# Spokescouncil planning meeting notes # Spokescouncil / Internal GA Planning Meeting- 04/04/2026 ### Meeting Highlights #### Attendance <Shannon, LP, Paul, Shea>, #### New Action Items - Tues 4p job fair planning mtg (which Tues?) - Cass create report of GA stickie board - Shannon- agenda - mobilize folks/ outreach- Paul - build proposed admin mtg structure- Shea - pitch mtg schedule to admin- Shea ### Detailed Meeting Notes - Purpose of the mtg(s) we're planning- - 1- opportunity to raise + discuss issues - 2- review current operating structure - 3- synthesize + move forward on GA AIs - points 1+ 2 could be combined into 1 mtg, point 3 could be its own mtg - how to get folks to show up consistently/ how to encourage more participation + engagement - put up a bulletin board to announce mtgs (repurpose proposals board?) - GAs happen quarterly/ every 4 mos./ bi annually (?)- attract new folks + those who left due to WB vibes - build in 30min orientation to quarterly GA - other work/ mtgs happen in between GAs - resurrect Sunday admin mtgs but rotate focus - come to internal alignment on: - resource allocation - micro grants - calendar prioritization - have community liason in contact w all groups- "communicators" that pass info btwn WGs/ admin - invite poli ed to admin committee - build mtg schedule for admin committee hosted mtgs- committees pick your spot in rotation - a regular schedule makes outreach easier - off quarter orientation (if GAs biannual)? - RC job fair (or whatever we call it) # 12-2-25 Spokescouncil Planning Meeting ### Agenda 6:30-8:30 pm check ins (5 min) Roles: fac, notes, timer (5 min) Review action Items from spokes meeting (10 min) - Proposal voting - asynch - iris - Update explainer, add documentation as needed - Paul - Figure out meeting cadence with writers group - iris - Breakout chat for General Assembly - proposal - post into announcements chat - ash/shannon -Suggestions for groups to have in chat asynch votes for proposals in WGs - SNACK ROLE for next meeting - shea will coordinate to find someone - “A day in the life of an admin committee” template - shea - “Chore wheel” for randomized roles online for spokescouncil planning chat - Ash asks LP - make an account with the wiki - Help with authenticating accounts first - Everyone, Paul - Posts to make: - we are opening up for observers to attend spokescouncil meetings + post to community - add to agenda as announcement and make a post - Announcement for spokescouncil planning needing help - add to agenda and invitation flyer/post Spokescouncil meeting overhead tasks (20 min): - Agenda for next meeting - need volunteer to do this and highlights for the agenda asynchronous - voting delegate for our group - visuals for RC orientation intro, need someone to make these and project laptop - Brief discussion on how meetings have been going and any notes on how to make them better and what’s working well already - facilitator for next meeting - FOOD Steering/strategy discussion Part 1 (30 min) : - in what ways are the admin committees actually held accountable to the spokescouncil (10 min) - absentee voting idea - name of this group and differentiate it from spokescouncil meetings + invitation - Rewriting charter to be more open - Facilitator training/skillshare Break (5 min) Steering/strategy discussion Part 2 (30 min) : - How to revoke point person process - Hang outs /social time - Internal calendar to coordinate tasks for regular admin tasks - Collective agenda writing for big meetings- submissions model OR cryptpad How can we share the labor of this group more fairly? Task assigner working? People are not volunteering for offline work... (10 min) Discuss and vote on proposal: [https://wiki.commons.nyc/books/spokescouncil-proposals/page/proposal-to-change-spokescouncil-meeting-dates](https://wiki.commons.nyc/books/spokescouncil-proposals/page/proposal-to-change-spokescouncil-meeting-dates) (10 min) action item roundup (5 min) \------------------------------------------------------------ **Notes:** Last meeting action Items- **completed:** - Proposal voting - asynch - iris - Figure out meeting cadence with writers group - iris - SNACK ROLE for next meeting - shea will coordinate to find someone - “Chore wheel” for randomized roles online for spokescouncil planning chat - Ash asks LP - make an account with the wiki - Help with authenticating accounts first - Everyone, Paul - Posts to make: - we are opening up for observers to attend spokescouncil meetings + post to community - add to agenda as announcement and make a post - Announcement for spokescouncil planning needing help - add to agenda and invitation flyer/post Spokescouncil meeting overhead tasks (20 min): - Agenda for next meeting - need volunteer to do this and highlights for the agenda asynchronous- **Ash to bottomline. Shea and Iris shadow** - voting delegate for our group- **Iris** - visuals for RC orientation intro, need someone to make these and project laptop- **doc is empty, needs to be repopulated- Paul?** - Brief discussion on how meetings have been going and any notes on how to make them better and what’s working well already - general feeling that last spokescouncil went well - observers came after the open call - group discussion and resulting differing opinions (healthy conflict!) around how open spokescouncil meetings should be were encouraging, not the same voices participating- let's add this topic to next agenda and keep discussion going - Caroline was an excellent facilitator! People seem intimidated by this role, keep soliciting folx to shadow, organize facilitation workshop - we may need to "voluntell" someone for this mtg- candidates? - LP- designing a game to teach facilitation - Shea- will reach out to a friend who's done non-profit work/ diversity trainings re: capacity to speak - vibes were good but larger questions are still not being answered - graphics presentation feedback was confusing- group clapped and seemed favorable to material presented during the meeting but individual feedback after meeting was largely unfavorable- presentation vs proposal mindset? - would a straw poll here have given more reliable feedback? - reminder these materials can/ should be rolled into the larger design library - LP- mailing list is functional! - facilitator for next meeting- open call in spokeschat and possible voluntell - FOOD- Shea will bottomline for 12/11- vegan and GF menu underway - larger discussion around writing proposal / creating budget for food for these meetings as a way to strengthen community bonds and make spokescouncil attendance more appealing - create RSVP system via WF or other to get a rough headcount?- LP - Iris- nominate Food Czar (monthly rotation) and allocate budget, compile list of budget and diet friendly vendors to order from to streamline process and relieve labor burden- this should be a proposal - include headcount in meeting agenda Steering/strategy discussion Part 1 (30 min) : - in what ways are the admin committees actually held accountable to the spokescouncil - via updates and announcements (in practice) - via Report Back form (not in practice- created not shared, ready for 12/11 meeting) - via internal SOPs (not in practice- need template to facilitate creation, aim for Jan spokescouncil roll out) - LP- to encourage autonomous action and completion of nonsensitive tasks we could create a task tracker/ progress board to display in space- needs done/ doing/ done - absentee voting idea **continue convo in next meeting** - prefer idea of using other WG delegates as proxy - worry this option will negatively impact in person attendance and RT discussion/ collaboration if it's seen as an easy opt out - Iris- we can post in spokescouncil WG chat ahead of meeting to get a head count and call out any groups who aren't represented to hopefully mitigate this impact - name of this group and differentiate it from spokescouncil meetings + invitation - not sure name is the issue but agree we need more draw - what's in a name, anyway? - asynch name proposal in chat? - Rewriting charter to be more open, make group more approachable- we have fun! - talk to members of WGs- communicate better about what we're doing/ vision/ longer term goals for space - more community outreach + programming ie CPR trainings, blood drives - playing with structure, form, procedure - bring us your big ideas! Steering/strategy discussion Part 2 (30 min) : - How to revoke point person process **continue convo in next meeting** - use proposal template to initiate process? - quorum vote? - larger discussion around *why* PP is being removed- are they causing harm or overwhelmed? permanent vs temporary removal and paths to each - we need a list of non-negotiables to point to for immediate/ emergency expulsion situations- better to have a policy in place beforehand than create ad hoc in the moment - still need Points of Unity doc- would tie in here! - larger discussion around that individual's responsibilities and whether other participants will step up to absorb them vs committee cohesion- is this person easy to work with? would more people participate if they weren't involved? - Ask: this WG's admin committee members reach out to their admin committees and ask them to make space for this conversation - LP- there was a suggestion last admin mtg to make Sunday admin committee meetings more focused to specific committees to encourage attendance on days relevant to individual committee members- can be included in agendas - Hang outs /social time **continue convo in next meeting- come w ideas!** - we're all tired/ overburdened but social time is important for mental health and fighting burnout! - **asynch note from Shea:** I can host next planning meeting (potentially 1/6) at my apartment if the group is down! I live alone so we wouldn't have outside distractions. this would also guarantee Meatballs presence :) - of note: I live ~20min walk from RC and the Jefferson L, this may be a barrier to attendance - Internal calendar to coordinate tasks for regular admin tasks - calendar dom assigned via random task wheel- role is responsible for keeping track of dates and posting reminders in chats - can post upcoming spokescouncil meeting dates once proposal has been voted on in 12/11 spokescoucil meeting - proposed Jan dates- 1/6 planning meeting; 1/10 spokescouncil meeting - Collective agenda writing for big meetings- submissions model OR cryptpad - consensus around crypt pad for ease of use- post link in group description - agenda writer will triage - How can we share the labor of this group more fairly? - by bringing in new people- check in with Frankie- do they still want to be in this group? - LP needs to take a step back, not available for assigned roles - Task assigner working? - yes! we have a smaller pool of members to assign tasks to, tho - People are not volunteering for offline work... (10 min) - call back to recruiting- members of this working group are strongly encouraged to reach out to people in other working groups re: joining the planning group- we have fun!! - Discuss and vote on proposal: [https://wiki.commons.nyc/books/spokescouncil-proposals/page/proposal-to-change-spokescouncil-meeting-dates](https://wiki.commons.nyc/books/spokescouncil-proposals/page/proposal-to-change-spokescouncil-meeting-dates) (10 min) - Friendly Amendment- in the event that the proposed spokescouncil meeting cadence falls on a holiday or is in conflict with a scheduled rental, the spokescouncil planning working group is empowered to use its best judgement in selecting an alternative date that does not conflict with regularly scheduled programming (ie writers workshop or other) Action Item Round Up: **Assigned-** - Task assigner- **Ash** - Planning group's turn to clean the bathroom this week- **Ash** - Post admin committee report back form in admin committee chat- committees to have ready for spokes meeting- **Shea** - Create programming committee SOP ("a day in the life") + share w programming for approval; use to create SOP template across admin committees- **Shea - Update explainer, add documentation as needed and more visuals for easier digestion (prev. version has been deleted?) - **Paul?** - Create breakout chat for General Assembly - proposal - post into announcements chat - **Ash/ Shannon** -Suggestions for groups to have in chat asynch votes for proposals in WGs **Ash has volunteered to start the process if Shannon needs to step back** - Agenda for Spokescouncil meeting- **Ash** - Announcement for spokescouncil planning needing help - add to agenda - Announcement for spokescouncil planning needing help - add to agenda - continue debate around HOW open Spokescouncil should be to the larger community- add to agenda - include request for questions/ comments/ feedback to be answered asynchronously- add to agenda - add headcount to agenda - Agenda writing skillshare- **Ash, Shea, Iris** - Design feedback container for asynchronous response- **LP** - Food for Spokescouncil meeting- **Shea** - facilitation game- **LP** - reach out to friend for facilitation workshop- **Shea** - facilitator candidate identification for "voluntell" shortlist- **ALL** - Group poll: do we want to have the next planning meeting at Shea's apt?- **Shea** - Vote on next mtg location poll- **ALL** - Temp check w Frankie on planning meeting participation- **Shea** - Post notes from this meeting in wiki and link in group chat- **Shea** - Post meeting action items in chat- **Shea** - call out unassigned action items + request volunteers **Unassigned-** - Posts to include in Spokescouncil + WG chat as reminders moving forward/ until planning attendance is better: - we are opening up for observers to attend spokescouncil meetings (also post to RC community chat) - Announcement for spokescouncil planning needing help - open call for 12/11 facilitator - Post in Spokescouncil WG Chat- delegates should stay in chat after serving their role as notetaker/ voter to stay in the loop on spokescouncil related comms vs leaving chat; please still add any new delegates from your WG to the chat! - Rewrite charter to make the planning group more approachable/ open to new members # 11-4-2025 Spokescouncil Planning meeting ### Agenda 2 hrs 5:30-7:30 pm Quick Checkins (5 min) Roles: fac, notes, timer (5 min) Review action Items from spokes meeting - The spokescouncil meeting has been conflicting with the writer workshop meeting for a while Spokescouncil meeting overhead tasks (30 min): - Agenda for next meeting - need volunteer to do this and highlights for the agenda asynchronous - Agenda announcements to add: - “Day in the life” of our group to show people what we work on - we are opening up for observers to attend spokescouncil meetings + post to community - add to agenda as announcement and make a post - Review the announcements from the last meeting and see if we should boost them (5 min) - Spokes planning: we need help - Need volunteers for bake sale - assign roles: facilitator, notes, timer, stack - Brief discussion on how meetings have been going and any notes on how to make them better and what’s working well already Steering/strategy discussion (1 hr): - in what ways are the admin committees actually held accountable to the spokescouncil (10 min) - the branding task force "hired" a designer pro-bono to create an entire brand package for RC without input from the broader community and it's just about finished (10 min) Break (5 min) Steering/strategy discussion continued (1 hr): - consider how to increase engagement w/ planning & spokes meetings (20 min) - better orientation docs for the structures of the space - re-naming