[Seattle-editorial] Re: [Seasc] AGENDA for Tues General

[Susan Gleason]

hi walt, 

thanks for giving consideration to a variety of issues and concerns facing the seattle imc. it's always encouraging when folks are giving thought to the collective as a whole -- it's needs, it's challenges -- and thinking through what some positive solutions might be. 

you've got a lot of good ideas here -- i've added some comments and responses (below). take them for what they're worth. i'm one member of the collective, with my own take on things.

* first, i've cc'd the imc-seattle list.  the Spokescouncil discussion list only reaches 18 IMC members, whereas the imc-seattle list reaches (at least in theory) the full seattle imc collective. since the full collective is the primary decision-making body of the seattle imc, it makes sense to send most proposals, as well as meeting agendas and minutes, to this larger list.  

Quoting anarch3m <anarch3m at lycos.com>:

> 1. we need an ed meeting.  There are a number of link problems on the page I
> have a list of most.

* needing an editorial meeting:  i totally agree, i've been thinking the same thing.  personally, i don't think we need to make it an agenda item for the general meeting, ... the editorial mtg just needs to be convened by someone. if you're not able to convene one yourself, i think it might be most effective to put a suggestion out to the editorial list, specifically (whom i see you've cc'd here), suggesting that someone convene a meeting -- and maybe someone else can pick it up. whether there's a meeting or not, it can't hurt to put your fixes/ideas out to the editorial list, and someone there might be able to pick it up and fix it on the spot.

> 
> 2. Studio X clarifications:  I think Rick has the outline well in hand. 
> PROPOSE we get a vote on these issues

* Rick has submitted some concerns to the Radio X group for further clarification. It seems like a good idea to me to include the IMC/Radio X relationship topic to this week's agenda -- for discussion, or presentations, or whetever's appropriate. If there's anything that the IMC collective needs to approve, my suggestion is that it be presented in a proposal format -- it'll help things move along easier. [for folks who are wondering what a 'proposal format' might look like, please look through some of the imc-seattle or seasc archives ... you'll see several emails that say "PROPOSAL: xxxxxx" in the subject line, usually in all-caps.  you'll see that they often include a background blurb (i.e., why is this proposal on the table?), the proposal itself, and often some pro's & con's. doesn't have to be elaborate ... but this basic level of preparation has been really beneficial in the past for minimizing confusion and time-drag during a meeting]

> 3. Space rules.  There have been some unvoted unfinished ideas come out of
> the space meeting.  Specifically rules for the open access computers, time
> limits.  PROPOSE we (GEN) vote on maintaining unlimited time BUT also specify
> a time limit of 15 min to wrap it up and quit when there is someone waiting

I don't know how much discussion has already happened about these issues within the Space working group [we haven't addressed these issues at the past two meetings, which were primarily focussed on the remodeling plan; but, informally, before the meeting, i had a good conversation with Rick and Robert about these things .... and it seems like other ad hoc conversations have taken place too] --- but i'd like to give a big thumbs up to letting the Space working group delve into the many important issues that folks are identifying!! It seems to me, that we're in need of a few clear policies about usage of the space.  Walt, you've got one proposal, right there, regarding use of the public access terminals. I'd suggest that you send the proposal out to the imc-seattle list, with the following subject line:  "PROPOSAL: policy for public access computers" or something like that ....  basically, putting the proposal out to the main decision-making body, and sending it as a separate e
 mail so that it doesn't get lost in the midst of other ideas.  And we should go ahead and add this specific proposal to the General Meeting agenda under "Proposals".

> 
> 4. Propose that someone get a training for film mailings so we can get out of
> the "crisis" so well presented in the mails today

We definitely need folks to step up and take this particular job on. Personally, I don't think we need a proposal about it -- we just need someone to raise their hand and volunteer. I'd suggest that we add this to the GM agenda under "Discussion".

> 5.  Membership and voting, space staffing- is it or is it not presently
> required?  I thought we had droped this, but it has come up again.
> 

* Active IMC members are the participants in decision-making at the General Meetings. "Active IMC member" is defined in the Structure and Governance documents, under "Membership Criteria". You'll find the S & G documents in the following places:
* http://seattle.indymedia.org/sandg/ (include the end-slash)
* http://docs.indymedia.org/view/Local/SeattleIMC  (see link mid-way down page)
* in the blue operations binder
* in the "IMC DATA" folder on CHAOS (our internal network)
* and on the desktop of Realidad

Does that help clarify things -- or does space staffing still need to be added to the agenda as a discussion topic?  Perhaps it can be worked on at the working group level -- with the Space working group?

> 6.  Records keeping of meetings.  No convene message this meeting?  who
> collects the agenda?  What about getting tardy notes posted even now?  We
> need to formalize the "ownership" of this task.  We need to document and
> index our voted decisions so its not a matter of tedioous searching.  Please
> contribute a solution in formal PROPOSAL form.
> 

* It's been generally agreed upon for the past many months, that the note-taker at one General Meeting will be the convenor of the next GM. Looking at the wiki link for our GM notes (see below), I see that Lee took notes at the last GM.  Perhaps he wasn't given instructions about needing to convene the next meeting, or how to go about it. 

We have a 'formal ownership' of this task, as agreed upon by the collective and entered into our Structure & Governance document: one of the responsibilities of the Spokesmembers is to take a mentoring role at the General Meetings -- by taking on the facilitator & convening responsibilities, and modeling good practices for doing these tasks.

General Meeting convening notices, agendas and notes should be posted to the IMC-Seattle list. Posting them to Wiki is great, but we still need to have at least the wiki link for the notes published to the imc-seattle list. Past agendas and notes should be accessible in the imc-seattle archives:
http://lists.indymedia.org/mailman/public/imc-seattle/

Brandon (many thanks to Brandon!!) has been posting recent meeting notes to the following wiki page:
http://docs.indymedia.org/view/Local/SeaGM

we can all help him with this project.  anyone of us can register (very very easy) our name on the Wiki system and start posting older meeting notes right away:
http://docs.indymedia.org/view/TWiki/WelcomeGuest -- the Wiki welcome page
http://docs.indymedia.org/view/TWiki/TWikiRegistration -- the Wiki registration page

indexing & documenting past decisions: it's a fabulous idea.  the wiki is a ready-made solution for this.  someone who's interested in spending a little time on this project could simply search through the old imc-seattle and Seasc archives, looking through notes from past meetings to see where the decisions have been made ... and keep a compilation of those meeting-minute links. the links compilation will make for a very clean and easy-to-access wiki page. something for the ongoing Seattle IMC to-do list, but i don't think we need to address it at the IMC meeting.  it's not anything that needs 'approval' -- we just need someone to pick it up and do it.

-- Susan