GUIDELINES FOR WRITING A CONFERENCE AGENDA ITEM

Agenda items are submitted to the Conference Agenda Committee for inclusion on the Agenda for the Conference four months prior to the actual Conference. They should adhere to the following format, and should provide enough information for the Item to be understood.

PARTS OF AN AGENDA ITEM:

TITLE: A brief title that sums up the intent of the Item.

SUBMITTED BY: This may be an individual (with or without a title, i.e. “Delegate”), a group, or even anonymous.

BACKGROUND/ORIGIN: A concise explanation of the rationale behind the motion, including such history as is necessary to explain what is proposed to be changed or added. If needed for clarification, citations to previous related Conference motions can be included. Then the proposed result of the motion should be explained.

MOTION: The actual language of the motion, which states that some action should be taken. This should be precise; the desired outcome should be stated by the motion, as in, “Amend the Service Manual, page ___, item ___, from (what it currently states), to read ____, etc.” Or, “Amend the Service Manual, page ___, to add the following language between items ___ and___: (language of new section).” An Agenda Item may contain multiple motions. ALSO NOTE: In order for any Work (defined as any artistic work or composition including, but not limited to, text, graphics, audio and/or video) to be considered for voting as Conference Approved, it must be presented in its entirety to the conference. If further editing of the Work is deemed to be appropriate, the motion to seek Conference Approval shall be either withdrawn of tabled until such time as the edits have been completed and the revised version of the Work becomes available in its entirety.

SAMPLE AGENDA ITEM (For demonstration purposes only):

TITLE: No Cell Phones At Conference General Session Already!

SUBMITTED BY: Mary J., A Member of District 420

BACKGROUND/ORIGIN: The General Session is already tedious enough. Trying to figure out what’s meant by voting on moving the Previous Question of an Amendment to an Amendment of a Motion takes a lot of concentration. When someone’s cell phone goes off, it can break the whole flow of the Conference. Sure, we can ask people to turn them off, or set them on vibrate, but then there is always that temptation to sneak out your phone under the table and send a text. The only thing that’s going to work is forbidding them completely. Also, people always plug their phones in at any outlet they can find in the room, they forget to put them on silent, and people using a laptop to take care of legitimate Conference business can’t keep their computers charged.

MOTION: At the General Session of the Conference, ALL cell phones must be turned off and surrendered to the quorum counter posted at the door.

MOTION: Any phones found alone and plugged into outlets around the room shall be confiscated and mailed back to the owner after the Conference if they can provide a complete and accurate description.