these meetings to invite people to join in strategy discussions, bracketing out future meetings for overhead tasks dedicated to the meeting and strategy/steering conversations - Reminder during the next big meeting of why we are here. It's up to us to shape this structure in our image. Do it for the rev! Consider a question response format to get ppl actively engaged - More ideas? - Discussion if we should open up spokescouncil to observers who aren’t in working groups: Orientation fair at meetings/before or after for observers - Add ppl to the planning chat before they attend the meeting > regular clean up later v barrier to entry - GOOD SNAX + music - Pets - Cute Flag for stack, antics - Promote the big monthly spokescouncil meetings in community announcements - Allowing non delegates to talk - We are experimenting, bring suggestions - How can we share the labor of this group more fairly:(20 min) - Are folks in this chat having trouble coming to these meetings and taking on tasks? If so, why? What can we do to help? - Start time at 6:30 - 6-8 basement - Ask chat - Offline work - monthly checklists of tasks for this group to do (cadence for reminders, send meeting announcements more effectively than "hey here's a 12 page document of notes from the meeting!") - monthly roles: we could consider every month, assigning roles to ppl in this group so we can swap tasks and spread the labor more evenly. someone to be the chat poster/reminder/calendar dom, someone to write the agenda, someone to facilitate, etc. asking for volunteers seems to not work well. We may need to assign roles randomly and people can say no if they can’t do it. Also offer to collaborate on tasks like facilitation or agenda writing. - Chore wheel for spokescouncil planning chat - Roles: - Facilitator - Agenda writer - Calendar dom + post monthly checklist dom, meeting reminder - digest/highlights esp requests for help - Document updater - explainer - Feedback roundup/orientation Action item roundup (5 min) - Proposal voting - asynch - iris - Update explainer, add documentation as needed - Paul - Figure out meeting cadence with writers group - iris - Breakout chat for General Assembly - proposal - post into announcements chat - ash/shannon -Suggestions for groups to have in chat asynch votes for proposals in WGs - SNACK ROLE for next meeting - shea will coordinate to find someone - “A day in the life of an admin committee” template - shea - “Chore wheel” for randomized roles online for spokescouncil planning chat - Ash asks LP - make an account with the wiki - Help with authenticating accounts first - Everyone, Paul - Posts to make: - we are opening up for observers to attend spokescouncil meetings + post to community - add to agenda as announcement and make a post - Announcement for spokescouncil planning needing help - add to agenda and invitation flyer/post - Next meeting: - Discuss further absentee voting idea - Discussion name of this group and differentiate it from spokescouncil meetings + invitation - Rewriting charter to be more open - Facilitator training/skillshare - How to revoke point person process - Hang outs /social time - Internal calendar to coordinate tasks for regular admin tasks - Collective agenda writing for big meetings- submissions model ### Notes - Iris and Paul need to leave around 7 - Potential to end the meeting by 7 - Review and address proposals asynchronously - Bake sale needs volunteers - Scheduling Spokes to not conflict with Writing Workshop - Review action items from spokes meeting - Draft Spokes Agenda - Iris will make a pass at drafting the agenda - Draft to working groups chat for review and suggestions - Drop role assignments prior to the Spokes - Shae can invite people to volunteer/shadow in with the announcement - Notes, time, stack - Exception - facilitation which benefits from familiarity with the agenda - Post to the internal announcements chat (vs. the public announcements chat) - Possibly after the GA consider opening more - Need someone to being snacks - Reflection on meetings, to date - Orderly, time efficient - General trust toward the admin committee - Improved communication between moving parts in the space - Delegate class seeming to form - less communication outside that group - Exception is pantry, they have a lot of people - Actively trying in come groups to not establish these structural roles - Seems like there is less engagement in decision making among all groups than we would hope - Delegates making decisions on their behalf - Proposal feedback does not need to be collected in person, maybe more focus on giving them the opportunity to contribute - Current proposals have been largely uncontroversial - Potentially more controversial items coming up - e.g. branding, dues - Request for absentee voting for delegates - Asynchronous - Does it make a difference that this probably only works for blanket approvals - People are a little bit tentative about participating - Assume more comfort over time - Admin Committee accountability - How does this work? - Might be useful to have a template for admin committee reports back - What are they doing? - How are they doing? - Suggestion that it be made “What have we done in the past” “What did we do this month” “What are we planning” - Further discussion on potential to open SC meetings to observers who are looking to learn more about RC - Reports back could serve as a point of entry into collective work - Revocable if seen by the SC as not filling their role - Process doesn’t exist yet - Having it clear makes it more likely people can utilize it - Someone could take time to draft some language - Better notes at the Sunday Admin meeting - Share them out for transparency - Invite feedback and follow up - Inviting more people from WGs to join Admin committees - Need more people to be more engaged with Admin - Hang out more - Visit everyone’s cats - Visit Meatball - Branding - Desire expressed for coherent branding - Group chat formed, Eros contacted to create a brand package - Had hoped this would be put forward as a proposal - Won’t be ready for November - Suggestion that it be ready for December - This will probably be a pass/fail - Question about why it needs to be coherent - Can there be a library of options that includes various vibes and aesthetics - Reminder that this is a tool you can use to help but WGs can always make their own stuff - More options rather than less - Is there an issue with people having done a thing that impacts everyone? - Pro bono work - Should this have been a proposal? - Option vs. mandate - Anyone else can submit pro bono branding - Context for the announcement of the branding committee - Open call, took the initiative - They are planning to begin work on building the templates for social media - Do we need to ask them to wait for the SC meeting to make the proposal - Potential concerns about the vibe of the materials - Library - Going to begin moving through formal channels to build stewardship committee - Steering strategy discussion - Increase engagement with planning and spokes meetings - Better orientation - Renaming meetings to invite participation - Reminder about why we are here - vision - Open call for ideas - Observers at spokes meetings - Orientation faire either before or after the spokes meeting - Look at meeting timing for increased participation - Consider adding people to the SC Planning chat before they come to a meeting - Regular chat clean ups - Vibes - Snacks - Pets - Music - Whimsy - Libby’s stack flag - Games - Post in Community announcements - promote the SC meeting - More proposals - More transparency - Potential for driving engagement for newcomers - Straw poll - everyone in favor of bringing this suggestion to the WG thread - Sharing the labor - Allowing non-delegates to talk in the meetings - This is good for vibe - Reserving the right to table things - Reinforce the spirit of experimentation - Are people having trouble coming to these meetings? - Timing is an issue for some - Basement usually free 6-8 - Support for keeping Tuesdays because of open co-working - Monthly check lists of tasks - Sharing info from meetings - Notes from the agenda in the announcements chat - Reminders - Reminders about proposal deadline - Reminders to review proposals - List of proposals - Reminder about SC Planning meeting - Reminder about SC meeting - This can happen offline - Android phones can pre-schedule signal messages - Suggestion to assign and rotate roles - Ongoing tasks - SC planning - Planning meeting Facilitation - Agenda writing for SC Planning - Posting on the chat - Calendar Dom - SC - Facilitation - If new facilitators, ensure attendance at the SC Planning meeting prior to the SC - Announcement summaries - Digest - RC Ambassador - Feedback collection - Orientation - Documentation/explainer updater (Paul is interested in this) - Chore wheel! - Posts to the chat - Is there a digital option? - If people can’t do the work that week, potential to invite new people into the chat - Facilitator training should still happen - Review announcements - Come to the next spokes planning - Volunteers needed for bake sale and markets etc - Previous meeting made a point of clarifying how this experiment came together and that we need to collaborate to make the space work - Language could use clarification to make it more accessible and less repetitive - Steering and coordinator admin is clearer - Less clear is strategy role - Selection bias around participation in the SC makes it harder for the Planning committee to respond to larger strategic or philosophical issues with the model - People who don’t accept the model aren’t participating - Hosting the GA will probably provide material for proposing bigger changes - We want to have a general assembly - Proposal is dates - Proposal to solicit agenda items/discussion topics - Suggestion: This is not a decision-making body - Clarifying past challenges and future excitement # Spokescouncil Planning Meeting - Date: 11-02-2025 ## Spokescouncil Planning Meeting - Date: 11-02-2025 ### Agenda Quick Checkins (5 min) Roles: fac, notes, timer (5 min) Review action Items from spokes meeting - The spokescouncil meeting has been conflicting with the writer workshop meeting for a while Spokescouncil meeting overhead tasks (30 min): - Agenda for next meeting - need volunteer to do this and highlights for the agenda asynchronous - “Day in the life” of our group to show people what we work on - we are opening up for observers to attend spokescouncil meetings + post to community - add to agenda as announcement and make a post - Review the announcements from the last meeting and see if we should boost them (5 min) - Spokes planning: we need help - Need volunteers for bake sale - Agenda announcements to add: - assign roles: facilitator, notes, timer, stack - Brief discussion on how meetings have been going and any notes on how to make them better and what’s working well already Steering/strategy discussion (1 hr): - in what ways are the admin committees actually held accountable to the spokescouncil (10 min) - the branding task force "hired" a designer pro-bono to create an entire brand package for RC without input from the broader community and it's just about finished (10 min) Break (5 min) Steering/strategy discussion continued (1 hr): - consider how to increase engagement w/ planning & spokes meetings (20 min) - Discussion if we should open up spokescouncil to observers who aren’t in working groups: Orientation fair at meetings/before or after for observers - Add ppl to the planning chat before they attend the meeting > regular clean up later v barrier to entry - GOOD SNAX + music - Pets - Cute Flag for stack, antics - Promote the big monthly spokescouncil meetings in community announcements - Allowing non delegates to talk - We are experimenting, bring suggestions - better orientation docs for the structures of the space - re-naming these meetings to invite people to join in strategy discussions, bracketing out future meetings for overhead tasks dedicated to the meeting and strategy/steering conversations - Reminder during the next big meeting of why we are here. It's up to us to shape this structure in our image. Do it for the rev! Consider a question response format to get ppl actively engaged - More ideas? - How can we share the labor of this group more fairly:(20 min) - Are folks in this chat having trouble coming to these meetings and taking on tasks? If so, why? What can we do to help? - Start time at 6:30 - 6-8 basement - Ask chat - Offline work - monthly checklists of tasks for this group to do (cadence for reminders, send meeting announcements more effectively than "hey here's a 12 page document of notes from the meeting!") - monthly roles: we could consider every month, assigning roles to ppl in this group so we can swap tasks and spread the labor more evenly. someone to be the chat poster/reminder/calendar dom, someone to write the agenda, someone to facilitate, etc. asking for volunteers seems to not work well. We may need to assign roles randomly and people can say no if they can’t do it. Also offer to collaborate on tasks like facilitation or agenda writing. - Chore wheel for spokescouncil planning chat - Roles: - Facilitator - Agenda writer - Calendar dom + post monthly checklist dom, meeting reminder - digest/highlights esp requests for help - Document updater - explainer - Feedback roundup/orientation Action item roundup (5 min) - Proposal voting - asynch - iris - Update explainer, add documentation as needed - Paul - Figure out meeting cadence with writers group - iris - Breakout chat for General Assembly - proposal - post into announcements chat - ash/shannon -Suggestions for groups to have in chat asynch votes for proposals in WGs - SNACK ROLE for next meeting - shea will coordinate to find someone - “A day in the life of an admin committee” template - shea - “Chore wheel” for randomized roles online for spokescouncil planning chat - Ash asks LP - make an account with the wiki - Help with authenticating accounts first - Everyone, Paul - Posts to make: - we are opening up for observers to attend spokescouncil meetings + post to community - add to agenda as announcement and make a post - Announcement for spokescouncil planning needing help - add to agenda and invitation flyer/post - Next meeting: - Discuss further absentee voting idea - Discussion name of this group and differentiate it from spokescouncil meetings + invitation - Rewriting charter to be more open - Facilitator training/skillshare - How to revoke point person process - Hang outs /social time - Internal calendar to coordinate tasks for regular admin tasks - Collective agenda writing for big meetings- submissions model ### Detailed Meeting Notes - Iris and Paul need to leave around 7 - Potential to end the meeting by 7 - Review and address proposals asynchronously - Bake sale needs volunteers - Scheduling Spokes to not conflict with Writing Workshop - Review action items from spokes meeting - Draft Spokes Agenda - Iris will make a pass at drafting the agenda - Draft to working groups chat for review and suggestions - Drop role assignments prior to the Spokes - Shae can invite people to volunteer/shadow in with the announcement - Notes, time, stack - Exception - facilitation which benefits from familiarity with the agenda - Post to the internal announcements chat (vs. the public announcements chat) - Possibly after the GA consider opening more - Need someone to being snacks - Reflection on meetings, to date - Orderly, time efficient - General trust toward the admin committee - Improved communication