FWG Meeting Minutes 1/17

Agenda:
1. Update from Rachel: Safety discussion
2. Update from Rachel: retreat Sunday
3. How to handle disruptions at GA

1. Safety discussion from Sunday

--next meeting Saturday 1pm at E5: lots of groups invited will impact GA, and facilitation should be involved; broad conversation about creating safer spaces in community
Carolyn: more of a civil liberties approach to this problem would be helpful
Dennis: this approach was represented [by me] in Sunday's discussion

2. Retreat Sunday

--maybe Sprout in Somerville will give space?
--we have at least one interested facilitator (ask Angela)
--email Rachel with ideas for what we want to get out of retreat
--maybe will have food

3. How to handle disruptions at GA

--Dan, Suzi and Katie are working on this for a proposal
Daniel: Community Wellness will perhaps be prepared to handle this soon; breaking process: a more general safety issue
Angela: 'Safety' may not be right word, brings in element of entitlement
--individual facilitator comfort is important for devising any policy, blanket policy may not be right
--an agreement on how to handle this is helpful to facilitator, whoever that may be
--GA is an open meeting, facilitators cannot remove anyone, if someone can't handle that, that someone should leave; immediately resolving this may not offer resolution
--discussion in the specific tonight maybe, general discussion of this later
--prepare text for this?
--maybe we can say facilitation did not contract to facilitate this kind of discussion
--that may not work for someone other than Angela
Daniel: I propose we be apologetic and transparent
Angela: I think we should prepare a statement [see Angela's proposed text below]
Matt H: I think we should be prepared to walk out
Dennis & Rachel: not "walk out" but perhaps step out of our roles as facilitators
--should we pass proposal to handle situation in case of a disruption?

Angela's proposed protocol and text to be spoken
[--facilitators cue to designate FWG member to make a request for intervention; or vice/versa

--designate FWG person come to the front and read a statement and ask for a moment of silence to acknowledge that something did happen or to refocus and bring back the GA

--if it doesn't work and it's unmanageable we collect ourselves and "occupy the GA" - form a circle/sing]

1) We as Facilitation Working Group want to recognize that a conflict exists at this moment on the floor.

2) We reaffirm our commitment to everyone being welcome at GAs.

3) We do not believe that our role as facilitators  involves resolving this kind of conflict, in the moment, and we do not agree to carry this particular process out, in this way, YET.

4) Instead, we the FWG will gather, now, as the FWG for a 5-minute check-in with each other to determine what we believe is the best way to proceed

5) We then will return and re-gather and make our suggestions as to options to proceed

6) From there, we will ask for a 30-second silence to regroup and re-focus and return to the GA