== Agenda September 9 Meeting == * Place: Brecht Forum ([http://brechtforum.org/events/n-directions.php directions]) * Date: Sunday, September 9 * Time: 10:00 am (bagels, coffee), 10:30 am (meeting starts), to 5:30 pm (meeting ends) === Goals === * Redefine the relationship between May First/People Link and the group formerly known as mf-staff * Develop the role of May First/People Link in the broader ecosystem of progressive politics and the Internet and plan how to perform that role over the coming year * Plan how to open and expand the leadership of the organization in a way that challenges and works through forms of oppression, particularly sexism, racism, and classism. * Project realistically a timeline for financial solvency * Continue developing the idea of what membership means, how a membership organization is different than a regular ISP, and what roles we want our members to play in the organization === Agenda === Item 0: Describe: * Ecosystem in which May First/People Link operates * Because there seems to be a main constituent group that MF/PL is conspiring to serve and connect (namely, progressive organizations), the first order of thinking would be to understand the needs of small progressive organizations, and understand their constraints, needs and values. * Once we have a clear picture of that, we want to imagine these organizations being connected and served in a powerful way, and what that would look like. * MEMBERSHHIP: Then we want to look at how MF/PL manifests it services currently, and how that measures up with the above thinking. We want to ask ourselves: * Does a membership model fit well with the needs, constraints and values listed above? * Why is the membership model important? * What has membership traditionally meant to MF/PL and how might it be re-ordered to satisfy the needs of all stakeholders better? * STRATEGY: what is the path forward for accomplishing this? * LEADERSHIP * Given the above, what form of leadership would best serve the above 'Ecosystem'? * What does leadership look like currently at MF/PL? * How do these two forms of leadership compare with one another. What is the ideal? * STRATEGY: how can we move this organization from where it is now with respect to leadership, to where it should ideally be? Item 1: Lunch, financial review Item 2: Develop: * Our role in the ecosystem * Plan for developing the leadership to play that role * Roles of people in the room in this effort