I’ve been holding off from chipping in to this thread. I didn’t go the event last year (in part because the programme looked a bit weak), and I won’t be able to go this year because of family commitments, hence my reticence to stick my oar into this discussion. However…
For me, the fact that these issues are being raised speaks to the failure of the agenda/facilitation at least year’s event and therefore, ironically, to the need for much better facilitation at this year’s event if effective progress is to be made. We’ve all spent a good deal of time over the year trying to reach some consensus about what CoTech is for, who is part of it, how others can join it, and how we might most effectively cooperate. These are issues that, in my view, needed to have been resolved a year ago. They weren’t, and that has held this network back as a result. We now have a second bite at the cherry, so the need for a clear and focused agenda, and effective facilitation is required.
Felix asks the very pertinent question: what is this event worth? I’d argue that there is huge potential if the core questions can be answered. For me (and I stress it is only my opinion) the focus needs to be not on who might facilitate the event and what they might need by way of compensation for their efforts, but rather what are the objectives of this event?
Answer that question, and we’ll have a much clearer understanding of the value of the event to you, to your co-op, and to CoTech as a whole. It will then become much easier to decide on the most appropriate approach as regards facilitation, and what that might be worth to the participants.