When no one wants the job, but the job's still gotta be done...

[Lilith Ivory]

Hosting events is clearly something I don’t like to do but it is no rocket science either.
All one needs to do is having an idea about a theme (come as you are works fine too)
Locations we have plenty to choose from in our estate, preferably on public land. (One needs to be in the LV group to be able to set the stream and give the DJ/singer permission to Rez a tip jar)
Hire a DJ or musician from the long list we already have in CDS or find someone new
Create a poster in Photoshop or Gimp (not really necessary I think)
Most importantly: advertise the event in SL events which isn’t too difficult either and be there to greet the guests.

For me, being introverted outreach certainly is the most difficult part of being Chancellor and to be honest I have no idea what this means exactly. Perhaps Sudane and our former chancellors could explain what needs to be done and what has been done in the past

[Rosie Gray]

I agree with Lilith about holding events, it's pretty easy to do if it's the sort of thing you enjoy doing. The only part of it that I've really enjoyed doing is making posters!

As for the question of 'outreach', well other than welcoming and trying to engage new citizens, I'm not sure how that is really accomplished either. Some people are quite outgoing and like to engage with different communities, so perhaps it's easier for them, but it never has been for me. Perhaps it would be easier to do this kind of thing if there was an 'official' position for it like Ambassador.

[Rosie Gray]

I'm entirely behind what Rosie and Lil suggest here... except, I'd really like to frame this as a more positive, change-oriented plan, rather than... "how we can carry on if no one steps up to the role of Chancellor". As I've said before... the Chancellor role was not part of the original scheme for CDS governance, and as now formulated it's clearly an unpleasant job. Not that everything in this world has to be FUN... but this is SL, universally acknowledged to being unavoidably secondary to RL. Please let's do everything we can to shape the roles in our community as rewarding experiences.

Perhaps we should develop 2 lines of thinking. One could be "Making the Chancellor's Role More Fun and Less Onerous", and the other is "How We Function Without A Chancellor". Both are relevant lines of thought.

[Kyoko]

I'm happy with the tone shift here.
I would like to pick up the idea of the SC dean being a backup in part to the occasion of needing to reassign duties for the chancellor position. The tasks in an emergency should be limited for the SC Dean, but it does provide for a better balance between RA and SC in terms of running CDS without a chancellor.

[Kyoko]

My argument against this being done constitutionally:

The constitution should not be changed lightly. It will change perceptions of who we are in a major way.
I would suggest that we save this discussion as a possible road map should the occasion arise, and simply amend the election law to state that in the case of an unfulfilled election for Chancellor that the SC Dean and current LRA meet to reapportion the duties on a temporary basis. This seems a less draconian procedure than amending the constitution, with fewer ramifications for a self-fulfilling prophecy.

In my view we should resist major changes of this sort and spend our energy on outreach and explaining what it means to be a citizen in a democracy such as ours. We have a serious imbalance in the power base between builders and builders of community. People sign up to be EMs and gardeners, but not PIO positions, which only increases the imbalance. I've expounded on this before. Building beautiful sims attracts residents, but not citizens. It's time to stop looking for external solutions and to step up to community building.

It's good to have thought about this and come to some consensus, but the more we codify our failure to build community, the sooner CDS will cease to exist as a genuine democracy.

[Kyoko]

In a follow-up to my previous 2 posts.

After reading the RA Meeting 8 transcript I share the view of several on the RA that it is good to start this conversation, but now is not the time to codify the discussions. It is an important discussion and should not be hurried.

We are coming up on elections for the 36th Term and the focus should be there.

In summary, as the current chancellor and as a citizen I strongly oppose codification at this time.

[Han Held]

In summary, as the current chancellor and as a citizen I strongly oppose codification at this time.

I think it's a mistake and I intend on not voting for it this term. I'd like to say that I won't vote for it next term either but "never say never". All I'll say is that now in Oct 2021 I think there hasn't been enough processing or consensus to codify anything.

Horses, carts, all that -so I agree with you.

[Han Held]

My argument against this being done constitutionally:

The constitution should not be changed lightly. It will change perceptions of who we are in a major way.
I would suggest that we save this discussion as a possible road map should the occasion arise, and simply amend the election law to state that in the case of an unfulfilled election for Chancellor that the SC Dean and current LRA meet to reapportion the duties on a temporary basis. This seems a less draconian procedure than amending the constitution, with fewer ramifications for a self-fulfilling prophecy.

