Just to remind everyone the strategy meeting is taking place tomorrow at the Rose and Crown, Colombo Street in London.

We will kick off shortly after 11am and take breaks regularly for beer etc. The discussion will be no more than 3 hours so we need to make the most of our time and to remain focused on generating or selecting activities that can make progress towards realistic targets.

With that in mind we have the following agenda:

0. Hellos, setup, etc.
1. Approx 30mins will be for those wishing to put forward ideas can give a short outline, 20 secs to 1 minute, to grab our attention [1]. We’ll put a paragraph summarising the idea where it can be seen.

Two to 5 minutes for questions and clarification.

If the idea is seconded then it will go onto a later phase so we can discuss the viability in detail.

As one can see, proposals must be clearly understood immediately. That’s deliberate. If it is not possible to get friendly Libertarians to understand the value, purpose and benefit of a proposal, then it is all the more difficult to get the general public.

2. Once the first ideas have been presented, the next 30 minutes will be freeform discussion about new ideas.

The purpose of this stage is that it is often the case that one idea will be the seed for another and the presentations earlier are expected to trigger our creative juices.

During this time, if anyone thinks an idea is worth taking forward, make a note and once the freeform phase ends, the group will be asked if anyone has noted any such ideas. If any ideas are seconded, they will join those surviving the first stage for further evaluation. If the proposer of an idea hears one they think is a better alternative, they can withdraw that proposal to allow us to focus on the better option (and such maturity will be admired).

3. By this stage we hope to have a set of ideas/proposals that have been seconded. It is now important to ensure that these ideas are practical and will give a return for our very limited resources.

For the purposes of this meeting we will use a format called SMART, and each proposal shall be evaluated to see how it measures up.

SMART often stands for:

• Specific – something concrete, not vague, but focused.
• Measurable – we need to know how it is progressing. If we cannot measure results we have no idea if we are succeeding!
• Achievable – can the proposal actually come about
• Realistic – given our resources, the current situation, legal and financial
• Time-bound – as in clear delivery date/window, not open-ended

SMART is not a rule but a tool. It is to guide us, to remind us what to consider when confronted with choices or activities. We won’t take it too seriously, but will want to filter any ideas that seriously fall short. It does not mean the proposal needs to be discarded out of hand, rather that the above can be used to modify, alter, focus or broaden the proposal so it has potential to be a success.

Once we have completed the third stage we should have an idea of what proposals we should be focusing on. It would be really good if we could then spend some time formulating how we can move one or two of those forward, building preliminary plans for so doing.

Tim Carpenter
Simon Gibbs
Facilitators

[1] for those who have not done such things before – called an “elevator pitch”, so named because it is used to sell an idea to someone you meet in an elevator – I strongly recommend you practice speaking your pitch out loud, make notes etc. so as to maximise support.