back to 3rd Network Meeting (Sheffield)

3rd UK Network Meeting/ Sheffield/ October 18 and 19, 2003

These are the preparations for the Sheffield Network Meeting up to October 16th. Minutes will appear at UkNetworkMeetings3Minutes^?

Logistics

Venues

The venues have now been confirmed: 1 | 2.

All 4 main spaces are on Paternoster Row and Brown Street (appears as if both are one street) - Multimap - this is very close to the train and bus station.

• Sheffield Independent Film Studio - a large space for everybody to get together.
• The Drum - Saturday and Sunday, two spaces, up to 50-40 (max) people, loads of networked Windows machines.
• Access Space - Saturday and perhaps Sunday, Bill to confirm, one space, up to 10-20 (max) people, lots of networked Linux machines.
• The Rutland - Saturday noon onwards, one space, upstairs room, no level access, 20-30 (max) people, no network access (wirless might be possible?).
• St Mary's - accomodation and food venue

This meeting clashes (on the same street) with the last days of the 10th Sheffield International Documentary Festival, the programmes are here: Fri 17 Oct | Sat 18 Oct | Sun 19 Oct

Directions

There is now a map of Sheffield (also at bottom of page) as either a lo res JPEG (147kb) or hi res PDF (1.67mb)showing locations of all the IMC buildings.

Multimap

Streetmap

It has been suggested that a SheffNwkMtgHandout^? with maps and essential info on it should be created.

There is a map of Sheffield with all Indymedia buildings marked on it here:

JPEG 147kb
http://docs.indymedia.org/twiki/pub/Local/UkNetworkMeetings/sheffield.jpg

PDF 1.67mb
http://docs.indymedia.org/twiki/pub/Local/UkNetworkMeetings/sheffield.pdf

If you have problems downloading either try right clicking and choosing save target as or similar to save to disk.

Timetable

This is the start of a timetable of stuff...

Friday

Meet in The Rutland, have a beer.

Saturday

	Sheff Ind Film	The Drum	Access Space	The Rutland	St Marys
10.00-11.30	All get together, introductions, rough presentation of history of UK IMC, Mir etc followed by a discussion on this timetable!
11.30-12.00	Break
12.00-13.30	Plenary - the big issues: open publishing models / moderation; editorial guidelines; regional autonomy; ...
13.30-14.30	lunch - and informal groups
14.30-16.00	intro to mir / forming discussion groups / start discussion / discussions groups	mir-moderation for beginners		UK New IMC process workshop
16.00-16.30	Break
16.30-18.00	workgroups (radio, video, tech), putting up feedback posters from discussion groups	List admins workshop		mir-moderation workshop
18.00-19.00	round-up, plan next day...
19.00-20.00					Food
8pm-late	Film screeing of We interupt this empire and party!

Sunday

	Sheff Ind Film	The Drum	St Marys
10am-11.00am			Breakfast
11.00-12.00	continue workshops and discussion groups?	Tech Collective, dev server and all the other stuff we need to do...!
12.00-13.30	2nd plenary?
13.30-14.30	Lunch
14.30-16.00	discussion groups/workshops
16.00-16.30	come together, sum up future activities/continuation, clean place?
16.30	We will be knackered by now and should go home or perhaps to the pub or have a meal...(curry?)

"units" to fill the timetable/proposal

I've gone through the agenda draft and re-grouped the issues in working groups, discussion groups, skillsharing and things-that-need-to-be-in-a-plenary. In irc-discussions with mainly sheffield people, we thought it would be best to reduce the plenaries to a minimum. Instead we could use the meeting to develop our collective intelligence in lots of small groups, which is probably more fun than a nonstop plenary. feedback please? Some things from the agenda draft are missing here, that's because nobody has expressed an interest to run this or that workshop, or to prepare a discussion, or because the issue has never come up in lists. Fill in if you think I've missed something. Best to try and see if there is already a group where your missing issue fits.

