“the single biggest problem in communication is the ... · heather gardner's draft motion...

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“The single biggest problem in communication is the illusion

that it has taken place.” – George Bernard Shaw


1

1http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=rmKoO0U30x8C&printsec=frontcover&dq=communications&lr=&ei=AzpoSOCqNqCmigGJ1v

GABg&sig=ACfU3U1yoe1f_lpBRbrt3BovqpHsdWCUhg#PPA74,M1


Contents Phase I

1. The MPP 2. Existence of various

bodies of the union 3. Internal discussion,

networking and decision making tools

• Lists

• Forums

• Member to Member internet communications

4. Other Internal Communication Avenues

• GOB

• IB

• Social networking – Internal

• Social networking – External

• Strategic debate and policy formation

• Principles of Outreach

• Online Publications PART II


- - - M O T I O N B E G I N S - - - That a review be conducted to look into:- + Our Internal Communications Strategy (1) + Our External Communications Strategy (2) + Our Strategy For Member Involvement, Orientation & Education (3) + Our Strategy For Spreading Knowledge & Best Practice Across Our Organisation (4) PARAMETERS # The review will conduct a consultation with as many groups and chartered bodies of the union as possible in terms of (1); it will also conduct research amongst a statistically relevant number of persons among specific target constituencies, and see how our current communications are received, and it will evidence this (2). # The review will return with findings that not only denote the extant problems and preferred solutions, but supply the Board with case studies from comparable organisations, or comparable model solutions. # The review will analyse all current practices for the implementation of our communications strategies under all items. It will compare this information to extant published strategies, and widely assumed strategies and it will seek to document the efficacy of this implementation, examining the underlying reasons for success or failure. It will provide recommendations based on these findings for how each item should be deal with. # The taskforce to conduct the review will consist of FWs Jason Krpan, Nick Durie and a further co-opted member of the General Administration. # The review will present its report in full to the GEB, with an abstract, executive summary and link to the final document to all contributing branches and the wider union. # The review will be completed by the 1st of May. - - - M O T I O N E N D S - - -

M.P.P. The Manual on Policy and Procedures was etablished by the GEB from 2004, onwards. It's a series of documents that seeks to codify areas of practice to make them more accessible to


members and to the GEB, and to allow for change and review. Developing the MPP has been a great step forward for democracy within the IWW, as everyone can now see 'the rules'. This can only be true however when 'the rules' are actually the way that we really do things. At present, in some places, they are not yet. This is the cover page by which it was established.

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IWW Manual of Policies and Procedures

Forward

This Manual was created by order of the General Executive Board of the IWW to help codify organizational procedures and methods.

The goal of this Manual will be to effect continuity from Administration to Administration. It is also to provide organization in the methods and procedures of day to day business, improve the current system, increase efficiency, and reduce the need for continual constitutional revision.

This Manual will also afford new officers and members of the union with clear guidelines for their conduct in key areas, and set forward clear standards as to what is expected of them while serving the union. Ideally this manual will provide that our decision-making can become policy-based, rather than arbitrary, and each administration could build upon our union’s rich past rather than scramble about for a means of meeting the future.

This Manual is to be considered an official statement of the policy of the union.

The contents of each section of this manual have been approved by vote of the General Executive Board. Future additions or changes may be made by vote of the General Executive Board, the General Assembly, or by Referendum vote by the membership.

No item within the Manual of Policies and Procedures shall be in conflict with or supercede the Constitution of the IWW. Any disagreement regarding the adjudication of such a conflict may be submitted to the General Assembly or for Referendum vote by the membership.

The contents of the manual shall include, but are not necessarily limited to, the following:

• The Working Rules of the General Executive Board

• Rules for the Email List and On-line Meeting of the General Executive Board

• Establishment of Branch Contacts for the General Executive Board

• Establishment and Procedures for Committees


• Practices and Procedures for the General Assembly

• Job Duties and Requirements of the General Secretary Treasurer

• Job Duties and Requirements for Delegates of the Union

• Policies and Procedures for Regional Organizing Committees

• Policies Regarding the Administration of IWW.ORG

• Policies Regarding Official Literature and Publications of the Union

As stated in the Forward, the contents of each of these individual areas must be submitted to the General Executive Board for formal approval before it is entered into the Manual on Policies and Procedures.

No item within the Manual of Policies and Procedures shall be in conflict with or supercede the Constitution of the IWW. Any disagreement regarding the adjudication of such a conflict may be submitted to the General Assembly or for Referendum vote by the membership.

The General Secretary Treasurer of the Union will cause to be prepared a printed copy of this Manual for distribution to all officers of the General Administration upon its completion and before new officers take office on the 1st of January each year. The GST will also be responsible to make sure that any additions or revisions to this manual are properly prepared and distributed as directed by the General Executive Board.

The GST will also make sure that copies of this Manual are available to any member of the union in good standing, or sub-body of the union for a nominal fee that will cover the cost of production and shipping.

April 11, 2004 Rev 0

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The MPP covers the following areas (index from the 2004 edition).

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IWW Manual of Policies and Procedures Sec 0 - 1

Index

0-0 Forward and Introduction MD-17 (2004)

1-1 The Working Rules of the General Executive Board MD-18 (2004)


1-2 Rules for the Email List and On-line Meeting of the General Executive Board MD-19 (2004)

1-3 Establishment of Branch Contacts for the General Executive Board MD-20 (2004)

Rev1 Establishment of Branch Contacts for the General Executive Board AW-05 (2004)

2-1 Establishment and Procedures for Committees MD-26 (2004)

3-1 Practices and Procedures for the General Assembly MD-24 (2004)

3-2 Assembly Committees MD-27 (2004)

4-1 Job Duties and Requirements of the General Secretary Treasurer HH-02 (2005)

2. Job Duties and Requirements of the Chair of the GEB MD-30 (2005)

4-3 Job Duties and Requirements of the Editor of the Industrial Worker MD-28 (2004)

4-4 Job Duties and Requirements for the Administrator(s) of IWW.ORG AW-17 (2004)

5-1 Policies and Procedures for the General Organizing Committee

2. Policies and Procedures for the Organizer Training Committee Pending

3. Policies and Procedures for the Literature Committee MD-29 (2004)

4. Policies and Procedures for the Finance Committee

1. Policies and Procedures for Regional Organizing Committees

1. Job Duties and Requirements for Delegates of the Union SP-02 (2004)

2. Job Duties and Requirements for Branch Secretaries SP-02 (2004)

1. Criterion for Reviewing and Issuing Charters MD-05 (2005)

2. Shop Card Policies

8-3 Cooperatives Policies

9-1 Resolutions of the General Assemblies

Policies and Procedures noted in Italics have either not been completed or have not been approved by the General Executive Board.

