Conference Agenda Oct 2021 PRINT - Flipbook - Page 40
well as the chair of the group we came to the arrangement
of making sure that we we improve our communications by
inviting other groups to our causes.
Green Spaces
Some minor improvements have been made to Green
Spaces but essentially it is not fit for purpose and will
ultimately be replaced with something much better. We
thought this was imminent and so avoided introducing
proper regulating of the discussion forums. Unfortunately
this has resulted in some inappropriate behaviour creating
a toxic and destructive atmosphere on occasions. As Green
Spaces is clearly going to be around for a little while yet,
we are reintroducing moderation to the site to encourage
better behaviour.
Digital Support
Most local parties are now using Action Network and
benefiting from its vastly superior tools for communicating
with members, running effective campaigns, fundraising
and the rest of it. Digital Support issue regular news
bulletin updates keeping local parties informed of changes,
tips and anything else that helps them get the very best
out of Action Network.
They also run excellent on-line training sessions have
continued to help members become more proficient,
greatly improving the party’s overall abilities as a powerful
political force. Videos of all these sessions and a wealth of
other training resources are available from the website.
Further resources
Our staff from various departments have been producing
superb visual material and events on video including
whole series of training and education courses, webinars,
interactive debates with Party leaders, speakers, and
guests. These are all still available as videos or on
You Tube. Similarly there is now a fantastic selection
of resources on the website for running elections and
campaigns, guides for every aspect of running a successful
local party, HR resources and so on.
Membership services
Our membership team were also given additional help
recently which resulted in the clearing a large backlog
of correspondence from the membership – long overdue
but a hugely welcome achievement which will go some
way to improve member retention rates. If you are not
receiving emails from the Party (and want to) check with
the membership team as you may been unintentionally
‘unsubscribed’.
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Mailings to membership
Further improvements have been made to the regular
mailings despatched to the membership in response to
complaints about content and frequency. The format
and design of these bulletins have got better and better.
Apart from interesting news and reports of campaigns
and activities of prominent members and local parties,
essential information about coming events, conference
deadlines, vital links etc. are all featured within.
If you want to stay informed about Green Party internal
affairs and activities it is important to read these mailings
and keep the latest ones available for reference. Or you
can unsubscribe if not interested.
Fundraising
Strategies are under way to diversify our national
fundraising sourcing so we are less dependent on the
generosity of our members, whom we are deeply grateful
for everything they contribute. Legacies, high donation
supporters, and all manner of other initiatives are being
examined. This means less emails containing requests for
donations from members.
Disciplinary Process
There have recently been a large number of attacks by
members on public social media platforms towards a
member whose appointment to a position in the Party
was not universally popular. This including numerous
tweets describing him as a bigot or transphobe, as well
as unfounded accusations based on opinions and beliefs
rather than facts. This is not just unacceptable behaviour
but blatant breaching of our Code of Conduct, and bullying,
bringing shame and a stain on the party, threatening
our reputation of being a party that values fairness and
practises decent behaviour.
Our internal complaints system is still far from perfect,
but is slowly improving and it’s all we’ve got – use it if
you have a grievance, or it will be used against you. No
member has immunity from our rules.
Conclusion
The world needs the Green Party more than ever before.
We need you, the membership, to focus on the issues
which prompted the creation of the Party, and are rapidly
becoming the priorities of the general public as the climate
emergency and related existential threats take centre
stage.
Thanks to all our dedicated, talented and hard-working
staff for their continuing brilliant work and commitment to
the cause.