Proposal #38: Devil's Meetup.
I propose that in 2007 IJB/CISV Devils website hosts a Devils-Go-Real! Conference. The conference should be hosted before AIM and must follow the spirit of the website: Inclusive(in practice, not theory), free-thinking, cheap, creative, challenging, clever and with an alternative camp-schedule*. Web-conference technical material should be available for those that can’t go, but is still interested in somehow participating.
Rationale
CISV Devils website is already a great success. Many useful creative and innovative ideas appeared and several questions have been raised here for the first time. It is (as always) time to move forward. How many ideas could have been created if we had a (long) weekend just to exercise our devilish minds, work on past projects, be creative and give emphasis to some free-intellectual work within the organisation?
This would be really motivating for many people and would, for sure, collaborate to create a mass of people able to criticise and improve this organisation through outside-the-box thinking. This would also give the opportunity for people to get together and work on proposals that can’t just come true through solely internet-work/cooperation. Anyone would be willing to go?
Respectfully submitted, Marcos (BRA)
*alternative camp- schedule means we don’t wake up too early.
6 Comments:
I'm sorry I posted this proposal too late for it to become real at this year's AIM, but I guess it could also happen next year.
Getting more to the point of this proposal, I really think every AIM should be a Devil's Meetup - in fact partly it already is. Most people who went to AIM 2005 in Israel really liked the fact that within the process of Strategic Planing for CISV (creating a five-year plan) a lot more time than usual was spent on creative thinking.
At the AIM 2006 in Sweden I presented a new model for AIM (The square AIM model) that tried to re-arrange the content of AIM to avoid redundancy and create more space for free thinking. Meanwhile I think we should go even further - remove everything from AIM that smells like administration as much as possible. I also really think we should move to a bi-annual AIM that lasts for longer and combines both the (necessary) administration part of today and a strategic, creative, out-of-the box part, like Marcos suggests.
Great idea.
In my opinion, meetings are more productive if they are face-to-face. At AIM there are many intelligent brains focused on CISV stuff, willing to put in practice new ideas. Having discussions on those topics that have been brought up in this website can lead to new projects and revolutionary proposals.
Too bad I'm not gonna be at AIM this year to see this happen!
Hi,
I'll be at AIM, but will only arrive on the first day of pre AIM.
I agree with Nick that the SP process in Irael was fantastic! And it should be repeated for the next Strategic Planning as well. I'm probably quite alone in defending the admin part of an AIM. It is the place where committees have to justify before the NAs (in form of the Trustees) what they've done and what they're planning. I think this is good and necessary. So in this sense the BoT is a controlling body and not a creative body - that's what the committees are supposed to do. In that sense I would rather propose to have the pre-AIM longer, give the people that really work more time and resources and keep the proper AIM as short as possible.
I'm also a big friend of the Square AIM idea and CISV-Germany will be pushing hard to try it out if we should be approved by the Board to host the AIM 2010.
But coming back to my earlyer thoughts: I think that thinking, development of great ideas and so on is absolutely fundamental. However, if we do nothing but thinking and then not dedicate the necessary time, energy and resources into implementing what we thought about it might just end up in some kind of report or minutes that noone will ever read again. So in this sense I would encourage any free thinking devils meeting and I would love to participate in them. We just have to make sure that the revolutions actually happen.
I think this specifically would best fall before AIM so that anything that came up that generates enough support to transmit into reality could be put into reality by the committees in their plans and thus approved by the board, or implemented as a motion or point of discussion (an actual rule of procedure possibility that I would love to see used more often)during AIM.
I think the idea is a good one and, like many devils ideas, something that takes place casually anyway. I challenge those who will be at AIM this year (sadly, I will miss it) to keep the rest of us in the loop on the devils style discussions that are going on. You may have them over a beer, but then why not post them here so everyone can comment?
I agree very much with Basti when he says "we have to make the revolutions happen". In fact, this is one of the reasons behind the proposal: when people are actually together creating they can go beyond intellectual amusement and do something to make it happen.
In fact, this is one of the main things I feel we should work on the Devils concept - how to create channels to make the ideas come true.
My initial suggestion was to not necessarily have it during AIM. The reasons are many:
- AIM is ridiculously expensive, and it makes it harder for people to go (like the ones who commented here)
- It already happens at AIM naturally
- If someone has an idea at AIM, probably it would be implemented from the oother AIM - what's a long time.
So, my initial idea would be to have it somewhere easy-to-go (Germany?) and not during AIM. I know Karo from germany was interested in doing the hosting work..
Would anyone go? I would.
right, youre all invited...ill be there :)
- karo
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