[pp.int.general] PPI Conference evaluation

[Boris Turovskiy]

Ahoi,
I've composed a somewhat longer report about my impressions of the PPI
conference, which you can read below or at
http://wiki.piratenpartei.de/Benutzer:TurBor/Berichte/PPI-Konferenz2011-en.

Best regARRRds,
Boris
____________________

I'll start with the positive feedback: Like at the founding conference
last year, it was again a great feeling to meet Pirates from all over
the world, to talk and exchange views with them. It is both very
interesting and extremely important to broaden one's horizons and to
discuss problems and perspectives of the Pirate movement as well as the
individual parties with foreign Pirates.

Unfortunately, I'll have to add to my report of this year a rather large
section labeled "negative".


The largest problem was the unconventional form of organisation which
included relatively short voting sessions (held in a traditional style
of plenar meetings with everybody attending) punctuated by long periods
filled with "Open Space" discussion rounds. While the concepts of Open
Space and/or Barcamps does surely have its advantages, it was a lethal
blow to the General Assembly dynamics that these sessions were offered
not outside the main event, but as a replacement for it over long
periods of time. Everybody who has participated in conventions or
assemblies has made the experience that the participants need some time
to build up the mood and the concentration that are a prerequisite for a
constructive session including argument exchanges and voting. This is
neccesary for a smooth workflow. If this workflow is constantly
disrupted as the participants split up into small groups talking about
life, the universe and everything, the concentration is irretrievably lost.

Another massive disadvantage of Open Space sessions as the organisation
form stems from the fact that the conference was a meeting of Pirates
from many different countries who had had little or no contact with each
other before. A convention where everybody sits together allows each
participant to present their positions and arguments to all the others,
who mostly haven't known about them before. On the other hand, a
completely unstructured meeting - like the evening social events which
were to a large extent responsible for the overall positive feeling that
I take with me from this conference - allows to wander between different
groups and individuals and talk to them one by one, which is also a good
way to exchanging views and positions. Open Space is contrary to both
these extremes as it is semi-structured so you can neither address
everybody at once nor roam freely among the participants. Instead of
creating a feeling of being a community together, the conference is
fragmented into small groups.

I would also like to mention the voting system used (STV). It has been
pointed out as problematic last year but has been used again. While I'm
surely frustrated about the election results (and no, the fact that I
have not been elected isn't the biggest problem here), there are
theoretical and practical issues with the system which makes it
unsuitable for the task at hand. It was also not sufficiently explained
to the participants, so those who knew the mechanism could use it for
tactical voting while those who did not ran the risk of their vote not
having the desired effect on the result.

To conclude I can say that when the event is considered a get-together
of international Pirates it was great fun, productive and interesting,
and I'm very glad to have taken part in it. However, if viewed as a PPI
General Assembly I must say that the last conference in Brussels -
despite all the shortcomings and poor conditions, just think about the
back room we had to access through a ladder behind the loos!;) - was a
more succesful event.