My report on Oldham East & Saddleworth by-election

[cabalamat]

There has been lots of recent discussion about policies, e.g.:
<snip>
Do you not regard this as constructive?

I do. However, I do not regard it as visible. One has to trawl the forums, filtering out the noise, to find them.

I normally use the "view active topics" link at the top of the page.

This brings us back to the internal communications problems that have already been mentioned. I feel that we have to accept that a BBCode web forum is not a suitable method to organise a political party, despite everyone's best efforts. Perhaps we need to look beyond it?

I'm not a big fan of phpBB either. I'm not sure, however, what would be a better system.

[cabalamat]

Perhaps someone (looking at you Scuzz) could write a sort of "Pirate Bible" - a document not necessarily for the public, but for members, with lists of all this evidence, all the studies, all the facts

That seems too big job for one person. Perhaps instead we could have a crowdsourced encyclopedia of copyright/patent/pirate etc related information. And maybe we could use the MediaWiki software to host it. Hang on, don't we already have a wiki ... let's use that!

[borgs8472]

I'm not a big fan of phpBB either. I'm not sure, however, what would be a better system.

Commercial alternatives have been vetoed I'm afraid.

I think phpbb can do the job when we install the right set of plugins and continue with usability tweaks however.

[Vanders]

I'm not a big fan of phpBB either. I'm not sure, however, what would be a better system.

Commercial alternatives have been vetoed I'm afraid.

I think phpbb can do the job when we install the right set of plugins and continue with usability tweaks however.

I'm actually not convinced that any form of web forum is suitable for some of the things PPUK is trying to use it for. It's too easy for information to get lost. Threads tend to peter out as new threads are started and many of them just sort of tail off with no conclusion. As an example I was just looking for the thread on our May 2011 local campaign and now I can't find it at all. The thread was started in November, saw a bunch of posts early on and then just sort of...went no where.

Forums are great for discussion but it doesn't seem to be working for actually organising people. I'm not sure what the alternative is, though.

[cabalamat]

I'm actually not convinced that any form of web forum is suitable for some of the things PPUK is trying to use it for. It's too easy for information to get lost. Threads tend to peter out as new threads are started and many of them just sort of tail off with no conclusion.

I know exactly what you mean. I think we should make more use of the wiki. For example, instead of using a Pirate Pad for recent manifesto discussions, we could have used a wiki page to list proposals, with each proposal having its own wiki page, and each proposal tagged with something like [[Category:Jan 2011 Manifesto review]].

While PiratePad is good for something being collaboratively worked on over a period of minutes or hours, I find MediaWiki to be a more featureful system for text being collaboratively developed over a longer period. For example it has good abilities to show a history of revisions.

As an example I was just looking for the thread on our May 2011 local campaign and now I can't find it at all. The thread was started in November, saw a bunch of posts early on and then just sort of...went no where.

Annoying, isn't it?

[samgower]

Before October last year, I made quite an effort to clean up the information already in the wiki and make it presentable and usable. I asked for help, but received none whatsoever. So I'm deeply sceptical of any calls to use the wiki, because no one ever does.

The first step towards using the wiki is, I think, dumping the current theme and using MonoPirate by default. I specifically created it to closely mimic the standard MediaWiki theme while also having the PPUK header at the top. Simply switching to that would dramatically improve usability and fix a small few bugs.

Also, the wiki is not at all visible at the moment. It appears as a barely noticeable link at the top of the page and is not at all integrated into the rest of the website. For instance, there are currently three preferences/settings pages, one for the website, one for the forum and another for the wiki. Userpages and forum profiles are not linked. And there's the less important inconsistency between wiki code and BBcode.

[Gavman]

The first step to using the wiki is to ensure members have access to actually update it...

[samgower]

The first step to using the wiki is to ensure members have access to actually update it...

Actually, yes, that would be a good start... I forgot most members don't have normal access.

[tuoni]

The first step to using the wiki is to ensure members have access to actually update it...

Actually, yes, that would be a good start... I forgot most members don't have normal access.

I was going to make that point earlier but I kinda got sidetracked. There have been a couple of occasions where I've sat down to edit the wiki only to find I don't have access. There's no point in asking anyone... I'm still registered as a SE member despite having lived in London since November (and yes, I've emailled about it a couple of times and told several people in person but hey, ho...)

[Duke]

Actually, yes, that would be a good start... I forgot most members don't have normal access.

That can be easily fixed, can't it - I think I could probably give all users access with a little rummaging around...

[glambert]

Gone a bit off-topic here perhaps?

[ZeroZero]

First just to say a big "thank you" for the report. This is really useful for looking at where we stand.

I understand it is frustrating to put in so much time and effort, and not get as much support as we'd have hoped. On that note, I'll firstly make my personal apologies - I could't help because I live in Brussels (though am a registered UK voter and member of the party), and I didn't have the time nor money to go and help.

My main point is that your report really points to a lack of maturity (and by this I mean age of the party, relationships between activists, establishment of roles and responsibilities, culture of co-operation, etc.) in PPUK - something which can only be built up over time (or catalysed in moments of extreme agitation and activity - not relevant to us right now).

