Hi @Graham,
I think if you can make it to an event at some point or get involved with one of the working groups it will make a lot more sense. This is a do-ocracy after all.
This event is very much focused on the points you suggest - what do we want to achieve and how do we achieve it. The same is true of the last event and I feel the ‘open spaces’ format worked quite well.
I was a bit offended by the post you made on the other thread that described last year’s programme as “weak” - a lot of people put a lot of time, effort and money into that event and I’m pretty sure each of them considers it a great success.
I personally do not think we need consensus around our final goal, strategy or tactics. I think trying to get to such a point would take a long time - certainly not the 10 minutes you suggest. I think instead we should focus on consent - what are we happy to do/be part of/have done in our name. That’s a much lower barrier - everyone on listed on the website can be said to consent to the copy on the Manifesto, Join and About pages.
In terms of defining what the network does, perhaps we could list what it’s done instead. That way we don’t have to debate what everyone wishes it would do and whether wishes are horses. I’ve created a new thread where we can start listing that stuff. It’s going to be a good list I think.