I. Working groups

These are made up of people across the Uk who share an interest in certain issues and want to (net)work during the meeting. The working groups could run parallel.

radio

video

newsreal, collaborative editing. see redmonds and mickfuzzs mails.

tech

old site-stallman-unresolved issues/ design of the UK pages/ calendar: protest.net/ discussion forum/ split nw in opinion-rant-announcements/ how to organise topics?/)

II. Discussion groups

The idea is to discuss the issues from the agenda draft in small groups, who then report back to a plenary session. Best with constructive proposals. There is the option that discussion groups present their discussion and results on big poster up the wall - so that people can browse them in the breaks. Also discussion groups can use the twiki during their discussions - this would both document our meeting for future reference and set a basis for ongoing creative work. I might have included groups that nobody wants to participate in. feedback would be good.

II.1. open publishing models:

presentation of present model and other options? hiding before or after publishing? Implementations for workload and collaboration? hiding policies - specification of guidelines needed? See debate on features, september) for resources see UkModerationDiscussion, check links here

II.2. regional autonomy:

what is the situation now, problems conflicts and collaboration? identifying problems with shared database/newswire. possible tech and political solutions (vince - uk newswire as topic rather than getting every posting by default). implementations for workload and collaboration. different guidlines for regional groups needed? How to integrate different sets of guidelines. discussing our understanding of autonomy - shared database (imc uk) vs separate database (imc-bristol). political implications of database-decisions. See the wiki at UkNetworkAutonomyDebate, also UkModerationDiscussion.

II.3. imc-uk editorial:

Discussing a concept for the profiles of imc-uk startpage and imc-uk topics.

• imc-uk startpage: all regional feats automatically on startpage or startpage feats as collations of several regional feats/nw issues? Length and amount of links, mails: regional/uk features. How to use the startpage special?
• imc-uk issue-topics: Decisions where? how to use them, how to maintain them?
• Decisions about imc-uk editorial issues - where? features list? nw meeting could back up or question features list. pro and cons. 24 hours rule.

II.4. new-imc process:

see imc-uk-network twiki: informal or formal? develop helpful documents to send out to new groups. "snapshot?" of working practices. Discuss options: France and Italy imcs are also decentralised.
imc italy model: Before getting a local mailing list and page, a group needs to have been working for some time on the national lists, posting material on the newswire and proposing media making in their territories; a trust relationship has to be felt by people on national list and meeting toward the work of these people. And before having a local subpage public and a indymedia.it subdomain assigned one has to feel to be able to guarantee a constant update of the central column.

II.5. consensus and communication:

update each other about the channels of communications we use. Consensus develops on all channels, decisions on resp. lists, if necessary on network meeting. distinguish network and process list? make sure irc chats and twikis are posted on lists (for those with slow connections). discuss decision-making process.

II.6. global imc network

Imc-Europe meeting, global shared collaboration tools like dispatch and translation. The need for an Imc Europe meeting was identified, a working proposal suggests summer 2004 in Vis, Croatia. There are some ideas to prepare this meeting on several occasions previous to next summer. Also a strong statement from imc austria to focus this meeting on imc - not attach it to x other interesting events.

II.7. if necessary

WSIS, G8 2005, fundraising, collaboration with other media groups... much of this might be discussed informally...

III. report-backs to all/plenaries

If we are only having 2 plenary sessions, we should use the first one on Sat morning for meeting logistics, maybe a "commitment to discussion style", an introduction round with report backs from local collectives and individuals expectations, agreeing on goals. Also some small report-backs should be included, to identify wether a discussion group is needed. The result of the first plenary could be a very clear agenda that makes everybody happy The second plenary could be a "setting-directions-for-the-future" plenary, based on reportbacks from the discussion groups. A decision could be: let's work on a "hiding before publishing" op-model on irc and the tech list, with input from imc-uk-network list.

• knowledge sharing before the discussion groups: introduction on present state of Mir and possible improvements to clarify doubts and misunderstandings. Not a discussion session. (what does it mean to have a shared database. Implications for editorial policies and regional autonomy. possible tech solutions. logins)

• 1st plenary: quick report on finance - discussion group needed? present application process = email to process. ok?

• 1st plenary: check if we are all happy with uk mission statement - ok to leave until next network meeting and/or set up a working group?

• 1st plenary: how about uk editorial guidelines - feedback from discussion group? leave for now, develop new consensus? ok for now?

• 2nd plenary: internal communications and consensus - feedback from discussion group.

• 2nd plenary: feedback from all other discussion groups

• 2nd plenary: nitty gritty workload sharing - liaisons with global lists, cleaning nw, admin lists.