December 21, 2004 Rev 0

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The Board has recognised that members tend not to be aware of the existence of the MPP. Here Heather Gardner's draft motion addresses the subject:-

HG-* Send the MPP to Branch Secretaries Be it resolved, that the GEB hereby amends the Manual of Policies and Procedures to include the following at the end of Sec 4-1 General Secretary Treasurer Job Description Maintain and Distribute the Manual of Policies and Procedures Maintain an updated copy of the MPP at GHQ. Mail a copy of the MPP to all Branch Secretaries in March of each year when amendments have been made. With each mailing, include a letter clarifying that the Branch Secretary should not make a digital copy of the MPP and that they may only make a photo copy for members of their branch who are in good standing and who specifically request it. The MPP may also be mailed to members who request it directly from GHQ provided the member is in good standing and pays for the cost of shipping. Be it further resolved that the GEB amends the Manual of Policies and Procedures by adding the following to the end of Sec 7-2 Job Duties for Branch Secretaries Branch Secretaries shall receive a photocopy of the Manual of Policies and Procedures (MPP) from the GST in the mail. They will maintain this copy for the branch's members to read and refer to. If a member in good standing requests a copy, the Branch Secretary shall make a photocopy for them, but should not make a digital copy. The Branch Secretary may request updated copies of the MPP throughout the year from the GST. Be it further and finally Resolved, that the GST will conduct the above mailing in July of 2008. Comments and conclusions It's clear then from this motion (action has subsequently been taken), and from the discussion on the international lists that there is felt to be a need to circulate the MPP. Circulating the MPP however may not prove to be very effective. There is lots to read and absorb, and unless members are informed about which bits are relevant to their involvement in the union, it may not prove a very effective series of documents. In some cases 'the rules' are going to clash with 'the way this branch does things'. In cases like this it will be necessary to ensure that there is a clear understanding of why codification of practice is a good thing. It is a positive step that there is discussion of circulating the MPP to the membership at large. It will hopefully prove to be a useful piece of work that the GEB has achieved in developing a codified practice. Without the involvement of the membership or general awareness of the document however it remains a thought-experiment, and so it is vital that in moving forward the right approach is taken.


Recommendations [1] Firstly a statement about what brought the GEB and the General Administration to develop the MPP should be issued in *ALL* internal media. This statement should cover:-

• The overall rationale for the MPP

• The history of the MPP

• The situation before the MPP

• What the MPP hopes to achieve

• The vision for the IWW and where the MPP fits in The statement should run to no more than 800 words. [2] The following should be made enacted. Members Guide: When the MPP is circulated specific reference should be made to sections of the MPP that members are likely to interact with on a routine basis. Branch Copies: Those sections of the MPP which do not affect members routinely should be arranged alongside the rest of the MPP in a well laid out, thoughtfully-constructed document, which BSTs and BIROC Central Delegates receive, on an annual basis, with edition numbers clearly stated. Shared Web: A full copy of the latest version of the MPP, with the members guide, should be indexed and searchable on the members shared web, and this should be advertised alongside other members resources. Existence of various bodies of the union It came to the attention of the review body, that during the run-up to the recent annual conference of the BIROC, a number of members were not aware of the existence of the ODB and OTC. This issue surfaced in debates. While some BIROC members had the latest constitution, others had yet to use the latest edition which has the ODB constitution within it. In addition, even if all members were using the latest edition of the constitution, they would still not have access to the OTC working rules, which are contained within the MPP. When it was pointed out in debate with members that the IWW maintained an Organising Department internationally, and an Organiser Training Committee some members were completely unaware that these bodies existed. Beyond that other members had questions about the role of those bodies, and what their remit was. A short study of awareness of the ISC within the Clydeside branch also showed low levels of


A ‘Soup’ of Acronyms? In general throughout the organisation there has been confusion and exasperation over the number of acronyms used within the IWW. Many people are baffled by those who use acronyms to describe the actions of bodies they have barely heard of. It makes it difficult to interact with the affairs of the organisation at large. To that end a number of publications have emerged to fill this gap. Alphabet Soup: http://www.iww.org/culture/official/dictionary Wobspeak: http://iwwscotland.wordpress.com/files/2008/06/wobspeak-pamphlet-large-print.pdf The pamphlet wobspeak is produced in the BIROC. It is distributed as an additional pamphlet (produced on the reverse) to the One Big Union pamphlet, but within the same cover. These are then distributed in the standard BIROC new members packs. Recommendation [1] The union should consider developing this, or a similar pamphlet as a union standard, to go out in all new members packs.

awareness. The opinion of the review body is that this finding would be replicated throughout the union as a whole.

What the BIROC example shows graphically is that even with publications explaining the meaning of acronyms which every member now possesses, there is a poor awareness of union bodies. Bodies of this union should try to inform members more on their activities. Recommendations [2] Specific mention should be made on how, and why, and where members can feed into their work, and awareness raising of union bodies' activities should be undertaken as standard. - Short films can be produced describing the work of these bodies. - Union bodies can produce newsletters - Campaigns which aim to engage the wider membership can also be helpful INTERNAL DISCUSSION, NETWORKING AND DECISION MAKING TOOLS Lists "I've been trying to get Edmonton branch members to sign up here so that they can pay more attention to what is happening at the international level and most of them flat-out refuse."


There has been much discord about the way in which the IWW runs its lists. The main list, the international list, currently has 156 subscribers (at the time of writing). Bay Area Guidelines 1) Always include a clear word or phrase on the subject line of your initial posting to the listserve, so replies can be followed easily by others in the group. 2) Be concise and stay on topic. Refrain from posting messages about unrelated subjects. 3) When making arguments, support your position with evidence. Refrain from making unsubstantiated generalizations and from using emotionally charged or loaded language. 4) Be respectful to others. Do not disparage or personally attack other member(s) directly or by inference. Do not use profanity. If a posting angers you, wait until you are calm before responding. 5) Do not take personally what is not specifically directed at you. 6) Do not use the listserve to discuss grievances. Listserves are not good vehicles for having complex and emotionally charged discussions, especially when people are so close geographically. If you think the behavior of another warrants charges under the IWW Constitution, then file charges. If you think the behavior of another violates SF Bay Area GMB policies, make your argument in writing (supported by evidence) and place this item on the agenda of the next Branch meeting. For interpersonal conflicts that cannot be resolved by the parties involved, use a Branch meeting as the appropriate venue to resolve conflicts. 7) Personal comments or criticisms should be sent directly to the person(s) you wish to communicate with, not the entire listserve. 8) Do not post messages in all capitals. This is the equivalent of shouting. Use standard upper/lower case type except for words or phrases you particularly wish to stress. 9) Do not use sarcasm in postings. In a large listserve like the SF Bay Area GMB listserve, it is easy to misinterpret sarcasm. 10) Minimize formatting in the text of your postings. Some email software inserts formatting which can make highly formatted messages difficult to read. 11) If you are responding to specific passage(s) of a long email, quote from the message you are replying to as necessary. 12) Spell check and proofread your posting before you send it to the listserve. 13) When responding to a posting that is intended to go to the listserve, make sure you reply to the listserve and not individual sender(s). 14) When forwarding emails to the listserve, delete extraneous header information from the original sender to reduce the length of your posting. 15) People should not be added to the listserve without their permission. IWW Internal List (BIROC) List Guidelines

• The list content is to be confined to BIROC business only (and related discussion)

• Members are requested to avoid discussion and conflict over ideology, but instead address discussion in terms of substantive business issues, and practical operations of the union.

• Advertisements for non-IWW events are requested to seek moderator approval, prior to posting.


• All posts are to use a relevant subject header.

• No racist, racialised, or otherwise discriminatory language is to be used.

• One line replies are not acceptable. Please address the issues raised by posts. If you want to indicate support or disagreement, please outline why you support or disagree with a proposal or argument.

• Discussion is to remain friendly and constructive. Replies should address or develop the points raised by the initial post and/or subsequent comments.

• Ridicule or belittlement of others views is not acceptable. Racist, homophobic, sexist or otherwise discriminatory views which divide us and weaken the IWW and the Labour movement will however be challenged as unacceptable.

• Posters should endeavour to keep posts beneath 800 words, wherever possible.

