Ideas: Board of Supervisors meetings

Hi Starchild (+activists list for thoughts from everyone)

Last year, we spend a good deal of time talking about getting more activism through the Board of Supervisors meetings. Now, half a year or so later, we haven't really made any headway on this. I'd like to revise our approach to this.

As of right now, we only have weekly recurring meetups to remind people that this is something we would like to see. However, I'm worried this is doing more harm than good. I would like to remove this meetup event and pursue some other approaches instead. The reason I say it could be harmful is that it clogs our calendar and makes it difficult for people to see things that would have a more broad appeal (like the Mises event yesterday, tabling at Pride, our panel discussion, etc). Most importantly, people in our group will get notifications about every one of these events (maybe multiple notifications) and it could lead to people ignoring these reminders or leaving our meetup group altogether (though I don't have evidence of this). It is certainly distracting to me, since I pay close attention to these but am unable to attend on Tuesday afternoons. Furthermore, I haven't seen a single event from this series with another RSVP. I am worried that if all our events show "1 person attended" this makes it look like we are much smaller than we are. I suggest removing it from the LPSF meetup group and GGLR as well, since it is ineffective.

Instead, I'd like to try some other approaches to highlight this. For starters, let's lead by example. If we want people to come and get their voices heard, we had ought to show them how exactly to do that. Speaking for myself, I've never been to a meeting and don't really know what to expect-- I can imagine it is intimidating for anyone. How about we pick one date in particular and try to show up en masse? The scheduling is still difficult, unfortunately, and I don't think it will be easy to get many people to come.

Second, let's start highlighting what is happening at the BoS meetings to make it clear why it helps to be there. I could imagine a regular report on the website of what the BoS is up to-- this would be useful to share at our meetings as well. I can work on this some, but would like someone dedicated to helping with it if we agree it's a good idea.

Finally, if we do think this is a valuable task, let's make a hard objective out of it and commit to attending X meetings a month. Speaking as an engineer, setting these kinds of goals is the only way to really ensure anything gets done. If we can't commit to this, then either it is not as high a priority as we thought or we need to come up with a strategy to reach that goal.

Looking forward to hearing your thoughts.

Thanks,
Nick

I think the board of supervisors Meetup should be removed entirely. I consider it spam. I agree with Nick that it buries our actual meetups and hurts our attendance.
We should not have a Meetup for BoS unless a very important topic is discussed and our presence is needed to argue for or against something.
Rebecca

Nick,

Your concerns about this have occurred to me as well, and it's possible you're right that the current approach is not a net positive\.

let's start highlighting what is happening at the BoS meetings to make it clear why it helps to be there.

Actually I have already been doing this, though not consistently\. If you read the descriptions of the Meetup series, you'll see that it includes commentary I've written about the Board's agenda items – however I often haven't gotten around to writing a new commentary every week for that week's meeting\.

if we do think this is a valuable task, let's make a hard objective out of it and commit to attending X meetings a month... If we can't commit to this, then either it is not as high a priority as we thought or we need to come up with a strategy to reach that goal.

Committing to attending a certain number of meetings a month sounds good, but I'm not convinced it will happen\. I don't think that means it's not a valuable activity, only that we don't have enough people motivated enough to make it happen – or to put it another way, we collectively have more money than time\. I previously suggested using some resources from our treasury to incentivize participation\. 

What do folks think about incentivizing attendance X times per month, and making those the Meetups?

Love & Liberty,
((( starchild )))

To be honest, I haven't looked at the meetup descriptions, I didn't
think to look here. I know that I can't go, so reading the description
didn't seem like a good use of my time. And, being as this pops up every
week, I have come to filter it out.
I don't like the idea of paying someone to attend and speak on our
behalf. That sends the wrong message, I think. I'll think about it some
more, but it just doesn't feel like the right approach.

Rebecca,

  Maybe the Meetups should be made less frequent, or we should somehow revise our approach, but I don't consider them spam.

  One way to look at the Board meetings is as a free media/outreach opportunity every week. If we got an invitation to come in and be interviewed, or speak at an event, would we turn it down? Probably not – but it's quite possible that speaking during public comment at a Board meeting reaches more people, both in the Board chamber audience, and on SFGovTV, than many of the interviews and outreach events we do. And at the Board meetings, multiple people can speak, and there's opportunity to speak about whatever you want, and bring props. Plus it helps us be informed about the issues and what they're doing.

  Sometimes it's hard to know when a very important topic is coming up unless you're already paying attention, and having a weekly reminder is one way to help people pay attention.

Love & Liberty,
                                ((( starchild )))

I agree with Nick:
Repeatedly posting an activity that gets minimal attendees makes the LPSF look smaller and less effective than I think we are. We have given this plenty of time to make an impact (this has been a pet project of Starchild's since well before Nick became Chair) and it doesn't seem to attract people
I wouldn't call it spam but it is clutter and it is distracting.
If we know of something specific that is important to us (either to oppose or support) then perhaps a core group of Libertarians should commit to go to that particular meeting, announce it and report back on what happened.
I personally will never be able to make it because Tuesday afternoon is the day I am committed to volunteer at Maitri Hospice and I suspect most people are at work…
It is great that Starchild has the time, energy and interest to go to these… I think it is important to encourage and support people in their activism in whatever form it takes. Every little bit helps. Thank you Starchild:)
Francoise Fielding, Esq, 820 Stanyan St. #5, San Francisco, CA 94117, 415-386-8643

I also don't like the idea of incentivizing people financially to go to the meetings.
Francoise Fielding, Esq, 820 Stanyan St. #5, San Francisco, CA 94117, 415-386-8643

Hi All. Sorry for weighing in late. I agree with removing the weekly
postings until there's something interesting that comes along that could
prompt several of us to attend. I too skip looking at the weekly postings
because I'm at work when the meetings go on. I only attended one BOS
meeting over the years (the one when the BOS approved the NDAA resolution
at least 5 years ago), and I found it totally worthwhile and even
eye-opening, but for those who also attended will recall, it was the entire
afternoon (and well into the early evening) until they finally got around
to the NDAA resolution. This is out of the question for folks working
regular day jobs. I suggest saving the posting for something really
special for which folks could make it a point to perhaps miss work one
day. No paying for liberty activism out of LPSF coffers--this is supposed
to be a labor of love!

Thanks!
Aubrey