In my view we should resist major changes of this sort and spend our energy on outreach and explaining what it means to be a citizen in a democracy such as ours. We have a serious imbalance in the power base between builders and builders of community. People sign up to be EMs and gardeners, but not PIO positions, which only increases the imbalance. I've expounded on this before. Building beautiful sims attracts residents, but not citizens. It's time to stop looking for external solutions and to step up to community building.

It's good to have thought about this and come to some consensus, but the more we codify our failure to build community, the sooner CDS will cease to exist as a genuine democracy.

I don't really feel like it would be a good idea for me to write my feelings on your last point -it would achieve nothing except to stress me out for no gain. I'll simply say that it's not an unfounded concern.

As for your suggestion:

I would suggest that we save this discussion as a possible road map should the occasion arise, and simply amend the election law to state that in the case of an unfulfilled election for Chancellor that the SC Dean and current LRA meet to reapportion the duties on a temporary basis. This seems a less draconian procedure than amending the constitution, with fewer ramifications for a self-fulfilling prophecy.

That sounds reasonable to me, and it would be a good outcome. It's one I could easily live with.

[Han Held]

As for the question of 'outreach', well other than welcoming and trying to engage new citizens, I'm not sure how that is really accomplished either. Some people are quite outgoing and like to engage with different communities, so perhaps it's easier for them, but it never has been for me. Perhaps it would be easier to do this kind of thing if there was an 'official' position for it like Ambassador.

The only folks I can think of off-hand who fall into that camp are Tor, Kyoko and myself. That isn't to say there are not any others; that just means that's all I can think of.

My feelings are closer to yours, Rosie -particularly with regards to events and working with performers. Largely due to my anxiety disorder, also due to being an introvert myself.

I think Kyoko is the mistress of outreach, at least from where I sit. Because of that I'm a little hesitant to put my opinion out there, but for me I tend to already be a part of different projects and communities. This is both because of being a (former?) forum/g+ gadfly and also because I tend to get bored and hop around from community to community between projects. So I tend to not have the strong ties that other folks in the CDS has but I can sometimes see openings and places where we have things in common.

A classic example is Bea's Oktoberfest set. I know her through sluniverse and even talked with her a bit circa 2017/2018 about playing for us. Kyoko actually sealed the deal, however.

To me (in my flawed experience -flaws I just highlighted) outreach involves going through places you go and people you meet and looking for openings; ways that we have things in common with other grounds and possibilities for cross-project promotion.

Of course that works out better some times (SLB) than it does other times (my failed NCI advertising campaign).

So, for what it's worth ..and it's questionable if it's worth anything...that's my perspective and experience on outreach.

[Han Held]

I'm entirely behind what Rosie and Lil suggest here... except, I'd really like to frame this as a more positive, change-oriented plan, rather than... "how we can carry on if no one steps up to the role of Chancellor". As I've said before... the Chancellor role was not part of the original scheme for CDS governance, and as now formulated it's clearly an unpleasant job. Not that everything in this world has to be FUN... but this is SL, universally acknowledged to being unavoidably secondary to RL. Please let's do everything we can to shape the roles in our community as rewarding experiences.

First off thank you for your awesome posts and particularly the historical perspective you've shared on how things worked prior to the office of Chancellor being established.

It's true that anything worth doing takes some amount of work -but it has to be worth doing and not just a seemingly endless, thankless, frustrating, lonely, and draining slog which in all honesty was my experience as Chancellor. So there has to be some incentive -and I don't mean financial or even compensatory (both of which would be gamed, because that's the nature of second life) to take it on.

I think that there's two problems, one in our control, one outside of our control:
1) The job of chancellor itself needs to be re-examined, more clearly defined (or at least a core set of duties and expectations defined) and reformed to be more attractive. I like the idea of it being a more ambassadorial role, perhaps retaining some duties (eg the budget, selecting EMs) but with more encouragement and support. To be fair, I was lost when it came to making my budget and I'm happy with the level of support I got ...so maybe that one would be more of an explicit emphasis on asking for help and not having to take it on alone.

My point being, the job needs to be reassessed, streamlined and an inherent rewarding factor (labor is not it's own reward, all of us are busy irl) built in.

It doesn't have to be changed into an endless parade of sex, drugs, and rock and roll; but it does need to be made more manageable and rewarding. Sadly, most of the proposals I've heard floating around about reform would serve to make the job more of a drudge and less rewarding -they've all been universally horrid, to be blunt. [edit] I should clarify I'm referring to inworld conversations I've had and to reform ideas that were made before this thread was started. As I said -the ambassador idea's been floated and I think that's a step in the right direction. [/edit]

I like the idea of it being repurposed into a more ambassadorial role, but with responsibilities. At least that's a good place to start from.

