People and workflows

Roles, roadmap and workplan; budget and logistics; correspondence; safety and security.

Roles in a nutshell

CommsLabs collaborative and participatory design involves a diverse set of interlinked and interdependent roles embodied by Astraea grantee partners, activists, advisors, healers, technologists, and movement allies.

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CommsLabs collaborative and participatory design involves a diverse set of interlinked and interdependent roles embodied by Astraea grantee partners, activists, advisors, healers, technologists, and movement allies. 

Community folks (a.k.a participants)

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Participants in the CommsLabs event may vary across gatherings, but will likely include Astraea's grantee partners as well as other LGBTQI movement allies and activists. These individuals engage with Astraea and local hosts before the event to articulate their goals and expectations. They may also be invited to join the Activist Advisory Board, collaborating with the Coordination Team on program development, logistics, and safety, thus ensuring the event aligns with regional strengths and priorities. For those unable to join the Advisory Board, surveys, one-on-one, or group sessions may be held to gather their input and suggestions. Co-Design sessions in advance of the CommsLabs are another time to bring a broader group of participants together (though a smaller group than the main event) to inform the priorities, themes, and design of the CommsLabs.

Additionally, all participants have the opportunity to propose and lead sessions, taking on roles as facilitators or trainers, through a call for proposals or application process. This collaborative and inclusive approach enables participants to contribute their expertise and perspectives, fostering a dynamic and responsive event environment.

Activist Advisory Board

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The Activist Advisory Board (AAB) comprises activists, leaders, and healers from the region who are actively involved in the LGBTQI movement within their local communities. This is a remunerated role requiring significant engagement in both the planning and execution of the event to ensure it reflects the movement's priorities and effectively serves participants during and beyond the CommsLabs. 

Before the event, Activist Advisory Board members collaborate in a Co-Design process with community members and the Coordination Team. They play a vital role ensuring the event is grounded in the local context, strengths and needs, and hold the coordination team accountable. This involves virtual planning meetings, regular email and instant messaging (chat) communication, providing feedback on assessments, and reviewing calls for trainers. They help shape the program design, session development, and security protocols ensuring the event is led by activists strengths and priorities and serve as liaisons to other participants. During the event, Activist Advisory Board members actively participate and meet daily with the coordination team and facilitators to adjust the agenda to best meet the evolving needs of participants. They may also play specific roles during the event to provide additional support to participants and monitor overall feel of the event and wellbeing of participants to ensure it adapts to meet the groups priorities. After the event, they engage in post-event evaluations and debriefing, ensuring continuous improvement and responsiveness to the community's needs.

Coordination Team

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The Coordination Team serves as the core organizing group throughout the CommsLabs process. This team includes the implementing partners (APC and RAD, for example), Astraea team members, and local implementers (such as local host organizations). The Coordination Team steers and maintains the infrastructure relevant platforms used for coordination. Their main role is to link and ensure that all programmatic, administrative, budgetary, and logistics milestones are on track, overseeing the Co-Design and implementation process, which includes the overall agenda, building on the priorities, and engaging with CommsLabs participants.

Additionally, the Coordination Team is responsible for program design by sharing synthesized recommendations from CommsLabs feedback, engaging with various stakeholders to refine program content, inviting session proposals, coordinating session facilitators, and supporting facilitators in developing relevant content under the guidance of Activist Advisory Board. They also play a critical role in maintaining documentation and communication by co-designing documentation goals and implementing the documentation plan. During the main event, the Coordination Team works behind the scenes to ensure all participants are supported during the informal and formal aspects of the event and able to show up as their full selves.

Local hosts

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The Local Logistics or Local Host for an event are typically activist organizations based in movement in the event country. They are onboarded approximately six months before the event and play a crucial role in ensuring all logistical arrangements are organized. Their responsibilities often include: local logistics, such as space planning, registration, accommodation, travel, meals, ground transportation, childcare for folks traveling with children, audiovisual needs, supplies, session scheduling, and site visits. These tasks require close collaboration with the Coordination Team, session facilitators, and participants. Specific duties are distributed among individuals, with local host organizations focusing on local logistics coordination, while Astraea handles contract procurement and international travel coordination.

Additionally, Logistic Partners/Local Hosts support outreach to locally-based allied organizations and guest facilitators. This outreach ensures a broad and diverse participation, enriching the event with various perspectives and expertise. By managing these logistics and outreach efforts, the Local Host organizations help create a seamless and well-organized event environment that meets the needs of all participants.