between moving parts in the space - Delegate class seeming to form - less communication outside that group - Exception is pantry, they have a lot of people - Actively trying in come groups to not establish these structural roles - Seems like there is less engagement in decision making among all groups than we would hope - Delegates making decisions on their behalf - Proposal feedback does not need to be collected in person, maybe more focus on giving them the opportunity to contribute - Current proposals have been largely uncontroversial - Potentially more controversial items coming up - e.g. branding, dues - Request for absentee voting for delegates - Asynchronous - Does it make a difference that this probably only works for blanket approvals - People are a little bit tentative about participating - Assume more comfort over time - Admin Committee accountability - How does this work? - Might be useful to have a template for admin committee reports back - What are they doing? - How are they doing? - Suggestion that it be made “What have we done in the past” “What did we do this month” “What are we planning” - Further discussion on potential to open SC meetings to observers who are looking to learn more about RC - Reports back could serve as a point of entry into collective work - Revocable if seen by the SC as not filling their role - Process doesn’t exist yet - Having it clear makes it more likely people can utilize it - Someone could take time to draft some language - Better notes at the Sunday Admin meeting - Share them out for transparency - Invite feedback and follow up - Inviting more people from WGs to join Admin committees - Need more people to be more engaged with Admin - Hang out more - Visit everyone’s cats - Visit Meatball - Branding - Desire expressed for coherent branding - Group chat formed, Eros contacted to create a brand package - Had hoped this would be put forward as a proposal - Won’t be ready for November - Suggestion that it be ready for December - This will probably be a pass/fail - Question about why it needs to be coherent - Can there be a library of options that includes various vibes and aesthetics - Reminder that this is a tool you can use to help but WGs can always make their own stuff - More options rather than less - Is there an issue with people having done a thing that impacts everyone? - Pro bono work - Should this have been a proposal? - Option vs. mandate - Anyone else can submit pro bono branding - Context for the announcement of the branding committee - Open call, took the initiative - They are planning to begin work on building the templates for social media - Do we need to ask them to wait for the SC meeting to make the proposal - Potential concerns about the vibe of the materials - Library - Going to begin moving through formal channels to build stewardship committee - Steering strategy discussion - Increase engagement with planning and spokes meetings - Better orientation - Renaming meetings to invite participation - Reminder about why we are here - vision - Open call for ideas - Observers at spokes meetings - Orientation faire either before or after the spokes meeting - Look at meeting timing for increased participation - Consider adding people to the SC Planning chat before they come to a meeting - Regular chat clean ups - Vibes - Snacks - Pets - Music - Whimsy - Libby’s stack flag - Games - Post in Community announcements - promote the SC meeting - More proposals - More transparency - Potential for driving engagement for newcomers - Straw poll - everyone in favor of bringing this suggestion to the WG thread - Sharing the labor - Allowing non-delegates to talk in the meetings - This is good for vibe - Reserving the right to table things - Reinforce the spirit of experimentation - Are people having trouble coming to these meetings? - Timing is an issue for some - Basement usually free 6-8 - Support for keeping Tuesdays because of open co-working - Monthly check lists of tasks - Sharing info from meetings - Notes from the agenda in the announcements chat - Reminders - Reminders about proposal deadline - Reminders to review proposals - List of proposals - Reminder about SC Planning meeting - Reminder about SC meeting - This can happen offline - Android phones can pre-schedule signal messages - Suggestion to assign and rotate roles - Ongoing tasks - SC planning - Planning meeting Facilitation - Agenda writing for SC Planning - Posting on the chat - Calendar Dom - SC - Facilitation - If new facilitators, ensure attendance at the SC Planning meeting prior to the SC - Announcement summaries - Digest - RC Ambassador - Feedback collection - Orientation - Documentation/explainer updater (Paul is interested in this) - Chore wheel! - Posts to the chat - Is there a digital option? - If people can’t do the work that week, potential to invite new people into the chat - Facilitator training should still happen - Review announcements - Come to the next spokes planning - Volunteers needed for bake sale and markets etc - Previous meeting made a point of clarifying how this experiment came together and that we need to collaborate to make the space work - Language could use clarification to make it more accessible and less repetitive - Steering and coordinator admin is clearer - Less clear is strategy role - Selection bias around participation in the SC makes it harder for the Planning committee to respond to larger strategic or philosophical issues with the model - People who don’t accept the model aren’t participating - Hosting the GA will probably provide material for proposing bigger changes - We want to have a general assembly - Proposal is dates - Proposal to solicit agenda items/discussion topics - Suggestion: This is not a decision-making body - Clarifying past challenges and future excitement # 2025-10-07 Spokescouncil Planning WG Meeting
**follow up from last meeting**
- tutoring didn't clean the bathroom-- quinn doesn't have signal and likely has no idea about this proposal. whatever. it's the spokes planning group's week to clean it.
- there has been no progress made on the in-person calendar. we should bug the writer's group about it ahead of the meeting on sat
- we committed to putting a sign up about who is in each admin committee
**spokes planning meeting notes**
- i am concerned that there is a delegate chat emerging that does not represent and is not responsive to the group - food pantry does not have regular meetings in which to relay information like this - i think the gym is also not having regular meetings - more people are murmoring about the fact that there was no announcement made on the WB WF or patreon - shea is willing to take on making the admin committee signs that explains who and what they are with contact info - lp: this can iterate into a much larger sign that explains the entire structure of the space - we need better announcements for the planning meetings. remind people again day-of - what should we do about the 2-week window within which we can make proposals. it feels like too long of a window for a cutoff for proposals. - we could shorten the time, get consensus, then have window of time for blockers - lp suggestion: have an open question asking & collection session before a break
**action items**
- create explainer materials for spokes & admin committee
- create stack indicator
- hand out name tags at beginning of meeting
- bug the writer workshop group about calendar
- make the sign for the admin ([https://wiki.commons.nyc/books/rc-tech-comms/page/rc-admin-committee-chart-alt](https://wiki.commons.nyc/books/rc-tech-comms/page/rc-admin-committee-chart-alt))
- post agenda to announcements chat
- nudge delegates to rotate in delegate chat
- **draft agenda for the next meeting** - introduction w/ names & pronouns (5 min) - spokescouncil & admin committees review (10 min) - explain the spokes planning group & encourage participation - admin committee updates (5 min each-- 25 min max) - tech/comms - finance - fundraising & grants - programming & rentals - facilities - BREAK 5min - working group updates (5 mins each would be 45min) - food pantry - gym - tutoring - spokes planning - sunday dinner - tech collective - tuesday reading group - writing group - yoga / meditation - BREAK 5min - LJ to present on work done on branding (10 min) - discussion session (20 min) - are delegates actually rotating? do delegates feel like they can rotate? - are people actually able to check-in with their groups to achieve internal agreement on proposals within the 2-week timeframe? - let's check in with each WG about what their meeting cadence is & practices have been so far ahead of spokes meetings - open question session (10 min)
# 2025-09-02 Spokescouncil Planning WG Meeting ## Spokescouncil Planning WG Meeting - Date: 09-02-2025 ### Agenda - Feedback overheard - Review next spokescouncil meeting agenda - finalize - Review proposals - make notes of friendly amendments for the delegate (tbd) - AOB (urgent) - Additional items if time: - Spokescouncil SOP documentation updates - Recruitment - Hugs & kisses & action items before/for Thursday meeting ### Notes ##### Attendance -shannon, vanessa, ash, paul, katelyn, ewa, caroline, briar **Feedback overheard** - open up discussions for beyond "fish bowl" - forum for everyone to say something if not at spokescouncil, maybe a general assembly or town hall - GA v Spokescouncil - what are they good for? what can they achieve? - what is the space for? mutual aid for whom? - once per quarter, spokescouncil is observable by general community - open up fishbowl to beyond WG's at spokes - feedback mechanism - announce spokescouncil meetings sooner + flyer - set schedule for planning meetings - monday before every meeting **Review next spokescouncil meeting agenda - finalize** -how to handle proposals : - how to handle proposals that came in late - send a note + check in at beginning of meeting + check in on quorum (do WG's who haven't had the amt of time to make a decision care or not if a vote happens?) - parking lot for proposals that are tabled for now - consent agenda to triage proposals - visual diagram: longer checklist for WGs to prep+ proposals deadline - seasons are changing, hard to get ppl in a room together - delegates making decisions for their group w/o consent could be tricky with issues of trust further developing in the space - survey or poll for feedback - prioritize proposals for a consent agenda to bring up to the top what ppl need to discuss - groups who are present nominate proposals for discussion, not enough nominations, they don't get to talk about it or wait til the end to discuss the late ones - final thought on how to deal with proposals that come in late: any single delegate that didn't get a chance to discuss with their group, the proposal is tabled - sustaining contributions added to agenda - integrate FAs asynchronously - blocking amendments - this will not be passed w/o amendment (next meeting) we need to update documentation - updated explainer - cheat sheet 6 month - Nov - general assembly to get feedback proposal workshop/mentoring: checklist, as our WG announcement cofac - katelyn, looking for co-fac at next meeting role for our group: proposal round up, make ppl know they can reach out to one of us if they send something a little late, aggregating proposals and sending them out culture point: ppl always post to the delegates chat when they write a proposal open call to help shannon with developing general assembly @ signal in agenda **Proposal Votes:** Bathroom Proposal [https://wiki.commons.nyc/books/spokescouncil-proposals/page/proposal-for-bathroom-cleaning-rotation](https://wiki.commons.nyc/books/spokescouncil-proposals/page/proposal-for-bathroom-cleaning-rotation) - FA's - every week - sign up sheet online or irl on the door. chore wheel or random/self selected? - consider including a note on the proposal - who keeps track of it? WG self-managed? or facilities? RC Community Announcements Chat [https://wiki.commons.nyc/books/spokescouncil-proposals/page/rc-community-announcements-chat](https://wiki.commons.nyc/books/spokescouncil-proposals/page/rc-community-announcements-chat) - FA's - "friends of RC" community spaces can share events through this chat. not individuals but sharing events by other community spaces to limit it a little bit. - need clarity around which events are shared? and how? - ask for volunteers to admin at the next meeting and set expectations for the chat RC Coordination Chat [https://wiki.commons.nyc/books/spokescouncil-proposals/page/rc-coordination-chat](https://wiki.commons.nyc/books/spokescouncil-proposals/page/rc-coordination-chat) FA's - MOU will have the QR code to be added to coordination chat - set the chat up so no one needs to be an admin Physical RC Community Calendar [https://wiki.commons.nyc/books/spokescouncil-proposals/page/physical-rc-community-calendar](https://wiki.commons.nyc/books/spokescouncil-proposals/page/physical-rc-community-calendar) - we didn't get enough time to vote on this **Action items (need ppl to sign up):** - Short term: - Katelyn will look for co-facilitator for next meeting KW discussing with Caroline!!! - send a note about late proposals to spokescouncil announcements chat and delegates chat Iris and KW drafting/ sending this 9/4 - updates to sep 11 meeting agenda (Katelyn - noted and amended): - how to deal with proposals that come in late: any single delegate that didn't get a chance to discuss with their group, the proposal is tabled - "sustaining contributions" added to agenda for liability/fundraising announcements from Vanessa - Spokescouncil Planning WG announcements (for Paul as Delegate to share): - Please join the Spokescouncil Planning Working Group! We would love your help to shape the self-governance at RC, talk to one of the people here - we will have a standing meeting the Monday before every Spokescouncil meeting that is open for anyone to join - looking for co-fac for next meeting in October, volunteers - proposal workshop/mentoring offerings as well as training to co-facilitate - General Assembly: briefly say what it is (open discussion and 6ish month review of how things are going), reach out to Shannon via signal to help organize - Reminder that anyone can organize a discussion and you don't need to go through the spokescouncil to do it (example: After Sunday dinners people have been getting together to informally discuss what is happening at RC) - If you want to form a working group you can do that whenever you want, coordinate when you want to use the space with people in programming and start doing your thing. once it feels like you have a solid working group, write a charter and submit to spokescouncil to be ratified - culture point: ppl always post to the delegates chat when they write a proposal so we can be alerted to them and share them outward to the spokescouncil announcements - We will be developing a feedback mechanism so people can share thoughts asynchronously to make these meetings and self governance structures better - Long term: - organize session to air difficult feelings and dreams, find ppl to collab with (Shannon) - organize 6 month ish General Assembly, find ppl to collab with (Shannon) - introduce "blocking amendment" next meeting in October - parking lot on wiki for proposals that are tabled **()katelyn added folder called "WIP proposals)** - feedback mechanism, email, survey or poll for feedback **(need BL)** - updated explainer document and spokescouncil cheat sheet **(need BL kw started both here: [https://docs.google.com/document/d/1LHIFz9Il7UPGIBO\_woM4YXV6xGoPKrmO2P70wBdpMgE/edit?usp=sharing](https://docs.google.com/document/d/1LHIFz9Il7UPGIBO_woM4YXV6xGoPKrmO2P70wBdpMgE/edit?usp=sharing); to finish after next meeting and share before next spokescoucil wg meeting)** - standing meeting days for RC spokescouncil planning - Monday before every meeting kw will add to calendar once access from Johnny - develop visual checklist + deadlines for next meeting in Oct **(need BL ... can we use the table in the google link above?)