Work has begun to re-establish the CSTS Global Steering Committee (which was disbanded in 2008). This Committee will be responsible for overseeing, advising and supporting the Global Organiser, and ensuring that each year's events are well organised and stay true to the event's vision.

Please read the proposal below and share your thoughts and feedback. This Committee will be the backbone of Can't Stop the Serenity going forward, and provide guidance and support to the Global Organiser, Global Team and Event Organisers to ensure the continued success of this annual event.

We would appreciate your feedback by 13 November 2009.

HOW IT USED TO BE
The Global Steering Committee was originally created to address the potential for "event drift" from year to year. The GSC was made up of all previous global coordinators and served as a de facto "consistency committee" which was to be kept apprised of planning details and merchandise/sponsorship deals. The existence of such a "committee" also intended to help in any possible situation in which the global coordinator for some reason becomes unable to continue in that capacity, because there would be people who are in the loop enough to pick up should it become necessary. The GSC was disbanded in 2008, as it was evident that the model employed did not function as intended.

PROPOSAL

Purpose
The Can’t Stop the Serenity Global Steering Committee (GSC) is a diverse volunteer group of individuals working to ensure the continued success of Can’t Stop the Serenity events for charity. The GSC represents the strategy setting and organizational process supervisory body of Can’t Stop the Serenity (CSTS). The GSC meets monthly.

Membership

• The Global Steering Committee consists of the Steering Committee Chair, and 4 Steering Committee Members.
• To ensure the compliance with Equality Now’s expectations, procedures and policies, a Representative from Equality now is by default among the Members of the Steering Committee.
• The membership will consist of: a former CSTS Global Organiser, a representative from Equality Now, a CSTS North America Region representative, a CSTS Europe Region representative, and a CSTS Asia-Pacific Region representative.

Term Lengths

• Membership on the Global Steering Committee is a two year commitment, commencing in October each year. The term length of the Equality Now representative is at the discretion of Equality Now, but should be no less than 1 year.
• In any given year, two members will be in the first year of their term, and two members will be in the second year of their term.
• In 2009, the term will commence in December. For this first year of the revived and restructured Global Steering Committee, the past Global Organiser will have a two year term, one CSTS Region representative will have a two year term and the remaining two CSTS Region representatives will have a one year term (to facilitate the commencement of the rotational structure)

Role & Responsibilities

• The Global Steering Committee is responsible for:
  - Ensuring consistency of purpose for the event
  - Organising and overseeing the election of the Global Organiser, and ensuring that handover goes smoothly.
  - Preparing Global Policies. These are policies for GO (prior to selection/election and as required at the request of the GO)
  - Dictating changes to procedures to be published in the Global Organiser’s How To Guide and the Organiser’s How To Guide.
  - Setting the Event Window and Key Deadlines (Registration, Global Tally Finalisation)
• The Steering Committee Chair can delegate the authority to a Steering Committee Co-Chair selected from the Steering Committee Members.
• In the situation where the Global Organiser is identified as unfit to fulfil the duties and responsibilities of the role due to personal issues (such as illness), the Global Steering Committee shall provide support to the Vice-Global Organiser.
• In the situation where the Global Organiser is identified as unfit to fulfil the duties and responsibilities of the role (such as suspicion of fraud or criminal activity), the Global Steering Committee shall appoint a member to oversee the management of the Global Team. This member will review the current status of the event, identify suitable members of the Global Team who will be retained, identify a suitable replacement Global Organiser (from within the Global Team or from outside the Global Team) whose appointment shall be made by the Global Steering Committee, and monitor the progress of the replacement Global Organiser
• Decisions of the Global Steering Committee are made by a two-thirds majority.

Eligibility

• Members must not be part of the current Global Organising Team. The exception to this is where elections take place within 1 month of the end of the applicant’s term on the Global Organising Team.
• Applicants must have been a past Screening Event Organiser (Lead) or Global Organising Team member. Affiliate event organisers are not eligible for membership.
• Applicants must not have been banned from participation in any capacity such as an Organiser/Committee member within the CSTS movement or other organisations.
• The representative from Equality Now is selected by Equality Now, and must be an Equality Now employee.
• Members on the Global Steering Committee can be considered for re-selection for consecutive terms.

Selection Process

• The selection process does not apply to the Equality Now representative.
• Applicants must complete the Global Steering Committee Membership Application form, and provide two letters of recommendation. The Global Steering Committee Membership Application form will cover the role for consideration, contact Information, and relevant skills and experience. Letters of Recommendation may be from any of the following: a Global Team member (past or current), an Event Organiser (Screening or Affiliate), or Event Team Member (for the event the applicant was Organiser of).
• For the term commencing December 2009, the role of former CSTS Global Organiser will be filled by the outgoing 2009 CSTS Global Organiser. Selection will take place for the three CSTS Region representatives only.
• Voting is limited to current year Organisers (Lead) of Screening events and Affiliate events, and will be decided by a two-thirds majority.
• The current Global Organiser is not eligible to vote except in the case of a tie, where the current Global Organiser holds the deciding vote.

