CONTENTS:
1. comments by Tanja Eskola
2. comments by Justin Hyatt
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1. comments submitted by Tanja Eskola)
Dear all and especially Joel,
I would like to hear some background information and arguments about the agenda item (proposed by Joel C.) below.
''INTERNATIONAL COORDINATION CENTER
1) Improve the workings of the ICC (submitted by Joel Crawford)
Established a committee to consider reforming existing ICC to function better or awarding ICC function to another organisation).''
1. Is there a valid reason to consider awarding the functions of the ICC elsewhere? If yes, I would be interested in knowing what that is.
2. What does Improving the workings of the ICC mean? Is it just general development (which is of course desirable) or is the ICC not working well as it is? If not, please specify why, how and how to improve things from your point of view.
part II
''WCN MEMBER ORGANISATIONS
1) Membership fees
(submitted by Markus Heller, AB)''
I warmly welcome the idea of an obligatory membership fee, however I've heard that the AGM has already made a decision on that last year. What is the status of that?
According to the statutes there is also a minimum level of involvement required from the member orgs (for example distributing to the magazine and submitting content to it which all comes down to cost efficiency of the mag!), but are we following how much are member orgs doing if anything at all?
(Since there's gonna be a discussion about the future of CarBusters, I believe we should also evaluate how to make the whole mag process more efficient in terms our ICC staff time/ management and other resources. One option is to increase member orgs participation in both making the mag and distributing it.)
part III
I would also like to open up a discussion about ADVISORY BOARDs (AB) and STEERING COMMITTEEs (SC) member's roles and involvement in the network as a whole and in particular in the ICC's management, actions, internal affairs and decision making processes.
According to my knowledge and experience AB, SC and some individual members of those groups and beyond have been involved in various activities in relation to ICC upon request and without. However the Network's statutes clearly define both the roles and the level of involvement of these establishments and their members.
I don't know, is there a need to revise the statutes or remind the members about their roles? In any case, I believe some clarification is in order especially now when there are going to be changes in the ICC staff (and probably also in the AB and SC) so that we all know where we stand.
Thanks,
Tanja Eskola
(upcoming Fund Development Manager, ICC)
PS. I would also like encourage representatives of member organizations, SC and ICC members and active individuals to contribute to the agenda (comment and to propose items on if that's still possible). At the moment it looks like nearly all the proposals have been submitted by two AB members.
2. Comments by Justin:
1) Membership fees
(submitted by Markus Heller)
I agree that a structure is needed to make it much more effective to bring in member fees. I think the solution could be somewhere between 'expected' and 'obligatory':
As an example, there is an alternative theatre in Budapest that for a while was just collecting donations, they didn't require an entry ticket. But then they devised a system where everyone needs a ticket. but you could choose between
1) full price (1000 forint)
2) half price (500 forint)
3) no price (0 forint)
Thus it is still possible if you really can't afford it, but I am sure their income increased well with this system.
In the same way, each organisation should be required to to send (can also fax) a signed membership statement every year, in which they also specify which level they can pay. They will also need to indicate their activity they choose to be involved in.
(for the more carefully spelled out proposal, please see the proposals section)
The working group should also discuss price setup, including prices to be paid in different regions, and by different types of organisation, municipality, business, individual.