[IMC-US] all-volunteer survey questions draft

[Aaron Couch]

hello nick,

i think that, in general, it is good that you are asking these
questions.  the volunteer/paid status of individuals in this network
is intimately tied to the mission, history, and goals of indymedia.

at the IndyConference, particularly at the "Geography Hurdle"
workshop, it became clear how difficult it is to answer these
fundamental questions, as well as communicate, define ourselves, and
strategically plan as a network.  much of this is because the network
has grown so large (over 200 in 50+ countries) and many of the
channels of communication have broken down. many IMCs don't have
global liaisons and many IMCs don't have up-to-date contact info on
their websites. how does a network reach consensus if it can't
communicate?

in some ways this is a good thing.  decentralized decision making and
lack of central control are important tenets of this movement.  but if
Indymedia is going to be able to communicate with the outside world,
if it is going to be a model for media and for grassroots organizing,
it should be able to answer many fundamental questions about itself
(ie, how does the network feel about paid staff?).

one of the actions to come out of the "Geography Hurdle" workshop was
the need to create a space which would legitimize this kind of inquiry
and provide a forum for discussions of Indymedia itself.  we are
currently in the beginning stages of what should become
http://reflection.indymedia.org, a repository for academic research,
articles on IMC, thoughts on the movement and independent media, and
forums for the kind of discussion that people can't find room for on
listserves.  here is a mock-up http://www.robertcouch.net/IMC/ (it is
totally flat, just a .jpg).

i support your desire to know how the network feels about such a
fundamental question as volunteer/paid.  but i think we need to
support and create the infrastructure to make answers to these
questions possible.  i think yr survey seems divisive b/c it is
one-sided (the questions are oriented toward support for an
all-volunteer network) and doesn't address many other important
questions about the network.  please note that the questionnaire from
the conference http://docs.indymedia.org/view/Local/ImcATXConferenceQuestionAire2
has yet to be answered by many IMCs (including Philly, i know i suck,
i meant to bring this up at a meeting on saturday, we are meeting next
on the 30th, i am working on it...) and also asks "What is your IMC's
position on NGO incorporation?"

i think waiting for the results from that survey to come back, or
helping make sure that that survey is being distributed to all IMCs
including the global south, or setting up a regular system of surveys,
will get us more answers and paint a greater picture of how members of
this movement really feel.

i would also like to laud bht's recent words.  i am excited about this
reflection.indymedia.org project because i hope it will help provide a
space to think and talk. i believe that if we are able to articulate
our approaches to organizing, we will have the language to trust and
support our differences and become a stronger collective.  one of the
beautiful things about Indymedia is that it is so organic and takes on
the form of wherever it goes.  differences in culture in different
cities, parts of the country, and parts of the world are going to
create different approaches to organizing.  i believe that we should
investigate, articulate, ask questions about,  and celebrate these
differences.  and it is true that volunteer/paid is part of that.

i would like to know what people think about the
reflection.indymedia.org idea and would love it if anyone not in the
workshop would like to help with the site.

-A



On Sat, 12 Mar 2005 15:44:26 -0500, Joshua Breitbart
<breitbart at indymedia.org> wrote:
> I think this will do more harm than good.
> 
> Can you define volunteer?
> 
> Josh
> 
> 
> At 11:02 PM -0600 3/8/05, nick wrote:
> >for IMCs in our hemisphere - any feedback before I translate and send it?
> >Peace,
> >Nick
> >-----------------------------------------------
> >For each of these, do you and / or your local imc agree or disagree?
> >
> >1) Our imc is currently all volunteer.
> >
> >2) Our imc intends to remain all volunteer in the future.
> >
> >3) The Principles of Unity should have included a statement against
> >the payment of money to imc members for doing imc work.
> >
> >4) The question of having paid members is best left to each imc to
> >decide, instead of imposing authoritarian rules now, after some imcs
> >have already created paid positions.
> >
> >5) It would be a good step if some imcs publicly announce themselves
> >as all-volunteer.
> >
> >6) This is not such an important question and not worth spending much
> >time or effort on.
> >_______________________________________________
> >IMC-US mailing list
> >IMC-US at lists.ucimc.org
> >http://lists.chambana.net/cgi-bin/listinfo/imc-us
> 
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