• When posting articles relevant to BIROC business, please link and abstract. Do not post the entire article.

• Please do not pursue unsolicited abusive off-list arguments. Members found to be pursuing others off list with abusive unsolicited emails will be asked to account for their actions.

• Above all keep discussion agenda focussed and practical. Remember we are a mass organisation united around a common objective, but there are individuals hailing from a large number of places and viewpoints. We can work together if we are constructive and tolerant. As we grow this is likely to become ever more important.

Sample study of the BIROC Internal List, [May ’07 to January ’08]:-

� Since the BIROC list guidelines were enacted the BIROC internal list has grown to over 100 subscribers.

There were seven unsubscribes. That's not the whole picture though as during the same time frame the numbers reported in good standing rose from 245 to 344 reported in good standing in January '08. That is an 87% increase in membership, in good standing. From May '07 there were 58 subscribers. Adding in the 7 who unsubscribed (NB, not counting those the moderators have unsubscribed), that makes 65 subscribers. As a percentage of the membership that is 35.3%, who were on this list. By the same calculation, based on the January data that percentage falls rather sharply to 28.8% of the membership subscribed to this list. Concerning the percentage of Scottish IWW members on this list compared with the national percentage of members what we find is lower levels of representation. Only 21% of Scottish members with an email address are subscribed. That figure comes from our all Scotland announcements list, where all Scottish members are automatically subscribed. Including the tally of Scottish members inclusive of those without email addresses we'd see this figure fall further; there are divergent lower levels of list subscription amongst Scottish members.


“Word, i am telling you, those actually organizing don't go near that list...”

“Okay you know what, fuck this, I'm off this list.”

“I'm calling this list quits, that Jim can rightly take credit for. I will take it somewhere else where discussions are moderated. […] god speed to those who try and stick it on this crazy space.”

“I dont think we should abolish this list! Since Im trying to watch T.V. less, I need to get my comedy somewhere. After a long day of grueling labor, I like to come home and laugh at all the petty arguements. Am I the only one out there that thinks it freaking hilarious that the only thing this list is used for is to argue about wether or not it should be used. hahahaha. Im bustin up laughing just thinking about all the stupid serious emails that will be responded to this. But in all seriousness Please Please Please keep this list going. I just got laid off Friday and If I dont have 400 emails a day to read I dont know how I will pass the time. (Ill have to go look for a job! I dont want to do that!)”

Recommendations:-

• All union lists should be moderated. Where there is no moderation, members leave the list (as has been happening with increasing frequency with the international list). Unmoderated discussion allows ‘anything goes’ style of postings. Where discussion gets heated, this can lead to a large volume of emails with often very personal ad hominem attacks. There is no way of preventing these kind of postings from predominating, as there has been no codified system of practice to ensure that such postings are unacceptable. The result is that those who do not wish to subject themselves to such postings either do not post, or leave the list. This does not benefit the union. There are however many standards for list discussion. When we progress to moderated discussion for all IWW lists, as this reports finds is essential, then we must have some level of uniformity of standards, so that members do not find themselves applying rules for one discussion, in another arena where these rules do not apply, or are enacted differently. To this end this report finds that:- 1. The GEB should derive an MPP for email list discussion, to be applied universally across the union, with immediate effect upon those lists which have no moderation rules set.

2. This MPP should also consider and address the following concerns:-

• Specialist lists (where moderation may need to be more specific).

• Lists where moderation exists already (where a phase in plane may be necessary, or a specific agreement may need to be reached)

• List arrangements in ROCs


Forums ND-02 was going to look at the levels of participation in the iww.org forums, and cover ways that we could popularise this, but we found that in the absence of a widely used forum, it would be quicker to expedite the creation of an informal international forum, where moderation pertained. "I should explain the reasons why we set up wobforum, as opposed to just going to the official iww.org forums. Firstly, there was a strong desire amongst some FWs for properly moderated discussion, of the sort that we did not think the whole of the IWW would agree to, and so decided to set up our own wee community for those who wanted moderated discussion. Secondly, though there have been numerous pushes to get wobs onto the iww.org forums, they seem to have been mostly unsuccessful. There are undoubtedly a number of factor in this, but I believe that one of them must be the forum interface, I find the iww.org forums harder to use compared to wobforum." [Snowball] Wobforum now has (at the time of writing) 117 members. This is nearly as high as the international list. It is possible that by the time this report is published, the forum may have overtaken the international list as the primary medium of international communication. Why a forum? Email lists are rapid forms of communication. They do not however allow the user to easily follow the thread of an argument. While some email clients support this function, there is little way of reviewing all the discussion that has taken place in a given time period. The other problem is that the user of the email list receives all the emails (whether individually, or in digest format). With a webforum the reader is still able to be emailed when specific topics that interest the reader are under discussion, but the reader is free to peruse topics at their leisure, and see how the flow of discussion fits together. In many ways this makes discussion on a webforum superior for certain purposes. Furthermore each post has a unique URL, so referencing is easier than many email lists. Rules for wobforum A. Unacceptable content Each individual is responsible for what they write. Treat others with the same respect you expect from them - do not forget that there are real people behind usernames. Do not post anything you know or believe to be false, defamatory, obscene, offensive, hurtful or


invasive of a persons privacy. While debating and discussion is fine, rudeness, insulting posts, personal attacks or purposeless inflammatory posts will not be tolerated. In the real world arguments exist between different organisations and individuals. It is acceptable to discuss these here _but_ such discussions should not include insults or unsubstantiated accusations. The practice of using insults is not allowed as it is only disruptive. Flame wars do no one any good and will just demoralize new participants and discredit all those who participate. Posts of an openly racist, fascist or sexist nature will be removed and the poster will be banned as will those that are homophobic or sectarian (in the religious sense). If you see a problem post please report it to the moderators via the 'report post' button (the !). Do not complain about the post on the thread and do not suggest someone should be removed from the board. Laddish humour doesn't interest us and may be misunderstood so no sexualised pictures of women, 'ironic' homophobia etc. One liners On political topics a one-line sentence that expresses agreement or disagreement adds nothing to the understanding of the issues under discussion. As such they are not allowed, develop your agreement or disagreement into an argument for your position. Individual disputes The board wasn't set up to facilitate discussions about individuals, but discussions between individuals and organisations about politics and strategies. If a discussion is about differences between GroupA and GroupB, that's fine. If a discussion is about different approaches to political issues, different understanding or different strategies, that's fine. But if a discussion is about what X individual said or did, that isn't fine. That is not a discussion for this forum, as it's meaningless for people who don't understand who the personalities being talked about are, and may be counterproductive for the movement as a whole. Debate has to be at at a level that people from other countries who may face similar questions can participate in. B. Posting methods Do try and post new topics in the relevant sub-forum. If you have a topic that does not fit into any of the existing categories please post it in the General forum. No multiple postings please - do not post the same topic in different sub-fora.


