[sudo-discuss] [BAPS-Organizing] Re: [omni-discuss] Replacing the term "bottom-liner" with..?

Fri Jan 16 13:59:41 PST 2015

Oh, I also wanted to share the list of responsibilities for those
stewarding events that we put together awhile ago. Y'all should feel free
to add things you think are missing:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1fsm4dn4NHRl8D9mYYKDQAhF-IHMsOjRM-MVnnH_lXUk/edit

xo

On Fri, Jan 16, 2015 at 1:54 PM, niki <niki.shelley at gmail.com> wrote:

> Anca,
>
> Thanks for putting together that list. I agree it would be *wonderful if
> the work of organizing / facilitating / administering events was shared
> among several people rather than the responsibility of just one person.
>
> Unfortunately, there are only a couple of people who are currently doing
> this work for the multiple event requests that come in daily. So it's
> actually about 4 or 5 people doing all of that work for literally dozens of
> events weekly.
>
> We could certainly use more help with this - whether it's taking on the
> organizing work for an event or two to revising the process for how we
> distribute this work / encourage people to participate in it.
>
> <3
>
> N
>
> On Thu, Jan 15, 2015 at 6:22 PM, Anca Mosoiu <anca at techliminal.com> wrote:
>
>> Is there a specific list of tasks/responsibilities that the
>> "bottom-liner" has to do?
>>
>> Matt's list of terms suggest a number of different, specific
>> responsibilities that a person with that title might have.  Semantics are
>> important here.
>>
>> Here's a (partial) list of many of the things that are done as part of an
>> event. I like to split them along content-oriented tasks, and
>> organizational tasks.
>>
>> *Content Tasks:*
>> * Come up with an event name, descriptive text, pictures for putting on
>> the website and on social media
>> * Create workshop, or presentation, or performance for the event
>> * Facilitate / teach / perform at the event
>>
>> *Organizational/Administrative/Marketing/Financial Tasks:*
>> * Make sure the event doesn't conflict with other events in the space at
>> that time
>> * Post the event on the website
>> * Create event registration webpage if needed
>> * Post the event on social media sites.  Promote the event.
>> * Secure sponsorships for events
>> * Create flyers and collateral for promoting the event
>> * Keep a list of contact information for all people participating in the
>> event
>> * Keep people informed of ongoing changes or things they need to do to
>> get ready
>> * Confirm that the event is still happening X days before the event (so
>> we can clear out the calendar if not)
>> * Buy / provide food and drink for event
>> * Make sure the space is ready at the right time, including unlocking
>> doors if needed
>> * Make sure all needed equipment is available and in working order
>> * Direct people to the event in the space
>> * Help set up for the event
>> * Clean up after the event.  Lock up the space if necessary.
>> * Collect payment or donations for use of the space
>> * Send payments to performers or event partners
>>
>> What are some of the other things?
>>
>> If people don't feel comfortable with the explicit or implicit list of
>> responsibilities associated with being a bottom-liner, we can re-define
>> them.  As well as the term.
>>
>> Cheers,
>>
>> Anca.
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> On Thu, Jan 15, 2015 at 5:32 PM, Matthew Senate <mattsenate at gmail.com>
>> wrote:
>>
>>> some more hopefully-less-hierarchical-terms:
>>>
>>> * responsibili-buddy
>>> * point-of-contact
>>> * liaison
>>> * ambassador
>>> * confidant
>>> * advocate
>>> * messenger
>>> * intermediary
>>> * connection
>>> * fixer
>>> * agent
>>> * emissary
>>> * promoter
>>> * producer
>>>
>>> Perhaps "producer" is subtly honest, "responsibili-buddy" is most fun to
>>> pronounce, and "coordinator" is the closest practical analog to the current
>>> "bottom-liner"?
>>>
>>> // Matt
>>>
>>> p.s. "Advocate" goes in a totally different direction, maybe worth some
>>> consideration...
>>>
>>>
>>> On Wed, Jan 14, 2015 at 11:06 AM, niki <niki.shelley at gmail.com> wrote:
>>>