Lead facilitators (a.k.a masters of ceremony)

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Lead facilitators, also known as Masters of Ceremony or MCs, are responsible for setting the tone for the event and leading the overall event program during the CommsLabs. They should be based in the region where the event is held. They are onboarded simultaneously with participants through a call for proposals and selection process. Their primary role is to coordinate session facilitators, weaving together common threads, interests, and ideas. They lead the team of facilitators and trainers, co-designing the event agenda with the coordination team. With a ratio of approximately three lead facilitators for every fifty participants, they ensure that all sessions run smoothly and that the event is cohesive and impactful. We highly recommend that this team includes activists with backgrounds in healing and care to ensure this practice is embedded throughout the event.

Lead facilitators oversee all aspects of the event, coordinating session facilitators and ensuring a seamless flow of activities. They act as bridges, connecting various participants and stakeholders, and engage deeply with the Activist Advisory Board. Their responsibilities include bringing together similar ideas and interests, fostering collaboration, and guiding the overall direction of the event. By maintaining strong connections with everyone involved, lead facilitators help create an engaging and dynamic environment that enhances the event's success.

Session facilitators

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Session facilitators are location-based trainers, including activist trainers who are part of the grantee partner community, and they actively participate in the CommsLabs event. With an approximate ratio of ten facilitators per fifty participants, their role is crucial in ensuring the event's success. Their primary tasks involve upholding Astraea’s social justice values within the CommsLabs, building the media, communications, and technology capacity of LGBTQI activists in the region, and closely collaborating with the CommsLabs Coordination Team and event facilitators.

These facilitators are responsible for creating a supportive and inclusive environment that aligns with Astraea's mission. By working hand-in-hand with the Coordination Team, they help design and implement sessions that meet the participants' needs and foster skill development. Through their efforts, they ensure that the event runs smoothly and that the goals of the CommsLabs are effectively achieved, contributing to the growth and empowerment of the LGBTQI community in the region.

Documenters, designers & illustrators

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Documenters, designers, and illustrators are collaborators from the region and community, though they may be hired externally if the necessary expertise is not available within the existing network or grantee partnerships. Documenters are responsible for textual or visual note-taking during the CommsLabs main event, often producing outputs as illustrations. This documentation serves multiple purposes, including informing event evaluations, storytelling, and creating collective memories.

Designers and illustrators focus on developing the visual language for various materials such as the website, goodie bags, communication outreach, messaging, and reporting.

These roles are onboarded or hired simultaneously with participants, facilitators, and lead facilitators through a call for proposals, followed by a selection process and contracting. Their main task is to create content that supports outreach efforts, build a shared knowledge and experience base, and contribute to the collective memory of the event.

Translators

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Translators are collaborators from the region or community, hired externally if the necessary expertise is not available within the existing network or grantee partnerships. They participate in online meetings with the Activist Advisory Board, facilitators, lead facilitators, and in onboarding/orientation sessions with participants prior to the main event. Additionally, they provide live on-site interpretation during co-design sessions and the main event through dedicated booths and headsets. Onboarded simultaneously with the Activist Advisory Board through a contracting process, translators play a crucial role in ensuring meaningful and equal access to the CommsLabs, upholding Language Justice principles.

 

Roles in context

This ecosystem of roles distributes tasks in the planning and design of CommsLabs, as well as in the governance of infrastructure, nurturing of community engagement and learning building. Learn more in roles in context.

Roles in context

Ecosystem of roles distributes tasks in the planning and design of CommsLabs, as well as in the governance of infrastructure, nurturing community engagement and learning building.

Implementation

Putting together CommsLab takes a village, from online meetings, to writing up work documents and figuring out budgets to visa administration and homewarming at the actual event. Find out more about the different aspects involved.

 

Planning

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Planning part of the implementation phase starts with managing a research project (landscape research) from start to finish, beginning with revising and sending out the Request for Proposal. It includes forming a research team that meets regularly with the convening team at Astraea to share updates and incorporate new insights. The convening team at Astraea here is involved in drafting reports and going through review cycles. Coordination Team coordinates an advisory board and participant engagement, including developing criteria and agreements and organizing engagement activities.

