> On 2021-06-24 11:05, Roger Clarke wrote: >> Has anyone seen any examples of effective use of electronic fora in >> membership-based organisations? >> >> Background >> >> A national, membership-based body is changing its form of incorporation, >> and is preparing its new constitution. >> >> Three rounds of consultation are to be undertaken with members.
On 27/6/21 11:50 pm, David wrote: > What does its' current constition have to say about the _process_ of > constitional change? Quite a bit. And it will of course be respected (this time around). There's currently no *requirement* for consultation as such. But there *is* a requirement that the document, and arguments for and against, be exposed for 3 months *before* the General Meeting is called to consider it; and 75% approval is required. > Are there deep factions? Are the ordinary members generally in favour of the > proposed changes? If not, then no amount of technology will solve the > problem. Factions is too strong a word, but there are bound to be a few areas of difference of viewpoints. One area that may stimulate lively discussion, for example, is the extent to which old-style, values-driven, 'guild-like' professional societies are passe and that in the 21st century they should be a commercial operation. That links with the issue of 'why not merge the notions of professional association and industry association'. Another is whether a Society is a member-driven body, or members are merely customers and the organisation is a grand ship of state to be sailed by company directors. The document will not be a set of changes, but a freshly-written constitution. At this stage there is no draft. That will follow the two preliminary rounds that establish principles, and discuss constitutional features. > How many members are we talking about? What, roughly, is their age and what > level of technical infrastructure would you expect them to have? Is the > consitional change likely to be a major or complicated one, and how will > responses be evaluated? Can all this be done electronically within the > existing constition? What are the security requirements (e.g. to prevent > multiple responses)? 5,000 professional members plus a further 5,000 non-professional but voting members. (Yes, that aspect is odd). It's a comprehensive composition of a new constitution. (But it will of course be checked back against the existing one, to make sure that good features are functionally replicated, and that transition is as painless as practicable). The input and feedback will be stimulated by, and evaluated by, a Working Group, and accountability addressed in some appropriate manner, e.g. through transparency of the input and feedback, of such summaries as are prepared, and to the extent practicable of ideas' adoptions, adaptations and non-adoptions. It's the nature of the thing that balances, compromises and hard decisions will be part of the process. > IMHO putting any of this on Google Docs or other social-media platform is > just a gift to the relevant corporation, and may have unintended legal > consequences if some members don't want to donate their views to Alphabet et > al. My personal views are the same, and I'll be arguing against Google Docs as the vehicle. From my very superficial reviews over the weekend of a dozen services, the ones I think need deeper evaluation are (in alpha order) bangtheteable (terrible name), Discourse and groups.io. As Karl said, nothing leaps out and demands to be used. However, I'm only one member of the Working Group, and discussions are only at an early stage. COVID isn't helping. We didn't manage to get the important, face-to-face launch meeting arranged before the current closedowns. After even one meatspace meet-up, video-conferencing will be a lot more effective than when we're trying to gauge one another's approaches without prior, personal familiarity. -- Roger Clarke mailto:[email protected] T: +61 2 6288 6916 http://www.xamax.com.au http://www.rogerclarke.com Xamax Consultancy Pty Ltd 78 Sidaway St, Chapman ACT 2611 AUSTRALIA Visiting Professor in the Faculty of Law University of N.S.W. Visiting Professor in Computer Science Australian National University _______________________________________________ Link mailing list [email protected] https://mailman.anu.edu.au/mailman/listinfo/link