>>>> I don't know who you are, Ed Rippy, but I can't wait to meet you IRL!
>>>>
>>>> Love these thoughts and hope we can expand on them / work to develop
>>>> actionable solutions / experiments.
>>>>
>>>> <3
>>>>
>>>> Niki
>>>>
>>>> On Mon, Jan 12, 2015 at 11:06 PM, Ed Rippy <ed.rippy at mindspring.com>
>>>> wrote:
>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> On 01/11/2015 10:17 PM, Michael Nicoloff wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>>> I know on the BAPS side of things there's been on-and-off problems
>>>>>> with finding enough people to bottom-line classes, and that often the
>>>>>> duties of bottom-lining have unevenly fallen on a few key people, so that
>>>>>> even if the name bottom-liner hasn't struck me as a problem, the organizing
>>>>>> practice has at times felt built on shaky ground. What in theory is a
>>>>>> non-coercive, equal, from-each-to-each kind of horizontalism becomes not so
>>>>>> much that in practice, with responsibility (and power)
>>>>>> concentrating/burdening a small number of folks.
>>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> -- This always happens. Democracy is a great ideal, & it wd be even
>>>>> greater if our fundamental equality as human beans translated into equality
>>>>> of work output. It doesn't for a lot of reasons. This is the toughest part
>>>>> of the whole process.
>>>>>
>>>>>    The only way to reduce this problem is for more people to step up.
>>>>> This is very tough, because pretty much all of us are overextended anyway,
>>>>> but it's still crucial. We all grow up in a society where just about
>>>>> everything happens because someone gets paid to bottomline it. If we want
>>>>> to create an alternative we need to deprogram ourselves & realize that
>>>>> there ain't no-one else to do it. Many of us are also programmed to feel
>>>>> that we aren't good enough and can't be 'leaders.' This is what we have to
>>>>> transform if sudo room or omni is gonna survive. Unfortunately I can't
>>>>> offer a whole lot myself, but I'll think of something. One thing I've
>>>>> learned is that little things add up.
>>>>>
>>>>>    We need to know ea. other & trust ea. other if we're really going
>>>>> to work together. And we need to believe that our efforts will actually pay
>>>>> off -- that they'll be well received & help create some great experience.
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>> So I feel like lurking under concerns about the name are questions of
>>>>>> organization, of how to ensure a horizontalism not just in name but also in
>>>>>> reality, and so it seems like any discussion of renaming the bottom-liner
>>>>>> task is also going to have to take a real look at our practices as
>>>>>> collectives. Maybe I'm getting a little far afield here, but it seems like
>>>>>> pulling on the thread of what to call what we're calling a bottom-liner
>>>>>> pulls a lot of other issues with it.
>>>>>>
>>>>> -- Me 2. The term "bottom-liner" has gotten pretty traditional, & I
>>>>> can't think of any great alternatives. "Project Manager?" Gack. We can
>>>>> change the name if we like, but IMO it's more important to talk about what
>>>>> the bottlenecks are & how we can be creative working together so more
>>>>> people feel like getting involved. I'm a newb here so I don't know the
>>>>> issues/specifics, but I've been an activist long enough to know the
>>>>> pattern. We need to hack our mindsets so that we all see a little bit of
>>>>> organizing/bottomlining here & there as part of a fun life.
>>>>>
>>>>> Cheers,
>>>>> Ed Rippy
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>>> sudo-discuss mailing list
>>>>> sudo-discuss at lists.sudoroom.org
>>>>> https://lists.sudoroom.org/listinfo/sudo-discuss
>>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
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>>>
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>>
>>
>> --
>> -=-=-=-
>> Anca Mosoiu | Tech Liminal
>> anca at techliminal.com
>> M: (510) 220-6660
>> http://techliminal.com | T: @techliminal | F: facebook.com/techliminal
>>
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>
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