Program design

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Meticulous planning and execution of co-design sessions. It involves identifying an appropriate venue and managing logistics, including travel and materials. Specific activities here include identifying, inviting, and confirming participants based on set criteria. Designing also entails refining the agenda, and developing plans for facilitation, documentation, and evaluation. Coordination Team will orient participants to ensure they are well-prepared. During the co-design session, they will oversee proceedings and, afterward, conduct a debrief to gather initial feedback. The Coordination Team is responsible for synthesizing findings from the session to inform activities and decisions leading up to the CommsLabs main event.

Infrastructure

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Coordination Team is responsible for setting up tools and platforms (Drupal, Mattermost, Nextcloud and BigBlueButton) to be used as part of the CommsLabs infrastructure, establishing single sign-in-services and testing it all. Specific tasks and responsibilities for the CommsLabs include providing design requirements to the designer for event website, adjusting the event's look and feel on the platforms, setting up surveys to collect organization profiles. Documentation is developed for deploying and managing servers, virtual machines, and platforms, along with creating and updating support manuals. An overall timeline for the web platform is established. Additionally, users are created on platforms and onabaorded with orientation meetings to learn using the platforms for coordination throughout the cycle of the event.

 

Programme development

Programme development as an activity relates differently with Coordination Team and Activist Advisory Board. Coordination Team takes a step back and makes things available for things to happen. Activist Advisory Board are the actual designers that create the agenda facilitating effective trainer-participant dynamics. Coordination Team facilitates trainer-participant interactions.

 

Community engagement

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Community engagement stage would include and start with inviting participants to the event, developing the programme along with community folks following co-design principles, leading up to the main event.

Learning

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Learning ensures comprehensive evaluation and documentation post-event. It involves conducting debrief calls with rest of the roles mentioned earlier to gather feedback and insights, meticulously documenting, and coordinating the program evaluation.

Engagement of Interested groups

For the event a variety of resources to support engagement of different groups involved in CommsLabs were prepared. These include onboarding guides, communication templates, nomination forms, invitations, and engagement plans for advisory board members, activists, and trainers. There are also templates for agreements, participant organization profiles, and resource guides to help with program design, coordination, and facilitation.

CommsLabs Teams (Convener + Space & Design host + Local Partner)

Activist Advisory Board  

Activist Participants 

Trainers & Facilitators

Digital Infrastructure On-boarding Guide

Online Spaces Design

The Online Spaces are meant to be a shared space for folks involved in preparing, shaping and taking part in an event. For fulfilling these multiple roles, it needs to be designed carefully in order to be practical, accessible and inviting, a place where people feel comfortable being and sharing with others. 

Part of the online spaces design is thinking about the structure of the spaces:

We don’t need to have answer for all those questions right away, but it is important to have some structure already in place before on-boarding more users.

In more practical terms, considering the tools we have available, designing a space might mean:

One example of things that need to be set before adding users is a standard for usernames. Usernames are near impossible to change after creation and might seen unimportant but they are fundamental, specially in queer spaces, for creating a space where people feel comfortable identify with their online presence and are recognized by their peers. A username standard must consider that a username has to be unique. It is advisable to ask users their preferred names but always mentioning the expected format based on the standard designed.

Another aspect that needs to be designed is the on-boarding timeline. This timeline is deeply connected with each person’s role in the event. 

 

CommsLabs example:

For the CommsLabs events, folks that are part of the Coordination Team will always be on-boarded first as they are responsible for the kickoff work for an event. Next, the Activist Advisory Board will be on-boarded to help shape the event, including themes, topics, languages, direction, and risks related to the event and also to its online spaces, helping answer some of the questions listed above. Then the logistics team will be on-boarded and lastly the participants, keeping in mind that there is always some overlap between these teams. 

The whole on-boarding timeline can be framed around main milestones, the actual event being one of them. We wanted to have the event participants comfortably using the online spaces at least a whole month before the CommsLabs taking place, for this we started reaching out to them for their on-boarding at least two months before the event. 

In the month between the reach out and the ideal date participants should be on the online spaces, we have scheduled weekly online sessions of tech support / on-boarding open to all in different time zones where they could come and ask questions or have a walk-through demonstration of the platforms. Participants that were reaching out with questions and issues we either connected with them individually or suggested they joined the already scheduled calls. 

 

The timeline needs to consider as well that participants might take days or even weeks to respond to our messages. They also might have issues with their personal devices or when they are connecting to the online spaces. This will impact the on-boarding timeline and for this reason it is preferred to start earlier. 

