The aim of the process is not only to prepare the logistics of the meeting, but to shape its content and form. The aim is to arrive at the May 2006 meetings to discuss projects which will have been pre-discussed over the previous months by email, discussion forums, wikis, VoIP, or any other electronic media. This ensures that the physical meetings will be places for decision-making, and not simply a meeting-place for perfect strangers loosely connected to various projects.
Each stage will depend on the active participation of volunteers interested in giving a hand in the meeting-building process. The program of events will be the natural outcome of the work that will have been done in the previous months. This project is a year-long effort which will culminate in a well-documented process, and not a one-off two-day costly jamboree with no past or future.
Participant Selection
Stage 1 : Consultation process with local and (ex-)project coordinations
— Duration : 5 months
— Period : May-October
— Aim : Identify the organizers interested in participating in the May meeting
— Process : Broad web-based and email-based information campaign, and local (physical) meetings to determine who is most interested in participating. This campaign is spearheaded by existing organizers. Existing organizers must take special care in including new potential participants early in the process, so as to have a healthy mix between ‘old’, ‘recent’ and ‘new/future’ organizers.
Stage 2 : Registration and selection process
— Duration : 3 months
— Period : November-January
— Aim : Identify the organizers who will actually go to the May meeting
— Process : In November, there is an initial assestment of the total number of people interested in participating in the meeting in May. If the number of participants exceeds the means available for the meeting, a self-imposed selection process will be proposed to all the participants. Geographical location, prior experience, expertise, financial means and other criteria will be examined by a dedicated workgroup of organizers. This workgroup will propose a protocol based on these criteria to facilitate a self-regulated selection mechanism enabling local groups to choose the participants they believe must be the first to go to the meeting. The protocol may include items such as : geographical quotas, means-based quotas, etc. The workgroup will make available the relevant data on which the protocol is based for all to see and discuss.
Stage 3 : Travel and housing is organized, sharing of information on participants
— Duration : 4 months
— Period : February-May
— Aim : Organize the meeting logistics, and build a comprehensive ‘phonebook’ with the participants prior to the meeting
— Process : The group of meeting organizers in charge of logistics will issue in February, at the latest, a clear protocol on proposed travel and housing arrangements. These arrangements may include items such as : prepaid tickets, reimbursements, dates, visas, solidarity housing, etc. The organization of travel and housing will go hand in hand with the participant’s enrollment in a virtual ‘addressbook’ allowing all the participants to share their contact details with the other participants prior to the meeting. This sharing of information ensures that all participants have prior knowledge of the identity and projects of the other participants.
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