** # 2025-08-09 Spokescouncil planning WG notes from spokescouncil meeting Questions on spokescouncil terminology: - Clarify "ratification" definition (What does it mean for the charters to be ratified? What is the process to amend?) - Clarify "friendly amendment" versus "block" - Clarify "RC member" versus "community" General admin committee feedback to consider: - How will each of these groups work together, especially with finance and planning/rentals Feedback on spokescouncil planning charter - Clarify RC member versus community (see above) - Bold terms specific to the space - Explain why this is a WG instead of a committee - Add a note on working with other Thursday events (e.g. writers) for every other Thursday monthly meeting i.e., who has precedent Announcements: - KW has additional notes from announcements -- will cross-check with general meeting notes and add anything missed # Spokescouncil Planning Meeting 08-05-2025 6 pm ## Spokescouncil Planning Meeting - Date: 08-05-2025 ### Agenda - check ins (5 min) - roles: (5 min) - facilitator - notes - stack - timer - admin collective delegate voting clarification + announcement + add updates to explainer (5 min) - review charters + friendly amendments + vote (40 min) 16 charters - break (10 min) - delegates (20 min) - choose method of selection, rotation - select delegates + backups for Aug 9 meeting - roles for running the Aug 9 meeting (5 min) - help set up space /prep - facilitator (ash + anyone else??) - Explanation of the Two Wheel Model - stack (shelby) - announce how to join the spokescouncil wg - notes (note taker notes which wgs and committees are in attendance and the delegate names) - timer (shelby) - vibes - swearjar! (5 min) - help with the afterparty (5 min) - clean up - dj /music - lighting - action items round up (5 min) - admin collective delegate announcement to group chat - add updates to explainer - for next time: - meeting on thurs?: review agenda, finalize - how do we let groups respond to FA's when they need to discuss? - how often we want to meet - chat admin privileges - role trainings ### Detailed Meeting Notes - admin collective delegate voting clarification + announcement + add updates to explainer (5 min) - each admin committee has one representative - can make announcements - to engage in discussions in a way that represents their gruops - finance committee & liability are the only committees that have blocking power - admin committees do not vote - TODO update the explainer and proposal to reflect these changes - vanessa: only 3 groups mentioned finances in their charters (fundraising, pantry, gym). it would be nice if working groups could acknowledge that the space needs money to survive - katelyn: it would be nice to have an idea of the operating costs of the space to inform what groups can or will contribute - ash: maybe fundraising committee could work on coordinating with groups around contributing money - briar: for example-- kids tutoring group says "as coordinated with the programming committee", perhaps "in coordination with the fundraising committee, we will donate to the space". it's flexible. could be via personal donations or through the labor of organizing fundraisers and stuff - TODO briar: write friendly amendment about money for all groups - vanessa: can we soft-ratify. what does ratification actually mean. - if we prolong the charter process we will be blocking actual proposals for things - in order for a new working group to come into existence, they need to submit a proposal that needs to be ratified - TODO pick a date for the next meeting so we can announce it at the coming spokes meeting - we could either review or re-ratify the charter as they change - TODO every committee needs to make a report back on what executive decisions they've made so far and what they're planning for the future. maybe the committees could announce their activity on the chat or the spokes announcement chat or some channel ahead of the meeting. - notes on individual charters - comms and tech - not specific enough about what accounts it needs creds and admin access to - finance - it makes reference to points of unity but it seems like that document doesn't exist yet - programming - we need new chats to replace the film screening and research group chats - how will RC's intellectual programming differ from woodbine's given that we're aligning ourselves as a mutual aid space - TODO add friendly amendment about how the community can submit requests for programming via a form or whatever - question: how to friendly amendments actually work - how does charter ratification actually work given the friendly amendments - maybe - the delegate can decide to accept friendly amendments at the meeting - what happens if they deny a friendly amendment - friendly amendments indicate a pass with a caveat - groups are expected to i.e. change the charter to reflect the changes. there will be follow-up on for example, the expected changes to the charter - friendly amendments are made during the meeting. they are not accepted or rejected at the meeting. the groups then rewrite their charters in the next two weeks and post them widely and then explain which they are accepting or rejecting in the delegates chat. it will only be discussed at the next meeting if a group is concerned enough to make a proposal about it at the next meeting. - the working group planning group will flag concerns that groups have about this process and integrate stuff - Q: what is the delegates chat. it's a place for the wg delegates to discuss proposals and stuff. the chat exists already but delegates need to be added. - ok back to charters: - programming - TODO friendly amendment: remove direct reference to "coordinators chat" - we're anticipating a lot of people having this same friendly amendment and might just tell them it's been considered already - points of unity-- they still don't exist and we said spokescouncil coudn't take over until we agreed on points of unity - TODO make an announcement to ask people to propose points of unity at the next meeting - ok back to charters again: - facilities - friendly ammendments: - TODO friendly ammendment-- they have $100 monthly discretionary spending as long as they keep receipts - TODO should facilities handle restocking consumables and medical supplies, narcan, defrib etc - TODO coordinate waste management even if they aren't the ones taking the trash out - TODO add something about keeping the space safe - maybe - coordinating cleaning? - onboarding and training are missing - all of these might be too much to put on them but we'll talk to iris ahead of time. maybe just focus on discretionary spending and waste management - TODO some groups specify that need key access but every individual to sign an MOU to have key access - gym - TODO amendment: change "spokes planning committee" to "programming committee" - TODO tutoring-- add something about how they need to add MOUs - TODO spokes planning committee-- be more specific about "RC" members, change it to "working group members" - dinner - it seems like they're saying they'll propose every benefit dinner before the spokescouncil but that seems like it would require planning out an entire month of dinners ahead of time - selecting delegates. we can decide on a more systematic method in the future - speaker: briar - note-taker: katelyn - roles for running the meeting: - space setup - facilitator - TODO explanation of two wheel model: we should set up a projector with the diagram (p cm and ash) - explain the two-wheel model. - have people raise their hands who can explain the structure more later - stack: shelby - announce how to join the spokescouncil wg: ash - note-taker: maybe shea or rhye - timer: shelby - question scribe-- scrap this and direct people to talk to the people who raised their hands at the start of the meeting as "come-talk-to-me" people. - vibes-- everyone - TODO swearjar: 0.25 for every time somebody says woodbine instead of RC-- we'll rename it the deadname jar. but will this piss people off. let's think about this. - help with the afterparty: - still need a dj - cleanup - lighting: p cm - chat admin privileges - action items - TODO finalize agenda - TODO annoucements - details about how admin commitees participate in spokescounsil - brief explainer of how friendly amendments will actually work: - briar: drafting broad ammendment about wgs contributing money - paul: be ready to add delegates to the delegate chat at the end of the meeting - settle on a date for the next meeting: sept 11 2025 - make the deadname jar # Spokescounsil Planning Meeting 02-06-2025 6pm ### Reminder: Process shape for discussing proposals Proposal Process for Spokes Planning Meetings adapted from “Consensus”(keep close to 33 min total): - Intro proposal (5 min) - Questions/Concerns (5 min) - Friendly ammendments (10 min) - Withdrawals (1 min) - Voting/Blocks/Stand Asides (1 min) - If Block occcurs > discussion > ammendments offered (10 min) - Vote again (1 min) ### Agenda - eat and hang (60mins) - super speedy emotional check ins (no gossip), 1 min per person or less (8mins) - claim roles (2mins) \* facilitator \* note-taker \* stack \* time-keeper \* action-item-wrangler - action item check-ins (10mins) - [x] Move proposals / make proposals with LP's template - [x] (All) Comment on outreach proposal [here](https://basement.woodbine.nyc/2AyW758BRd2zkP5kx7VSiw?view) - [ ] (Ash +LP) Refine Spokes explainer - [ ] (Ash) Make spokes flyer - [ ] (Iris) To craft inline text blurb to announce Spokes in signal chats - [x] (Frankie) to write a proposal about prioritizing proposals (with dot voting) - [x] (Frankie) Write a first draft agenda for the 1st Spokes meeting - [x] (Ash) Write proposal: Cleaning proposal process - [ ] (Andrew) to identify "dream team" of people who know things about the physical infrastructure of woodbine (and its problems) - [x] (Andrew) At next meeting, Andrew wrangles action items - [x] (Briar) Write out what we need to do to make the next meeting the last before the actual Spokes meeting - [x] (Briar) Write an agenda for the next meeting - [x] (LP) Make date poll for the next meeting - [outreach](https://basement.woodbine.nyc/2AyW758BRd2zkP5kx7VSiw?view) (10mins) - [style of consensus](https://basement.woodbine.nyc/2AyW758BRd2zkP5kx2) (10mins) - [how to post agenda items](https://basement.woodbine.nyc/2AyW758BRd2zkP5ky2) (10mins) - [how to prioritize agenda items](https://basement.woodbine.nyc/wiKb5SR1RIG2mrsVZfVr_w?view) (15mins) - break (5mins) - [quorum](https://basement.woodbine.nyc/2AyW758BRd2zkP5kx1) (5mins) - [how roles get decided](https://basement.woodbine.nyc/2AyW758BRd2zkP5kx3) (5mins) - [how meeting dates are decided](https://basement.woodbine.nyc/2AyW758BRd2zkP5kx4) (2mins) - [how long are the meetings](https://basement.woodbine.nyc/2AyW758BRd2zkP5kx5) (3mins) - [how spokes communicate outside of meetings](https://basement.woodbine.nyc/2AyW758BRd2zkP5kx6) (10mins) - sitdown with directors (10mins) - [first spokes council agenda](https://basement.woodbine.nyc/1b2-KoTlTPO4KD_dpmUI1w?view) (15mins) - unplug the space heater (5secs) # Notes Attending: Frankie, Briar, Ash, Paul, LP, Natalie, Maria ### Reminder: Process for discussing proposals - Proposal Process for Spokes Planning Meetings adapted from “Consensus”(keep close to 33 min total): - Intro proposal (5 min) - Questions/Concerns (5 min) - Friendly ammendments (10 min) - Withdrawals (1 min) - Voting/Blocks/Stand Asides (1 min) - If Block occcurs > discussion > ammendments offered (10 min) - Vote again (1 min) ### Roles: - Facilitator - frankie - Note-taker - ash - Stack - paul - Time-keeper - briar - Action-item-wrangler - LP ## Proposal Review/Voting: #### [outreach](https://basement.woodbine.nyc/2AyW758BRd2zkP5kx7VSiw?view) (10mins) No Friendly Ammendments (FA), Vote outcome: pass #### [style of consensus](https://basement.woodbine.nyc/2AyW758BRd2zkP5kx2) (10mins) - FA: - Woodbine has liability to be considered and respected, concerns were voiced that proposals must respect liability - Proposals should include some caveat that anything regarding changes to finance structure need to include the finance team, should consult them while drafting any proposal that touches finances - Proposals should include awareness and respect for the legacy of how things have been operating without being stuck in old ways if they are clearly not working, those drafting proposals are expected to research this and talk to people working in the areas their proposal touches - Proposals need to be concerned with working groups being asked to do labor - Proposals should involve awareness of/research into who at Woodbine has expertise in an area that the Proposal touches (i.e. consult dinner wg for any dinner related proposals) - Proposals need to including an explanation/ proof of the problem it is trying to solve - Vote outcome: pass #### [how to post agenda items](https://basement.woodbine.nyc/2AyW758BRd2zkP5ky2) (10mins) - FA: - Need a digital wall too - Why we need it: Physical space centers woodbine, announces way to participate in space, lower barrier to posting , printers at woodbine, physical way to vote - Role to consolidate online/physical walls (TBD) - Signal chat for discussing proposals (TBD) - Physical process only to start, worry about digital wall later - Vote outcome: pass #### [how to prioritize agenda items](https://basement.woodbine.nyc/wiKb5SR1RIG2mrsVZfVr_w?view) (15mins) - FA: - Setting agenda in advance important - Debate over voting as individuals or having WG reps vote - voting as individuals makes fewer meetings necessary for the WG reps - Impetus for individuals to vote may force ppl to read proposals - large WGs may have more sway - Visuals: Pins, stickers, markers on proposal to prioritize proposals - Counting dots of everyone can be arduous v reps - Need clear description of who can vote on this at Woodbine - Vote outcome: pass #### [quorum](https://basement.woodbine.nyc/2AyW758BRd2zkP5kx1) (5mins) - FA: - Take attendance, Outreach if ppl aren’t showing up - Explain difference b/w Tabling v blocking - Possibility of bad faith actors not showing up to keep something from moving forward - This qourum proposal is a working rule but we can address something fishy or bad faith if we sense it - Vote: pass #### [how roles get decided](https://basement.woodbine.nyc/2AyW758BRd2zkP5kx3) (5mins) - FA: - Systematize rotating roles - Training, shadowing, collaborating to get ppl doing roles - Not spokes planning people filling roles - Will figure out next roles at the end of the meeting - Vote: pass #### [how meeting dates are decided](https://basement.woodbine.nyc/2AyW758BRd2zkP5kx4) (2mins) - FA: - Alternate days occasionally so no one is blocked off - Feedback mechanism to change (via proposal) - Alternate b/w two days in a broad poll via chat - How can we actually book up the calendar? Issues with blocking rentals? (TBD) - No vote: Withdrawal to discuss further #### [how long are the meetings](https://basement.woodbine.nyc/2AyW758BRd2zkP5kx5) (3mins) - FA: none - vote: pass #### [how spokes communicate outside of