🚀 go-pugleaf

The following message has been sent to the steering committee of the
Chapter Confederation Conference for EFF:

Dear Steering Committee,
 
    Thank you for the invitation to the proposed Chapter
Conference. As the only local chapter of the Electronic
Frontier Foundation, we look forward to participating and
helping to define the role of chapters in EFF's future. When
we originally negotiated with EFF in regards to our chapter
status, Mitch Kapor made it clear to us that we should view
ourselves as the "model" to which future chapters can turn
when structuring their organizations. We feel that we have
accomplished a great deal since our group's inception, and
have overcome a variety of hurdles, organizational and
otherwise. We hope our experiences will serve as valuable
guidance for others who share our vision of helping to
civilize cyberspace under the EFF banner.
 
    It was against this backdrop that we offered to assist
with the logistics of the conference by hosting it here in
Austin. We felt that it would be a great chance for delegates
from potential chapter cities and representatives of our
parent organization to see what we have accomplished locally.
It would also be a great chance for Austin's active community
of EFF supporters. They have been putting countless hours into
building this chapter, and would be thrilled to do whatever
they could to help host a conference composed of people like
themselves from all over the country. In fact, the idea of
offering Austin as a meeting site really blossomed during an
open discussion at our November membership meeting. Our
members were enthusiastic about the idea, and are still
patiently awaiting the steering committee's response to the
offer.
 
    The representatives of our organization who were taking
part in the "thesegroups" mailing list discussion were
therefore surprised, hurt, and, in some cases, angry that our
proposal was rejected so brusquely. We were all bewildered
that members of the steering committee would imply that we
were wrangling for some sort of undue influence over the
proceedings.  We were shocked that others from the committee
felt that having to contend with EFF-Austin members would make
holding the meeting in Austin a bad idea. And we were
perplexed at the idea of wanting to hold the meeting in a
"neutral" location. "Neutral from what?" we wondered. From
EFF's designated alpha-test chapter site? From its dedicated
supporters? From its paying grassroots members? What can the
organization gain by being "insulated" from these things? This
is what the meeting is supposed to be about. What was it that
people feared the EFF members in Austin had up their sleeves?
 
    This chain of events caused us as a group to step back and
pose some fundamental questions about the conference. The
conference site was no longer the central issue, but the
reaction our offer received indicated there was something else
to address. As directors and officers of a legally
incorporated membership organization, we felt it was our
obligation to look out for the interests of our dues-paying
members. We found we would have a hard time explaining why the
only EFF chapter did not have a voice on your committee, when
the leader of a potential chapter which had continuously
resisted affiliation with the EFF did.
 
 We also found that the arbitrary nature of some of the EFF
decision-making was a cause of great concern locally. As has
been expressed before, our members feel that we have more at
stake in the conference process than others. We have built an
organization, raised thousands of dollars through dues,
donations and fund-rasing activities, and held ourselves out
to the community. We have done all of this as an EFF chapter.
We were concerned that not having a voice in the process could
directly and adversely affect our organization and the
foundation it has laid in Austin. We felt it could be bad for
us, and the EFF in general. We wanted to do our part to help
things develop, but felt that we may be getting excluded from
the process before we have had a chance.
 
    We appreciate the message in some of the more recent
communications from Cliff Figallo. Cliff has made it clear to
us that some the things we were initially concerned about are
the result of oversight, not malice. To help avoid this kind
of confusion in the future, we would like to offer the
services of one of our Advisory board members, Jon Lebkowsky
<jonl@tic.com>. With Jon as a part of the steering committee,
we could ensure that there are no further communication
problems, and that the things which have concerned us are
addressed early in the process, before they become problems.
Jon can help the committee in its planning (which we hope
still includes taking a look at Austin as a meeting site).
Once the logistics of conference planning are behind us, we
can all concentrate on the issues which should be the focus of
this important meeting. Our delegates can look forward to a
constructive two days spent molding the EFF of the future,
with Austin as an integral part.
 
Thank you,
 
EFF-Austin                                      EFF-Austin
Board of Directors:                             Advisory     
                                                Board:
John Quarterman (President)
Ed Cavazos (Vice President)                     Jon Lebkowsky
Steve Jackson (Secretary)                       Dick Anderson
Smoot Carl-Mitchell (Treasurer)                 David Smith
                                                Bruce Sterling
                                                Paco Nathan