Council Host
From Zedwiki
The Host is in charge of running the meeting. They announce the topics, working with the Scribe and Council to progress through them constructively. They are chosen at the end of the previous council meeting - any council member can volunteer to host, with any newly-elected members given first refusal.
In the event that the selected host is unavailable before the start of/during a meeting, a host can be substituted in from any present council member.
A Host's responsibilities are BEFORE and DURING the meeting.
Contents
Host duties
Before the Meeting
- Decide a meeting place to host at. This can be an existing building (with the owner's permission), or something you build yourself. Zedwick's Palace is the standard option for a council hall if you do not wish to build or select somewhere else. The basic requirements of a meeting hall is that it have sufficient seats for the council (20), and is safe enough for the meeting to be conducted without risk of death. Previous meeting halls have included skyscrapers, dungeons, tables, castles - once it was even a moving ship! The choice is up to you. Zedwick will set up a temporary warp from spawn when the meeting takes place so members can get to it easily.
- Look at the pre-agenda, make note of any votes due to take place, as well as any topics submitted for discussion. Any votes/topics submitted here take priority at the meeting.
During the Meeting
Chat commands & Scribe
Once members have arrived at the meeting place, the Host is appointed three chat-command powers: !speaker, !topic and !nextmeeting:
| Command | Explanation | Usage in Chat |
|---|---|---|
| !speaker | Allows a player to stand out in chat by giving them a red name. Used at host's discretion, typically for the person leading a topic | !speaker Memery - makes Memery speaker, gives red name in chat !speaker - removes red name from current speaker |
| !topic | Allows players to see what the current discussion topic is, if they are unaware. Used at host's discretion; can be used to direct flow of meeting, and to announce votes taking place | !topic Build-Off Challenge! - will announce 'Build-Off Challenge' as the topic !topic - will list the previously announced !topic |
| !nextmeeting | Announces the time/date of the following Council meeting. Used by the host at the end of the meeting | !nextmeeting November 2nd 8PM - will announce this as the time/date of the next meeting !nextmeeting - will list the previously announced !nextmeeting is |
Then you must ask a council member to volunteer as Scribe. The Scribe is an important role, responsible for recording the notes/decisions of the meeting for future reference. Once the Scribe has been appointed, the meeting can commence.
Meeting order
As Host you decide the order in which items are discussed, though any items posted to the pre-agenda take priority. If there is nothing in the pre-agenda, or if there is time left in the meeting after the pre-agenda topics are discussed, you should invite any players with items to discuss to let you know, so they can be included in the meeting.
A meeting consists of topic discussion, announcements, and then end-of-meeting business. Topic discussion has a 90-minute time limit, with each topic having a max. of 30 minutes. This is intended to avoid a single topic dominating a meeting.
Topics
When you announce the first topic for discussion, you may invite the player who brought it up to lead discussion as !speaker, as well as using !topic to give a brief summary of what is being discussed.
When a topic is being discussed, everyone should work together to keep things organised and constructive - as Host you are empowered to direct people to stay on-task, issuing warnings and strikes if necessary for any members engaging in disruption or misconduct. The aim of any topic is for the council to come to an agreed conclusion. Often this will occur organically without much intervention needed from the Host, at which point you can move on to the next topic.
Occasionally a topic will be very complex, where there is much discussion without council coming to an agreement. This is the reason for the 30-minute time limit on any topic's discussion. If after 30 minutes a topic is not concluded, or any time prior to this where you feel the conversation is going around in circles without making progress, as host you can decide to move the Council on to the next topic. If the council feel like the topic does merit further discussion, it can be re-addressed at the end of the meeting (if time), or placed on the pre-agenda of the following meeting for further discussion. Remember, there's a max of 90 minutes for topic discussion. After 90 minutes has elapsed, the meeting moves on to announcements and end-of-meeting business. Any further outstanding topics can be moved on for discussion at the following meeting.
Votes
Often a council comes to an agreement on a topic in an informal way. For larger matters that involve changes to the server, council, or council-adjacent things (such as regulations, warp mayors, or spawn end/markets) a proposal may need to come to a VOTE. To allow absent members to participate in these votes, they are carried across two meetings.
- If you are hosting when a proposal is suggested, the council needs to agree on the WORDING of this proposal (IE "The council can have a maximum of 20 members at any given time"). Once this is agreed, request that the scribe post this wording in the pre-agenda for the vote to take place in the following meeting. Between meetings, discussion can take place on this pre-agenda, with any members being allowed to cast their vote on the thread
- If you are hosting at this 'following meeting' when a proposal needs to be voted on, you will see this in the Scribe's post in the pre-agenda. You should bring the proposal to a vote with a minimum of further discussion, remembering to include any votes that members submitted on the pre-agenda. You can request members submit their vote via private message, though members may also announce their vote publically. It is up to you to then declare if the vote has passed or failed. If that this meeting discussion causes the wording of the proposal to change, and a council member has voted on the prior wording in the pre-agenda, the process starts again - amended wording is agreed with the scribe to post in the pre-agenda for the following meeting.
Once all topics have been addressed (or the meeting has met the 90-minute limit for topic discussion), you can move on to announcements.
Announcements
Announcements by nature are short, often a player will want to let council know of something that is happening on the server, such as an event they are running, a build they could use help on, or something they've been doing.
If there are no player announcements, or after these have been announced, you should invite Zedwick to speak, in case he has any announcements or events relating to the server as a whole.
End of Meeting Business
- Election of new members - any Zedling present wishing to join the council can request a membership vote, you should invite them to do so here. If there are no requests, move on to host-selection. If a Zedling requests a membership vote, the Host should announce them as a candidate, and request votes via private message (PM). In the case of multiple candidates, each is voted on separately/individually. A successful candidate must receive a majority of aye votes, with a minimum of 5 votes cast. You should allow a couple of minutes at most for members to cast their votes - if a candidate does not meet the required threshold, simply state the vote has not succeeded and move on. Once all elections are complete, successful candidates are allocated empty council seats in order of most 'aye' votes. If candidates have equal numbers of aye votes, and there are not sufficient empty seats to allocate them, the host shall decide a tiebreak method (for example, a Zestygame or quiz).
- Host selection. Gotta work out who's hosting the next meeting. Any new members elected are given first refusal to host the following meeting. If they decline, or there are no new members, the host should request a volunteer from the council members present.
- Announcing the next meeting. Use the !nextmeeting command to announce the date/time of the next meeting, which will be two weeks away.
| Command | Explanation | Usage in Chat |
|---|---|---|
| !nextmeeting | Announces the time/date of the following Council meeting. Used by the host at the end of the meeting | !nextmeeting November 2nd 8PM - will announce this as the time/date of the next meeting !nextmeeting - will list the previously announced !nextmeeting is |
Once this is done the meeting is over and the Host's task is complete!
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