Having more than one username is only permitted if it is for security reasons. Do not use a second username to agree with yourself for example or use multiple usernames in order to cause havoc. This will cause you and your usernames to be banned. C. Enforcement If you consider someone else to be flaming or trolling do not post this on a thread - doing so will result in you being treated as a troll. In such cases PM the moderators with a link to the relevant post and they will take whatever action is appropriate. While these rules cover most common situations, everything cannot be anticipated. Therefore, the moderators reserve the right to take any actions deemed appropriate to ensure the site is not disrupted or abused in any way. Repeated re-offence despite warnings will lead to banning from the site. If you have a question about moderating or board rules, please PM the moderators. We will answer ASAP and explain the reasoning behind any decision we make. Member to member Internet communications x359274 April 7, 2008 1 Introduction The IWW’s use of communications tools has evolved, like most other organisations, in a haphazard manner, and subject to general trends. This means that by now the way in which the IWW uses the internet for member to member communications is not standardised, and tools are used without proper evaluation of their technical merit. This report aims to suggest solutions for both these problems, allowing the union to facilitate the best possible communication between its membership, using the latest technologies, and producing guidelines as to the best practices in on-line interpersonal communications. This report will first survey the current technologies employed by IWW members, categorised, evaluate what each technology is used for, and then asses potential alternative technologies, or indeed if some technologies are completely redundant. 2 Instant messengers The simplest for of internet communication, bar email, is textual instant messaging. Within the IWW the primary protocols in use are the Windows Live Messenger protocol [1], the AOL Instant Messenger protocol [2], and the Jabber protocol [3]. As the names indicate, both WLM (otherwise known as MSN messenger) and AIM are owned by their respective companies, and though both have open source implementations, these are not officially supported, and may break if the protocol is changed by the vendor. Further, control of information, such as presence information, resides with the company owning the protocol, as the servers that provide this information to users are hard wired into the official clients, making it almost impossible to remove this control, or


guarantee true privacy. The only open protocol widely used within the IWW is the Jabber protocol, almost exclusively using the Google Mail chat interface. Though the protocol is an open standard, GMail’s server is hard wired into the Google client, and so again a corporation retains a degree of control over the information passing through this network. However, the open nature of the protocol means there are a myriad of clients, and setting up a server is not a difficult task. Instant messaging is generally the preferred medium for casual conversation, as it is not hugely disruptive. Because of the casual nature of most IM conversations, sensitive information can be passed without due consideration to its security. It is especially worth noting that none of the major IM protocols encrypt their data, so anyone inspecting packets on the network can read conversations with ease if they so chose. This can be easily remedied by encryption extensions, the most secure of which would seem to be ”Off The Record” messaging [4], however this solution somewhat clunky with regards to interface, and severely limits the number of clients that can communicate, but this would seem to be a necessary evil, as there is no universal encrypted IM extension. 3 Voice communications Currently within the IWW the only deployed solution for digital voice conversations with small numbers of participants appears to be the Skype voice over IP software [5]. Skype utilises a closed protocol, for which there are no third party clients, limiting users to only the official client. More importantly, though Skype does afford its users a degree of encryption for their communications, the company that controls the Skype network has programmed in back doors to allow the NSA to listen in on calls [6]. Clearly this is of the utmost concern to members of the IWW, and so an alternative is highly desirable. There are many commercial VOIP solutions available, however there are far fewer open source offerings. Whilst the underlying protocols are generally standardised, clients are diverse in both functionality and interfaces. At the time of writing the most promising open source offering is OpenWengo [7], which facilitates Skype-like functionality with a familiar interface. 4 Conferencing Whilst for instant messaging, peer to peer messaging, all be it coordinated by a server, is universal, for digital voice conferencing, a more traditional client server model is also common. Traditionally for conferencing, as with person to person communications, Skype is used in the IWW. In addition to the problems outlined above, Skype also limits the participants in a conference call to five. This is partially a technical limitation, as most users do not have sufficient upstream bandwidth to broadcast to a larger number of clients, and clearly this problem applies to any peer to peer solution for conferencing. The solution to the problems that peer to peer conferencing creates is to use a chat server. Commonly these are deployed for on-line computer gaming, however the technology can be easily adapted for the purposes of the IWW. Because of the traditional application of this technology, servers are generally cheap and relatively high capacity, however, conversations are not encrypted. Both closed source implementations of this technology, such and TeamSpeak [8] and Ventrilo [9], and open source implementations, such as Mumble [10], exist. Internet conferencing is a technology who’s potential has not been fully realised within the IWW. Given the international nature of the union, it seems to be the ideal way to facilitate


communication across continents, and to ensure that various international committees can be truly international in attendance of their meetings. 5 Recommendations For textual instant messaging, use of encryption extensions should be encouraged. At this point in time the OTR messaging extension would seem to be the strongest candidate for this. Simultaneously, it would be preferable, though not essential, to attempt to move members away from MSN and AIM towards open protocols, the obvious choice being Jabber. Provided encryption is used there seems to be little case for the purchasing of an IWW Jabber server, however standardising on Jabber gives us this option in future. For voice communications, the need to move away from Skype is very apparent, promoting OpenWengo to members seems to be a sensible policy for the IWW to adopt. With regards to conferencing, the IWW should investigate purchasing a Mumble server, though it is worth noting that Mumble is not as widely deployed as the closed source alternatives, and so is less well tested. 6 Conclusion Though individual IWW members make use of a wide range of digital communications technologies, there is a need to move away from closed source and insecure protocols and clients. For every technology covered by this report, there are adequate open source, and in most cases secure, alternatives to the closed source applications that are currently in use by the union membership. References [1] http://get.live.com/messenger. [2] http://www.aim.com. [3] http://www.jabber.org. [4] http://www.cypherpunks.ca/otr. [5] http://www.skype.com. [6] http://www.securityfocus.com/columnists/357. [7] http://www.openwengo.org. [8] http://www.goteamspeak.com. [9] http://www.ventrilo.com. [10] http://mumble.sourceforge.net. Other Internal Communication Avenues GOB / IB Both the GOB and IB require submissions in writing. The sense is that this is a more formal process than sending an email or a text message, or holding a conversation. Certainly more members will receive these publications than are on email lists, but it’s notable that the actual volume of members’ contributions is far lower. While this can have the positive effect of getting contributors to think more deeply about the issues, it does mean that those less literate or put off by long pieces of writing do not contribute, in what remains the primary official union communication media. Recommendations


1. That the Communications Committee look at ways to encourage contributions. 2. That the Members Shared Web have an online contact form for submissions.

Social networking – Internal

Obviously networking by individual members across the

organisation is vital for the free flow and generation of

ideas and initiative. When that networking is taking place

we have a healthy organisation. When it’s not we have an

organisation that relies on formal communication too

heavily to really fully realise ‘the wisdom of the crowds’

that is available to that organisation.

This is not to say that there are not substantial

communication barriers, and specific differences in set up,

be that in labour law or otherwise. What is key however is

that this communication goes on. Currently within the

IWW, apart from formal lists, and the possibility of some

networking by those who have chosen to strike up relationships, and the work the ODB has been engaged in,


“Appleseed is designed to be an

open source protocol and social

networking software which is

network of decentralized

autonomous nodes, with

sender-stores messaging (and

thus spam reduction and real

time verification of host

legitimacy). It's not another

"walled garden".

appleseedproject.org (primary

beta-test node)

There are:-

• photos

• Journal commenting has

nested, threaded. flat

and compact views

The mail client is much better

than the ones on Facebook and

Myspace. It allows for drafts

and tagging.

• Friends can be sorted

into circles (like

Categories)

It still needs a few things, most

notably a search mechanism, a

repair on groups, and an API

for third party applications.

Anyway, that's mostly about

features. The two really big

things about Appleseed already

work, that is a shared protocol

for social networking across

autonomous nodes, and a new

method of handling email

(sender stores)”

[Reposted, with edits, from a

ABC webforum]

there is little emphasis placed on this kind of networking. Naturally

members have taken matters into their own hands to some extent, but it

would be immensely valuable in leveraging our shared experience to try

and integrate informal communication and networking across our more

formal communication fora. Certainly social networking sites present

this kind of possibility.