meetings](https://basement.woodbine.nyc/2AyW758BRd2zkP5kx6) (10mins) - FA: - Worries expressed that discussion chat protocols need to be enforced - Admins can figure out as they go, but some norms/protocols should be set in advance - Reword so there is no confusion about the representatives inviting new ones - suggestion that any discussion should be wirtten inside the proposals themselves - Can the discussion chat be a free space to discuss? provides place for Working groups to discuss together - Does it cause an issue with some admin metabolizing comments into meetings? Too much work, could be messy - discussion chat could be a “free play space” - Prep people for change i.e. “this is an experiment” - What is the relationship b/w this and the coordinators chat? (TBD pending directors sit down and refining the scope of the spokescouncil) - Anyone can join the spokes chats v coordinators chat is currently only people who signed MOUs - QR codes to join chats - Vote: pass #### sitdown with directors (10mins) - We will have this meeting sit down meeting with the directors soon - Parallel work happening b/w spokes and directorship - Accountability, empowering people to show up and know how to be supportive - spokes can solve that - Invisibilized labor needs to be made visible, spokes can solve that - Legal, finance, liability autonomedia - structure was lacking, may come together (Maria) - Repetition of not having things be transparent, People who cant be at the space like maria rely on other people , Dont want to have to repeat across so many chats (Maria) - Lease and liability not up for debate (Maria) #### [first spokes council agenda ](https://basement.woodbine.nyc/1b2-KoTlTPO4KD_dpmUI1w)(15mins) - FA: - Needs reworking for cleaning project explanation of current cleaning situation - Directorship intro included with time for them to speak, need to coordinate how much time they need with consideration for what spokes planning had already prioritized - Adjust time allotted for items - Vote: pass #### Action item roundup: - [ ] Digital wall for proposals (TBD) - [ ] Explainer and flyer (ash and LP) - [ ] Help briar make the physical proposal board (need volunteers) - [ ] Edit proposals with FA post meeting (All) - [ ] Meeting for spokes planning and directors to meet (Ash, Ella, Natalie) - [ ] Finalize agenda for 1st meeting (ash, frank, paul) - [ ] Proposal, "how meeting dates are decided", needs work to vote again, vote via chat asynchronously - [ ] Pick a date for first spokes meeting (TBD) - [ ] Skills training ideas (TBD) # Spokescouncil Planning Meeting 01-15-2025 6pm ## Action items - [ ] Move proposals / make proposals with LP's template - [ ] (All) Comment on outreach proposal [here](https://basement.woodbine.nyc/2AyW758BRd2zkP5kx7VSiw?view) - [ ] (Ash +LP) Refine Spokes explainer - [ ] (Ash) Make spokes flyer - [ ] (Iris) To craft inline text blurb to announce Spokes in signal chats - [ ] (Frankie) to write a proposal about prioritizing proposals (with dot voting) - [ ] (Frankie) Write a first draft agenda for the 1st Spokes meeting - [ ] (Ash) Write proposal: Cleaning proposal process - [ ] (Andrew) to identify "dream team" of people who know things about the physical infrastructure of woodbine (and its problems) - [ ] (Andrew) At next meeting, Andrew wrangles action items - [x] (Briar) Write out what we need to do to make the next meeting the last before the actual Spokes meeting - [ ] (Briar) Write an agenda for the next meeting - [x] (LP) Make date poll for the next meeting ## Notes Summary - Soft consensus around a desire to have next mtg be the last before the Spokescouncil meets! - Some discussion about Peter Gelderloos' book [Consensus](https://theanarchistlibrary.org/library/peter-gelderloos-consensus), which offers food for thought on collective decisionmaking - We'll talk more next time about what consensus model we like. Consensus? Consensus minus 1? We have diverging opinions in the group. - We recapped how the fishbowl Spokescouncil format works, and folks present agreed to try that format for initial Spokes meeting - We've aligned on calling on Working Groups for proposals, but likely only discussing cleaning proposal(s) at the first Spokes meeting - There are lots of action items to complete async before the next meeting!! See above. ## Agenda - eat & hang (60min) - super speedy emotional check ins + No gossip announcement, 1 min per person or less (8 min) - claim roles (2min) - facilitator: Ashley, Ella - note-taker: Farnk - stack: LP - time-keeper: Briar - action item check-ins (10min) - [x] (Paul) Write agenda for next time - [x] (LP) Set poll for next meeting time - \[ella started this \] (LP) Combine Ella and LP’s existing explainers, on LP’s wiki page and BEEF IT UP - [x] (Frankie) evaluate which groups would be inlcuded/excluded from spoke representation using the criteria we setlled on - [x] Added column to [WB chats spreadsheet](https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1iDlC4P64guqa1a_cZ7IjnngqzZLOWledbCKlF4eXzZA/edit?gid=365292739#gid=365292739). - [ ] (all) please help me turn Not Sures into Yes / Nos! - [ ] (All) Reformat existing proposals into LP’s proposal template, for discussion next time - [ ] (Ash) use the new proposal template for the new proposals above in the [New proposal ideas before 1st meeting](https://basement.woodbine.nyc/spokes-2024-12-13#New-proposal-ideas-before-1st-meeting-10) section - discuss takeaways from Peter Gelderloos for our proposal process (20 min) - Screenshots of source text [here](https://basement.woodbine.nyc/spokes-gelderloos-reference) - "WAIT - Why am I Talking?" or "How we can all make meetings less of a slog" - jazz hands to show agreement v commenting verbally - Rules of Thumb for informal/formal consensus - Vibes checker role - Future process for feedback - Proposal Process for Spokes Planning Meetings adapted from "Consensus"(keep close to 33 min total): - Conceptualizing propoals (5 min, Ella) - Intro proposal (5 min) - Questions/Concerns (5 min) - Friendly ammendments (10 min) - Withdrawals (1 min) - Voting/Blocks/Stand Asides (1 min) - If Block occcurs > discussion > ammendments offered (10 min) - Peter's critique of consensus minus one (5 min, Ella) - Vote again (1 min) - Questions/clarity on blocks v stand asides v friendly ammendments ### Section notes - how much of this do we need to decide / discuss beforehand? - we will benefit as spokescouncil council from getting better at proposals, can bring to broaders Spokes - we're less "defining the rules" and more becoming resources for process - i had a conceptual shift about proposals: - initial idea: all the working groups would submit cleaning proposals, they would be competing - after reading: WGs bring ideas, they are synthesized into a *proposal*, then agreed upon in the meeting - according to Peter G, meetings are for synthesizing proposals - "alternative voting" --> instead of deliberating too much, you have rounds of voting / ranked-choice voting - for cleaning proposals: each WG could propose cleaning that they can commit to as a distinct working group - anti-goal: we don't want WGs competing with each other over proposals - anecdote from basement: there was consensus that we wanted to make meetings decision moments more than deliberative moments - it can be good to seek input *before* the meeting, synthesize proposals - we'll be bad at proposals at first. good to make it easy to "fail safely". if we have guardrails on proposal discussion, bad proposals can be opportunities for learning instead of tanking the meeting - was a role of admin group at 4th street to help people who brought shitty proposals - a group that struggles to make decisions together might have non aligned values or interests. gym collective runs great because there's no inherent contention. - this (Peter G's book) doesn't have to be the only tool in the toolbox - WAIT (why am i talking?) how much space am i taking up? is this relevant? - jazz hands to show agreement - rules of thumb for formal / informal consensus: - if decision can be made in less time than it would take for a formal process, just decide - else, make a vote - vibescheck role: person who's just there to read the room. if someone's being a jerk or taking up time, make a note or give them feedback. - how to give people feedback, how to fail safely - blocks are taken seriously, if someone's surprised that you're blocking, that's a bad smell / bad sign for the process - if a ton of people are standing aside, that's also a bad smell - Peter's critique of consensus minus 1 - argument for: to prevent some jerk or infiltrator from blocking everything - argument against: promotes conflict avoidance, instead of engaging the jerk, you skirt the problem. if the person is continually a jerk, you can expel them from the group - instead of expelling people, we could: - adjust the groups decisionmaking solution space (is the minus 1 someone who has critical information or resources? what if we can't operate without them?) - conclusion: we can talk more about consensus minus 1 ## BREAK TIME! (8 min) ### Cleaning propsals - i'd love to see folks submit proposals! - we shouldn't solicit proposals from WGs, we can synthesize ideas in the spokescouncil meeting and produce a proposal - this would be easy for WGs to participate in - Andrew tried a cleaning party, no one showed up :( - The space is overwhelming in how dirty and disorganized it is. The space could collapse, the space could be unusable. Huge liability. If someone gets hurt, we're screwed. - alternative path of collaboration: having clearly labeled spots for cleaning. make it obvious how to clean. physical infrastructure for cleaning. - ask working groups: what parts of woodbine do you touch on a regular basis? what can you do to help clean? - it would be useful to gather this information beforehand and share it with folks at the Spokescouncil meeting - what if people had an open-ended discussion with the topic "cleaning at woodbine"? - maybe combine these - we want to practice proposal process as well. we can have open ended chat, followed by proposal discussion - i like the idea of each group getting to share their own idea and also hearing what other groups say - the space has limitations. you can hang a broom on any given wall, probably. but there are serious physical infrastructure problems at woodbine that many people aren't aware of. if we want to do a big physical reorg of the space, we'd need some education from folks who are the most familiar with the space - we can lead by example by submitting and deciding proposals, in the open, in front of Spokes - synthesis: at the meeting, a prompt (offered ahead of time), that WGs can think about beforehand about cleaning. WGs respond to prompt, then general discussion, then proposals, then time for Spokes to caucus and talk about amendments to their own proposals, then a synth proposal can be put together in real time in the meeting, or offline before the next meeting - beforehand, we can ask for ideas from WGs. then during the spokescouncil meeting - what if we have an open ended discussion about cleanliness? - i love open ended convos, but i think we need structure! let's do spokes from the start - there are physical structural issues that will impede cleaning - how does caucusing with a WG work in a fishbowl meeting? what about the people who aren't present at the meeting? - maybe we shouldn't make decisions at the meeting, since all relevant WG people might not be there - i think that a closed spokescouncil meeting would be good. the whole idea is that the spokesperson is representative of the group. everyone else at the WGs will be able to see what's in the notes. - initial reason for fishbowl was that there's not a ton of trust built up - recap of fishbowl format - fishbowl makes it easier for folks to learn how the process works, step forward into the Spoke and notetaker role in the future, hold Spokes accountable for whether notes diverge from what happened - cleaning project (20 min) - flesh out the plan for soliciting [cleaning project proposals](https://basement.woodbine.nyc/53jm6fyxTU2QRJuwGV0GJA) ## agenda for first spokescounsil meeting (20 min) - refine & vote on [proposed first agenda](https://basement.woodbine.nyc/u_lwNbf4SnKUi1VuFJ2ctA) - should we have an open proposal submission process? - is there any one person who understands the full extent of problems in the space? probably not. - people would need a lot of information to make a reasonable proposal about fixing structural issues - if WGs are free to bring proposals, they will learn about power structures at Woodbine. for instance "i want a pony", someone will then learn that Finance has a say in that and has blocking concerns. - online and in-person fora where proposals can be posted async at any time - maybe we start with cleaning proposals, then grow into other proposals - discussions we've had with other people about the effort to build a spokescounsel - we could let anyone submit proposals, then let WGs decide which proposals are their most favorite proposals, then proceed thru discussing priorized proposals in priority order - dot vote on proposals in the meeting - agree, we should keep it simple. - could we encourage people to submit proposals, show them off at the first Spokes, then say that at the next spokes that we're going to prioritize proposals in that order - step back: what is the point of the first meeting? consciousness raising, getting excited. practicing proposals in a technical sense. vibing with each other, social time. make people want to come to the next one! - Assigning action items and Next meeting agenda (20 min) - Frankie to write a proposal about prioritizing proposals ## follow up on outreach - Andrew has been doing outreach! Working with Food Fight + Bikes for Migrants. However we want to go about this, as long as we're not dicks, people will receive us warmly. - we need to prioritize nailing down a page that explains what Spokes is - Proposal on how to do outreach exists [here](https://basement.woodbine.nyc/2AyW758BRd2zkP5kx7VSiw?view) # Spokescouncil Planning Meeting 12-13-2024 ## Results of this meeting: We made the following decisions: - [x] A Spoke is: - [x] - a group of >5 people AND - [x] - the group has access to Woodbine's physical space (i.e. can unlock the door) or Woodbine's resources (e.g. website, Instagram, lease, funds) - - [x] What if your group is <5 people? - [x] - Identify a larger working group that you can caucus with. Perhaps the group that grants you access to the Woodbine space/resources - [x] - Still come to the Spokescouncil meeting to observe and recruit members - [x] - What if our group doesn't have the door code or its own access to Woodbine resources? - [x] - Your spoke is the one that grants you access to the space. - [x] - For example, if Gym people unlock the space for you, you caucus with Gym \- The proposal contains no opinion on how Spokes decide on a Spokesperson - [ ] [x] this is how to announce a proposal 1. hang proposal physically in the space 2. post somewhere linkable 3. send to all groups via groupchats - [ ] [x] we will use this template for proposals https://basement.woodbine.nyc/spokes-proposal-template ## Agenda ### Vibe check (5min - 7:05) What version of you are we getting this evening? ### Previous meeting action item check-in (10 - 7:15) \- **Ella** demarcate reproduction vs. project working groups (in Ella's summary of WGs) - group map added to Briar's "who is a spoke" proposal - [x] **Frankie** to add chat-addition protocol to Signal group description - [ ] **\[someone\]** make the agenda for