When the online spaces are thoughtfully designed the participants will land in spaces that make sense, that are containers with purpose, which serve as an incentive for conversations and interaction and that don’t require a whole lot of effort to learn and discover.

It is also crucial to keep in mind that the work is not done once everyone has been on-boarded. The online spaces need to be maintained, animated, facilitated, curated... specially if participants don’t know each other, are not familiar with the technology, or worse, if potential conflicts might arise between the participants (geopolitical issues, identity issues…).

Chat (Mattermost)

In Mattermost the higher structure is a team, users are part of teams, teams have channels. A team is a useful container that serves to isolate different realms of users. Every team has two default channels, town-hall and off-topic, the former can’t be removed as it is the default channel where all users will land. Both channels can be renamed, all users added to the team will be automatically added to both these channels. A user member of a team can freely browse and join all existing public channels – only private channels are off-limits. A regular user will not be able to see other teams of which they don’t belong. With that in mind, in most cases it will be useful to have a new team for hosting the new users and keeping them under a specific scope which will usually related to an upcoming event or project.

Files (Nextcloud)

Access rights to folders and files in Nextcloud is hierarchically inherited, meaning that if you share a folder with a user or a group of users they will have access to everything inside this folder including its sub-folders. For this reason it is recommended to have different top folders for different scopes, to simplify, they could match the teams in Chat. For example, for the CommsLabs events we had one top folder per event we hosted, this allows to make sure users are only able to see the files from the events they participated in. Inside this folder you can create a basic folder structure to it have some of the access rights figured before welcoming other users. Also having a groups of users will be helpful to easily share folders and files with groups of users, specially if you add users to the groups as you create them. For example, for the Caribbean CommsLabs we had a group called CaribbeanCoordinationTeam and a CaribbeanParticipants, among other groups. These two groups made it easier to share folders with the relevant groups of people as oppose to have to individually share with each one of the users.

Website commslabs.org

 (Drupal) Currently the following user roles are used to differentiate how content will be displayed on commslabs.org:

Authenticated users have an easy access from the header of the website to a form where they can update their their user profiles with image, organization name, description and contact details. Usually content editors populate user’s name, surname and organization when the account is created.

New users who log in with their newly created LDAP account will automatically get assigned Authenticated - CASC 2023 role and be able to see CASC CommsLabs content. In case a new section for an event is added to the commslabs.com a new role can also be created and the default role can be adjusted.

 

User Account Creation

New accounts are created in files.commslabs.org.

We have not agreed on a standard name format and we have many different standards. Some standards we have respected so far such as: 

 

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Before creating a new user you will need their preferred name and family name and email address. 

As can be seen in the image, the username, password and email are the only required fields. With the exception of the Username, all other fields can be changed later.

Even though some fields are not required, we like to fill out the Display name with the preferred name they provided and it is usually a good practice to already include them in a group. The fields ‘Administered groups’, ‘Quota’ and ‘Manager’ can be ignored. 

Important: please make sure you save the password you used for the new account, we will need it later. 

Once you click in ‘Add new user’ the account will be created in Files and also in LDAP, but it will not be automatically created in the other platforms. Since we have their password and their account doesn’t have any personal information at this stage, we will log in as them in Chat and BBB just to initialize their accounts. 

Tip: A private browser window is very useful as it allows to login with a different account without having to logout of your own.

Login as them will make it easier for them the first time they login as we can already include them in appropriate channels. 

Finally, with all the accounts created, we send them an email with all the steps on setting up their accounts and make ourselves available for any help (see Appendix 1).

 

Appendix 1

Dear {{real name}},

In preparation for the {{event}} coming up, We have created a user for you for accessing the online spaces we will be using before, during and after the event. On these online spaces you will find important information about the event such as travel advisories, the full event schedule, other participants profiles and much more.

With this email we would like to share with you your user and how to reset your password. These credentials will be needed for login in to the spaces.

Please visit https://files.commslabs.org and use your username to trigger a password reset, then follow the steps you will receive on your email address.

Once you have your new password, use it to access the following spaces: 

Don't hesitate to reach out if you have any questions.

