Saturday, April 15, 2006

Hamro Nepal, Latest


Checkmate

Demoblog: World's First Digital Org Now Has a Constitution
Demoblog: Hamro Nepal: The World's First Digitial Democracy Organization
Democracy Spreading Mechanism
The Demosphere Manifesto (Sign it)

Executive Committee

I expect to reorganize it a few times before it takes final shape: only the eager and willing will stick around. These are five Officers who will be directly elected by all members in June 2007. If any one candidate fails to get a majority vote, a second round will be held between the two top vote getters.

The US Executive Committee during the first year has the right to reorganize the founding Executive Committees in other countries, although that right will likely be rarely used, except if local members suggest that might help rapid expansion.

The real power is in the central committee. All Executive Committee members are also members of the central committee. And any member can aspire to join the central committee. The arrangement is meritocratic. That should take a lot of pressure off of the Executive Committee.

How To Recruit

You cough up $10, commit to a Democratic Republic, and you sign up. Then you start recruiting others. Those in other countries you recruit for free, those in the US you recruit to try and earn yourself a place in the central committee. If you give more than $10, then $10 is membership fee, the rest is donation. Members are encouraged to give more than the bare minimum.




You make a list of all potential members. Write down their names, phone numbers, email addresses, all in one place. These would be other Nepalis you know. Some might be non-Nepalis who harbor a keen interest in Nepal. Then you call them up, one person at a time. You also email them the basic info after the phone call. Give them some time to take a look at it. Then you make a second call and try and sign them up. Look for three answers: yes, no or maybe. No is not always a no. You have to handle objections. Be prepared to handle five objections per person. All new members pay their $10 at one central location, which is the PayPal button
shown above. You can raise cash from your downline and send it over through PayPal yourself: that is also an option for those who don't find PayPal sexy, or for whom PayPal is out of reach.

Let's make a library of objections. And let's together work to handle them. So collect them, and share them. I would like to know what the top 10 objections are. Let's prepare answers to each of them.

Go Through Your List Fast

Don't spend too much time on any one potential member. If someone does not come along even after you have handled their fifth objection, let them go. Move on to the next person on your list.

Upline, Dowline

The person who recruited you is your upline, the person you recruit is your downline.

Ecosystem Concept

There are a few organizations in New York City where I live. They have their members and leaders. They have the option to join Hamro Nepal, or those organizations can work in close cooperation with Hamro Nepal. That is also true for other organizations in other cities. We will work with all individuals and organizations that share our goal of a Democratic Republic. The extent of the cooperation will depend on a few different factors, to be decided on a case by case basis.

Only One

This is the only Nepali organization in the US I expect to join. I came very close to joining ANTA, but I passed. ANTA shares the flaws of the other established Nepali organizations although it has and will continue to do a commendable job in terms of Madhesi dignity and solidarity. The Nepali organizations in general are too elitist and opaque. Hamro Nepal hopes to be mass based.

Registration

We will register after we are at least 500 strong. Registration is but a technicality. And it takes a few months, maybe more, to attain a non profit status. Until then, your $10 is not a tax write off. Not to worry. It is not a heartbreaking amount. It has been kept deliberately small, so all Nepalis can hope to join. Membership fee is no barrier.

Constitution

I expect it to go through a few drafts.

Digital Divide

Face Time is key. Screeen Time, although fundamental, is second. We will have and train Bridge Activists. Noone who is not online will have to feel like they are not part of the vibrant life of the organization.

But it is true that this organization can not be imagined without the internet. Blogs will be key. We will use text, photos, audio, video.

The Personal, The Political

This is my idea of my social reality.
Studying these two diagrams is helpful if you intend to interact with me. I don't like to mix the personal and the political. My privacy is important to me. If you are a friend, you are not family, and I am not going to pretend you are. If you are a comrade, you are not necessarily a friend, although some comrades also end up friends. And so on. And there are fans, people who know me and perhaps admire me, but I don't know. I try and offer parts of me online to share with them. That base is rather small for now, although I am aware I became a public figure of sorts somewhere along the way.

Hamro Nepal: Draft Constitution
Organization: Hamro Nepal
Your Many Identities

Money, Message, Organization

Bridge Activists
Immigration Makes Economy Sense, Democracy, Justice, Family Sense
Hate Speech, Free Speech: Europe Needs To Learn The Difference
Bill Frist's Ancestors Came From The Moon
"I've Been To Europe Once, And That's Enough"
blac
Race, Gender, Progressive, Conservative Divides
The Spectrum On Gender
Pan American Desi Caucus: Brown Is Beautiful
Nepal Message To Top Democrats
DFNYC Socializing Is Circle 3 For Me
Politics At The Speed Of Thought
Social Progress: Show Me The Money
Superpower Talk, Infrastructure Talk
DFNYC, 100,000 Strong, Scalable Organization
Money, Message, Organization
Pentagon, Hexagon
The Israeli Wall Is Wrong, Hillary
Blacks, Hispanics At The Core Of The Democrat Rainbow Coalition
The Spectrum/Dialogue Concept Is Key To Power
Obama Was In Town And I Missed It
French Society: No Easy Solutions
Sick Sarkozy
Free Trade: Got To Walk and Chew Gum At The Same Time
Riots In France
Dick Cheney, Nelson Mandela, Howard Dean
Blogging Is Scalable Media
Say Hello To Appu
No Taxation Without Representation
The Saudi Royal Family Has Got To Go
The One Voice Concept
One Blog One LinkUp One Atom
Takes Two Arms And Two Legs To Swim
More On Organization
DFA Organization Framework
Democracy For Nepal, DFN

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