next time. topics to include: - Plan for the spokescouncil council to meet with outside groups and have a research debrief meeting - [x] **Ella** to add a link to Spokes explainer to Signal description (or Lippy and Ella to collaborate) - [ ] **everyone**: make proposal(s) about the following things: \* - [x] **Ash** to make a date poll for next meeting - [ ] **Frankie and LP** continue research on language acessibiliy, determine spokes language needs, reach out to interpreters - https://basement.woodbine.nyc/spokes-multilingual-research# - [ ] **everyone**: ask Frankie for access to the hopes and fears [Mural](https://app.mural.co/t/woodbinespokescouncilcouncil7401/m/woodbinespokescouncilcouncil7401/1730169934445/7e184fc95009530bc2797977628a55aa93ca7fa6), contribute to said Mural ### Goals/Levelsetting (10) - What do we consider a good outcome for *this* meeting? Do we want to have another meeting before the Spokescouncil meeting? ### Proposal review and discussion, [11 proposals](https://basement.woodbine.nyc/spokes-proposals) (75 - 8:30) 1. Prioritize proposals via dot vote \* How to decide who gets a Spoke \* How to make proposals (meta!) \* How to vote on them \* How WGs should select spokespeople \* Spokescouncil goals \* Woodbine points of unity \* How often should the spokescounil meet? Bi weekly? Monthly? \* How to approach accountability via spokes (one idea: include spokes reps in notes to track which WGs are at meetings as part of accounatbility system, key holder access idea) \* Cleaning project (what would the cleaning project be?) \* Agenda of 1st spokes meeting + how it'll be run \* Strategy for approaching WGs to get Spokes, craft the messaging \* Spokescouncil Signal group proposal (how it will be used, who can be in it, norms/protcols, conflict culture, admin access) \* Spokes/Fishbowl explainer with a decision making flow chart explainer and fist to five explainer (could be one explainer doc we hand out) \* Who from the spokescouncilcouncil should attend the 1st spokes meeting? And how should they participate? \* Research debrief meeting proposal \* +1 proposal\* 2. Discuss prioritized proposals 3. (15 mins) how to edit proposals and agree on them so we don't have to have another meeting. via chat? ### New proposal ideas before 1st meeting (10) - Proposal flyer for invitation and explainer - invitation - what is a spokescoucil? - fishbowl format diagram and explainer - Fist to five explainer - Proposal ideas for basic write-ups to prep for agenda for 1st meeting (Ash): - how did we get to this point historically at wb? - what are the basic expectations/hopes of participation (6-12 months)? - how do proposals work? - how did we decide on which groups to invite to the spokescouncil? - how can more groups be represented? - who is the spokescouncil council? what have we been working on? what is our ongoing role in the spokescouncil? how can new people get involved/what are the expectations in participation? - how do ppl add to the agenda in advance? document? ### Timeline and procedure to edit proposals and get votes from ppl not present (10) ### Action item roundup (10) - [ ] (Paul) Write agenda for next time - [ ] (LP) Set poll for next meeting time - [ ] (LP) Combine Ella and LP's existing explainers, on LP's wiki page and BEEF IT UP - [ ] (Frankie) evaluate which groups would be inlcuded/excluded from spoke representation using the criteria we setlled on - [ ] (Ash) use the new proposal template for the new proposals above in the `New proposal ideas before 1st meeting (10)` section - [ ] (All) Reformat existing proposals into LP's proposal template, for discussion next time ### First spokescouncil meeting date (5) New proposal ideas before 1st meeting (10) # Notes ## what are we trying to get done today? these are the necessary decisions we have to make in order to move forward: 1. who are the spokes? 2. how are proposals made? 3. how do things get voted on? ### do we want to have another meeting before the spokes meeting? - maybe one more to allow for outreach and smoother rollout ## proposal review - we probably won't come to final decisions on these proposals today and we'll have to figure out how to do that ### Proposal Group 1: who gets a spoke? (10 min) #### Briar's proposal - everyone gets a spoke #### Frankie's proposal - a spoke is a group of 5 or more people that has access to WB's space or resources. - if a group doesn't meet these critera they can caucus with a recognized group - these critera define what spokes will exist initially but also are applied for every meeting, such that if a group changes in a way that they no longer meet these criteria, they will not have spoke representation at the meeting. ### concerns about key access - people could consolidate power by people being able to reduce the number of people who can unlock the door - the MOUs equate key access with recognized group existence? do we want to follow this example? - we could possilby just limit spokescouncil membership to groups we deem in actual need to the key code #### how do we change how the spokescouncil works once we start it? - we can create a proposal just like any other the initial groups can be decided via Frankie's criteria, but further groups would require an explicit proposal? we're starting from a place where we don't fully understand who has key access and what is going on in the space ## TODO: look at which groups would be included and excluded with the current criteria ## frankie's revision - removes language related to space access and allows for groups to self-identify as being woodbine-affiliated - we could ammend this to allow the council to vote on allowing new groups to get spokes - pushback on this because it puts too much responsibility on the spokesconcil in allowing them to decide who is a working group - clarification: it's not about who is a WG, it's about who gets representation in the spokescouncil. also anyone is welcome to attend as an observer (?) and they can then decide if they want to join - concerns about malicious groups created for explicitly wb-political or obstructive purposes - giving the council voting power for new spokes perpetuates the gatekeeping that already exists ### voting on frankie's revision vs changing it to also require the council voting in new groups - [x] it seems we are willing to try the former- frankie's revision ## Proposal Group 2: How to make a proposal ### LP's proposal - make a document for the proposal that includes: - list groups and people it effects - list money and resources required - try to create variations on the proposal that anticipate likely objections should also include who (person or group?) is creating the proposal, and the date it was submitted having a template for this is a useful thing: [https://basement.woodbine.nyc/spokes-proposal-template](https://basement.woodbine.nyc/spokes-proposal-template) blocking concern on using this template is that it should stress who will be bottom-lining the proposal (it could be everyone) because we already have a lot of problems with accountability. a concern is that this addition will allow a group to "voluntell" someone else to do some labor. adding a strong recommendation that any proposal that asks for labor from a particular person or group be written in consultation with them - [x] we will use this template for proposals https://basement.woodbine.nyc/spokes-proposal-template ### Violet's proposal how to announce a proposal 1. hang proposal physically in the space 2. post on website 3. send to all groups via groupchats should we ammend this to include advanced notice (1 week?)? no. \[discussion about how to get it to the spokescoucil in the first place for dissemination, but we can figure that out later\] ## TODO: use the new proposal template for the new proposals above in the `New proposal ideas before 1st meeting (10)` section ### using input from the chat for quorum? should we be getting input from people who aren't here in person when we're making decisions? the decisions we've made aren't long-lasting and are easy to change so maybe we can just go with it this time and use the new system going forward. # Spokescounsil Planning Meeting 11-20-2024 2 hours ## Action Items for next meeting - [ ] [ ] **Ella** demarcate reproduction vs. project working groups (in Ella's summary of WGs) - [ ] [x] **Frankie** to add chat-addition protocol to Signal group description - [ ] [ ] **\[someone\]** make the agenda for next time. topics to include: - Plan for the spokescouncil council to meet with outside groups and have a research debrief meeting - [ ] [ ] **Ella** to add a link to Spokes explainer to Signal description (or Lippy and Ella to collaborate) - [ ] [ ] **everyone**: make proposal(s) about the following things: - How to make proposals (meta!) - How to decide who gets a Spoke - Spokescouncil goals - Woodbine points of unity - How often should the spokescounil meet? Bi weekly? Monthly? - How to approach accountability via spokes (one idea: include spokes reps in notes to track which WGs are at meetings as part of accounatbility system, key holder access idea) - Cleaning project (what would the cleaning project be?) - Agenda of 1st spokes meeting + how it'll be run - Strategy for approaching WGs to get Spokes, craft the messaging - Spokescouncil Signal group proposal (how it will be used, who can be in it, norms/protcols, conflict culture, admin access) - Spokes/Fishbowl explainer with a decision making flow chart explainer and fist to five explainer (could be one explainer doc we hand out) - Who from the spokescouncilcouncil should attend the 1st spokes meeting? And how should they participate? - Research debrief meeting proposal - [ ] [x] **Ash** to make a date poll for next meeting - [ ] [ ] **Frankie and LP** continue research on language acessibiliy, determine spokes language needs, reach out to interpreters - https://basement.woodbine.nyc/spokes-multilingual-research# - [ ] [ ] **everyone**: ask Frankie for access to the hopes and fears [Mural](https://app.mural.co/t/woodbinespokescouncilcouncil7401/m/woodbinespokescouncilcouncil7401/1730169934445/7e184fc95009530bc2797977628a55aa93ca7fa6), contribute to said Mural ## Summary - **Brainstormed** about Spokescouncil goals. Some recurring themes: - reproducing the space - drawing Woodbine-related people into community + collaboration (working group members, neighbors, speakers of various languages) - clarifying who can make decisions about what, and how - finances - appropriate use of the space - programming - **Discussed** who will constitute the spokescouncil / who gets a Spoke. Ideas coalesced around: - Ongoing work to identify all working groups [in this spreadsheet](https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1iDlC4P64guqa1a_cZ7IjnngqzZLOWledbCKlF4eXzZA/edit?gid=365292739#gid=365292739) - It may be useful to distinguish between different kinds of groups - groups / Spokes whose goal is solely reproducing the space, Spokes that work in the space - Young Lords' "ongoing projects" (long term) vs. "taskforces" (short term) - All entities who *use* the space will likely care about decisions made about the space. They may or may not want to participate in making those decisions, but it would be useful to keep them informed. - Spokescouncil may itself decide who's a Spoke. - **Decided** on a chat protocol, which is as follows (can also be found in Signal chat description): - To add someone to the chat: 1. establish that they are involved with woodbine AND - they care about the future of woodbine AND - they are interested in a spokescouncil existing OR - indicate another clear reason why they make sense to be added to the chat 2. indicate in the chat that you want to add the person 3. wait to get a cosign/vet from another member of the chat (can be an emoji thumb up) 4. add the person to the chat - **Discussed** how the Spokescouncil can make decisions together. - Proposed mechanisms: - [Yes, Block, Stand aside model](https://www.seedsforchange.org.uk/downloads/quickconsensus.pdf) - “consensus when possible, consent when not” (BAM) - [Fist to Five](https://www.lucidmeetings.com/glossary/fist-five) - Consensus minus 2 - Acknowledged that the Spokescoucil itself can decide how it operates. (But it's useful to bring a scaffold as a starting point) - **Next steps: bring proposals about decisionmaking to the next Meeting** - **Discussed** what the 1st Spokescouncil meeting might look like. Some possibilities include: - Introduce a cleaning/space maintenance proposal - Inform groups about how Woodbine works today - Explain Spokes - Disseminate information about maintenance tasks (like when to take out trash) - *Next steps: bring proposals about 1st Spokescouncil agenda to next meeting* - **Summarized** prerequisites for 1st Spokescouncil meeting, including: - Deciding who, when, why and how for the 1st meeting - attendees, scheduling, goals, logistics/agenda - Inviting all relevant stakeholders to participate - *Next steps: bring various proposals (ennumerated in action items) to resolve these prerequisites* ## Action item check ins from last meeting (10 min) - Language accessibility infrastructure - [LP reportback](https://wiki.commons.nyc/spokes-i18n-01) - RTU has simultaneous translation resources we can borrow. - Link map of all working groups - link to the resource TODO - Fears and hopes mural and access, keep it general - The mural exists [here](https://app.mural.co/t/woodbinespokescouncilcouncil7401/m/woodbinespokescouncilcouncil7401/1730169934445/7e184fc95009530bc2797977628a55aa93ca7fa6) - You can request access from Frankie (Frank on Signal) individually ## What are our goals as a spokescouncil? doc to make sure we keep an eye on our goals? (20 min) - (ash) reproduce the space more consistently, effectively and horizontally (cleaning, fundraising) - (ash) increase individuals accountability to reproduce the space and grow involvement - (ash) create a healthy conflict culture - (ash) build capacity for resistance and develop strong community by making this a creative and experimental space to make decisions collectively - (ash) develop programming that increases our capacity to fight repression and support individuals who are the most vulnerable (pantry, solidarity fundraising) - (ash) offer space for people to organize resistance (digital security teach ins, banner making) - expand who feels welcome in the space (language support, engage with whiteness of the space, patriarchy in the space etc) - develop Woodbine's points of unity and values - would be nice for woodbine's position to be clearer + well-defined. when people participate, they should know what framework or scope the space is operating in - there was a points of unity experiment in Ops. but there are more people involved in a spokescouncil. there will be representation issues if we can't get key/highly active people in the room. - build assembly culture and autonomy in Ridgewood - we need to consider our relationship with our neighbors. we might not get them to like us, but we can do better at communicating with them - Alt approach: work from existing problems, brainstorm structures to address. - Unclear on appropriate use of space - Can people wait for pantry indoors? - Who decides what / clarity - Stop "shadow decisions", ideally. What happened at the Working Group Assembly? Why'd we propose Spokes to begin with? - Goal: show that we can do the thing, let the Spokes take on more responsibility as it demonstrates its capable - finance should probably be a spoke (or something?). the finances are really frustrating. took dinner 3 weeks to figure