Knowledge- and skillsharing

• basic introduction for new people - how does imc uk work, workshop on mir moderation.

• who wants to offer other workshops?

Agenda draft

Here's a first brainstorm for an agenda - please add and change...

An introduction round of local imcs has been proposed. it was suggested to agree on basic groundrules for discussions.

I. Policies in imc uk:

I.1. Self-Presentation of the United Collectives

• check if we're all happy with the static webdocuments (mission statement etc). If necessary discuss and find consensus how to deal with them. Please bring enough paper handouts with any documents to be discussed. [Catch up / working group for proposals?]

• check the updated version (31 Sept) of the "working practices" document (integrate all decisions and debates made on the meeting). This document can be used as a first reference document for new imc-groups - and anyone who wants to know more. [working group to keep notes...]

• new uk imc policy: sort new-imc process in the uk, maybe proposal before? (how to get a regional uk page, what needs to be done before, informal or formal process? comittments and collaboration), also participation in global projects [Catch up / working group?]

I.2. Editorial Policy

This section seems to be the most discussed on various lists. See also ImcUkTechSheffield for a discussion on related tech issues.

• Use of Technology - how do we feel about the mir moderation? Feedback from users and admins on website functions. What works, what doesn't, how about filters and superuser policies, which new technical features are desirable, which ones are possible? [catch up, working group for proposals?]

• Discussing a concept for the profiles of startpage, topic and regional pages (all regional feats on startpage? startpage feats as collations of several regional feats/nw issues? Length? amount of links?) Mails: regional/uk features How to use the startpage special? [discussion]

• Process - How do we deal with startpage mid column features? (open editorial group? Discussions and consensus-building/decisions on feats list/somewhere else? no editorial group?) Mails: 24 hours/decisions [discussion, come up with proposal?]

• Open Publishing - how do we feel about moderation b4 or after? How do we handle requests to edit/delete article/postings after they have been published? see discussion on features list/Yarl Wood. http://lists.indymedia.org/pipermail/imc-uk-features/2003-August/004342.html Also adding information about these issues to the publish form/editorial guidelines? [discussion]

• Regional autonomy vs IMC UK... many questions have been raised by emails... how autonomous should the regional collectives be? Who should do the editorial work on the regional posts? Technical options? etc. etc. See the wiki that has been set up about this at UkNetworkAutonomyDebate [discussion]

I.3. Finance

• Breakdown of the network bank account with triodos since nov 2001. Is the network bank account needed or desired? if so, who is a signatory; should such a role be rotated? How do we apply to the network for money, how do we decide? [decision]

II. Communication and Collaboration

II.1. internal - imc uk

• communication channels / how do we feel about irc, lists, f2f, wiki, which do we use for what? Clarify network list vs process list - kill one? [catch up]

• recap who's doing what / list admin, liaisons, etc (could be done b4 meeting) [sort it]

• Process - moderation process - rota for nw cleaning? [sort it]

II.2. external - global imc network and other groups

• Future collaborations with other (media)groups (socialsoftware, satellites, generator x...) [short, informal?]

• contributing to global imc, liaising with lists, features for newswire, features for frontpage but also synergy in working together

• global imc translation and dispatch system [catch up]

III.3. Future Projects to collaborate?

• Local plans [catch up]
• WSIS [catch up]
• G8 2005 somewhere in Britain [preparing IMC structures]
• Imc Europe meeting: The need was identified, a working proposal suggests summer 2004 in Vis, Croatia. There are some ideas to prepare this meeting on several occasions previous to next summer. Also a strong statement from imc austria to focus this meeting on imc - not attach it to x other interesting events. maybe could be a workgroup.

IV. talk about the system. new, old and utopia

• old site: stallman, unresolved issues [proposals from some tech group?]

• design of the UK pages...

• calendar: protest.net maybe new form of calendar needed; and maybe indys own discussion forum? [working group]

• different types of articles: announcements, opinions, rants, etc..

• how to organise topics?

• logins? procedure?

