Loomio
Sun 6 Jul 2014 11:52AM

Gaining support of our previous members

BV Ben Vidulich Public Seen by 37

We have ~240 people who have previously indicated their interest (were financial members in some cases) in NZ Pirate Party.

I propose that I get in touch with them and admit that the party's previous membership records were not up to scratch. I will tell them that if they wish to continue to support PPNZ they will need to re-sign and send the physical membership form, along with the $2 version of the membership fee. Any contacts that don't wish to be contacted again will be removed from the contact list.

If we can formulate a suitable discussion from the "new board members" discussion then I will include this in the email I send to these members.

In the sake of transparency (I am also the transparency officer after all), please note this discussion is public.

HM

Hubat McJuhes Sun 6 Jul 2014 9:38PM

That sounds like a good move to me. Thank you @benvidulich for this initiative.

PC

Peter Cummuskey Tue 12 Aug 2014 8:33PM

Has any progress been made on this?

HM

Hubat McJuhes Tue 12 Aug 2014 10:11PM

@petercummuskey I think @benvidulich has put this suggestion up at a time when some still had hope that there would be an operational board, that could do some significant work until the general elections. This 'internal membership drive' would then have been in preparation of the new board election late September.

I am not sure if Ben was/is thinking the same; but since it became apparent that a new board had to be elected ASAP, it makes more sense to me to
- first have the new board outline a convincing new strategy
- then trying to convince the formerly interested ex-members that it is actually worth engaging another time. You probably have only one chance to try.

Then there is the awkward situation that Ben as the membership officer is currently 'only' appointed, rather than elected by the membership; and the board that had him appointed wasn't able to mandate this action properly. As he is dealing with sensitive personal data, that might have not been feeling appropriate to him (which I think proves his qualification).

BV

Ben Vidulich Wed 13 Aug 2014 8:22AM

There has not been progress. For a start, I do not believe this idea has had enough thought and discussion.

Doing this during during board elections certainly isn't appropriate. It makes sense to get a stable, functional board before approaching the (old) membership.

I disagree with your comment, @hubatmcjuhes, in regards to my title. I was officially appointed - see here: http://pirateparty.org.nz/wiki/Board_Meeting_Minutes_19_September_2013. Having a position that is appointed by the board is perfectly acceptable under the current constitution.

My hesitancy isn't because the board haven't signed off on it, or because I'm "only" an appointed officer, it's because I suspect that many of the members have not kept in touch because of the actions and inactions of our past board members. We will need to prove to the members that it's worth them renewing their membership. To prove our worthiness, I believe we will need a stable, committed board and a clear mission statement about what we're trying to achieve. We would also need to maintain communication with the members - not force participation but at least make members feel included in party activities if they want to be.

HM

Hubat McJuhes Mon 8 Sep 2014 9:39PM

The matter of an internal membership drive has been discussed at the last board meeting without any definite decisions by now. Agreement could be seen in striving for an internal membership drive about two weeks after he general elections. Some requirements will need to be put in place by that time to make it a success. These will be a matter of ongoing discussions.
We intend to strive for a three years membership period with a membership fee of $2. This is, for obvious reasons, only possible with a strong encouragement for additional donations.
The membership drive is on the agenda for the next public board meeting at the 11th of Sept at 7pm on the parties IRC channel.

HM

Hubat McJuhes Fri 19 Sep 2014 12:18AM

I have recognised that on the membership form there is an option to ask for being contacted by an orientation officer.

I am not aware of such an office and anyone bearing it. But it could be an idea to contact all those, who have ticked this, individually before we send out the mass mail.

@benvidulich, can you easily figure out how many actually have ticked that box?

BV

Ben Vidulich Fri 19 Sep 2014 1:57AM

Not easily. I can see the information by going into individual membership details, but not as a summary of people that ticked the box.

HM

Hubat McJuhes Fri 19 Sep 2014 2:18AM

Bugger.

Can the back-end database be accessed and queried directly via SQL?

AR

Andrew Reitemeyer Fri 19 Sep 2014 9:58PM

The Orientation Officer is Strypey. It was created before he went on his 1 year without the internet.