2)The part that's out of our control is the fact that the Second Life is shrinking, and the people who are here tend to be "oldbies" who know what they want and are largely already doing what they log on for. Covid gave SL a bit of a bump but based on my friends' experiences the bump has pretty much worn off; estates that were growing are now selling off sims. I have absolutely no idea of what we can do about this (I no longer believe Opensim is a viable alternative socially speaking) but it is something we need to take into account as we plan for the future.

[Han Held]

Perhaps we should develop 2 lines of thinking. One could be "Making the Chancellor's Role More Fun and Less Onerous", and the other is "How We Function Without A Chancellor". Both are relevant lines of thought.

Those are two different conversations and I think both of them are worth having; I agree.

[Jerry McNally]

Hi. I had the pleasure of attending my first Assembly meeting recently where this was discussed, and I said I'd leave a few comments here on the forum in response, rather than hold up that meeting any further.

Initially, I was thinking about suggesting you look for precedents in RL on failures to recruit heads in other organisations — eg extensions of term, delegation to a Deputy, introduction of "acting/caretaker/interim" heads etc. 

But thinking about it later, and after chatting with Tor afterwards, my main point would be about increasing the emphasis on marketing.
First, some quick context: even though I have an SL birthdate in 2006, I consider myself an old newbie as I've been away for quite some time, only really engaging again since January this year, thanks to that "Covid bump" reminder mentioned earlier. I first found the Second Life Book Club, and then through that found this CDS community (hi Rosie!), which would make me an example of successful outreach!

SL is much more confusing these days than from what I remember — mesh? BOM?? — and there's a steep learning curve to grapple with. But, from my newbie perspective, there's also a significant one with the CDS — laws, covenants, committees, zones, assemblies, acronyms. I get the need for all this, but might its current presentation on the website be a little confusing and off-putting, especially when compared to the Linden Homes info, a significant competitor?

I think this is important because I'm sure it would be easier to recruit to this Chancellor role if there were more people aware of it. Only a subset of any community, online or not, wants to be significantly involved in civic matters, so might one way of increasing the numbers involved be to increase the overall population in that community? Easier said than done I know, but perhaps a simpler 'CDS for dummies' introduction might help?

[Kyoko]

Thanks Jerry for your comments. Please keep them coming

I have been saying for years that outreach/marketing is key, but I've also figured it out that it works best when it happens naturally. Our "recruitment spiel" won't appeal to many in SL. The problem is that "retail" outreach works better than wholesale, for a community like ours that wants Citizens, not just residents.. And the question is how to do it so as not to be seen as "poaching" from another community. I've worked on that, but many themed communities are very protective and don't understand that cooperation serves both communities.

I am currently exploring the possibilities with the Non-Profit Community (NPC), most of who provide services to their participants, but, on the whole are not residential. We have cooperated with SOS (Survivors of Suicide) before and honored a number of members of these organizations in the 2018 & 2019 Celebrating SL Women events. CDS has been invited to join this group. I will attend their Harvest Event in November where I will present a 5 minute introduction as to who we are and what we bring to the table. More about this soon.

And a thank-you to Han for her kind comments. I've tried to do the best I that I was able to at the time.

[Rosie Gray]

Thanks for your thoughts, Jerry, it's good to get some fresh eyes on these things sometimes! I completely agree that the CDS could seem to be a bit daunting to someone new to it. That's how I felt way... way back in 2010 when I first decided to make the CDS my SL home. The acronyms in particular drove me crazy.

Perhaps you would be interested in looking at a document that Almut Brunswick initiated called 'CDS New Citizen's Guide', where she and a few others are attempting to put things into an easy-to-understand place for people new to the CDS. I would share it here but it's not mine to share (it's still in a draft state). On the very first page is a reference grid for all of the CDS acronyms! Maybe we can at least get this finished and it would be a help.

Can you elaborate on what you think we might consider for the website? Aside from being a place for people to find out about the CDS, it is also a repository and reference place for all of our laws, so we really need to keep them there. Do you think that the home page is too busy? Should we make some of the page tabs secondary so that it all looks less complicated until you drill down? Something else that strikes you off the top?

[Jerry McNally]

Perhaps you would be interested in looking at a document that Almut Brunswick initiated called 'CDS New Citizen's Guide'
...
Can you elaborate on what you think we might consider for the website?

Thanks I've found that document, it looks really useful. I'll give it and the website some thought and send feedback separately, I think, rather than hijack this discussion and move it too far from its initial topic. It's all really intriguing though, I love it.