Time Line:
Proposal Discussion Window (General Public): 9-13 November 2009
Call for Applications: 16 November 2009
Applications Close: 20 November 2009
Voting Commences: 23 November 2009
Voting Closes: 29 November 2009
Term Commencement: 1 December 2009

SUGGESTED AMENDMENTS (See posts below for details)
- Add a CSTS Canada representative, and change CSTS North America representative to CSTS USA representative.
- Individuals from any location may apply for all positions, but must specify which role they are applying for (ie. past GO, representative for a specific region). Applicants nominating for a regional role must have a sound knowledge about the issues within that region and be able to confidently represent the needs of the region.
- Applicants must be a current or past Screening Event Organiser (Lead), or past Global Team member. Affiliate event organisers are not eligible for membership.

I think it sounds like a wonderful idea. ---william prater, Nashville CSTS

Much of this has to do with ensuring that the GO does their job, which I have no qualms with. In fact, I think it's a great idea to have a body in place to offer support when it's needed, or remove people when they don't do their job. I do worry that, since it's such a small committee, there may be accusations of bias/personal vendettas influencing decisions (particularly when it comes to identifying a GO as unfit for their role). How transparent with the decisions and the discussions within the GSC be?
Are there any intended functions of the committee outside of roles and responsibilities listed?

Excellent points. We will make sure we cover this off.

I understand why it is a small group - it is the only way to get things done sometimes, but I wonder if there can be an explanation about how the membership was decided upon. By continent seems logical on one hand but certainly doesn't reflect where the majority of the screenings are- in the U.S. I don't want this group to be unmanageably large but should the U.S. have 2 voices because of the number of screenings there? or does the fact that the Chair will be from the U.S. answer that? As well as the fact that it is one country and thus the same concerns.

This year Europe had 4 screenings, The Pacific region had 2- I'm not including Affiliate cities here.
I have issues with Canada being lumped in with the U.S. when our concerns can be very different. We had 3 screenings this year, and will have 4 next year and yet we don't get a voice when other regions who have the same number of screenings, do.

One other question. The current Global organizer, can't vote for the other Steering Committee members. Is this to avoid any appearance of "stacking" the committee in their favour?

Lioness, thank you for raising some excellent points.

The proposed make up of the GSC was designed so that the needs of each region would be represented. In the past, the event has primarily taken the needs of the US cities into account, often at the expense of other countries. This may have resulted in decreased participation outside the US, and limited the potential growth of the event. Key issues in this space are shipping of goods to international countries, licensing requirements for different areas, and lack of understanding around international audiences. It wil not always be the case that the Global Team will have representation from each region (or possibly any member outside the US), so it is felt that by having each region represented at a GSC level, we could ensure that the needs of those outside the US are addressed so that the event can grow to be truely global.

So far, the GO has always been from the US, which would give North America two voices on the GSC. However, this may not always be the case, so I can see your point.

Would Canada prefer to have it's own regional representative? If that is Canada's preference, we can certainly add that role in, and make it a committee of 6 rather than 5.

It should also be noted that the GSC Chair would not necessarily be the past GO, but could be any member of the GSC (with the exception of the Equality Now representative, per the request of Amanda Sullivan), as voted on by the members of the GSC. The GSC Chair could, for example, be the CSTS Europe representative.

Regarding your question about the current Global organizer not being able to vote for the other Steering Committee members - as the 2009 GO would be automatically on the GSC, we would like to avoid any perceived bias in the voting for other members. Voting would be done by Event Organisers only (as this committee is ultimately designed to be the voice of Event Organisers), and as the GO is not an Event Organiser, it does seem appropriate. However, if the concensus is to change this, it can be done.

All elements of the proposal are open for change, so please feel free to suggest alternatives.

Ah. You clear up some things, thanks. It was not obvious to me, that the Chair would not necessarily be the past GO, so you might word that to be clearer.



This is why I don't think that Canada should be included with the U.S. We've gotten badly burned on the shipping issue and twice have not received the posters and other items until after our screening. We have our own booking procedure as well although, admittedly, we don't face the same issues as some other regions.

I have no problem with the GP not voting although conceivably s/he knows more about all of us than we do about each other. Anne, for instance, knows who works hard, who doesn't respond to emails, who spends all their time complaining , who contributes the most..., but I think your reasons for not allowing that position to vote, are sound ones.
Thanks

I don't think there necessarily needs to be a representative from the actual area on the committee, it's a nice idea, BUT it can severely limit your options for the membership (As Lioness said, only 2 events in Asia Pacific), and as long as the LO's are asked what they need and require by global, they dont necessarily need a spot on the GSC, just as long as they are considered.

