[ST] [CP] The Debrief

[Chris Amshey]

> This may be true, but the Corporation does have the authority to over  
> rule any officer at any time. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying we  
> should do this, but I am saying that the the Con Chair does not have  
> sole discretion as he/she is accountable to the E-Board and Corporation.
> 
> Walter

 The con-chair does, in fact, effectively have sole discretion over
the vast majority of convention-running decisions. The corporation
can, and has, set certain rules (especially vis a vis the budget) to
restrict the scope of the chair's discretion. The chair is in no
way obligated to limit themselves in any other way in how they decide
to run their convention. That the corporation could overrule and
direct the con chair at any time on any issue is true, but until and
unless they do, the con chair may make decisions freely.

 It would greatly stifle the creativity and experimentation that
Arisia has seen over the years if convention chairs limited themselves
to only what has been done before unless they get specific board
approval. The corporation could have made that the rule - that all
activities are forbidden unless authorized, and maintained strict
control. They did not, they made the rule permissive - everything is
permitted and within the conchair's control unless constrained by
existing rules. 

 It does not make sense to me to even suggest that any chair should
act, because they might be overruled, as if under the restrictive
model, when the permissive model is core to the very spirit of Arisia
as a dynamic and experimental convention.

 This philisophical point aside, the way debrief meetings are being
run this year are not breaking precedent in any way whatsoever and
are a basic administrative decision. The philisophical point may
have applicability to certain other decisions.

	--Chris