The description for General Session II says that there is alternative programming offered for the first 90 minutes (1-2:30 Eastern) and that the final 90 minutes (2:30-4 Eastern) will focus on essential delegate work. I took advantage of alternate programming and arrived at General Session at 2:30 sharp, only to hear the very end of the lasr AIW presentation and closing words.
I don’t know what to expect tomorrow and Saturday. If I take advantage of the offered alternate programming, will I again miss out on what I consider to be essential delegate work?
I don’t know about the timing, but, you can watch a recording of General Session II to catch up on what happened in the first 90 minutes of programming.
The planners this year were trying something new with alternative programming that overlapped General Sessions. Your feedback is important and there will be a post GA survey to offer your thoughts on the overall event and some of the changes that were made this year.
Remember that voting after each General Session is available until 9am ET the next day, so any time you are unable to attend a business session, you have time to go back and catch the recording.
There are often delegates who queued up to speak who don’t get a chance to, and they are invited to post their comments here on the discussion site, so even after General Session ends the delegates can use this discussion site to share their Pro and Concern statements here.
If you go to the alternative program you will miss out on the general session information. So if you really want to do the business that delegates are supposed to do you should go to the general session and not the alternative programming
I am appalled at the dual programming and would not risk missing any delegate business. As a delegate, speaking for myself alone, I consider general sessions mission-critical, everything else optional. Especially as this is the first (and hopefully only) year that they are doing the dual programming, prediction is hard, so I would stick to the general sessions.
If there are 3,000+ people signed up for GA, and the most active on topic for GA 2025 here has 39 comments, then this it’s not serving as an active, effective debate space. I do appreciate the effort but there clearly room for change and a wider reach.
It was much busier for the Article II discussion and was quite useful for amendments, etc. It needs to be open all year round, not just before/after GA.
Not everyone is a delegate so the alternative programming makes sense to me. Not all eight of us from our congregation need to attend the general session (we have two delegates). And the general session can be viewed in the evening or early morning prior to voting if a delegate does attend alternative programming.
The events and reports at GA are important to all, I believe; for those really not interested, the time can be used for socializing, eating, touring shopping, even napping. This is the core of GA, and I think it deserves to be set apart. (and we sing a bit, too!)
I am sorry that you missed the first part of the AIW discussion - the discussion should not have started before the set time on the agenda. I am glad you got to participate in some of the other programming. I have been a delegate several times and I appreciate that there are other opportunities to engage and then be present for the critical votes. The reports from staff and committees are available online for anyone to read - this opportunity to engage with one another and with topics of interest is fabulous.
We appreciate the feedback and observation. It takes courage to publicly discuss things like you and many others are doing. Perhaps it may help to share some insight from behind the scenes. While you may see limited comments, the visits over the past week have been significant.
Even during General Session very few people publicly speak. But there is a slow culture shift happening. Take the discussion of the Business Resolution for example. There has been far more engagement on this item in this discussion site than we had in General Session.
Thank you for engaging in this discussion site and I hope you and others continue to do so!
Appreciation to all for your responses, which have been about the original post topic - clarity or lack thereof about what would take place when in the general session - to the pros and cons of having alternate programming during general sessions to the effectiveness of discuss.uua.org. Wow! A lot of people with a lot to say!
I am grateful to those planning and running the general sessions for their clarity today that discussion of CSAIs and AIWs would take place at 2:30 and for their sticking to that plan. I recognize that they are all doing their best and are continually striving to do better. I appreciate your efforts.
On the question of alternate programming, I think it is reasonable to have programming for passionate UUs who are not delegates. The learning and inspiration they bring back to our congregations is as important as the work we do in general sessions. All I ask is that I have the clear and accurate information I need to fulfill my responsibilities as a delegate. If I have to miss some programming, that’s OK.
I understand, but there are days of live programming and an EduCenter with many more hours. I don’t think adding 3 sessions during our business sessions is respectful to the business that we meet to do.
