• report of the meeting, inputs and decisions taken at the Dhaka IC

last modified December 14, 2011 by jnardi

REPORT FROM THE IC MEETING AND COMMUNICATION COMMISSION

DHAKA, BANGLADESH - 23/25 NOV. 2011

Despite the fact that this IC meeting was attended by a small number of IC members (around 40) and that the agenda was not organized in order to allow both commission's work and a real intercommission meeting, we did potentially advance in a series of areas.

The Communication commission members present could meet only one hour during lunch time and there was no real intercommission time during the days of the meeting, though announced. 

In reporting back to the IC, we pointed out the following:

The Communication commission intends to work with all IC Commissions, members, organizing committees and in particular with the WSF2013 Org. Committee, to advance in the WSF process for 2012 and towards the WSF2013.  

In particular through cross participation, It intends to cooperate and contribute to the wsf12 process working group that will be started after the Dhaka meeting.

In preparation for this IC meeting, a document has been drafted (by Mallory Knodel of Mayfirst and Thais Chita of the WSF Office) and been through a first review in the Commission, as suggested guidelines for the WSF 2013 event.  

The working document has been sent in English and Spanish and is open to comments and integrations.  The Commission intends also to generalize it  after a consensus is reached on its content, as a reference for the WSF Guidelines and Principle document being drafted by the Methodology commission.


In this document, a number of issues are considered, with suggestions for each:

(*some added issues have been proposed as outline for  the document )

- Creating a collective process for WSF 2013, inclusive and open to the participation from IC members 

- Mitigating gaps on communication

- Regular coordination mechanisms

- Communication for internal organization

- Cultural Action as methodology of communication

- Communication for mobilisation

- Communication for participation

_ * Mobilization for communication

- Language access

- * Role of event website in the build-up of the wsf 2013

- Forum activities *Self Documentation 

- Documentation and media

- Media Center

In addition to this contribution, a draft working document on interpretation has been circulated by Judith  (it can also be related to the Guiding Principles for Organising Events).  The issue of interpretation modified version will be sent in the coming separately.

A working document is proposed by Pierre to review in the Communication and in Methodology commissions on functionalities for the event website (can also be related to the Guiding Principles for Organising Events) 

One of the aspects to be stressed - as a weaknesses in the preparation of most Forums - is that of live Memory, documentation and collection of results of the Forum event.  We therefore recommend that the WSF 2013 OC consider the creation of a Documentation (sub)committee to focus on the practical aspects.

Moreover, the Comm. commission stresses the importance of including the Extended Forum activity in the program, integrated in the registration of activities, the logistics of the forum and the communication of the program [An assessment of the Extended Forum logistics and activities in the last editions can also help make it more clear for the IC process and events]. 

As suggested in Paris, the Com. commission strongly requests that Arabic become the 5th official language of the forum, thus including it in websites and all official documentation.  The IC approved it in the plenary session.

A call to communication networks and collectives as well as free software communities should be made by the IC and its commissions, particularly the communication commission and the WSF Office through the WSF newsletter and WSF related websites, in order to « mobilize to communicate » inside and around the WSF universe, which means to make a international agreement to join efforts for building a common social network (text by Rita has been read and sent to the WSF office/Helio-- to be included)

As 13 of the 40 people attending were speakers of Arabic, and given the importance of the Magreb-Mashrek region in future events, an impromptu booth for Arabic was setup using a spider.  We had already proposed in Paris that Arabic become an official WSF language ; this has now been accepted by the IC.

The WSF 2013 Organising committee representatives announced the intention to include the wsf 2013 website as part of the institutional website of the forum and to work on it together in an open and collaborative way - as well as to include a social network functionality, collaborative software and the participants registration system.  The proposal was welcomed by the IC and the Communication commission suggests to work with the WSF 2013 and other commissions of the IC (in particular with the methodology one) on the total renewal of the WSF institutional website, transforming it in a portal that also hosts the WSF event.  

The Commission also welcomes the idea of “thematic experience exchange spaces about organizing events”  put forward into methodology commission and which may be explored in the WSF12 process working group, taking into account the work done on thematic axes by the strategy commission. It can be  a way to facilitate cooperation between commissions and event organizers on a series of general issues  (relations with media, website, interpretation, agglutination, extension, mobilization ) 

The South Asia Social Forum was a successful event with a motivated team also for media and communication, the inclusion of a some of some in the communication commission has been proposed and accepted.

Finally, the communication commission requests a review of the terms of reference of the functions related to communication by the Wsf office 

Jason, Judith, Pierre, Rita and Hamouda for the Communication commission