[pp.int.general] Fwd: [pp-leaders] Call for Hosts - General Assembly 2015

Sun Jun 1 23:45:10 CEST 2014

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On 6/1/2014 7:16 AM, Stephen Ogden wrote:
> Year after year the physical GA has issues, and before/during/after
> there are calls for an online GA to fix issues.
> 
> Yes it is a good thing for people to meet in-person and create bonds of
> friendship, but given how contentious the GAs get I wonder how
> productive/counter-productive that has been.

The physical events are VERY counter-productive. They're almost always
poorly organised, and run. The actual essential work is viewed as an
afterthought, and its gets run as a little cabal where a select group
tends towards solidifying power bases.

And those in attendance tend to be the same people - generally people
who mean well, but who aren't the most productive; those that live
locally,; or those with independent wealth who are not restricted by a
conventional job.

When we've had 3 in a row where the actual ESSENTIAL work gets shifted
to an afterthought, and then not done anyway, there's something
seriously wrong with the underlying assumptions, or the person(s)
planning and working on it.

As I've said to both co-chairmen over the past month or two, I have a
proposal for an entirely online GA that is simple, honest, transparent,
and allows the proposals to be researched, and for parties to know about
things enough in advance for an actual INFORMED DECISION (call me crazy,
but I think that might be preferable to last-minute, beer-fuelled
decisions made as we race against the clock to get out of a venue, as
we've tended towards)

Obviously, until a week ago I was rather busy (as many of us were) with
the election, but now I've got time to finish writing up the proposal.

Also, it's been what, less than 2 months since the last GA - while
starting 'now' for net April may seem admirable, the last time it ended
up producing what was probably the biggest shambles of them all. Besides
which, we still have a lot of unresolved issues, proposals, votes etc..
that should have been dealt with in Kazan, but weren't due to bad
planning, and should have been brought up in April, but again through
bad planning were not.

Before we go on with 'April 2015', perhaps we ought to sort out 2013 and
2014 first (including the formal complaint filed by the Dutch Party on
April 10th still hasn't been resolved (so the legitimacy of anything
decided there is still in question) It's jumping the gun a LOT to start
talking about NEXT year.

So before we deal with that, let's get the past stuff sorted first, or
is that too radical an idea for some?

Andrew

> 
> I'm not saying we shouldn't have a physical GA - but wouldn't it be
> really nice if we could have an online GA arranged for a week before or
> after the physical one? If arranged for before the physical GA this
> would let us get tedious voting out of the way in advance. If arranged
> after it would create useful overflow so we didn't have to rush voting
> and cram lots in in the last hour and/or drop some votes.
> 
> It would allow PPI Board members a second opportunity to present reports
> if they hadn't prepared them in time for the first event (aren't there
> still some reports pending??).
> It would allow ALL delegates to be equal for at least one of the events
> - which would be a change from the way remote delegates usually feel.
> It would also show that the PPI listen and respond to past criticisms
> rather than just doing the same thing year after year as if it never
> went wrong nor faced criticism.
> 
>   Stephen Ogden
>   Governor of the Board - Pirate Party UK
>   Pirate Party UK is a political party registered with the Electoral Commission.
> 
> On 01/06/2014 11:40, Thomas Gaul wrote:
>> FYI
>>
>>
>> -------- Original-Nachricht --------
>> Betreff: [pp-leaders] Call for Hosts - General Assembly 2015
>> Datum: Sun, 01 Jun 2014 12:34:45 +0200
>> Von: Thomas Gaul <thomas.gaul at pp-international.net>
>>
>>
>> Dear Members of PPI!
>>
>> We are looking for a port to dock to for our next big assembly!
>>
>> Call for Hosts
>>
>> Pirate Parties International is looking for a host of its next General
>> Assembly!
>>
>> Pirate Parties International calls for offers to host our next annual
>> PPI conference and General Assembly. According to the statutes of the
>> PPI, the General Assembly of the PPI meets once a year. That means the
>> next PPI conference will be held in 2015.
>>
>>
>> Next main PPI GA - 2015
>>
>> Pirate Parties International calls for offers to host the next annual
>> PPI conference and General Assembly. We are looking for a location with
>> local volunteers who have an eye for detail and are able to organise and
>> host our main international event.
>>
>> The PPI Conference is a great event to host as it is the main gathering
>> of the international Pirate Movement. Hosting it will create marvellous
>> results; it will give the host country visibility far beyond your
>> internal PPI activities and will make a real impact on your local Pirate
>> community.
>>
>> A brief overview of the requirements is given below.
>>
>> The PPI Conference is a two and a half day event, held over the course
>> of a weekend. In 2012, we had a total of around 250 attendees including
>> press. Depending on the geographic location, this year we expect an
>> increase of about 15% as newly admitted Members and new Membership
>> Applicants are entitled to send in a delegation of up to 6
>> representatives. Currently, the maximum number of official delegates is
>> 276 (29 ordinary members, 6 observer members and, as of the moment of
>> writing, 11 membership applicants) but this is not a final figure and
>> still has the potential to go up. Should the Parties to the GA not use
>> their full contingent of delegation spaces, additional participants from
>> the general public will be admitted to fill the space.
>>
>> The Program of Conference is usually structured as follows:
>>
>> Friday is used for travel, arrival and the pre-registration of most
>> attendees. During the day, smaller topical pre-meetings happen, some in
>> an ad hoc arrangement and some more formally. Friday evening is the
>> welcome party and social event, usually held in an off-site restaurant
>> or other location. Saturday and Sunday the actual Conference and General
>> Assembly is held.
>>
>> The statutes require the Pirate Parties International to have a General
>> Assembly once a year and we traditionally aim to hold it in March or
>> April, but you are free to offer alternative dates which we will consider.
>>
>> The proposal should include:
>> - Details of the conference venue (infrastructure, facilities, Internet
>> connectivity, on-site catering etc.)
>> - A reasonably detailed budget
>> - Information about local community support; core team members,
>> potential local industry and government support (if possible)
>> - Lodging options and overview of airports, railway stations, public
>> transport options etc.
>>
>> Applications must be sent to the board of PPI at board (at) pp (dash)
>> international (dot) net
>>
>> You can find a list of requirements for your offer and more information
>> on the conference on our wiki page
>> http://wiki.pp-international.net/GA-2015_Call_for_Hosts
>>
>>
>> Milestones:
>> 01.06.2014 - publishing the call for offers
>> 01.07.2014 - deadline for applications
>> 03.07.2014 - mumble conference with all offers/public offer opening.
>> 05.07.2014 - discussion of submitted offers in the RL PPI Board meeting
>> in London
>> 07.07.2014 - begin of voting by PPI members after the offer approval by
>> PPI Board
>> 22.07.2014 - announce winners. (PPI Board meeting)
>>
>>
>> Kind regards
>>
>> Thomas Gaul
>> Chief Administration Officer
>> Pirate Parties International
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> pp-leaders mailing list
>> pp-leaders at lists.pp-international.net
>> http://lists.pp-international.net/listinfo/pp-leaders
>>
> 
> 
> 
> 
> ____________________________________________________
> Pirate Parties International - General Talk
> pp.international.general at lists.pirateweb.net
> http://lists.pirateweb.net/mailman/listinfo/pp.international.general
> 

- -- 
Andrew Norton
http://ktetch.co.uk
Tel: +1(352)6-KTETCH [+1-352-658-3824]
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