I have been connected with people who have invested vast amouns of effort into getting votes in various UK parliamentary elections over the last 12 years. They've ranged from Socialist Alliance, Green, Socialist Labour Party, Legalise Cannabis Alliance, and other parties I can't even remember right now. The effort that has been put in has almost always not seemed worth the final vote received. In some cases however, candidates stood with the aims of getting some positive outcomes rather than numers of votes - the most positive outcomes seem to have been connecting directly with voters, getting to see the city a bit, having a laugh and building a stronger team, getting publicity and messages out, discussing policy, and discovering potential future allies. Well, it appears that all of these were achieved by the team involved in this election, which really is a sign that you were working well.

Despite this, in my opinion we're not going to do well at elections because we're not really ready to do well: we have to build some kind of a movement first. I believe this is a long way off right now, though conditions are pretty favourable for us doing so right now. Useful lessons might be learnt from the Swedes, who have translated online activism to electoral success and presence on the streets. And I'd contrast PPUK and its limited resources, age, and visibility with WikiLeaks. I'd also question whether we really should expect to do better than the Raving Loony Party, or the Greens; both are established, both have been going for years, one has MEPs, an experienced MP, tens of seats in local councils. We're miles away from this.

I think we have to be realistic about what's achievable. I'm part of this party because I see it as having campaigning and a movement building roles. If at some point this changes to wanting electoral success then so be it, but we can achieve our aims in many different ways, and they don't have to involve expecting power or compromising on our principles. I understand people wanting to contest elections (PPUK is a party, after all,) and would certainly not oppose it doing so - particularly when or where the voting system is PR. But right now I think a hard look at long-term strategy and a realistic appraisal of where we stand might also be useful for our future success.

OK, I do hope this is received in the constructive manner that it's intended.

Regards,
TD.

[tdobson]

There are two things Graeme said I want to pick up on;

Another organisation is the ORG.

I've always been quite good friends with ORG people and I completely agree. If anyone would like introducing to ORG central or local ORG activists give me a shout (preferably *by email*!).

...however I had aimed to beat Tim Dobson's 0.6%, but nevermind, there's always next time!

Oi!
'Next time' I'll have to make sure I'm able to defend (and raise) my, errr, 'fantastic' percentage.

----

Anyway, I'm very pleased that the videos I put out got such a big reception.

That was a *fun*, day by the way, despite the fact in snowed and rained on us! I slung those videos together *very* quickly and in fact the best parts were the bits with no editing needed.

I have a few ideas of how we could do things better, but the OES team do deserve a pat on the back for what they achieved none the less given the weather, location and situation.

---

Perhaps someone (looking at you Scuzz) could write a sort of "Pirate Bible" - a document not necessarily for the public, but for members, with lists of all this evidence, all the studies, all the facts - containing arguments that can be used, common counter-arguments, that sort of thing.

This is a tremendously good suggestion. During the bi-election I was randomly emailing Loz links like
http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/20 ... h-100bn-uk
A central place would be much more efficient and useful.

Right, who is going to make this happen?

No volunteers?
I'll probably live to regret this, but sometimes you have to to "step up" to the challenge.

If you're going to help out, drop me an email; t.dobson at pirateparty.org.uk
If you're not going to help out, please send your suggestions to root@localhost

I have a few thoughts & suggestions about the party myself, but I think I'll leave them until the the Party Conference.
Hope to see you all there!

[LozKaye]

In terms of the 'Pirate Bible' - this would be tremendously helpful. It would need to be kept up to date of course.
As things are I am constantly answering interview requests, and often on a wide range of topics. Today has included Tunisia and Ireland...!

[OblongOrange]

I did volunteer to be there, with the one proviso that someone would have to cover the train fare for me to get there in time! I'm not made of money...

Sorry to have to dig at this from the front page, but I am not "made of money" either, I am a University student now in my second year. Not only did I volunteer to help the party, I even had to forgoe spending my hard-borrowed student loan on beer, to spend it on travel to and from Manchester and out to Oldham. And I have no intentuion of claiming it back.

When you volunteer for something, you have to accept that it's going to hit your pocket. It also hit me in my study times, but I carefully worked out exactly what I could afford to do, both monetarily and study-wise. If everyone had your attitude, then what price would you expect to pay for annual membership? The more expenses that have to be paid out, the higher the membership rate.

Anyway, enough of that. I'd just like to say that I thoroughly enjoyed campaigning in Oldham and the count itself. I was seen on TV, and I somehow deftly avoided a closeup. I was terrible at totting up votes, and I completely lost the plot and eventually ended up reviewing a bunch of tables, not knowing what I was doing. I think a better option for next time would be for someone to pre-print up some forms with each candidate listed so that we can more easily tally the counts (with a field for 'box no', etc). And a couple of clipboards wouldn't go amiss either - had I known prior to the count, I would have brought my own. Ah well, there's always next time.

Certainly more volunteers could have raised our final count total, but admittedly it was at a very awkward time. I assume that the next time we do something like this there will be more notice, and hence a much higher turnout.

[azrael]

I was terrible at totting up votes, and I completely lost the plot and eventually ended up reviewing a bunch of tables, not knowing what I was doing. I think a better option for next time would be for someone to pre-print up some forms with each candidate listed so that we can more easily tally the counts (with a field for 'box no', etc). And a couple of clipboards wouldn't go amiss either - had I known prior to the count, I would have brought my own. Ah well, there's always next time.

It is lessons like this that are invaluable, and we need to make sure to learn (and not forget) them!