Communication and Information Flow

Example – Setting up monthly Activist Advisory Board meeting 

1. Coordination Team Meeting scheduled over email & recorded in calendar

(top layer being the high level workplan >> decides frequency of Coordination Team meeting > > decides Coordination Team members)

2. Coordination Team meeting takes place, weekly.

3. BigBlueButton: Meeting room dedicated to Activist Advisory Board meetings is set up

4. Monthly Activist Advisory Board meeting dates are recorded 

On Nextcloud (file space) calendar:

5. Activist Advisory Board mailing list (mailing group) created – Email 

6. Activist Advisory Board files sharing group created – Files

7. Activist Advisory Board folder is created - Files

8. Activist Advisory Board channel is created – Chat

9. Activist Advisory Board Signal group is created - Signal

10. Email is drafted by Coordination Team member(s)

11. Email: Coordination Team member sends the email to Activist Advisory Board mailing list/group

12. Signal: set short reminder

Simultaneously short reminder is sent on Signal to the Activist Advisory Board group to bring attention to the email and to check spam folder

13. Files: Email text is filed

14. Email: Confirmations

Confirmations are received from Activist Advisory Board member over email for the meeting date

15. Signal & Email: Send reminder

Reminder about the meeting is sent over email one day before and on Signal on the day of the meeting, preferably an hour before the meeting starts

16. BigBlueButton: Activist Advisory Board meeting takes place in real time

Meeting is recorded if consented to, for folks who may not have been able to join.

17. Email: Follow-up email

Follow-up email is sent to Activist Advisory Board with agreements and action points along with links to meeting recording.

18. Signal: Send reminder

Simultaneously short reminder is sent on Signal to the Activist Advisory Board group to bring attention to the follow-up email and to check spam folder.

19. Coordination Team meeting takes place

Action points from the Activist Advisory Board meetings are brought back into the Coordination Team meeting process to close/continue the loop.

Time Implications

Time is not a variable neither is an infinite endless resource.

Across time events unfold. We plan from beginning towards the end. We use tools and methodologies to measure, monitor time.

Beside what we can call the general timeline of an event there are tens and tens of tasks specific timelines that unfold within and can change expanding or contracting the overall general timeline.

Some of these tasks specific timelines are easy to spot and account for, some get into the cracks, some were not there and are a result, the effect of new circumstances.

One intersection that is critical is between people and technology.

Pace matters, not too fast, not too stressful, not too slow, too boring. A two days learning commitment need to be paced and agreed in a way that is effective and caring for all involved.

Communication matters, explaining, organizing simple demonstrations and walk-troughs. 

Learning requires support, dedicated people and time to prepare, test and do on-boarding, answering questions, solve small problems, suggesting and describing workflows.

So, for example the specific task timeline of on- boarding would include: 

Learning time needs also to be accounted and made visible in all agreements, administrative paper, documentation especially folks who join spaces (platforms or set of platforms) and are neither hired or contracted but provide insights and advise on an area/community they are familiar with. 

There are all lessons we have learned and reflected a lot in the course of the two participatory events we have facilitated. We have learned by ways of trials and errors.

Roadmap & Workplan

Resources which help guide the planning and implementation of CommsLabs include a visual timeline of milestones that can be embedded and updated, a high-level planning document for organizing milestones, and a collaborative workplan for tracking activities throughout the process. Additionally, there’s a coordination and resources plan that outlines team roles, commitments, and key activities for the successful execution of CommsLabs.

 

Budget & Logistics

With focus on the relationship between time, budget, and commitment in event planning the need for flexibility and periodic adjustments is emphasized. It suggests planning timelines by working backward from the event's start date. Key resources include templates for budget tracking, venue selection, local partner proposals, and memorandums of understanding.

Budget and timeline transformation

 

Listen to the conversation about budget and timeline transformation

 

Transcript

What is the relevance of having working documents, templates, MOU, work plans in a process like the CommsLabs? I would say it is critical, essential; it informs the process because this formal administrative aspect both highlights the constraints that each event has (budget constraints, time constraints), and tries to tailor the event to all the different needs a community might have. This is always a complex activity because any given event has a timeline and a duration, a start and a end, and also a budget that makes it possible.

So, having access to the documents that somehow regulate or help to formalize the different relationships of each individual and group in which they operate, but also the relationship among the Activist Advice Board and the Convener, in our case, Astraea; or between the Activist Advice Board and the Consultant as APC, responsible for the general coordination and program development. Having this highlighted in a document is always critically important. Of course, this documentation evolves.

