After some conversations on slack and online meetings, it has been suggested that a gathering in Europe is aspired by members (@lin_d_hop@NickWeir@matt ).
The suggestion is that we open up the conversation here on Discourse to see how shall we move forward with: logistics and agenda (w/ key topics of discussion and some time to get to know each other and leave the stress behind)
Logistics for such gathering:
when?
where?
how many people would like to join?
what facilities do we need?
Agenda (you will find a draft below):
Topics of discussion
day 1
Developing an European umbrella OFN
scenario 1 - joining another umbrella organization (eg.: Urgency and/or Ripess)
scenario 2 - we all become associated members of one EU instance, and start a working group within that instance targeting specifically joint initiatives with the other instances in the continent
scenario 3 - we set up a new organization from scratch OFN Europe.
other scenarios?
day 2
What will this future umbrella org. do, that we cannot do at this point? what is it for?
to access funding (more funding and faster)
to access needed training for all
to pool our resources together in initiatives that have a collective benefit (these can be tech related but others as well)
day 3
How can we strengthen the support to the Global network
volunteering
allocating staff time to global
allocating budget to global
other
time to get to know each other and leave stress behind day 1 - hiking (suggested by @jibees) day 2 - ? day 3 - ?
Please let us know what you think about this? how you think this should proceed? what are we missing? what should we change? and also tag others you believe could be interested?
Regarding the logistic side, previous gathering where often held in a place where team members were located or knew the area. It made it easier to manage the place where we would sleep.
In Europe, the team already met in London, Barcelona, Porto, Brussels and the French countryside. Note that since I’m 12, I’m dreaming of visiting Ireland #justsaying
I would like to suggest we first find someone willing to lead the organization of the location and we leave the program for a second stage, once the location and the duration are close to be secure. What do you think?
From there, it will be easier to see how many people are willing to join. Global as often help funding the place where we sleep, but never the travel cost until the place. So I guess a lot of people will confirm they come only when they know where they need to travel and for how long.
Regarding the location, we need:
a place where around 15-20 people can work and sleep (it can be two different places, but they need to be accessible by walk or public transport)
previous gathering held in the countryside were appreciated, but they can become a nightmare in logistics when cars have to be rented and used several times to do shuttles
the place where we work needs to have a good wifi
I can help on the organization but I’m afraid I do not have room to lead this, I’m sorry.
Upon our discussion with Philippa on the European gathering, I share my thoughts on this
To organize the gathering and actually make it happen, we need the following
a. minimum of list of confirmed participants, like the ones that say YES.
b. based on them, we decide a location equally far or close from everyone, to the extent possible.
c. the following necessary amenities / characteristics :
affordable (or even free, in a workaway thing) accommodation for ALL prospected participants
internet or access to cellular data
proximity to public means of transport (just for the check-in and out, not for daily commute)
I think we should conclude on the essential aspects of the logistics/location/etc., and the complimentary ones (the nice-to-have),
and be prepared that we won’t be able to satisfy all demands/prerequisites etc.
The main pre-requisites that we should focus, I think, should be :
budget-friendly
proximity of location
reasonable duration (quality time)
essential amenities (internet, place to sleep, place to cook)
The rest of suggestions (like footprint of transport) is nice to have but not crucial to make this happen. Otherwise, for a guy coming from Greece it would be impossible to get anywhere in Europe by train in a reasonable amount of time.
SUGGESTION :
workaway stay where we could work in a farm on shifts or part-time in exchange of free accommodation and food.
We could choose a place directly from workaway platform (if anyone has an active account) or go with referrals from anyone that knows such places/farms/etc. *
ACTION PLAN
Based on the above,
I suggest the following steps
publish a poll on Slack, asking people to confirm their attendance based on the principles of
reasonable duration
approachable location
budget-conscious gathering
get the confirmed attendants (YES is YES), and choose a location in equal distance (or cost of transport from everyone).
In that location/country/region, look for farmstays on the aforementioned workaway scheme.
announce location/dates, confirm again participants and start working on the agenda.
p.s. one last suggestion.
If it’s too expensive for the minority (like one or two people) of this gathering, to travel to the suggested/confirmed location of this gathering, perhaps the rest of us could chip in and split this extra expense, in order to make it affordable for everyone.
@Gaelle_Bigler, @matt , @NickWeir, @jibees, @konrad, @gen.shanahan. Could you please let us know what you think of the above discussion and maybe tag others that you believe are relevant to move forward the conversation.
I will certainly attend.
I don’t invite you to Switzerland, as the costs would be higher …
Therefore my input could be more on the content and facilitation of the meeting.
@matt if you cannot come it would be great to have someone from Sweeden of course. We need to build our connection as a group and for that it would be great to see each other, and if not possible everyone that has been on the chats at least one person from each country
@Gaelle_Bigler maybe then you and I could focus on content of the meeting then. That would already organize some of the work.
Hello and thank you @ferrazfil for tagging me! I will do everything I can to get to this gathering!
I guess hosting in Ireland might be tricky in terms of low-carbon access, but I’ve been hoping to visit Cloughjordan for some time now… Does anybody there know if Django’s hostel might be an option?
Hi all,
I definitely like the idea. I am careful with plans due to the pandemic but maybe we can make it happen. Someone else from Germany might be interested: @hhomann@julian_p?
Hi everyone, as shared on slack. I’d love to have the opportunity to host an OFN gathering again.
It’s 15kms north of Porto, Portugal. Free space to work and free accommodation for at least 10 people.
Accessible by car, it’s 3kms away from a metro station.
Just found an online app that could make it easier to visualize transport options for different locations. here and example from UK to Porto, Portugal.
@ferrazfil For sure! I will check my OFN SE and my networks for interest. In terms of pandemic I suggest for remote meetup to use wonder.me or https://gather.town which makes stuff more interesting. Regardless if physical or virtual I suggest having an independent workshop facilitator, preferably someone not engaged in the network. Students at https://www.changecourse.se/, https://kaospilot.dk/ and https://www.hyperisland.com/ might be possible volunteers. In terms of workshop content perhaps it would be good to make something like a RACI Matrix and figure out why and how a OFN EU umbrella would differ from OFN and what to provide more support for in comparison to global. A EU-focused remote based team is a potential outcome or as suggested, strengthening global team but with an additional focus on setting up common funding streams and making agreements for one common legal host to delete and avoid bureaucracy. I like the proposals above!
Following a comment from @lin_d_hop in Slack would there be any interest from delivery team in joining? (apologies if there is already someone above that is from delivery and I do not know)
I share jibees’s point of you. My participation would depend on the location and the date because I won’t have a lot of money and time to join in but I would be happy if I could virtually join this gathering