One of the key barriers to utilising social networking sites in this way

however is that there are many closed protocols. It is necessary either to

maintain a wide variety of social networking websites or to only

communicate with those on your chosen social network. Add to this that

social networking websites tend to follow cultural classifications and

nationalities, and this picture, within an international union, open to

workers of all industries, makes matters more complicated.

To that end either the IWW should accomplish the impossible and create

its own bespoke open social network, or it should monitor developments

towards open social networking, while at the same time taking steps

necessary to help build and leverage a functioning eDemocracy.

Steps in the right direction would include collating more than members’

emails and addresses, but also their social networking pages and

information, and (where this is possible and agreed to) making this

available to other members at large.

While we cannot ensure that all members are going to be able to make

use of this information, due to the closed nature of the applications, we

can at the very least put this information to work for our members. At

present all member-to-member informal communication of this nature

(communication that is so essential to making our union work together,

quite literally) is done on an ad hoc basis, without the help or assistance

of the union through any formal structures.

Another area where this kind of internal social marketing is critical is in

leveraging the capacity of our members to market the IWW, through

their social networks.


Abstract: Economist Article – Technology and the campaigns / Flickring here, twittering there

Using social-networking tools, Ron Paul’s supporters generated a “money bomb”—$6m in one day, shattering the previous record. Huck’s Army, an online network of Mike Huckabee’s supporters, rallied 12,000 campaign volunteers. Both networks meant that Mr Paul and Mr Huckabee stayed in the race a lot longer than they might otherwise have done.

Mr Obama took it another step, raising more money—seen in real time—from the grassroots than any campaign ever. In June alone he raised a near-record $52m, of which $31m were donations of $200 or less. Arianna Huffington, co-founder of the Huffington Post, says that he has “succeeded in translating what was happening online to getting the vote out”. Mr Obama has 1.3m supporters on Facebook, a popular social-networking site; John McCain has only about 200,000 (see chart). The Democrat is using Twitter, a social-networking and micro-blogging

service featuring instant messaging (each answer, or “twit”, is limited to 140 characters). By signing up to Mr Obama’s twitters, the campaign at once signs up to yours.

This, says Mr Rasiej, proves that Mr Obama “understands the DNA of the internet”. Mr McCain frankly admits he doesn’t. But this may not matter, says Patrick Ruffini, who worked on George Bush’s 2004 run and is co-founder of The Next Right, an online hub for centre-right activism. “What matters a lot are the tactics he employs.” The Republicans are beginning to raise their game to compete with Mr Obama’s skill. Peter Daou, Hillary Clinton’s internet director, says that YouTube, even more than Facebook or MySpace, has had a huge impact on the campaign. Will.i.am’s ode to Mr Obama, “Yes we can”, has had nearly 9m views since it was uploaded six months ago; some 1.9m have watched the McCain Girls’“Raining McCain” over the past four months. Thousands of clips created by ordinary people have been uploaded, to be shared in blogs and often covered by traditional media too. Both nominees have their own YouTube channels. Mr Obama’s videos have had 52m views, Mr McCain’s 9.5m. Mr Obama’s entire 37-minute speech on race in America has been viewed 4.7m times on YouTube. But the inflamatory sermons of his former pastor, Jeremiah Wright, have also been seen by millions. YouTube is moderating a joint Democrat and Republican contest. Each party is asking YouTube users to submit two-minute clips explaining why they will support either Mr McCain or Mr Obama. The winner of each will receive a trip to their party’s convention. The conventions themselves are more “techie” than ever before. Twitter feeds, Facebook pages, MySpace profiles and Flickr, an online photo album, will be on offer as well as YouTube. Texting from mobile phones is also playing a role. Some 255m people have mobile phones in America, and about two-thirds of these, in almost every age group, use texts. On August 12th Mr Obama sent out an e-mail inviting supporters to sign up to receive an email or a text to be the first (or in the first few million) to know who he picks as his running mate. Much of Mr Obama’s support comes from members of the Millennials, the group of young people born roughly between 1978 and 1996. According to the New Politics Institute, the number of eligible Millennial voters will be close to 50m this year and about a third of all voters by 2016. About 90% of them are online, compared to 75% of all adults. Two-thirds of internet users under the age of 30 have a social-networking profile, and half of these use the sites to get information about politics or the campaigns. Older, and historically more reliable, voters still prefer to use TV and newspapers to keep up with politics. But about 40% of all Americans get their campaign news from the internet, according to the Pew Internet & American Life Project. Around 20% go online at least once a week to do something related to the campaign, and about 10% use social networks to get information or to become more involved. Technology has undoubtedly transformed the campaigns. It is still unclear what effect it will have on election day.


Social networking sites (context):

“Social networking sites can be a good way of reaching a new audience, although they’re no substitute for an actual website for most campaigns. Many political organizations and citizen activists have used them to great effect, however, and the major 2008 political campaigns have not been shy about social networking outreach. But first, what is a social networking site? They’re websites on which people and organizations set up profile pages with basic information about themselves and then link to other people’s pages — it’s that simple. Readers can browse profiles by searching by keyword or by following links from one person to another, and they can also leave comments behind as they go. Getting “friends” is as easy as going to a profile and requesting a link. You can also use social networking profiles as a mass communications tool by sending a message to all of your friends at once, or through setting up “groups” on some sites. MySpace and Facebook are the social networking sites most widely used in the U.S., with MySpace (originally a place to promote bands) starting out the more popular but with Facebook gaining steadily.

Setting up a MySpace page or a Facebook profile only takes a few minutes, and many advocacy organizations (and corporations) are using them. Social networking sites’ audiences still tend to be younger, so they’re particularly handy tools if you’re trying to reach high school/college students and recent graduates (though some newer social networking sites focus on more adult adults and senior citizens). MySpace pages also automatically include a blogging function, so they can be an easy way to get into blogging if you’re not ready to set up a standalone site.

Facebook offers a number of potentially powerful features for online advocates: for instance, it’s opened its system to allow outside programmers to create “Applications” for the site. Some advocacy groups have created their own Apps, while others are using ones created by vendors that plug into member-management systems. Also, individual Facebook users can create “Causes,” while groups can create “Fan Pages.”

Often, your MySpace page or other social networking profile will be simple “brochureware” — little more than an online business card and a chance to get your name in front of potential supporters. To get more out of it, try adding links to your individual campaigns (if you’re an advocacy group) or to more information about each of your issues. Always include a link to join your email list, a donate button wouldn’t hurt, either. Many MySpace sites are garish and assault readers with sound and flashing graphics (hello, late-90s Tripod and Geocities sites), so you’ll probably want to use pictures or other graphics to illustrate your links, but be sparing — having a “clean” site will actually help you stand out.”

[e.politics]

The Situation At Present

At present the IWW maintains a multiplicity of social networking resources. We have more of a presence on social networking sites as a union, than the UK public services union, UNISON. In terms of comrade Eric Lee’s challenge (“It is quite ironic that websites owned by the likes of Murdoch are wide open, examples of free-ranging discussion and debate, while the websites of the


trade union movement are closed, tightly regulated, censored and controlled.”), the IWW is ahead of the game.

However where we are failing is in allowing for a diverse range of media, but no central collation, no syndication strategy to speak of, and no real plan for leveraging our (quite profound) social network web presence for real power for the IWW.

