🚀 go-pugleaf

The following proposal was sent to EFF-National in response to the
report that a Chapter Confederation Conference had been proposed for
Atlanta. This proposal met with some negative response, which is
addressed in my post to follow, which is the text of the EFF-Austin
Directors' response to an invitation to the Chapters Conference.
(Reprinted with permission)
 
> Subject: Proposal from EFF-Austin to Host the Confederation 
> Meeting
> 
> Date: Sun, 15 Nov 92 20:30:20 -0600 Sender: jsq@tic.com
> 
> As reported by Mitch Ratcliffe, EFF has called for a meeting of
> representatives of local groups to discuss a national confederation
> of advocacy and educational groups, to be held in Atlanta, 23-24
> January 1992.
> 
> EFF-Austin, the oldest and (perhaps) most active local group, and
> the only EFF local chapter, invites EFF, This!Group, NTE, and other
> local groups to hold the confederation meeting in Austin, 23-24
> January 1992.
> 
> We offer an onsite organizational presence, and an experienced
> meeting organizer. Steve Jackson, veteran hotel liaison, has
> volunteered to facilitate housing in hotels and to arrange a
> meeting site large enough for the expected representatives and
> convenient to all necessary facilities. In addition, several of us
> can host people in our houses. We don't think we'll need the new
> convention center, but we'll keep it in mind, just in case. :-)
> 
> Austin is centrally located in North America, with hourly flights
> from Dallas/Fort Worth Airport, as well as direct flights from
> Atlanta, San Jose, and Chicago. DFW and Austin airports are very
> unlikely to be closed due to weather in January. Flying to Austin
> is generally no more expensive than flying to Dallas (or Atlanta).
> 
> Siting the meeting in Austin will make it easier for
> representatives from Houston, and perhaps from College Station, to
> attend. It will make it no more difficult for representatives from
> outside Texas to attend.
> 
> An Austin meeting will make the meeting easier for all concerned,
> because we want to host it, we have experience holding meetings
> here (at least one a month), and we have an especially experienced
> local person in charge of logistics. Austin is generally less
> expensive than Atlanta, and our local expertise will make this
> meeting even less expensive and more convenient.
> 
> It is possible that our experience will give us an undue advantage
> in the actual deliberations, simply because we have been doing this
> longer than most of you. If so, so be it: the same would be true
> wherever the meeting was held. We like to think others could learn
> from our mistakes and successes.
> 
> We will select our two representatives to span the wide range of
> opinions among our directors about centralization vs.
> confederation, national vs. local vs. international, etc.
> Everything we've seen and heard from other groups tells us we have
> at least as extreme a set of different opinions here as everywhere
> else.
> 
> We are volunteering to save everybody trouble and to make a better
> meeting. Come to Austin in the winter, where you won't find snow
> and you will find a real nice town and a good place to meet.
> 
> John S. Quarterman President, EFF-Austin