Personally, I think you might not have too many people putting their hands up for the job. It's a convoluted application process, and its a 2 year lock in. I don't know about you guys, but i have no idea what i'll be doing in 2 years, let alone which state/country i will be living in. the 2 year term also limits your pool of GO applicants. There aren't many people keen or able to do the job, and they are likely to be the same people likely to sit on the GSC.

Just a thought. The concept is right on the money though

Please note the following amendment to Eligibility for clarity:


Amended Text:


All past lead local organisers are eligible to apply.

It could be interpreted that they are representatives FOR the regions, not FROM the regions. As the main purpose of the GSC is to ensure the continued success of Can’t Stop the Serenity events, with a focus on strategy and organisational process setting, it is important that the needs of each region are represented, and that each region is considered when setting Global policies. That being said, the individuals fulfilling those roles don't necessarily have to reside in those regions. But they would need to be sufficiently aware of the specific issues associated with the region they represent, and have a sound understanding of the way things work in that region.



Given that we have people who have been committed to the event for 4 years now, I don't think that making a two year commitment will be that much of an issue. The GSC would be most active around September/October/November (preparing for the GO selection process, and assisting the new GO) and for the rest of the year it is mostly acting as an advisory committee and a place for issues to be escalated for resolution (probably no more than a few hours a month).

The GO role on the GSC can be filled by any past GO of good standing, and that person can be re-elected if they wish to re-apply, so it doesn't necessarily limit the number of people who might apply for the GO position (which is a 1 year commitment).

If we want to build CSTS into a strong, long lasting event, then we do need at least a few people to make a committment to guiding it's future. The role would be a lot less work than being the GO or being on the Global Team, and we don't seem to have to much trouble finding people who are willing to take on those roles. So I'm not worried that we won't find the right people. I don't anticipate a deluge of applications, but I think that we should be able to find 5-6 people who are willing to apply. Browncoats are mighty after all.

II'm not sure it's a good idea to give any one country their own chair.  If Canada, why not any other individual country that has an issue that is particular to their region/country?  I understand that because all the GOs so far have been from the US that this has resulted in some unintended biases, but I think that indicates more that we need to become better at understanding the issue organizers face outside the US (i.e. shipping and customs on merchandise).  Beyond that, if (when) someone from outside the US becomes GO, we'll all be dealing with those same biases whether Canada has its own seat or not.  The assumption here is that the chair will always be held by someone in the US and I'm not sure we can make that assumption based on four years. It can be just as easily held by someone in Canada or Australia, or anywhere else that has held a screening. 

Beyond that, having six people on a committee seems unwise simply for the chance there can be a split vote.  By making the committee consist of an even number, you have to then take on the responsibility of writing up a whole list of procedures about what to do if the vote goes three/three.  An uneven number will never present that problem.  Perhaps that seems silly, but PDX Browncoats workgroup has an uneven number for that very reason and it has saved us a lot of work and hassle.

Galumbits, I understand your concerns about one country having a seat but that is essentially what will happen if "North America" is one representative. And that country will be the U.S. I assure you that we have different issues than the U.S.and I have been struggling for years to get that recognized.(This year was much better but not perfect.)
I am a dual U.S./Canadian citizen and I spend a lot of time in the States and let me tell you, we are different up here And it is often not recognized at all in the U.S.
However, this is not the place to get into a political/socio/cultural discussion!
But I will say that the sheer size of the U.S. vs Canada means that there could be 5-10 U.S. people running for the one position and one Canadian. How likely do you think it is that that Canadian would ever get picked?

I agree the even number of members would be a concern.

I don't have the answer. But I don't think that the suggested set up, as it currently stands, is it.

Edited to add - the question may be moot though. Who knows if there are enough people willing to run in any one region. I'm not as optimistic as you, Jen.

I think Galumbits may be on to something. Why not having the member on the steering committee who represents a region, and they in turn have an advisor from that region if it is not their own? There'd have to be some transparency so that it was sure they were raising the concerns of that region, but if say i knew i could raise my concerns about australia with a particular rep, and that they were assigned to make sure we got looked after, i would be fine with that, and it would mean i could be 100% sure we would be represented without having to nominate myself (there's not that many aussies who would be willing, or fit the criteria) which i wont do, i have no idea what ill be doing in 5 months time, where i'll be living. i dont even know if im running an event next year. I wasn't supposed to run this years. but being an advisor on specific issues related to australian (and to an extent NZ if karen was unavailable) would require even less, and i could do that regardless of whether i was running an event this year, and i imagine other organisers would be in a similar situation. I could help look after us here in aus if needed, but making big decision for global? a 2 year commitment? not a possibility

It would be nice if there were a member from each region, but as long as we are represented strongly and listened to, that would be better

Thank you to everyone who has given their input. I will be posting final version and the Call for Applications tonight (it's a day late because I've been working on the auction).