To give an indication of the breadth of IWW presence on social networking sites, the following figures are taken from a cursory set of studies on the social networking sites Facebook, and Myspace. They are just a casual glance, and no doubt there is greater IWW presence in terms of campaign resources which we are running or maintaining in some form, and indeed sites which have been missed.

Facebook Groups:-

• IWW Wobblies [903 members]. This is the main facebook IWW group. The owner of the groups is Hooman Hedayati (of Texas).

• Friends of the Gainesville IWW [104 members]

• IWW Students [46 members]

• Lancaster Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) [37 members] • IWW Starbucks Workers Union [35 members] IWW Starbucks Workers Union (“business”) [130 fans]

• Santa Barbara IWW - Solidarity! [43 members]

• Industrial Workers of the World [8 members] • FM IWW [19 members] Myspace Sites:-

• http://www.myspace.com/wobblies - Wobblies has 3219 friends. • http://www.myspace.com/tacomaiww - Tacoma I.W.W. has 67 friends. • http://www.myspace.com/lancasteriww - lancasterIWW has 149 friends. • http://www.myspace.com/charlottewobblies - Charlotte Branch, IWW has 142 friends. • http://www.myspace.com/phoenixiww - phoenix iww has 514 friends. • http://www.myspace.com/eugeneiww - Eugene IWW has 113 friends.

• http://www.myspace.com/iwwarchivist - IWW Archives II has 302 friends.

• http://www.myspace.com/x326388 - IWW Archives has 1364 friends.

• http://www.myspace.com/pensacolawobbly - Pensacola IWW GMB has 41 friends.

• http://www.myspace.com/bayareaiwwgmb - Bay Area IWW GMB has 559 friends.

• http://www.myspace.com/melbourneiww - Melb IWW has 50 friends.

• http://www.myspace.com/twincitiesiww - Twin Cities IWW has 397 friends.

• http://www.myspace.com/seattleiww - Seattle IWW has 473 friends.

• http://www.myspace.com/providenceiww - Providence IWW has 359 friends. • http://www.myspace.com/gainesvilleiww - Gainesville IWW has 190 friends.


• http://www.myspace.com/shattuckunion - Shattuck Union I.W.W. has 352 friends.

• http://www.myspace.com/ccu - Chicago Couriers Union has 162 friends.

• http://www.myspace.com/starbucksunion - IWW STARBUCKS WORKERS UNION has 1353 friends.

Analyses

With all this social networking capacity the IWW can reach tens of thousands of people within a few hours. But this is only potential capacity, because no real cataloguing effort has been made and no systemic attempt to get ostensible social networking capacity to be in any way accountable to the union or our democratic structures has been made. Our position is one of looking at potential power for the our organization and what we are attempting to do, and literally throwing away the opportunity to exercise it.

Recommendations There are a large number of groups on a large number of social networking sites for IWW members and supporters to belong to, operated by GMBs, campaigns of the union, shopfronts, committees, and indeed just well intentioned supporters.

1. Immediate action should be taken to catalogue all available IWW social networks, groups and sites. This information, alongside the details of the moderators and owners of these sites should be made available to members and the General Administration as quickly as possible. This should be a process that takes no longer than several weeks to collate and report.

2. Action should be taken to communicate with site owners, to ascertain whether or not they are amenable to allowing their sites to be turned over to collective bodies of the IWW, whether that be the communications committee (See general recommendations), or a local branch.

3. A structure should be put in place for mass communication from the General Administration outwards, to allow for this untapped communication potential to be realised. This structure should be developed by the communications committee.

General Recommendations

1. A communications committee should be put in place. 2. This committee should investigate mechanisms for leveraging social networks. 3. This committee should keep abreast of technological developments. 4. This committee should be answerable to the General Administration, and subject to the committee guidelines within the MPP.

5. This committee should be appointed by the General Executive Board. 6. The communications Committee should formulate an overarching communications strategy. This should be developed under the scrutiny of the GEB, and report back before the end of the year.


Strategic debate and policy formation

At present the discussion and debate which happens on a daily basis within the IWW concerning the General Administration can be described as splenetic. There are daily melodrama which unfold. So-and-so has said X. Y Board member must resign, etc.

In a word, this is risible.

We cannot have meaningful debate around policy and the direction of the organisation if the moment members try to engage or share ideas, they are shot down. We also cannot formulate viable discussion when our main email list (the international list), is falling in subscriptions, while the union is actually in a period of rapid international growth. There is something wrong with this way of doing business.

It is also palpable that for a union, very little exchange and discussion is given over to the practical matters of organising. This surely should be the lifeblood of discussion. In our official communication it certainly is not.

Issues There are several reasons why this is the case. The first is that certain individuals wield disproportionate influence because discussions are not moderated, and they are able to post and disrupt discussion; the second is that on email lists it can be very difficult to follow the thread of the argument; the third is that the IWW is a relatively young organisation with relatively low levels of trade union experience, and many members have been drawn to the organisation through ideological affinity, rather than individual economic circumstance; the fourth is that many members hold views on organizational matters which are untested, and not subject to the reality of organizing, but that are deeply held organisational principles.

Positives

There are some positive organs of discussion within the IWW. The ‘For Workers Power’ column in the Industrial Worker, and Eric Lee’s column, both contribute to a regular discussion and debate.

The existence too of wobforum, provides some opportunities for moving forward, particularly given that it is now proximal to the international list in size.

Proposals:-

1. Wobforum is a better location for discussion and debate, as the thread of argument can be more easily followed and moderation is already firmly established. Efforts should focus on encouraging forum participation from as wide a cross section of the union as possible.

2. For Workers Power should be syndicated to wobforum for discussion. 3. Discursive articles should be syndicated to, or commissioned for wobforum.


Principles of Outreach

The following are recommended for establishment as common principles of all IWW outreach, in all external

communications, and are drawn from widely held precepts amongst the marketing and PR sciences.

Core Principles Of All External Communication Messages

Communicating: C.R.A.M. Before we do anything we must always (A) define 'the purpose.' Then we must (B) define 'the audience.' Then we must (C) define how we will get the audience to take the message we want them to (A, the purpose); that comes down more or less to a mapping exercise, or 'market research' if you like, and refining that message (D) by defining core messages, which will lead to our audience generally understanding our communications. Then we must (E) find a way of making the message sticky, so that it is not forgotten in the profusion of other messages that are available (including other union or political messages). As union activists we have a real tendency to draw conclusions based on our own practices or shared understandings, vocabularies, memes and so on, and to over-generalise these shared aspects and assume that others think the same way. The reality is that red and black is an unfortunate and 'scary' colour scheme, that the word 'radical' has negative connotations, and that we cannot assume that most people will not hold completely contradictory ideas at the same time, etc. ad nauseum. Beyond this our communications should generally try and encourage an action. Actions (however small) build buy-in for an idea. Those who have participated in something once, have more time for participation in future. In practice that means if you are running a website conduct polls, carry-out mailouts etc., produce user feedback etc. ad infinitem. Beyond this we should be thinking more or less constantly about constituency relationships. Just as a capitalist thinks, "This person has bought my product... What else can I encourage them to buy, or participate in, or donate? What else can I find out about them that will prove useful to me in doing this?" We need to be thinking, "This person signed my online petition about saving Grimsby Accident and Emergency Ward, what can I do to find out why they felt motivated to do that, what will they be motivated to do in future, how does this help me, how can I get them to do other things, what can they give me?" This is how people who are serious about organising for objectives do things. They use communications to get targeted messages to the people they want to hear them, they get those people to do things, and they build a ladder of engagement.


