Toronto Photography Meetup Group

What: TPMG Brainstorming Meeting / Town Hall
When: Tuesday February 28th 2012 - CANCELLED
Time: 7:00pm
Where: 651 Dufferin Street (Workman Arts Entrance)

This meeting is to have a positive discussion on the future of TPMG, and the direction that we want to take the group in. We will discuss the issues, and then bring forward to the entire membership for voting.

THIS MEETING WILL BE RESCHEDULED WHEN I RETURN FROM WHITEHORSE

I hate to say it now that I have gone and scheduled this - I may need to change dates again. I am going to see if I can work out my schedule, but I may now have a conflict with this date. This is a really bad time of year for me to schedule things. But I am still willing to host the meeting.

Yeah. The 28th doesn't work for me.

I am flexible on the date - so feel free to provide some alternatives.

J.

OK. I haven't had a chance to do more schedule investigation - will do so over the next 24 hours.

This is the result of the 2 page date thread feeler-event including agenda? If so, it would probably be beneficial to edit the top post to include that agenda here.

Also, from the title it sounds like the agenda has become a bit more open, sorry for being pedantic, but perhaps it could be elucidated the agenda items vs. / plus brainstorming other future direction ideas?

Also, generally these meetings benefit from a slightly undemocratic approach, i.e. there is a leader or moderator to whom attendants will defer?

Again, thank you David for providing space for TPMG meetings.

Guys, I need to reschedule this to Mid-March. I have run out of time, as I fly to Whitehorse on March 2nd, and right now I am eating, breathing, and thinking about the Arctic Winter Games. TPMG is unfortunately not my priority right now. Its not going anywhere right now, can we please reschedule this? I will propose some new dates, and repost tomorrow.

thanks,

David

This is pretty friggin' lame.

organizers dont get paid to do this, and they need to put food on the table just like everyone else. Whatever time they can donate to TPMG should be appreciated. I have the utmost respect for all the organizers here as I am too selfish to volunteer for anything.

Perhaps because so many people have signed up and blocked off time David could use one of the other moderators as his representative/stand-in? I'm sure if we all put our heads together we can find a centrally located space to hold the meeting on the 28th.

Believe me, I get that.

But there are allegedly more moderators than just David.
There are also other willing members here trying to keep things going.
The fact that so much time and energy, fighting, and bickering have been put into this, it is absurdly frustrating for it to just go up in smoke.
This especially should not hang on the head of one active moderator.

If they dont speak up then we just have to assume they have good reasons not to, but I for one think David should at least be involved in the discussion given his seniority and history with TPMG. Some of the issues did not happen overnight, dont you want to know how they evolved over the years?

We also assumed that due diligence was done when things were handed over.
Assuming never works.

Negative: It's just another sign that we need a bit more structure and cohesiveness from our admin/mod team.

Positive: Nothing is breaking down, nothing is blowing up; If Rhommel/David et al are ok with keeping things in limbo for a little while longer, its not the end of the world. When David returns I am PLEADING for him and the other moderators to agree on one date where all of them are able to attend, set that date in stone and give everyone who cares enough time to make room for that date in their calendars.

Rescheduling the meeting is unfortunate, but as stated we are volunteers and other needs or our jobs, family or life do sometimes take priority.

It is not something in this case that can just be handed over to another mod/organizer such as a social or an event to run. Due to the nature of this meeting it is best if all mods/organizers can be present for this meeting. So since David has the most seniority and is providing us with the venue it is best to decide on a new date and meet to discuss where things are going.

It is only a few more weeks away, so not a long wait. I do understand the frustration that could be felt, but a little patience for a bit longer is all that is needed.

Maureen

Sorry folks, I will reschedule this when I return from Whitehorse. I am back on the 12th of March.

Also important to note to spend most time and energy on where to go on the future and not rehashing the past.

The thing is, TPMG is breaking down. I have noticed that there is less activity on the forum lately and almost no events have been posted this year and only one is currently planned. The regular contributors are disappearing and while some new contributors are becoming regulars, there are less of them. And some could argue that the quality of the posts has deteriorated and that the tone of the site has become nastier.

I used to log on and find a page or even two of new posts. Now I can often log on and find only a few new posts. It is not unusual to come to the page to log in and find that there is not one other member on the site. Others have called out that the socials that used to be among the best attended events are struggling to fill a table. And the events in general are not drawing a lot of members, although there is the occasional one that still seems to bring them out it is a rare thing.

You are correct that it isn't blowing up. It is more insidious, more slow, silently fading away. I saw the Toronto Meet In group die the same way. Not with a bang, not even with a whimper. Just dead. A delay of a month* may seem too bad, but continuing to delay isn't going to make it better. It may allow things to get worse through. It may already be too late.

DG
* David is not back till the middle of March then he has to find a date and set it up - likely won't be till the end of March now.

While I agree that having the moderators present for the meeting is important I have noticed that only three of the six moderators/administrator had signed up for this event. Since David has stated that the moderators had been having discussions behind the scenes I was wondering if all the moderators have agreed to attend the meeting?

DG

And I agree with Donald, we will need a chair for this meeting. But it will need to be someone who can act in a neutral manner to control the meeting, timing and limit discussion when necessary, particularly when the discussion begins to circle. All participants will have to accept the authority of the person in the Chair role. As such the person who takes on the role will have to accept they will not be able to participate in the discussion and so will not be able to add their own opinion. This will be hard as I think everyone who is coming will want to participate and provide their feedback,ideas and suggestions. And the Chair will have to set some basic rules at the start to keep the meeting organized (lets not hear any suggestions of adopting Robert's Rules or we will spend the entire night arguing points of order ).

DG

And no robocalls about venue changes!

This forum hits a rut this time of year when people's honeymoons are over with their christmas presents. Things will be back to normal when the weather gets nicer. I do agree that there are a lot of stupid posts these days though.

How about invite the Executive Members of The Toronto Debating Society to chair this meeting? For sure they have no problem to take on the chair role (non partisan) and know exactly what they are doing. That way, all TPMG members can participate in the discussion. Their meeting place, The Swansea Town Hall, could be a good location to hold our meeting; free parking. Link to the website below:
http://www.debating.ca/index.php/about/contact/

When the weather gets nicer I have no plans on visiting TPMG.