[New-imc] Progress on perth.

[Shayne O'Neill]

Ok folks. Heres where we are at.

The collective made another 'hey whats going on?' probe at list a while
back and we got a few things done.

A) Got our reps on all main lists.
B) Got our consensus policy sussed (apendixed to this post)
C) Got our editorial mostly sussed. (Wording is being finallised before
being posted up + aproval at saturdays meeting).
D) Everyone agreed to membership criteria at last meeting. Consensus.
E) We have finally found that damn Principals of unity document and its on
list now waiting for comment and or block/opinion/whatever.

DRAFT CONSENSUS PERTH STYLEE DRAFT

PERTH IMC - Consensus Decision Making Process
=============================================
(Note this has achieved consensus. Draft over when we proved its working!)

MEETINGS: General Perth Indymedia collective meet in the flesh regularly
[fortnightly] to enable
open discussion, cooperation, collaboration and individual support for
ongoing Perth IMC projects or to initiate new ones. These meetings are
open
to everyone and should involve caffeine. A rotating head will facilitate
and
watch the vibes of meeting. It is important that meeting minutes are taken
by a rotating minute-taker - these will need to be a clear representation
of
anything discussed or decided upon at meeting. These are then posted onto
perth.ingymedia and the list as soon a practicable after the flesh meeting

General flesh meetings have no set format and should involve discussions
that involve
everyone at the meeting. All in attendance are encouraged to participate
in
the discussion. These General meetings are publicly announced weekly on
the
perth.indymedia.org site and wherever else is appropriate.

*General discussions also take place on an ongoing basis on the perth-imc
discussion list:
imc-perth at lists.indymedia.org  and in the imc-perth chatroom:
http://chat.perthimc.asn.au/ - at agreed regular intervals.

MEETINGS and DECISIONS

At these meetings decisions may have to be made that may affect the
collective as a whole - such as: financial, ethical, legal issues and
more.
All decisions made must adhere to the Perth Indymedia principals/mission
statement. Occasionally a situation may arise where certain decisions may
cause conflict in the group. Heated arguments are not conducive to clear
and
open information flow and a cooling off period may be required. A vibes
watcher will facilitate the mood of the meeting and suggest time outs
where
necessary. NO decisions should be made under duress or pressure.

NO decision may be made without complete consensus of the group. That is:
ALL at the meeting must agree on the motion before it can be sanctioned by
the collective because the outcome must be aligned with the collective
ethics. This model encourages round table discussion until all possible
avenues are sought, potential compromises made and ideas fully explored .

Bearing in mind decisions canNOT be completely made at meetings - despite
heavy involvement in Perth IMC, not everyone can physically make all flesh
meetings. Due to the nature of perth imc as a predominantly online
collective, meeting-initiated decisions need a week on the e-loop (unless
delayed urgent action comprimises the validity/existence of perth imc) and
therefore a decision round is considered a week on the e-loop.

heavy BLOCKS to decisions are very important indicators as to the state of
the collective. it is the ONLY active tool of dissent in a consensus model
and may be used whenever/wherever necessary. blocks will flag and examine
decisions that are inconsistent with perth.imc policy. so a block can ONLY
happen if its AGAINST the principles of perth imc - or against the
principles of the individual as related to imc. and so ALL BLOCKS must be
inherently valid. that is, they can only be blocks if the blocker validate
the reasons behind the block. As the discussion revolves and evolves,
compromises are made and the decision will be rejected or accepted as the
collective deems fit.

Scenario: at regular meeting, new proposal gets put forward. We have
complete round table discussions about the decision. Theres a tentative
decision [or block] made at meeting. Minutes detailing decisions posted to
e-loop. Then decision has 7 days on loop for more discussion and potential
"valid" blocks. Then, if there is still an unsupported block after as much
discussion as possible, the individual blocker must decide what THEY want
to
do. either let the decision thru by the "right of dissent" or perhaps
leave
the group...

[bearing in mind - blocks can ONLY be made if they can be proven against
the
ideals of the collective]





------------------------------------
"Must not Sleep! Must warn others!"
-Aesop.
Shayne O'Neill. Indymedia. Fun.
http://www.perthimc.asn.au