I'm sure others may come back on this at some point but there is the general mnemonic CRAM which covers this stuff, that marketing people are taught; it more or less applies to union communications as well. Connect with your audience. Reward your audience. Ask for an Action. Make it Memorable. Beyond this we need to review our communications and subject them to market research, trend based research, and we must try to refine our approach and make it more and more cost effective. Capitalists are motivated by return on investment, so they have transformed the 'art' of propoganda into the 'scientific' field of marketing by subjecting their communications and communications strategies to metaphysical and dialectical research. Our approach is stone age, and in no small part as a result our ideological and practical influence is highly marginal. In a period where communications systems are being more and more democratised at a lightning rate that will change by a bumbling causative materialism alone, but we could do with showing a lot more leadership on the question. Principles of Email Marketing.

1. Establish authenticity. Bogus action alerts -- such as the notorious "modem tax" alert -- travel just as fast as real ones. Don't give alerts a bad name. Include clear information about the sponsoring organization and provide the reader with several ways of tracing back to you -- e-mail address, postal address, URL, phone number, etc. Including this contact information makes sense anyway -- you want people to join your movement, and this means establishing contact with you. One way to establish authenticity is by appending a digital signature, presumably using PGP. Few people will check the signature, though, and many people will remove the signature when they forward your message to others. So there's no substitute for clearly explaining who you are and giving people a way to reach you.

2. Put a date on it. Paper mail and faxes get thrown away quickly, but action alerts can travel through the Internet forever. Even if an alert seems to have faded away, it can sleep in someone's mailbox for months or years and then suddenly get a new life as the mailbox's owner forwards it to a new set of lists. Do not count on the message header to convey the date (or anything else); people who forward Internet messages frequently strip off the header. Even better, give your recommended action a clearly stated time-out date, e.g., "Take this action until February 17, 1998". If you think there will be follow-up actions, or if you want to convey that this is part of an ongoing campaign, say so. That way, people will contact you or look out for your next alert.

3. Include clear beginning and ending markers. You can't prevent people from modifying your alert as they pass it along. Fortunately, at least in my experience, this only happens accidentally, as extra commentary accumulates at the top and bottom of the message as it gets forwarded. So put a bold row of dashes or something similar at the top and bottom so


extra stuff will look extra. That way it will be very clear what you and your credibility are standing behind.

4. Beware of second-hand alerts. Although it is uncommon for someone to modify the text of your alert, sometimes people will foolishly send out their own paraphrase of an alert, perhaps based on something they heard verbally. These second-hand alerts usually contain exaggerations and other factual inaccuracies, and as a result they can easily be used to discredit your alert. If you become aware of inaccurate variants of your alert, you should immediately notify relevant mailing lists of the existence of these second-hand alerts. Explain clearly what the facts are and aren't, implore the community not to propagate the misleading variants, and provide pointers to accurate information including a copy of your own alert. This action has two virtues: first, it may help to suppress the mistaken reports; and second, it positions you (accurately, I hope) as a responsible person who cares about the truth.

5. Think about whether you want the alert to propagate at all. If your alerts concern highly sensitive matters, for example the status of specifically named political prisoners, then you will probably want to know precisely who is getting your notices, and how, and in what context. If so, include a prominent notice forbidding the alert's recipients from forwarding it.

6. Make it self-contained. Don't presuppose that your readers will have any context beyond what they'll get on the news. Your alert will probably be read by people who have never heard of you or your cause. So define your terms, avoid references to previous messages on your mailing list, and provide lots of background, or at least some simple instructions for getting useful background materials. In fact, you might consider making the e-mailed alert relatively short and include the URL for a Web page that provides the full details. Your most important audience consists of people who are sympathetic to your cause and want to learn more about it before they can take action. Write your alert with that type of reader in mind, not the complete insider or the apathetic stranger.

7. Ask your reader to take a simple, clearly defined, rationally chosen action. For example, you might ask people to call their representatives and express a certain view on an issue. In this case, you should provide a way to find that representative's name and number, and explain how to conduct the conversation: what to say, how to answer certain likely questions, and so on. The purpose of such a script is not to impose your thinking but to help people to learn a skill that might otherwise be intimidating. Decide whether to ask for e-mail messages (which can be huge in number but near-zero in effect), written letters (which will be fewer but more effective), or phone calls (which fall in between). Consider other options as well: perhaps the sole purpose of your alert is to solicit contacts from a small number of committed activists, or to gather information, or to start a mailing list to organize further actions.

8. Make it easy to understand. It is crucial to begin with a good, clear headline that summarizes the issue and the recommended action. Use plain language, not jargon. Check your spelling. Use short sentences and simple grammar. Choose words that will be understood worldwide, not just in your own country or culture. Solicit comments on a draft before sending it out.

9. Get your facts straight! Your message will circle the earth, so double-check. Errors can be disastrous. Even a small mistake can make it easy for your opponents to dismiss your alerts -- and Internet alerts in general -- as "rumors". Once you do discover a mistake, it will be


impossible to issue a correction -- the correction will probably not get forwarded everyplace that the original message did.

10. Start a movement, not a panic. Do not say "forward this to everyone you know". Do not overstate. Do not plead. Do not say "Please Act NOW!!!". Do not rant about the urgency of telling everyone in the universe about your issue. You're not trying to address "everyone"; you're trying to address a targeted group of people who are inclined to care about the issue. And if the issue really is time-critical then just explain why, in sober language. Do not get obsessed with the immediate situation at hand. Your message may help avoid some short-term calamity, but it should also contribute to a much longer-term process of building a social movement. Maintaining a sense of that larger context will help you and your readers from becoming dispirited in the event that you lose the immediate battle.

11. Tell the whole story. Most people have never heard of your issue, and they need facts to evaluate it. Facts, facts, facts. For example, if you believe that someone has been unjustly convicted of a crime, don't just give one or two facts to support that view; most people will simply assume they are getting half the truth. If your opponents have circulated their own arguments, you'll need to rebut them, and if they have framed the facts in a misleading way then you'll need to explain what's misleading and why. On the other hand, you need to write concisely. Even if you are focused on the actions, good explanations count more. After all, one of the benefits of your action alert -- maybe the principal benefit -- is that it informs people about the issue. Even if they don't act today, your readers will be more aware of the issue in the future, provided that you don't insult their intelligence today.

12. Don't just preach to the converted. When you are very caught up in your cause, it is easy to send out a message in the language you use when discussing the issue with your fellow campaigners. Often this language is a shorthand that doesn't really explain anything to an outsider. If you really care about your issue, you'll take the time to find language that is suitable for a much broader audience. This can take practice.

13. Avoid polemics. Your readers should not have to feel they are being hectored to go along with something from the pure righteousness of it. Some people seem to associate non-polemical language with deference, as if they were being made to bow at the feet of the king. This is not so. You will not succeed unless you assume that your readers are reasonable people who are willing to act if they are provided with good reasons.

14. Make it easy to read. Use a simple, clear layout with lots of white space. Break up long paragraphs. Use bullets and section headings to avoid visual monotony. If your organization plans to send out action alerts regularly, use a distinctive design so that everyone can recognize your "brand name" instantly. Use only plain ASCII characters, which are the common denominator among Internet character sets. Just to make sure, do not use a MIME-compliant mail program to send the message; use a minimal program such as Berkeley mail. MIME is great, but not everybody uses it and you don't want your recipients getting distracted from your message by weird control codes. Format the message in 72 columns or even fewer; otherwise it is likely to get wrapped around or otherwise mutilated as people forward it around the net.

