Social.Coop Organizing Circle Proposal

https://www.loomio.com/p/OI8kEjVz/social-coop-organizing-circle-proposal

a couple of things from today’s OC meeting.

• an OC understanding of responsibility for budgeting for SC. We looked at the original proposal that created the OC, and it does include budgeting! Most discussion in the OC meetings to date were among scoping and what are we about and how do we make decisions. So, the OC members (in attendance) today are now conceiving of a calendar in which the first annual budget will get wrapped, closed out and, likely in October, we will start putting together a second annual budget. We includes FWG and OC. … Toward that end, OC members are interested in having a joint meeting with FWG.

• New OC members. There is an upcoming proposal in the next OC meeting to have 2 reps from each working group join the OC. I have been asked to invite a second person from the FWG to join OC meetings, starting 2 weeks from today (8-9:30 am NYC time.). … The OC meetings have been regularly attended by 4 OC members. I feel like a tattle-tale: Eduardo M has missed many meetings, with apology. Eduardo/Flancian, whom I also adore, misses many meetings, without notice. John has missed most meetings, also without notice, and has announced his departure. So, from the FWG: I suggest that Andres might join the OC. I can sing his praises.

Thanks for the update, @Caitlin Waddick, @[email protected] ! I think it would be totally fine for the OC to take on budgeting. My understanding from several exchanges with Matt Noyes is that we in FWG would take the lead on modeling the budgeting process this year and that OC might take it on in future years, since it is a space with more widespread input. In any case, FWG would be responsible for tracking the implementation of the budget.

I think it would be fine if OC folks wanted to join our next meeting. Would that work?

@Andrew Escobar (Andres) · social.coop Finance Working Group Would you join a meeting of the Organizing Circle? We are moving to Wednesday mornings, every two weeks, at 8 am NYC-time. The next meeting is June 5th.

I will join the call and participate audio-only. I will try to manage making lunches, getting kids to school (we walk) and listening attentively!

@Andrew Escobar (Andres) · social.coop Finance Working Group Would you be willing to attend the next OC meeting on Wednesday, June 19th, 8-9:30 am NYC time? ... Also, I would like you to join the OC threads for Loomio.

And, within the OC, there is confusion and indecision about OC membership at this time, and it will be discussed at the meeting on June 19th. One of the at-large members could not attend meetings at all and announced his departure. At the April 23rd meeting, my to-do item was to invite a second rep from the Finance Team to join the OC, which I did here. However, today there was new discussion. My take: OC members who are trained in sociocracy favor the duplication of having 2 people from each working group on the OC as official members. OC members following the proposal as it was passed by the SC membership say, we should replace the outgoing at-large member with someone else from the sortition process this year. [During the call for at-large membership through sortition, I think we were both thinking to rep for Finance Working Group].

So, at today's meeting for OC, the issue of OC membership was left undecided. As for having 2 members from each team, most teams don't have people with the extra energy and time, then we wonder if the OC gets too big with 3 at-large members and 2 members from each working group. It seems there is willingness to let working groups decide to send 1 or 2 people for membership to the OC now. There was a proposal today for 2 members, and we didn't vote on it because there were too many thoughts. There was not consensus, but also there was not conflict or emotional contention. It is such a great group of people.

FYI: I sent you the OC meeting link via private mention/post on Social.Coop... there must be a way to send a private message on Loomio, but I didn't figure it out in this moment. ... I need to figure out how to add you to OC on Loomio, which I think I can do.

@Andrew Escobar (Andres) · social.coop Finance Working Group Might you join us tomorrow, July 17th, 8 am eastern time? (1200 UTC) ?

@Caitlin Waddick, CaitlinWaddickSocial.Coop I have added it to calendar and set an alarm.

From the last Organizing Circle meeting (3 July 2024): the Organizing Circle will meet with each of the working groups. The idea is for the Finance Working Group to meet with the Organizing Circle sometime at the end of summer. The OC meets on alternating Wednesdays, 1200 UTC (8 am eastern/NYC time zone) for 90 minutes. Would you all look at your Wednesdays, August 14 and 28th and September 11th...? Would at least 2 of us commit to being at an OC meeting one of those days? AND: the FWG would meet before it to determine what messages or asks or ideas we have for the OC, which we should do anyway.