We can solve the Rendevous voting problem easy...............................

[Marcos Charron]

Fellow Folk

OK, I know I am a newbie, and that a lot more people here have been doing this for a really long time, but hear me out, All Right?

Why can't a selection board be formed to decide where Rendevous will held each year? I am all for the popular vote, but it is slanted to the faires that have a bigger population center, near the fairegrounds where they live. Bigger is not always better, and the will of the people has never voted in a president or official that everyone agreed with. So, why not divide the country up into sections, get someone to represent that area, and have this "council of elders" decide based on written and video bids made by faires that want to host?

No more post count issues, no more voting issues, no more my faire is better than yours issues.

Just happy folk doing what they like to do, and people with experience and wisdom making the decisions.

Viscomte

[Welsh Wench]

I agree with one thing--Bigger is not always better. We proved that with TNRF for Rendezvous 2008.

As far as a council to decide---
The 'majority' are spending their money, the 'majority' should choose.

I can see this topic is going to become a real hotbed but I had to have my say.
Respectfully, you understand.

[Lady Renee Buchanan]

I think it would be too much work to find the people to be on the board.  You'd then have to have votes in each section for someone to represent that section.  And someone else would have to tally those votes to see who made the board.

I like it better the way it's done now, where we just vote for whatever faire we want.  But as I posted in another thread, I think voting should be limited to those who have been active enough on this forum to have at least 25 posts.

[Captain Jack Wolfe]

We do not need a "council of elders", "electoral college", what have you.  I am perfectly capable of deciding which faire I would want to attend, and which one might offer the most bang for the buck.  It is, after all, my money.  No one will tell me how it will be spent, and it will not be spent without my input and consent.  Simple majority rule is sufficient, as long as there is a cogent, coherent, and consistent policy in place as to how votes are handled and which faires are eligible.

[angusmacinnes]

If this were to even be consicered then why not just leave the entire matter up to the forums owner and then no one would have a say.  Now, how pissed off would that make you.  No matter how you go about it or what rules are in place someone is always going to be dissatisfied.  Vote the way it has been done in the past and get on with it. IMHO.

[Athena]

Personally, I don't care for the idea of a "council of elders" deciding which faire should host Rendezvous. I know everyone can't be pleased all the time, but I like the way things are now. The people make this forum what it is, so the people should be the ones to chose. I think a small group convening behind the scenes like a secret society to decide which faire is chosen is going to rub a lot of people the wrong way. Frankly, I think that kind of situation is ripe for politics and personal preferences, and I don't like it. At least with public voting everything is laid out in the open and there's no question as to how things stand.

[renfairephotog]

We're working on a solution.

[Lairde Guardn]

Come up with a Voting Committee, to include mods and at least one representative from each area of the country.  Then create a group email address so that one email goes to every member of the committee.   Then members can email their vote to the one address, then all the Committee will be able to count the votes and ensure that each has the same count based on the emails.   This email and or renmail address can be posted in the voting thread as an active link making it easy for everyone to click and vote. 

This will give a private vote as well as ensuring a set of checks and balances.   The voting committee themselfs could arrange that one of the members each day post with the current vote count.  Allowing all other members of the committee to verify that they have the same count and allows the members to see how the vote is going.

The group email address would also work for the members of the committee to discuss questionable votes and ensuring the vote count is correct.

[Cobaltblu]

I would prefer a blind vote where no one knows the totals until after the vote is completed (with the exception of the moderators who are receiving the votes of course).

This serves an important purpose by letting everyone vote for who they wish and without any knowledge or thought that their vote might not count as much towards the final outcome.  If you have a vote and early on two faires get the majority of the vote, people who might have voted for another faire might feel pressured to cast their vote for which of the front runners they would more prefer to attend.

That is one of the drawbacks with the current political system in the United States where with two major parties who always get almost all positions, people are less inclined to vote for third party candidates because they know they won't win.

That "major party" system is less of an issue on here but I'd prefer to let everyone vote for who they most like in anonymity and see the truest representation of the will of the voters in the final vote count.


Regards,

CB

[LadyJessica]

The group email has been tried behind the scenes as it were and it doesn't see to work.  A few of us got the email and a few didn't.   Sorry.

[Marcos Charron]

Wow,

Sorry I brought up the idea, guess I will go back to planning for MRF, TRF and of course our home faire.

Viscomte