Phoenix

• to remove/minimise duplication of effort
• to make more people aware of topics/projects that are being proposed
• enlist more interested people in to the topics/projects
• a central storage of projects that have been done/started
• a central reference of peoples perspectives.    

What is Phoenix?

• It is an information disseminator (the workshop/brain-storming is done in the participating discussion groups)
• It is a 'moderator only' posting group i.e. subscribers can not post to it.
• It is an open group i.e. anyone can subscribe to it.

Objectives

• to implement democratic systems in to society
• to give guidance to communities aspiring to democratic government
• to be a 'one-stop shopping center' for Democracy.
• to investigate any aspect of society
• to show perspectives

Function. 

It is

• an information disseminator
• a problem solver by enlisting the many advocates in to a common pool in order to find solutions
• a link between the many isolated email groups
• the prime objective is to identify what we can do to resolve the problems.
• develop ways to get the message across TO the public

It is not

• a 'chat-shop', there are other groups for that

• a dump for 'spammed' emails, the moderator is entitled to put the sender on 'approve all messages' if a sender persists.

• a newsgroup

• the intention to find THE solution, that is the public decision

Organisational structure.

It is structured the same as a business i.e. each department being independent but interacting with the others according to their group remit.

Operation.

1. 3 email groups, one for each operation, all members should enroll in each group, even if they do not participate they should be aware of what is happening in each of the other groups.
   The purpose of the groups is to receive reports from project list owners/discussion groups/team leaders to encourage interest from other members and to prompt ideas/solutions, the reports would be passed on to each member.
   Contact with the project should be made through the 'subscribe' or 'Moderator/Contact' (see Production ).
   
2. A. Requirements of participating Discussion groups
       Topic. That can be the function of the group i.e.
           a. NPS, CRL, EDD, etc.or
           b. an aspect of it such as a
               b1. constitution etc
               b2. a paper
               b3. your choice 
       Duration of input two weeks 
       Discussion - none. Competing views should be submitted as a separate viewpoint so that the flow does not get bogged-down.  
       Moderator to put all postings 'on approval' to eliminate other-topics/challenged-postings for the duration.
       Moderator/owner/other to list all comments/views in a report.
       Open membership
   
3. Procedure  
       Decide topic.
       Decide start date giving adequate notice (one month).
       Post topic and start date to me for discussion on which category it fits in.
       Notify discussion group one week in advance of starting, repeat at one day. 
       At end of period the moderator/owner/other to post report to Phoenix Group.  
   Note. A topic can be restarted at a later date, restarting from the final document of the previous period.
   
4. The listed Functions are examples of the category types, the topic/projects would be suggested by a member who would enlist supporters from the membership.
       a) if the project membership was small, the discussion would be carried out by exchange of emails.
       b) if the project expanded it may be more beneficial to start another email group or to use an existing one dedicated to that objective (group 'owner' responsible for project discussion See Discussion Tips).
       c) the list owner/moderator/team-leader to submit a Report to the parent group i.e. Production/Admin/Sales.
       d) Projects to be self-funding or self-sourcing of funds.
       e) number of projects limited only by the capabilities of the membership to support them.
       f) if  'System' encountered a 'Admin' or 'Sales' problem, they could pass it to that group who would have the choice of setting up a project or having one or more of their team join 'System' to resolve the problem.
       g) The length of time a topic/project is open is two weeks, but the group can restart it again later if required.

Membership.

1. Open membership.

Topics/Projects.

The scope of topics/projects is limited by the imagination and support of other members, they may include

1. 'Adopting' potential candidates/organisations/communities on an advisory basis.
2. Promotion, and development of, existing systems.
3. Designing new systems for a perceived, or requested requirement.
4. Any issue of public concern.

The first operation of a group should be to fill in a project form to identify the pro's and con's of the topic/project to identify which areas need attention. A perfect anything does not exist, so we should not be 'selling' systems, or advice, that self-destruct two days after the 'guarantee' runs out.
'Buyer beware' should not be our remit, the 'buyer' should be informed, and advised on the bench-marks with which to judge progress, this may include items such as the 'buyers' existing constitution etc.

Discussion Tips

• List Owner/Team Leader should take notes of relevant points
• Do not allow members get involved in what could be protracted debates on topics.
• Do not argue the point raised by a critic, note it and add your explanation, it may be a point shared by 75% of the population and it will aid your cause to see that the point has been addressed.

Decisions

It is not for us to make decisions, that is the publics remit, ours should be to find the best way to present a balanced view to them, and without presuming any conclusion, the public will need a means of registering their approval/disapproval to the current powers.

Comments to Bernard Clayson

PHOENIX    PRODUCTION   ADMIN     SALES