| Local people join an effort to identify and discuss public policy concerns and suggest ideas toward their resolution. | The Knowledge Base provides online logistical support and self-study materials for the study and discussion of the public policy concerns. | Discussion Society members would meet once a week, at the time and location of their choice, to discuss that week's public policy subject at a Conversation Sit-down and then stay on to socialize at the After Party. | Discussion Society members vote on each of the twelve public policy concerns using anonymous, ranked voting. |
- Rogue Valley residents create a social club known as the Discussion Society through open enrollment.
- Acting as a demos - a one-person, one-vote democratic body - the Discussion Society selects by vote twelve public policy issues for discussion over three months.
- A network of public meeting sites, including cafes, community centers, restaurants, culture and social clubs, schools, and libraries, is set up - each location reserving a specified capacity in tables and times for the weekly public policy discussions.
- As an alternative, Discussion Society members can create and register ad hoc discussion groups among themselves instead of attending meeting sites in the network.
| - The Knowledge Base, an online relational database and network hub, provides self-study materials and guides for each of the twelve weekly public policy discussion subjects.
- The meeting site schedules for the public policy discussions are posted to the network each week. Discussion Society members reserve a seat at one of the participating locations or register an ad-hoc discussion group.
| | Conversation Sit-downs | - Discussion Society members attend a 55-minute weekly sit-down for each public policy discussion, either at one of the public locations or in self-created ad hoc groups.
- The members seat themselves facing one another with only enough participants as can speak to each other comfortably attending.
- A moderator is selected from the assembled group. The moderator will register the session, take attendance, and play devil’s advocate for any unrepresented positions.
- A goal of the discussions would be achieving mutual understanding among participants and not the changing of minds. The give and take would be respectful, impersonal, and focused on facts and ideas.
| | | | After Parties | - The After Party follows immediately upon the Conversation Sit-down and is purely for having a good time. The topic from the Sit-down would not be discussed and there is no protocol to follow.
- The After Party can be held in the same location as the Sit-down or it can be in a different location. The After Party can last as long as people care to stay - from minutes to hours.
- Sharing food and drink, listening to live music, playing a pickup game of basketball - anything fun is a successful After Party.
| | | - Discussion Society members vote on each of the twelve public policy topics using ranked voting.
- Voting is done anonymously through member dashboards in the Knowledge Base. A member must attend at least one Conversation Sit-down/After Party to be eligible to vote.
- Residents voting on public policy matters create a public record of how people stand on those issues for the benefit of public officials as well as the public and private concerns that influence the State.
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