out how to get $100 from finance. this was wrapped up with reproducing the space as a topic. - we had to make a serious case about those $100 - people ask about how to put together an event, sent along the google form, "no one got back to them". who has access to that form? who checks it? - what if there was clearer process for how to request funding for each group? a form that requests details around funding, how it'll be used, who will get access to the things bought? people who decide aren't there very often, involves people who do work at woodbine having to regurgitate things that are more obvious to the working groups themselves. - what gives people decisionmaking power? how does that operate today? how could that operate in the future? - right now, Spokes don't have complete latitude. but latitude could change over time. if we can make a Spokescouncil functional, we can start making decisions. there's a lot we can probably do with the latitude we already have. - we could probably diagram what a good finance system would look like (in the abstract). getting into the specifics can be a decisionmaking trap (sometimes). but people closer to specific work areas can likely make useful concrete decisions. now, finance meetings happen monthly. they are open to anyone. i'd like to see clearer expense reporting. - if it's just us (the people in this room), people won't like that, it probably won't work well. we want to make sure we have good working group representation at the spokescouncil. + reach out to stakeholders - can we make the spokescouncil fun? we'll need to get people in the room. - potential goal: make the structure of the space legible. often: "i want to do something. how can i make that possible?" - [structurelessness can reproduce](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Tyranny_of_Structurelessness) latent oppressive structures outside of woodbine. making the space legible can combat that - programming vetting. do we do that collectively today? not really. but there could be a committee that comes out of this that decides what programming gets put on. - Process and communication transparency and privacy in general - does woodbine have a fiscal sponsor? - yes. - a fiscal sponsor (e.g. OpenCollective) can oversee whether expenses are aligned with expenses - there's an alternative to opencollective called [Raft](https://raft.foundation/) ### Who is the spokescouncil? (20 min) - What are the working groups we are inviting to be part spokes? - [spreadsheet of working groups](https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1iDlC4P64guqa1a_cZ7IjnngqzZLOWledbCKlF4eXzZA/edit?gid=365292739#gid=365292739) - Discuss differences in scope and involvement in reproducing the space: finance v yoga v basement v food fight as examples. - finance -> crossfunctional, critical for the space existing - yoga --> uses the space, people come and go. less extensive use of the space - basement --> tons of simultaneous projects, not super cohesive, one working group probably - food fight --> cook in the space, do distro outside of the space. - who's in? - basement has a different financial relationship than other working groups? - seems like the basement is its own decisionmaking body (? maybe?). for working groups like yoga, writing group, is there a preexisting decisionmaking model in those groups? - (fgj) stewards model - thought experiment - if we don't have specific people who are responsible for reproducing space - if you are a spoke, you're accountable as a group to be a steward in relation to the individuals you bring into the space - it's reasonable for everyone to have a hand in reproducing the space. we'd need a document or standard to help groups with less involvement understand what is expected, to address their potential frustration with being asked to do stuff for the space - basement is kind of incoherent. meets somewhat regularly, but struggles with other issues. seems like incoherence comes from the preexisting issues with woodbine. seems like pantry and kitchen are the most coherent groups. - i worry about "hey you're invited to Spokes" "now this is something you have to do". people might like to get a monthly concise thing that explains what decisions have been made. trying to make it as friendly and concise as possible. people can have a relationship to the space at the degree that they want it. - stewardship model should be the end goal. seems like the goal of woodbine. self governance can become really expansive, but starts with the space itself. yoga could get themselves together, basement can cohere. that can be what we aspire to. each group with the opportunity of a voice, and a hand in reproducing the space. - we don't want to make it feel like another chore. some folks just come through for the reading group. forcing people to do it seems like a bad idea. accessible and transparent. you don't have to come, but decisions will be made. encourage people to come. - who is not a spoke? who is not allowed? - random people who are curious? are they a spoke? - transparency may cover this. if we have transparent notes about meetings and stuff, if you're interested, refer to these resources, and that will get you involved - no one has to come, but they're using the space and not cleaning? what do we do? - we'd need some conflict resolution around this. if you can't put in extra labor, maybe we'll ask for a financial contribution - lockbox code as "key" for responsibility, use to establish relationship between access and acountability, may prompt subdivision - BAM states that they are modeled on Young Lords and Rainbow coalition organizing. this is aspirational more than functional, but prompted some thought. Young Lords made a distinction between "ongoing projects" and "taskforces". Something like a strike or a direct action would be a "taskforce". Versus ongoing reproduction tasks were "ongoing projects". - it'd be nice to dig in at greater length on "what is a spoke? and how to spokes map to projects" - yoga would be interested in what's going on here. we should loop them in here. - the spokescouncil can decide itself what Spokes are. we don't have to pre-decide it now. - there are MOUs (memorandum of understanding) circulating. ## What is the chat for? chat protcol and conflict culture (15 min) - what is the chat for? - who is in it? - what do we do when things get heated? Take it offline! - what sort of things do we discuss over chat v irl? - Big issue v small issue model - small decisions can happen in the chat, big ones shouldn't? - someone can flag something as a "big decision" to move the conversation to in person - Adopt an emoji reply for this? (~LP) - is it cool to add someone to the chat without asking the current attendees in the chat? - a lot of groups could benefit from a parallel chat structure where there's an "announce" chat and a general (noisier) chat - collective decisionmaking, we hadn't talked about how to decide who gets added to the chat. "working groups" get bogged down with people who lurk and don't show up to meetings. i wanted to avoid that. the person who joined didn't seem invested in Woodbine. - want the chat to be a safe space to make decisions without people derailing. it's not easy to do what we're doing -- there's a big task on our hands. - it makes sense to talk about who's in the chat. locations has 200 people in it but no one's saying anything. - the chat should include people that care about the future of Woodbine / are invested in Woodbine? - it'd be helpful to have people in the future talk to us who are experts organizing in other spaces #### Proposal: To add someone to the chat: 1. establish that they are involved with woodbine AND - they care about the future of woodbine AND - they are interested in a spokescouncil existing - OR indicate another clear reason why they make sense to be added to the chat 2. THEN indicate in the chat that you want to add the person 3. THEN wait to get a cosign/vet from another member of the chat (can be an emoji thumb up) 4. THEN add the person to the chat ### How do we make decisions together? consensus protocol and culture. This can be a work in progress but we need something to begin with (10 min) - Delegates introduce clear proposals - Yes, Block, Stand aside model ([resource](https://www.seedsforchange.org.uk/downloads/quickconsensus.pdf)) - Avoid total consensus model as a blocker to anything getting done - Direct and supportive conflict culture - "consensus when possible, consent when not" -- BAM uses this - (in one model) Spokes itself isn't a decisionmaking body. they're communicating with their groups. - a proposal is brought to the spokes - spokes bring to working group - each working group discusses a proposal, comes to a decision - spoke comes back to the group, indicates the stance of their group - what happens if there's not consensus across the spokes? - it depends. it can be a slow process. for the biggest decisions, this would likely be important. for smaller proposals, we maybe don't need to always go back to the spokes - is there a way to decide at the beginning whether consensus is needed for the proposal or not? - levels of influence within each working group? does every spoke get the same level of influence? finance? yoga? - mechanics of decisionmaking miss the part of defining who the group is. in a food coop, if you pay, you're a member. it's less clear with woodbine who's a stakeholder/who has a say. - if subgroups are making the decisions, this mitigates issues somewhat. a transient member of a subgroup has less influence - if we're presenting a proposal at the spokescouncil, then bringing them back to the spokes, that's good for slow decisions. we might need another approach for fast decisions. - maybe spokes can do both? immediate decision: spokescouncil makes a decision. slower decision, slow process where spokes go back to the subgroups. - there's more to it than the model. there's the culture of deliberation. proposals can be hard if they're not well-written. need a process for getting the proposal out there (e.g. posting it on a pegboard in advance of a meeting). - big vs. small decisions -- will we get there? at first, spokes will likely make small decisions. if we come up with a model that is ok with making small decisions, that's ok for now. would be good to get small wins happening quickly. small decisions are good. - agree, we're not close to making big decisions - having a starting point decision making model would be a good place to start #### Proposal: proposals are presented at the spokescouncil meeting. spokes bring the proposal to working groups, working groups discuss and decide, then spokes come to council, [fist to five](https://www.civiccanopy.org/fist-to-five/) on the proposal (based on their WG opinion). We do consensus minus 2 (if everyone but 2 spokes agrees, the proposal goes through) ## What can be a first project for us to tackle as spokes? cleaning project example (Ella) (10 min) - collective cleaning procedures (this has been a long Woodbine discussion, nothing comes of it) - cleaning proposal could open the door to other conversations (like who can be in the space and how?) - (fgj) 1st spokes meeting "gather" vs. "decide" -- can we ID a concrete and attainable outcome that can come from 1st meeting? - deciding things as as group is hard. can we instead engage spokes to go back go groups and gather information rather than come back with a decision? - can groups come back with a summary/decision of what their existing cleaning protocols are? - announce / inform what trash days are, ask if it's ok to take out trash? - 1st meeting = onboarding to spokes - bringing people from pantry inside? is that a first discussion topic? - potentially heavy for a first project - different groups have a different stake in it - can get political quickly - who will be at the spokescouncil meeting? - what if people try to derail / don't participate in good faith? - fishbowl -- spokes speak, but anyone can be present. if you don't trust your spoke, you can see the whole meeting go down - indicate visually who the spoke is - ops is a working group? - how do we communicate preemptively? - people will have questions about how woodbine runs today. can we help inform people who come to spokes? overview of decisionmaking, finance. - re: cleaning: accessible and set up cleaning supplies would be a huge win. but where'd i'd want to put that vaccuum is where the chairs are stored. - the point of the 1st spokes meeting should be to talk about how spokes should work, field questions and grievances from everybody - worried about people coming away from the first Spokes meeting being like "what was the point of that meeting?" - we could do "theory and practice" -- here's a summary, and here's the things we think we should decide first ### Ella’s Explainer overview (5 min) ### Plan for the spokescouncil council to meet with outside groups and have a research debrief meeting (this feels like a separate meeting than can happen alongside actual spokescouncil meetings or be part of a spokescouncil meeting) (5 min) ### When is our first real spokescouncil meeting going to happen? Do we feel ready? (5 min) - (fgj) Identify spokes' language access needs + plan to have them met - figure out who from the spokescouncilcouncil will be there - strategy for approaching working groups and bringing them in - people should come to it with an idea of what's going on - presenting everything at the meeting is TMI - way to decide who are Spokes / who gets a Spoke - have strategies for managing who'll be there and what they say - communicate with working groups beforehand? - facilitator? - proposals for what the first meeting will look like - an explainer of how things work and how we came to Spokes. history of woodbine + how it's worked - proposal: a Signal chat for the overarching spokes - cleaning project proposal # Spokescouncil Planning Meeting 10-28-2024 ## present - briar, she/her - theodora, she/her - violet, she/her - ella, anything - LP, he/him - andrew, he/him - paul, anything - frankie, they/them - ash, they/she ## spokecouncil def - spokecouncils are made up of representatives from each group - maybe 2 reps, one to speak the other to take notes - spokes are rotated in, either randomly or by voting - fishbowl: like spokecouncils, only everyone is present and sits behind their spoke - LP: should have documentation on how spokecouncils work and telemeeting hardware present to improve access - frankie: woodbine is monolingual and we should be mindful about the decision making process being bilingual - ella: childcare could also improve access - ash: what should the spokes be? - mycology - soccor - research group - screening - locations - finance - communications - andrew: we can nest the spokes inside eachother, such as rats in maintenance; people should understand that if they don't participate, they won't have a say - ella: spokes could help disorganized groups to become more organized, such as yoga - frankie: what are the consequences of defining the spokes poorly? - theodora: not enough groups showing up would be worse - ella: how large do we want a meeting to be? too large could get unmanagable - andrew: in the beginning we shouldn't assume the authority to deciding who can/can't be a spoke, though it would be reasonable to suggest merging with another spoke - Briar: consensus model? Unanimous consent can be difficult in larger council ## history/why are we doing this right now? - LP: notes show there have been other times where people seemed to want organizational change. To create structures