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Miscellaneous Words of Wisdom

The meeting isn't really the time for social stuff, hanging out with your friends. It's about business. The friend stuff is at least as important, so give it it's due. You may want to have social hour before the meeting or repair to a nearby pub afterwards to hang out and talk.

Committees are a good way to get work done and save meeting time. If something can be done in committee, don't use up the time of the whole body on it. The committees have to report back to the larger group, but you don't need twenty people to decide where to get a good price on paper clips and who should pick them up.

Something an old wobbly taught us (along with most of the rest of this) is to always conduct your meeting as if there were a hundred people there, to be ready when the time comes when there are a hundred people there. Sound advice. For instance, it's a good idea to get people to stand up to speak. Helps us all hear, and it gives us all a little experience speaking to a group. Makes it a lot easier when you have to stand up in front of a large group to speak at a rally or something.

Also consider the layout of your meeting space.  While many of us have grown accustomed to meeting in a circle--which can indeed foster egalitarian dynamics--if you actually do approach 100 attendees, a circular arrangement will generally be unruly.  At that point, you will probably be better off adopting a more traditional "floor" and "chair" arrangement, with the rank & file seated at tables facing the front of the meeting room, with the recording secretary, meeting chair, and time keeper (if used) seated there.  This might seem to be an anathema to egalitarian democracy, but nested circles--while seemingly more conducive to maintaining the egalitarian spirit of a single, small circle--will be no less "unequal", because they will not solve the problem of attendees not being able to face all other attendees.  Large, single circles of over 25 people or so will not fit into most interior meeting spaces, or--if held outdoors instead--tend to require each speaker to shout in order to be heard by all, and shouting can often be misinterpreted as hostility.

Good meeting procedure is something we can all learn. It's not that hard, and not that boring or unpleasant. In fact, when compared to bad meeting procedure it's downright fun and exciting. A lot of groups start to fall apart or cease to be democratic when they get past a dozen people, because they don't make the jump from the little group of friends that functions in a loose family style to the larger-group ways of working. Many of us have little or no experience with a functional and healthy large democratic group, but such things do exist. The relearning and development of the forms and ways of doing this large-group democratic collective work is in and of it's self a pretty subversive action in the present social context.

Like it says in one old wobbly cartoon:
Organize now! Organize right!

HERE'S THE AGENDA FORM WE USE:

  • Call to order
  • Choose recording secretary
  • Conduct Card Check
  • Read and approve minutes
  • Agenda review and approval
  • Reports
    • Shop Reports
    • Industrial Organizing Committee Reports
    • Reports of all other Committees (Standing and Special)
    • Delegate Reports
    • Officer Reports
  • Unfinished Business
  • New Business
  • Nominations, Installments, and Elections
  • Good and Welfare, Brief announcements & communications
  • Next chair & Meeting critique

It is traditional--though by no means required--to sing Solidarity Forever or some other well known IWW anthem at the conclusion of each meeting.