Buma/Stemra
Buma/Stemra distribute licenses to music users and return the collected funds to the entitled parties: composers, lyricists and music publishers. During a recent general members meeting of Buma/Stemra, members had the opportunity to vote on current company issues. The aim was to encourage the more than 26,000 members to vote. As many members as possible, and each vote having its own weight. Members who were not able to attend the general meeting in person should also have been able to vote. With the use of various smart technologies from Savvy, Buma/Stemra discovered a solid solution for this complex challenge.
THE STARTING POINT
Buma/Stemra had designated a separate legal entity to represent each participant. Not every vote however, would carry the same weight. Savvy assigned each member to the correct corresponding voting weight. This function made it possible to run complex voting rounds – based on two different articles of association – quickly and efficiently. Even those votes cast on behalf of other members, by means of a proxy and accompanying voting weight, were easy to fine-tune.
ABSENTEE PARTICIPATION
For those members who wanted to attend the meeting but could not physically be present, Savvy set up a live audio stream. Through this live audio stream, members could follow what was being discussed during the members’ meeting in real-time. Through Savvy Vote, absentee members could also participate easily in the various voting rounds. Thanks to e-voting, a large group of members could vote remotely during the meeting, with each person’s individual voting weight being taken into account.
FroM THE COMFORT OF THEIR OWN DEVICE
Buma/Stemra consciously chose to let the members use their own device to participate in the various voting rounds. Upon arrival, members received a code by text message that allowed them to access Savvy Vote on their own device. Absentee members received a text message with a code that gave them access to both Savvy Vote and the live audio stream. It was up to the members themselves to use their 3G or 4G connection or the WiFi network facilitated by Savvy.
THAT SAVVY VOICE
All in all, it was a complex design with many different factors to take into account. By following the advice of the Savvy team to connect different smart tools from the various Savvy Congress solutions, Buma/Stemra was able to employ a straightforward, multi-purpose voting solution. This way, all members could let their vote count.
