ECCA-UK (I)? – Steering Committee nominations sought.

Following on from the inaugural meeting held on 6th April, a further meeting was held on Tuesday 12th April, but was unfortunately curtailed due to technical problems. Therefore the meeting was deferred until the following evening, and held in the video chat-room kindly provided by www.e-cig-reviews.com.

Whilst that facility enabled better participation, it was agreed that a more suitable platform was required, and on Thursday 14th April, approximately 20 people took part in a test of a purpose built meeting / webinar facility which proved to be far more satisfactory.

A further meeting has been scheduled for Wednesday 27th April at 21:30 BST, at which time a steering committee will be elected, with suggested positions listed here on the ECCA-UK website. Nominations are being sought, and should be submitted as soon as possible, in order that they can be proposed, seconded and votes taken during the meeting on 27th April.

So that’s what has happened since my last update as far as I’m aware, and although things are moving a bit slowly, it does appear that there is some form of consensus starting to appear, and it’s very encouraging to see some of those that were very critical at the beginning stepping up to be involved.

Until a committee is formed, not much can be decided in the way of policies or objectives for the new association, and there are a couple of key things that have been raised that will need to be resolved very quickly:

Overseas Membership

The question of whether or not to include “overseas” representatives has been asked, and it does occur to me that this presents the soon-to-be committee with a bit of a  dilemma. On the one hand, the association should probably accept any assistance offered to organise itself, particularly where those offers are being received from capable individuals who can provide skills and experience that simply hasn’t been offered by UK residents. [pullquote]Can ECCA-UK(I) really fight battles on that many fronts? My thinking is that it probably can’t for a while at least, given that response to pleas for involvement are not generating huge interest.[/pullquote]

It strikes me that given the fairly apathetic response from the silent majority, the Association should be biting the proverbial arms off these people who are offering assistance. On the other hand, acceptance of overseas members, particularly onto the committee may suggest that any politically active initiatives and campaigns that the Association pursues may need to be expanded to cover the countries where it’s members reside. Can ECCA-UK(I) really fight battles on that many fronts? My thinking is that it probably can’t for a while at least, given that response to pleas for involvement are not generating huge interest. Equally, thought will need to be given to how a “global” ECCA-UK(I) would coexist and work with established organisations such as those appearing in Europe and CASAA in the US.

Much to think about for the new committee and potentially the first tough nut to crack.

Response from forums

It has been agreed that the Committee would include internet forum representatives. Admittedly, I wasn’t keen on this as  a concept as I think it could be divisive and inter-forum rivalry seems to have generated plenty of controversy already and I’m not convinced that this won’t continue. In addition, I don’t see the internet forum community (communities) as having particularly significant clout given that we think there are as many as 200,000 e-cig users in the UK, but as someone who ruled himself out of any officer post some time ago, that’s not really any of my business so I’ll shut up about it![pullquote]now the opportunity is there to put names forward and influence proceedings, it seems to have gone very quiet…..[/pullquote]

It is ironic though, despite the willingness of many to criticise the early efforts to set up an association (often involving personal attacks and accusations) using the forums, that now the opportunity is there to put names forward and influence proceedings, it seems to have gone very quiet….. There is plenty of discussion going on about specific topics, but very few people who have offered their time to actually assume some responsibility and take the association forwards. I really hope that there are nominations for all of the positions (especially those of Chair and Secretary) by 27th April, although I wouldn’t be surprised if it is the Agenda of some to simply observe, then criticise.

Cynical – you betcha, but am I wrong? I guess we’ll find out soon.

I’ll be there, possibly doing the behind the scenes technical stuff on the 27th April, in which case let’s hope I have plenty to do organising the votes and watching an effective committee being born.

To take part in the meeting @ 9:30pm on 27th April 2011, you’ll first need to become a member of the ECCA, which you can do by simply registering on the ECCA website. Then you need to register for the actual meeting using this link. Once registered, links will be sent to the e-mail address you specify, together with periodic automated reminders – couldn’t be easier. If you wish to speak, a headset with mic is recommended, but to listen and vote you only need speakers on your PC. Hope to see you there.