Below is a transcript (exact words written down) of what was said under agenda Item 3.2 of this
meeting, presented in the form of a dialogue.
Write the minutes of this discussion, which covers only one agenda item, and not the whole
meeting. This means that the complete format for minutes is not required.
Minute the discussion under the sub-heading: “3.2 Legal issue – Sweet 16 birthday party” from
the general staff meeting.
Remember that, in taking the minutes, we carefully select and summarise information, and
make changes to style and grammar.
Note that it is usually not necessary to record what each person said in turn.
Your answer should not exceed one page in length.
Transcript of “Item 3.2 Legal issue – Sweet 16 birthday party”
Ms Vanda (Chair): Okay, okay! Settle down people. Let’s get onto the next item of the
agenda.
Mr Gordon : By the way ma’am, last month went well, didn’t it?
Ms Vanda: Yes. Last month was quite a month! Not only did we pull off the
biggest extreme party that ExtremEvents has ever thrown, we also had
our busiest month ever! Do you agree Ms Sukazi? You are our
accountant.
Ms Sukazi: Yes, Chair. It was the most financially productive by far. All the events,
put together, gave us a whopping 52% increase in profit, compared to
the same time last year.
, Ms Vanda: Yes, but now we’ve got to tackle a worrying incident from last week.
The Directors thought they’d keep it at management and accounts
department level, but we decided that you all need to know what is
happening.
Mr Bes, you all remember him I think, is threatening to sue us over
the incident with the weather at his daughter’s “Sweet 16” birthday party.
Ms Shezi: They were the ones with the Carnival Nights theme, wasn’t it? But,
eish! The damage to the costumes caused by rain that night was
horrendous. All those costumes were rented, you know.
Ms Sukazi: And we’re talking big money here. Somebody has to foot the bill for
the damage The contract Mr Bes signed with us is very clear that
he has to bear the costs.
Ms Vanda: That’s true, but he doesn’t agree and is threatening to sue. There
are suggestions at management level that we settle this by paying the
account ourselves, which will be a more amicable option.
Mr Simons: I’m sorry, but our contracts with clients are very clear on such matters.
I, for one, know that we explain these things to our clients before we
even sign any agreement. The guy is just taking chances - let him pay.
If we accept responsibility, the money comes out of our performance
bonuses.
Mr Gordon: But if we enforce what is stipulated on the contract, it might start all
kinds of fires with other customers.
Mr Kruger: Darned sure! We always have to take the bad publicity this could cause
into consideration.
Ms Solani: I agree, Mr Kruger. What about our promise always to put the clients
first?
Is it an empty promise? I won’t be part of empty deceitful promises, no
way!
BACKGROUND
You work for ExtremEvents, an events company that specializes in organizing social events of an
unusual nature. Ms Vanda, the manager of this company, has called a general staff meeting, at
which you are going to write the minutes of agenda item 3.2 of the meeting to be held in the
boardroom at 11:00 on 15 May, 2016.
INSTRUCTIONS
Below is a transcript (exact words written down) of what was said under agenda Item 3.2 of this
meeting, presented in the form of a dialogue.
Write the minutes of this discussion, which covers only one agenda item, and not the whole
meeting. This means that the complete format for minutes is not required.
Minute the discussion under the sub-heading: “3.2 Legal issue – Sweet 16 birthday party” from
the general staff meeting.
Remember that, in taking the minutes, we carefully select and summarise information, and
make changes to style and grammar.
Note that it is usually not necessary to record what each person said in turn.
Your answer should not exceed one page in length.
Transcript of “Item 3.2 Legal issue – Sweet 16 birthday party”
Ms Vanda (Chair): Okay, okay! Settle down people. Let’s get onto the next item of the
agenda.
Mr Gordon : By the way ma’am, last month went well, didn’t it?
Ms Vanda: Yes. Last month was quite a month! Not only did we pull off the
biggest extreme party that ExtremEvents has ever thrown, we also had
our busiest month ever! Do you agree Ms Sukazi? You are our
accountant.
Ms Sukazi: Yes, Chair. It was the most financially productive by far. All the events,
put together, gave us a whopping 52% increase in profit, compared to
the same time last year.
, Ms Vanda: Yes, but now we’ve got to tackle a worrying incident from last week.
The Directors thought they’d keep it at management and accounts
department level, but we decided that you all need to know what is
happening.
Mr Bes, you all remember him I think, is threatening to sue us over
the incident with the weather at his daughter’s “Sweet 16” birthday party.
Ms Shezi: They were the ones with the Carnival Nights theme, wasn’t it? But,
eish! The damage to the costumes caused by rain that night was
horrendous. All those costumes were rented, you know.
Ms Sukazi: And we’re talking big money here. Somebody has to foot the bill for
the damage The contract Mr Bes signed with us is very clear that
he has to bear the costs.
Ms Vanda: That’s true, but he doesn’t agree and is threatening to sue. There
are suggestions at management level that we settle this by paying the
account ourselves, which will be a more amicable option.
Mr Simons: I’m sorry, but our contracts with clients are very clear on such matters.
I, for one, know that we explain these things to our clients before we
even sign any agreement. The guy is just taking chances - let him pay.
If we accept responsibility, the money comes out of our performance
bonuses.
Mr Gordon: But if we enforce what is stipulated on the contract, it might start all
kinds of fires with other customers.
Mr Kruger: Darned sure! We always have to take the bad publicity this could cause
into consideration.
Ms Solani: I agree, Mr Kruger. What about our promise always to put the clients
first?
Is it an empty promise? I won’t be part of empty deceitful promises, no
way!