V. Workshops:

• proposed:

• • training about the mir site and messing about. Feedback from users and admins, website functions, techy stuff from very easy to easy to advanced (what exactly do we need training on? templates? CSS? )

• • introductory moderation training (hiding, promoting)

• needed/wished for:

• • Using CVS to alter regional pages look and style - and setting up CVS on windows ( SB thinks that as kosmos allows only cvs access via ssh version 2 it can not be done on windows, but I am happy to help people set up GNU/Linux on their pc )

• • audio/ edit and streaming; radio meeting (tk about contacts, networks...)

• • video/ edit and streaming, subtitling, (contacts, networks)

[ i can do one about encoding Video - if someone lends me a pc - mickfuzz ]

• • fundraising

• • European News Real, maybe Global News Real

Fun-things

• film shows, e.g ENR or self-made films?

• party?

Things to bring along:

• grassroot films to exchange

• audio reports and interviews to exchange

• open source free software to exchange

• stickers, leaflets, info about grassroot struggle and campaigns in your area and whatever

• laptop if you have

• other tools such like mini-disc recorder, video camera, digital camera, and so on to train people on and maybe to do little project throughout the weekend

History of setting a date for the meeting

ImcUkSheffield has sent an invitation for a network meeting, however this has now been postponed.

The weekends of 20-21st or 27-28th of September 2003 have been suggested as an alternative, but on the weekend of the 19-20th Lancaster Indymedia are busy with the Aktivix - weekend Linux workshop for campaigners and perhaps a meeting the following weekend wouldn't be great timing?

The latest suggested meeting date is the second weekend in October - 11th and 12th, however this clashes with the launch of the Sheffield Social Forum, but perhaps we could run some hands-on Indymedia training on the Saturday as part of the Social Forum? Also it might be the case that the social forum is postponed and it has been suggested we keep an option on both the october weekends of the 11/12 and the 18/19 and make a decision between the two with sep 1 as deadline?

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Moved the stuff about the date from the top to a history sectuon at the bottom -- ChrisCroome - 04 Sep 2003
Added links to two more emails about dates -- ChrisCroome - 18 Aug 2003
Title changed to mid October... -- ChrisCroome - 14 Aug 2003
Added link to Social Forum Email -- ChrisCroome - 13 Aug 2003
Added link to IMC Europe meeting and Oct date -- ChrisCroome - 12 Aug 2003
agenda point banmk account and link to its twiki added -- AndiE - 07 Aug 2003
Links to UkModerationDiscussion added - WikiKes - 04 Aug 2003
-- IonNec - 20 May 2003
Practical Details section added -- ChrisCroome - 05 Jun 2003
Practical Details section deleted and link to postponement email added -- ChrisCroome - 10 Jun 2003
New September dates added -- ChrisCroome - 13 Jun 2003
Lancaster event added -- ChrisCroome - 24 Jun 2003
divided agenda into discussions, workshop, fun things and things to bring along -- AnarchoBabe - 17 Jul 2003
-- IonNec - 20 Jul 2003 added links etc
added some stuff -- AnarchoBabe - 01 Aug 2003
edited -- AnarchoBabe - 04 Aug 2003
added information -- AnarchoBabe - 19 Aug 2003
added some thoughts -- AnarchoBabe - 01 Sep 2003
pulled editorial policy under one header, added things in [] -- IonNec - 06 Sep 2003
moved mir training from "talking about system" to workshops and policies -- IonNec - 18 Sep 2003
added something about regional autonomy -- SocieteLibre - 18 Sep 2003
Update spaces list -- ChrisCroome - 23 Sep 2003
layout, numbers, added proposals for introround and discussion groundrules -- IonNec - 25 Sep 2003
added design and new articles types -- SocieteLibre - 25 Sep 2003
-- Added SIF venu - ChrisCroome - 28 Sep 2003
-- timetable/imc europe - -- IonNec - 29 Sep 2003
Added intro, updated working practices, added items to put in timetable -- IonNec - 01 Oct 2003
Added link to autonomy -- SocieteLibre - 01 Oct 2003
-- IonNec - 06 Oct 2003 added links to working groups. we don't need to start from scratch, lots of arguments articulated already.
-- ChrisCroome - 07 Oct 2003 -- Added link to hand out page.
-- ChipScooter - 08 Oct 2003 -- Added link to map page.
st
-- IonNec - 21 Oct 2003 - moved the preparations from UkNetworkMeetings to this page.

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-- IonNec - 21 Oct 2003
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