Agenda 05-31-05
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Taken from Email,
Subject: Reminder: news group meeting tonight, Tuesday, 6:30 pm! Includes "Reflection"
6:30-6:55 pm. SEGMENT PRODUCERS CHECK-IN. Segment producers who wish to show footage finished so far should do so! Semi-finished pieces should be shown and critiqued. We should give "3 strengths, 3 weaknesses" feedback. Remember: the goal is to bring the story-telling & journalistic quality of every story up, so that all segments surpass even the best of our first show. Please be constructive, not nasty. (Note: because of the Reflection, we'll try to keep this unusually brief tonight.)
6:55-7:00 pm. Thoughts regarding next show's "branding"? (Very brief this week; can be continued.)
7:00-7:05 pm. Set date and agenda for next meeting* and recapitulate "action points" if any. (Very brief tonight, please.)
7:05-8:00 pm. Official CCTV "Reflection." Jennifer will put on her official CCTV hat and lead an official CCTV "Reflection" as a concomittant of our heavy usage of CCTV resources.
- Notes and suggestions from Ken regarding agendas, to stimulate discussion and maybe even speed it along:
(1) DATES: people at previous meeting seemd to favor Tuesdays as a meeting night for June. However, (a) not very many people were present at that moment, and (b) I also note that Wednesdays worked for previous non-Monday meetings. Let's discuss briefly and decide quickly. Please bring your calendar.
(2) AGENDAS, IN GENERAL: I think all agendas should be "timed," that is, should have specific time slots for each agenda item. (Yes, doh, it's obvious and yes, I think we should actually stick to it from now on.) However, it is difficult to know when to schedule what, since some people come late and others leave early. Let's discuss.
(3) FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS IN PARTICULAR:
(3.a) I think our agenda should always include a SEGMENT PRODUCERS CHECK-IN, of course, since the segments are the crux of the show. But at what time, and how detailed? One possible way is to do a quick talk-only check-in at the beginning of the meeting, and then return later with full showings of footage plus critiques and discussion. If we show footage towards the end of the "official" meeting time, then people could easily stay after and continue discussing and editing.
Other structuring ideas are welcome. Let's discuss.
(3.b) Should we do Journalism MINI-LESSONS or Mini-Seminars at each meeting? For example, 20 minutes of self-training from, say, 7:00-7:20 pm? At our previous meeting, people thought it was a good idea, but particulars were deferred. If in favor, should we pick a topic for next week, or should we defer discussion until we can schedule enough time to do justice to the issue?
(3.c) ADMIN: We have to decide how democratic to be at various levels, including how EXACTLY to divide roles and responsibilities, and who should take them. [This may require a long discussion at a future meeting, but we might touch on it anyway.]
For example, there currently is an "Exec Producer" position, but do we really need one? Or should the roles of "Liaison Czar" and "Exec Producer" be combined? Either way, what should (and shouldn't) the person do?
I'll observe that a substantial problem arises when there is "diffusion of responsibility" (to borrow the term from my Social Psychology background). If several people (or even 2) have overlapping responsibilities, then it's not clear who should actually get things done, and either things don't get done properly or friction arises. The loose nature of our confederation tends to exacerbate this. One possible solution might be to tighten our structure; another might be to be very specific on who exactly should do what by when. Any other good ideas?
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