dawnh1
Junior Member
Posts: 69
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Post by dawnh1 on Jun 11, 2012 22:49:13 GMT -5
Election results will be announced shortly.
Agenda will be sent to all delegates within the next few days.
Thank you for your patience.
-julio
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Post by craigwood on Jun 12, 2012 2:23:11 GMT -5
Thank every one for all the hard work. A few more days to start delegates trip commitments is better than another week. It might be a good idea to let the delegates log in to announce that they are coming or not. It might be an even better to let more of the candidates be delegates to make up for the loss of some delegates.
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Post by maureenmower on Jun 12, 2012 16:39:03 GMT -5
I posted a similar question on the FB page, but it's relevant here as well. Since we now know that all delegate candidates will be invited to attend the Congress with full voting rights, and we also know that the response rate for those planning to attend in Philly has been rather low, I was wondering: I recall there being talk of a way for delegates who could not afford to come to Philly to participate in the Congress, including voting, via some sort of online linkage. My questions are: 1 - Has this option been established, and/or can it be established in the time we have left?
2 - If this option is or can be established, can it handle a large number of delegates (say up to at least 500).
3 - If the answers to both previous questions is "yes", then can we send out a new email to all delegates (including losing candidates, since they are being invited) noting the following 3 points:- a) Due to low voter participation, all candidates are now delegates, regardless of whether they won the vote or not, and therefore all are invited to the Congress with full voting rights.
- b) If you cannot physically attend the Congress in Philly for economic or other reasons, we have established an alternative method for you to participate fully - including voting - online.
- c) Please reply to this email indicating if you still want to participate, and if so, whether you want to attend the Congress in Philly or need to attend via the online process.
- d) A new forum has been established for the delegates to communicate with each other on everything from lodging and ride share arrangements to narrowing down the list of grievances, and we would like your input on those discussions whether you plan to attend the Congress (in person or online) or not. Here is the link to the forum: www.99declaration.proboards.com
This is just an example, of course, but I think we would get a far better response if delegates know that they can participate without having to travel to Philly, as I think in the current economic climate, that kind of trip may simply be financially impossible for delegates who also have to pay rent, feed their kids, keep the lights on, and have bus fare to get to work. Just a suggestion, and it depends in large part on whether we have that online alternative or not. But even if we don't have it now, if the number of people planning to come to Philly is low enough, we might be able to cancel the convention hall and use the refund (minus any cancellation fee) from that to pay for an online system instead - which would then be used by ALL the delegates. Does anyone think this is a good idea? I know I was looking forward to being there in person, but that is not as important as getting this done with the largest number of delegates we can get, so that it carries the weight of a large cross-section of the population. I think that would be better in terms of going forward with the Declaration than if that Declaration is only signed by the 20-30 people who could afford to make the trip.
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dawnh1
Junior Member
Posts: 69
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Post by dawnh1 on Jun 12, 2012 18:49:24 GMT -5
We planned on having live streaming but can't do it because there isn't enough money. I don't remember the cost but it seems like it was a couple of thousand dollars.
We have had the PCC paid for for months and the contract does not allow for a refund if the event is canceled.
I suggested to the steering committee that we allow delegates that can't be there to have a proxie. Not the best alternative but all I could think of. How do you all feel about proxies?
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Post by maureenmower on Jun 12, 2012 19:43:27 GMT -5
Well, the first problem I see with proxies is that if only 20 or 30 of us actually attend in Philly, it could end up that each of us is holding the proxy votes of 30 other delegates. How exactly are we to go about casting those votes? We won't have the ability to communicate with those delegates during the Congress (even if we could just call them individually, that could take hours for each item to be voted on - and we'd be unable to participate in debate if we're on the phone).
It would be disenfranchising hundreds of delegates by forcing their vote to be whatever the holder of their proxy decided to vote for.
Plus, how ridiculous will it look if we booked a convention center expecting over 800 people to be there, and less than 80 actually show up. Nothing we do will be taken seriously because all anyone will remember is the picture (and you can be sure there will be one) of our tiny group in a huge, mostly empty room.
How much did we pay the PCC in the first place, and why were they paid in full so far ahead of the convention when no one had any idea if we would need a space that big? They should only have gotten a deposit until the first day of the event.
At this point though, even if they kept half the money as a cancellation fee, I don't see how they have the right to keep all of it - not when they still have a couple of weeks to open it up for use by other groups. And getting even half back would be sufficient to pay for some sort of internet meeting...
Someone suggested "Go To Meeting" as an alternative. There's also Skype and other kinds of video conferencing, etc.
Also, if we aren't going to use the keypads, we can get that $2300 back, which, when added to what was reported to be in the bank now, gives us about $2800 to work with - and the call has already gone out for more donations.
So we might still have the money to do something online even without a refund from PCC.
We could do a combination of both if necessary. If we can't get a refund, then those of us who are able to get there can go at least for the 3rd & 4th (which means only one hotel night, so it saves some money that way) and can be the physical signatories on the ratified Declaration - with all other online participants signing it electronically.
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mhuttman
Full Member
People First
Posts: 124
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Post by mhuttman on Jun 13, 2012 9:11:54 GMT -5
Is there any WiFi at all in the convention center? Do you know if there will be ample 4G phone signal inside the building?
I'm not experienced with LiveStream, but I think we can get a stream going with just a cell phone that has good signal. I've seen cell phone cameras used to record a lot of OWS events over the last few months.
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Post by Matt Forbes on Jun 13, 2012 9:18:29 GMT -5
A few cellphones with the ability to be used as hotspots could serve the purpose, though any bandwidth limitations/speed control could limit or prevent extended video feed.
The other issue would be as to whether the conference center would allow it. Some companies prefer that attendees use only their tech and not any outside source. We would have to determine where the conference center stands on us using our own third party devices.
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dawnh1
Junior Member
Posts: 69
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Post by dawnh1 on Jun 13, 2012 13:01:03 GMT -5
The PCC offers wifi but you have to pay for it. I don't know how they are about bringing in technology.
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Post by maureenmower on Jun 13, 2012 13:24:23 GMT -5
We will need more information about how their wi-fi works. Is it something that each individual pays for or something we have to buy as a group?
If it's something that the individual pays for (we have a company called Frontier Wireless in parts of NEPA that lets you buy wifi access by the day, week, or month. It's about $5/day for it, and once you buy it, you can use it anywhere they have a signal.), then perhaps a few of us can do that (I would anyway, just so I can use my laptop at the conference) and set up the access point for those who can't attend in person that way too.
The only other question with trying to set it up on our own is - how many power outlets are available and will they be available at our seats or only at the front of the room and along the walls?
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