that are less closed, and more defined by roles than by people. - ash: more participation at woodbine, seems like right time to start pushing for it. when there are only a couple of people responsible for decision making, they become a bottleneck and things get messed up. - LP: was depressed because he was seeing conflict and harm happening to people and concerns about this were getting ignored - ella: feel like maybe many people in ops feel weird about their own participation ## spain and other models - ella: visited a couple of squats in spain over the summer. one was a squatted nunary. they have a seperate committee that handles most the day-to-day decision making, and then twice a year they have a large assembly to make decisions together. another hold biweekly assemblies to coordinate multiple squatted bank-owned buildings. they run eviction defense and a pantry. offer transition services and child support. each collective has their own room. - LP: different decision making processes: full consensus, u-1, u-2. heavy proposal basis, proposals were crafted beforehand with multiple flavors to - Briar: involved in [omni commons](https://omnicommons.org/) and rhyzome collective - Omni: Makerspace, Food not Bombs, video collective, others + ballroom space - Discrete organizations with discrete spaces, less based on activities as woodbine is. - Spokes consisted of group reps + fixed members such as locations, finance, permanent reps to address issue of racial reprsentation. - Fully consensus, spokes rotated frequently Reach out to Noisebridge/Mitch Altman - ash: wants to know how mayday are run ## general discussion - LP: people may not have the capacity to participate in their projects as well as the spokescouncil - frankie: sometimes the space isn't in great shape, people will need to step up ## action items - write out fears and hopes - reach out to people in other spokecouncils - identify list of other groups in nyc - link map of all working groups - put together a timeline - have another meeting first - language access infrastructure - proposals we need: - how are decisions made - what is a spoke - an initial proposal to try to make together - collaborative space for fears/hopes - date poll (ash) # Spokescouncil Planning Meeting 09-29-2024 Brief Intros (name, pronouns, working group) (Attendance redacted as this is a publicly viewable doc without discussed norms around privacy) ### Why are we here today? - Working group assembly: what is this? Why are we having one? - Working group assembly is to get everyone in a working group together to give updates, meet irl, discuss ideas together - Introduce agenda outline and roles ### Operations update/Woodbine overall updates: - Keeping space clean - Intro Locations chat and committee - Now: locations consists of ppl who are often at the space. Share alerts for issues at space (flooding, electricity…) and updates on addressing them - Next steps: - Designating actual roles for maintaining the space - potentially with someone designated to track who is doing each role and whether tasks are completed - Coordinating trash bags, paper towels, toilet paper etc. between Food Fight (access to Restaurant Depot) and Food Pantry (can be reimbursed through the city) - Collect receipts and expenses for necessary items - average how much our expenses are every month - Rat update – “we’re on the winning side” of the Vermin War - Electrics update - Electrical repairs are completed, but we now need to map out which circuits map to which breakers. - Emphasize the importance, we each have a share in keeping the space clean and well functioning as much as we have a share in enjoying what the space provides for our organizing and community. Who does the dishes in the rev? We do. ### Finance - Lease - Funding sources - Deficit - We operate at a deficit: Spring 2024 Finances - Monthly Deficit: -$1107 - Emphasize this deficit when/where we can - call on people in different working groups to support - many people who come thru Woodbine are surely unaware of the deficit, or of the other monetary realties of Woodbine - Donation jar exists, doesn’t seem to be used much - Big sign: (fundraiser thermometer) that details the deficit, the monthly expenses, how to contribute (monetarily or in other methods) ### Fundraising: events, co-working We also all have a share in helping keep the space open by creatively finding ways to raise funds, spread the word to friends and family to donate, etc. Enlist new fundraising committee for fall subscriber campaign and related events Bake Sale - coming up soon. Very successful fund-raising effort every year. Could we sell merch or table there? Holiday Market - Dec. 15 at Banatul Folklore Club. Opportunity to raise money for the space, and to create connections with other orgs and individuals in the neighborhood. CSA Tabling - at least 200 ppl come thru every week (or every other week in Winter) to pick up CSA. Natalie estimates 20% are WB regulars, vast majority are not. Great opportunity to table about particular projects from 10 to noon with population of Ridgewood that is not generally involved with Woodbine Social activity / creative discussion idea: What brings us to woodbine specifically? We could be doing what we do in other spaces. Why do we do them at woodbine? What does woodbine offer that other spaces don't have? What is special about working on projects at woodbine? Experimenting with autonomy, non-capitalist organization in a capitalist environment Making use of non-Capitalist resources - gym, yoga, kitchen,... Transcending insularity of Woodbine’s origins A ‘filter’ for acquaintances – meeting strangers who share enough of an affinity to potentially become closer friends/comrades in arms Introduce the Spokescouncil model structure, function, delegates etc. Spoke represents interests of the group, agenda is shared in advance, spoke/delegate relays information usually (doesn't make decisions for the group unless already given that green light by the group), talk about specific issues that affect working groups, discuss solutions, attempt to gain consensus although perfect consensus may not be achieved, can experiment with consent/stand aside/block method. Multiple meetings like this may need to happen for a big issue to come to an acceptable decision fishbowl format v spokes only model Fishbowl format definition: everyone is invited to attend meetings, but only the working group representative(s) speak in the meetings Reasons voiced in favor of fishbowl format: makes process transparent, enables wider participation tho without pressure for everyone to participate, limiting speaking to representatives adds guardrails to meeting time and need for organization, open meetings allow successive representatives to be trained up for the role Reasons voiced against fishbowl: having an open meeting where only certain people are allowed to speak could be “weird” Town hall v spokescouncil v working group assembly “fast-cheap-good: pick 2” in regards to meeting size large assemblies for generating and sharing ideas, but small groups of involved committed energetic people more efficient for addresssing needs How could a spokescouncil work at woodbine? Could be a way for working groups to voice their concerns more effectively to one another, share resources, get help, build stronger inter-group relationships, foster a deeper connection as a community What would count as a spoke? only groups that organize within themselves (like gym)? uses of the space that are consumed or not ‘organized’ in the same way (like yoga, meditation, screenings)? Everything that goes on in the space? Only the most committed users of the space? What are some examples of spokes councils you have been part of? What was good about it? What difficulties did it bring? What is the function of a spokescouncil at woodbine? What do people think a spokescouncil can do for woodbine? What are the concerns people have about being part of a spokescouncil? Are they confused by the model? What questions do they have? What would it take from each of us as individuals to have a healthy, functioning spokescouncil? General vibe check: most people at this meeting are in favor of moving ahead with a spokes council - others are uncertain. What next? Convene small group to plan and organize spokes council Action items: Spokescounil planning chat - Ash is bottomlining, people volunteered to join and will add more folks who couldn't be at the assembly 4 Physical welcome board + calendar - ella, LP already on this, added more folks to the planning chat Calendar of events Deficit / thermometer How the space functions/what we are about/what we do How to get involved and pitch into the reproduction of the physical space Many languages Make kids craft a monthly event - need someone to consistently bottomline for this to happen, Lindsay was interested but didn’t say they would bottomline translations of physical flyers into spanish, polish, arabic, etc. and handing them out Way to get more long standing neighborhood community in the space Woodbine pamphlet - Violet wanted to bottomline this How the space functions/what we are about/what we do How to get involved and pitch into the reproduction of the physical space Many languages Electrical mapping project part 2: - Violet, need more electrical minded folks to help Fundraiser committee - Matt, need more folks to join this chat Working group fundraising - LP made this suggestion, need folks to brainstorm how this could work Can insert fundraising into more working group projects , internalize how they upkeep the space Recurring space supplies order/pickup process: - Maria is already working on this, finance meeting happened to discuss further Grant writers - Alex will share with the writers group to find people Space care task list document and “task tzar” (remind people to do their space cleaning /care tasks) - ella can be tzar but can’t be doing the chores always, Theodora can make the spreadsheet, can consult Aven for how they do it at the gym Programming to bring in more people who are long standing locals and don’t find easily accessible - we all should be thinking about this Kids crafts Local market event similar to what Trans pecos did to bring in folks who are street vendors and other locals, and do other things in the immediate area. Need people who speak spanish to facilitate Collab on an event with the Coptic Church Asylum seeker programming: Quiet hang out hours for asylum seeker guys during days when nothing is happening at the space or use those times to have craft days or movies in french etc. Generally inviting asylum seeker guys to movies, backgammon, dinners etc. if that feels right for them and they can decide if they want to be there or not Free store part 2? Deficit blurb to add to emails, working group chats, instagram - aven is writing one for the gym, can maybe use broadly CSA tabling - opportunity for working groups to fundraise for their expenses, woodbine overhead, and other fundraising - Natalie and Ash are discussing Working Group zines - caterina’s suggestion, we need more people working on this 9/29/24 Agenda for Working Group Assembly, 1-3 pm - 2 hrs Roles: Note taker Timer Stack taker Agenda Wrangler snacks Silly warm up game (toss ball around the room or other ideas) (5 min) Brief Intros (name, pronouns, working group) (5 min) Why are we here today? (5 min) Working group assembly: what is this? Why are we having one? Working group assembly is to get everyone in a working group together to give updates, meet irl, discuss ideas together Introduce agenda outline and roles Operations update/Woodbine overall updates: (20 min) Keeping space clean (10 min) Intro Locations chat and committee Needs: compost, garbage Rat update Electrics update Emphasize the importance, we each have a share in keeping the space clean and well functioning as much as we have a share in enjoying what the space provides for our organizing and community. Who does the dishes in the rev? We do. Ask for people to imagine future projects (i.e electrical mapping) and report them back to someone in locations (ask locations people to raise hands) > this is something we can devote more group brainstorm time to in an actual spokescouncil meeting Finance (5 min) Lease Founding sources Deficit - We operate at a deficit:Spring 2024 Finances - Monthly Deficit: -$1107 Fundraising: events, co-working (5 min) We also all have a share in helping keep the space open by creatively finding ways to raise funds, spread the word to friends and family to donate, etc. Enlist new fundraising committee for fall subscriber campaign and related events Social activity / creative discussion idea: (10 min) Breakout into small groups: What brings us to woodbine specifically? We could be doing what we do in other spaces. Why do we do them at woodbine? What does woodbine offer that other spaces don't have? What is special about working on projects at woodbine? Report back (5 min) Brief working group updates (2 min each- one person per working group - 30 min total) Working groups: csa, pantry, ff, garden, dinners, research group, screenings, reading group, basement, mushrooms, kids tutoring, gym, library, film, calendar/blurbs, more? Brief Updates Do you need help with a project? How can people plug in to what you are doing? Short break (5 min) Introduce the Spokescouncil model: (1 hour, 15 min) structure, function, delegates etc. (5 min) Spoke represents interests of the group, agenda is shared in advance, spoke/delegate relays information usually (doesn't make decisions for the group unless already given that green light by the group), talk about specific issues that affect working groups, discuss solutions, attempt to gain consensus although perfect consensus may not be achieved, can experiment with consent/stand aside/block method. Multiple meetings like this may need to happen for a big issue to come to an acceptable decision real life examples? fishbowl format v spokes only model Town hall v spokescouncil v working group assembly How could a spokescouncil work at woodbine? Could be a way for working groups to voice their concerns more effectively to one another, share resources, get help, build stronger inter-group relationships, foster a deeper connection as a community Talk about the spokescouncil model in breakout groups of about 5-8 people or so. (20 min) Someone takes notes on the responses. Prepare flyers or big sheet of paper to list these questions. Give groups a big paper and markers to write on. What are some examples of spokes councils you have been part of? What was good about it? What difficulties did it bring? What is the function of a spokescouncil at woodbine? What do people think a spokescouncil can do for woodbine? What are the concerns people have about being part of a spokescouncil? Are they confused by the model? What questions do they have? What would it take from each of us as individuals to have a healthy, functioning spokescouncil? Groups Reportback (30 min, divide time depending on group size but could be like 6 groups, 5 min each) Do people report back by group? Or does someone write the groups thoughts, crumpled up in the middle of the room and someone reads them out loud? Freely Discuss the spokescouncil as a big group - take stack (20 min) Report back: Someone reads back the notes from breakout groups or each breakout group reports back. Big group open discussion What do we do with this spokescouncil discussion? Come back with a proposal? Ask people to prepare for the first one? Empty buffer time (10 min) Invite people to ginnys for a post meeting drink?