[Local-chapters] Fwd: Starting Over

[Serge Wroclawski]

On Tue, Jan 26, 2010 at 3:12 AM, John Smith

> I don't know why people are demanding so many phone calls, if points
> were discussed here we wouldn't need minutes either

John,

I see tremendous value in phone conferences if they're kept focused.

In our experience in the US Chapter Working Group, there's been very
little mailing list participation on the us-talk list, where the phone
calls have been relatively well attended (between 5-8 attendees
regularly).

Secondly, it puts a face to the name. It would be ideal if everyone
could meet face to face, but that's not feasible. Phone conferences,
on the other hand, have a relatively low barrier of entry. On the
lists it can become easy to forget that the other people you're
working with are people like yourself.

Thirdly, I think more gets done in a shorter amount of time. On a 30
minute call, the US working group is able to review progress and
outline goals clearly.

Where I agree with you is that phone conferences can sometimes lead to
Groupthink, and so before any official action is taken, things should
generally be vetted by large groups of people. We've done that with
our mission statement and we're doing that now with our articles of
incorporation. Even if overall participation is low, it's important to
allow people to evaluate the work being done and provide new
viewpoints.

- Serge