Fwd: [OWBN-OOC] Council Week in Review

[Amy Begnoche]

I am forwarding this because Jessica explains a lot about Council, including the rights of chronicles and players.  I apologize if people are getting this twice because they are already on OWBN-OOC.  (If you want to join that list, you can do so at Googlegroups.)

So that everyone is aware, if you are interested in getting copies of all public votes and the decisions made for them, as well as discussion every now and again, we have a mailing list at maine-owbn-cou...@googlegroups.com.  If you're interested in joining this list, let me know or sign up in Googlegroups.  We welcome your input.  :)

Amy

-------- Original Message --------

Subject:	[OWBN-OOC] Council Week in Review
Date:	Sat, 23 Aug 2014 12:31:37 -0500
From:	Jessica Karels <jessica...@gmail.com>
Reply-To:	owbn...@googlegroups.com
To:	owbn...@googlegroups.com <owbn...@googlegroups.com>, OWBN ST List <owb...@owbn.net>

Good Morning LARP'ers,

I have several items I'd like to share this morning (or afternoon, depending on when you read this) when it comes to current events on the admin side of the org.

First, if you would like real-time info on proposals that are currently open and ones that recently closed, bookmark this page -> http://www.owbn.net/council  Bookmark it. Share it with your fellow players.

Here are the proposals that closed during the past week:

• Reduction, the first (Rarity changes for Changing Breeds R&U's) (http://www.owbn.net/votes/83185) - This proposal passed 48 votes For, 33 Votes Abstaining, and 7 votes against. With 88 votes total, we had a 69% Council voting rate
• Whether OWBN should investigate and potentially develop a plan to migrate to the new MET rules system (http://www.owbn.net/votes/83189) - This proposal had 50 votes for "yes" and a combined 55 votes for "No" (either simply "No" or "No + moratorium"). While we will not be officially discussing a *potential* migration to the BNS materials at this time, there is also no moratorium
• Ravnos Rarities and Combos (http://www.owbn.net/votes/83277) - This proposal received no objections and therefore autopassed
• Toreador Combo Disciplines (http://www.owbn.net/votes/83247) - This proposal received no objections and therefore autopassed
• Implementation of system to transparency of public Council discussions to our player & storyteller constituents (http://www.owbn.net/votes/83284) - This proposal was brought forth and then withdrawn during the discussion period.
  

Here are the proposals that are currently open:

• Change in Rarity for Melpominee (http://www.owbn.net/votes/83248) - This proposal closes at 12:01am Eastern on August 28th. As of the time that I'm writing it, 62 chronicles have cast a vote (48% participation based on 128 full member chronicles)
• Giovanni Special Election (http://www.owbn.net/votes/83233) - This proposal closes at 12:01am Eastern on August 29th. At this time, 36 chronicles have voted (28% participation)

With that in mind, let's talk about Council:

What is Council -

When OWBN was founded, Council was created as a means for each chronicle to have a voice when it came to organizational issues that could affect their game. At this time, we have 128 full member chronicles. The 3 members of the Executive Team are also voting members on Council, and our Administrative Bylaws indicate the instances where the Executive Team can/can't vote on a proposal.

Each chronicle gets a vote. This means that chronicles with 5 (and sometimes less) players have the same amount of say as a chronicle with 20+ players. This also means that a chronicle whose player base doesn't overlap with other games gets the same amount of say as a chronicle with a high amount of player overlap with neighboring games.  Whether this system is fair or unfair, good or bad, is something that we as an organization can discuss and decide upon.

How proposals are passed -

Council Members (including the Exec Team) are able to bring forth proposals to Council. Coordinators are also able to bring forth certain types of proposals. This can be done in conjunction with prior player/ST/Council discussions, or without prior discussion on an issue.

Most proposals require a vote - in that case, a Council member needs to "second" a proposal for it to go to vote. There's a 7 day discussion period followed by a 7 day voting period.

Some proposals are able to "auto pass", meaning that they are brought forth to Council, and no one objects during the discussion period, then the vote passes.

Player notification -

The primary responsibility of notifying a chronicle about proposals falls on that game's Council Member. The bylaws explicitly mention this for proposals regarding genre packets and bylaw changes.

Administrative Bylaw 1.F.ii.
All votes passed by Council are considered binding. It is the duty of the Council Member to inform their Storytellers and players of any and all revisions to the bylaws, genre documents, rules, and regulations.

To repeat, if your Council member isn't, at minimum, notifying your game of public proposals that have passed (like bylaw changes and genre documents) they are in violation of our organization's bylaws.

Communication / Decision-Making Process for Council Members

It is up to each game to decide for themselves what they want their Council Member to do when it comes to representing their chronicle. This includes coming to a consensus on how the CM is selected, whether the CM has full discretion on voting on proposals or if they need to solicit input from their ST's and/or players, the method(s) in which a Council Member notifies their player base, and if and how a CM can be removed if they aren't doing their job.  Ideally, a chronicle will explicitly spell these expectations out in their house rules / chronicle charter.

If you are not aware of what your chronicle's processes are when it comes to picking a Council Member or how your Council Member solicits input from their game, ask your Storyteller(s) and Council Member. Who they are is public record on our website (go to owbn.net/game-directory, and select the listing for your game).

As a player, you have a level of say in what goes on in your game. Our bylaws spell out who "owns" a chronicle:

Administrative Bylaw 1.A.
A chronicle is a geographically localized body of players, including STs and a Council Member. The Council Member is assumed to represent the will of the chronicle to OWbN, however the Council Member is not assumed to have the ownership of the chronicle, which is assumed to belong to the body of players as a whole, including the STs and Council Member. Players may also be members of multiple chronicles.

Normally a chronicle will have a charter or similar document outlining how administrative level decisions are made within that game, and if and how individual members can participate in that decision-making process. I have heard participants say that there are chronicles where the ST/CM make all the administrative decisions and disregard the feedback and wishes of rest of the participants/members. That type of behavior violates the spirit of our bylaws when it comes to how member chronicles govern themselves, and I invite people to report such chronicles to the Exec Team (owbn...@owbn.net) so that we can investigate what's going on. We have a means to help player regain ownership of their game in the event that it's been taken over by despot staff.

Council Member Accountability

How do we empower players and ST's to be able to hold their Council Members accountable, both in performing their duties as well as how they represent their chronicle's views?

Part of this is simply starting the conversation on a local level. CM's and ST's - have a sit down with your game to educate them on how Council works, and to confirm that the other members of your game are comfortable with whatever system you have in place when it comes to soliciting feedback and communication. If you are a player - seek out your Council Member and talk with them. There are CM's who feel that none of their players are interested in the OOC/administrative side of our organization. Be the first to show them otherwise.

On an organizational level we are able to help players stay informed on if and how their Council Member votes on a public proposal (http://www.owbn.net/council). We are also able to show players how often their CM votes on various types of proposals (www.owbn.net/council/council-vote-overview).

Beyond that, we have a bottleneck when it comes to helping players hold their CM's accountable when it comes to communication. People don't know what they don't know - and if they don't know that their game allows them to have a say, or what the pro's/con's are that have been hashed out regarding a public proposal - how are they able to advocate for their needs and what they want to see in our organization going forward? It is time that we start discussing this issue.

Now I'm heading out to travel for LARP :)

Jessica Karels

Head Coordinator

--
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "One World by Night OOC" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to owbn-ooc+u...@googlegroups.com.
For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.