15. DO NOT use a chain-letter petition. A chain-letter petition is an action alert that includes a list of names at the end; it invites people to add their own name to the list, send in the petition if their name is the 30th or 60th etc, and in any case forward the resulting alert-plus-signature-list to everyone they know. This idea sounds great in the abstract, but it really doesn't work. The problem is that most of the signatures will never reach their destination,


since the chain will fizzle out before reaching the next multiple of 30 in length. What's even worse, a small proportion of the signatures will be received in the legislator's office many times, thus annoying the staff and persuading them that they're dealing with an incompetent movement that can never hold them accountable.

16. Urge people to inform you of their actions. If you are calling on people to telephone a legislator's office, for example, you should provide an e-mail address and invite them to send you a brief message. Explain that you'll use these messages to count the number of callers your alert has generated, and that this information will be invaluable when you speak with the legislator's staffers later on. Only do this, though, if your mail server is capable of handling 50,000 messages in a short period. You might want to check this out with your service provider beforehand.

17. Don't overdo it. Action alerts might become as unwelcome as direct-mail advertising. Postpone that day by picking your fights and including some useful, thought-provoking information in your alert message. If you're running a sustained campaign, set up your own list. Then send out a single message that calls for some action and include an advertisement for your new list. If you must send out multiple alerts on the same issue, make sure each one is easily distinguishable from the others and provides fresh, useful information. Above all, don't spam. Post your message only where it belongs. When in doubt, ask the maintainer of a given mailing list whether your alert is appropriate. And include a phrase like "post where appropriate" toward the beginning so that people aren't encouraged to send your alert to mailing lists where it doesn't belong.

18. Do a post-mortem. When the campaign is over, try to derive some lessons for others to use. Even if you're burned out, take a minute right away while the experience is still fresh in mind. What problems did you have? What mistakes did you make? What unexpected connections did you make? Who did you reach and why? Which mailing lists was your alert forwarded to, and which of these forwardings actually caused people to take action? Good guesses are useful too.

19. Don't mistake e-mail for organizing. An action alert is not an organization. If you want to build a lasting political movement, at some point you'll have to gather people together. The Internet is a useful tool for organizing, but it's just one tool and one medium among many that you will need, and you should evaluate it largely in terms of its contribution to larger organizing goals. Do the people you reach through Internet alerts move up into more active positions in your movement? Do you draw them into conferences, talk to them by phone, meet them in person, become accountable to them to provide specific information and answer questions? If not, why do you keep reaching out to them?

20. Encourage good practices. The Internet is a democratic medium that provides us all with the time and space to do the right thing. So let's use the Internet in a positive way and encourage others to do the same. You can help by passing these guidelines along to others who might benefit from them (including people who have sent out badly designed alerts), and refrain from propagating alerts that do not conform to them. Remember, forwarding a badly designed action alert actually harms the cause that it is supposed to support. Modeling thoughtful, constructive action on the Internet, however, provides everyone with a living example of democracy in action. [The above drawn from the 1994, The Network Observer, http://www.vcn.bc.ca/citizens-handbook/web_action_alerts/tno.html]


Online Publications

Syndication

One of the things the IWW does badly is syndication. Local sites are rarely used as the main sources of content for regional or national sites. It makes sense to draw information from the local sources.

The barriers to this include not having an accurate picture of what branch websites, blogs, campaign sites, and other sources exist.

Proposal:-

That the Communications Committee develops such a list.

Social bookmarking

1. There are numerous networking communities online that you can sign up for free. Submit to as many as possible. Do a search on Google for 'Social bookmarking sites' for the most popular with the highest traffic stats. 2. If it's within your budget, I highly encourage you to purchase a web script or software utility to put this process on auto-pilot. I use a Wordpress script called Auto Social Poster that will automatically submit each blog post I publish to around 30 Social networking sites - including all the most visited ones. 3. The Social sites usually link from your article title back to your site PLUS they put your link on pages on their site - determined by whichever keyword phrases you use when submitting. Ensure that you use popular search terms in your tags and article title. Hint: Choose three to four word(long-tail) keyword phrases to increase the likelihood of your Social Bookmark article ranking high on Google and the other top search engines. 4. Interact with other SB members. On either Technorati, Propeller, or Digg, I encourage you to take part in site functions, for instance commenting on member articles and adding friends. This will encourage them to do the same for you which will in turn raise your ranking and standing on the network in question. 5. Link to your social bookmark pages. If possible add links to your Social bookmark account to as many other sites as possible. You can also add your bookmark page to your article resource box - if article

marketing is a part of your internet marketing strategy(Not all article directories will allow this so check first). Creating a link back to your SB articles and pages will give the URLs on these pages a great boost in

search engine ranking and may even help you grab a much sought after top spot on Google or Yahoo.

[5 Effective Methods to Explode Your Traffic Using Social Network Sites; http://www.freeadvertz.com/blog/category/affiliate-marketing/]


Proposal:-

That the Communications Committee develops an appraisal of how far our web content is being used for social bookmarking, and develops a framework for improvement and optimisation.

RSS / Feeds

If we are to maximise the effect of our web presence we ought to try to encourage viewers of our website to subscribe to our websites in their news browsers, or to syndicate our content to elsewhere. This will encourage the spread of our influence.

Proposal:-

We should endeavour to maintain accurate records on how many subscribers there are to all of our RSS feeds internationally. This work should be conducted by the Communications Committee.

Social Media It stands to reason that with the popularity of sites like Youtube, we should be making more co-ordinated use of such resources.

Proposal:-

1. That the Communications Committee draw up a list of common social media sites to be distributed to organisers through the ODB, and BIROC Organising Department Working Group, with a view to ensure that their use becomes more or less routine.

2. That the Communications Committee conduct an annual appraisal of the feasibility of running an IWW youtube TV channel, or internet radio station.

Library At present iww.org maintains a wide variety of literature on the IWW. Throughout the organisation there is a wealth of pamphlets and literature. Not all of these are catalogued. Less still are online. Of those which are online, the majority are not indexed or searchable. To find them you need first to click through a range of documents. If compare the iww.org site, which is most vital on these terms because it is our collective shopfront, with good examples of library resources (the ultra-left/councilist website libcom.org for one), it does not exemplify navigability. If we want to have a library on the website, and indeed it may prove helpful to do so, this library should be a strong feature of the site. It may well also help with search engines. The experience of large and expansive sites is that people will search for their content and be drawn in to other aspects of the website, and indeed in this case other aspects of the organisation. Having strong features and strong linkage to other aspects of the website and the IWW optimises our conversion funnel.


[Libcom Features Sidebar, including articles]

[BBC Features Article Footer]

Recommendations [1] The BIROC has appointed a librarian/archivist to catalogue and collate all of our publications and materials. The union should consider creating a position or positions to carry out this work more generally across the international. [2] The iww.org Administration Committee should look into ways of presenting information held on the website in a more user-friendly way. [3] Where there is decent content it should be made a feature, as in the examples below

Part II – Discussing the following:-

• Periodicals

• Mailouts

• Internet

• Bespoke software

• TV

• Film

• Radio

• Framework for debate and discussion / Fora for the exercise of democracy

• Technical Team

• Conferencing and administration

• Ballots

• Permissions

• Vision

• Strategic Dissemination

Part II of the Comms Review will investigate the above areas, and will report before the next scheduled BIROC conference.

“the single biggest problem in communication is the ... · heather gardner's draft motion...

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