What we have learned, when we started, is that having an event that is based on an infrastructure which requires a change of mind has implications. On-boarding actors in specific space, Mattermost, files, repository, website, all those different actions which might sound simpler or something we do, all of us do with comfort, that's not a given. Entering a space has always a learning curve. The actors that come from so many cultures have their own experience of technology, they have their own struggles, and this is what we learned in the Caribbean CommsLabs and we really didn’t have the ability to say how much time all these different actors needed to give or to be with this, within the infrastructure and use it.

In the second CommsLabs in Central Asia and South Caucasus, we considered the different tasks or activities each of the actors will have to cover, the time that they will give for the onboarding into the different spaces and learning how those spaces and the communication in these spaces work.

Whenever we work online and whenever we work mediated by technology, we need more time. What can be achieved in the space of one day in a in‐person setting probably will need one and a half day online because, after three, four hours of active engagement, a person is tired, exhausted, our body cannot just transit into the digital seamless. This is important in regards to all the different MOUs, the work plans, thinking about the time necessary for people to learn, understand and practice and be with this, and then to also develop the agreement that each and every group needs to adjust, this needs to be acknowledged and “compensate”.

The CommsLabs, as an event, has a responsibility of the day to day realization of the event, those are paid. But roles as the one of the Advisory Board are not paid. The notion is not to give a salary, is not to create this kind of relationship, but an acknowledgement that the time they will be given, their knowledge, their positionality, their attention, it is recognized. If we ask people to consider, on the length of six months, to invest one week, then we need to respect this one week. What we have learned in the realization of CommsLabs that were lasting generally a year, so a 12 months process, is that probably you needed to build another three to five days, depending from all the different situations, that need really to cover further time to get into the different spaces and ways of operating of an infrastructure and create this tuning.

And then we have the other layers: through which device activists, trainers, facilities or access, because it's not the same if you work on a mobile and have to work on collaborative document or thing or you have your laptop. It's not the same if you are on the mobile, there is a meeting or if you can have really a room on your own where you can think, contribute. Time zone matters, time zone influences the way in which we work. So what is important, when we think of timeline and budget, is that those two are a function of the actual event. And so ,while we can start with a forecast, it is really important that there’s a periodical assessment and adjustment. An event should be started, the timeline should be planned from the end: if we imagine that the event will start, will happen online, hybrid or in person, let's say in September, then we need to go back to think, “okay, by when we need to have the list of the people, the actual people?”. And then you can say, “okay, maybe I need to have two months before”. For visas, for travel, but we need to know who we are going to have even before because we need to define the venue.

The CommsLabs community is well defined: it's LGBTIQ+ community already in a situated region, subregion, cluster or country. There are many other events that can happen where the profile of the participant can be different. And it is also how we are going to identify the participant. Is it word of mouth, it is people vetting or is it an open call? So all these things impacted the timeline. And in our experience, if you are thinking of a participatory process like CommsLabs, six to nine months, it's really short; 12 months, and maybe more if there is also a piece of research to create a kind of a common shared baseline of the challenges, the context, the situation. So, the relationship between time, budget, commitment, engagement, it is of essence. And having all this material ready, and those are the materials from Astraea, but also visible, accessible for others, the consultant was important.

The bigger the institution, the more steps are for the sign off for contracts, MOUs, contract with venues. So, it is important to understand that also this timeline, the timeline of from when we start an MOU, an agreement, and when we end, so when it's signed and resources are reaching out to the different actors, this is also a timeline within a timeline.

This is an issue of trust. Are we starting when this timeline is completed or are we able, and there is a relationship that can allow without exploitation, to start even before this is signed. We had also situations in which the people couldn't receive their token or compensation because of the geopolitical situation and where their bank account were located. All those things impact. And that's to say that all this operation or administration, they are part of any event, not as something that should be read as a constraint, but it is truly something that is giving access to resource and it is a function of transparency and accountability of those giving these resources to be used for a specific purpose. Whenever we enter into this formal world of words and legal words, there is always a tension between the wish of giving more freedom, autonomy, openness to the people and the necessity of also providing clear threads and thresholds because we'll be auditing financial reviews. And this world is not really sitting into the activism, transformative, political vision of the world. It sits usually into the corporate world that wants to use their own mechanism systems and workflow. And this is a tension Astraea didn't shy away from discussing about these things, answering the questions when the questions were made because all these things matter.

And so, I think, the evolution had been having a baseline, having templates. It's a good way to start. Then these templates need to be contextualized, understanding that using an infrastructure or working in hybrid or online environment extend the timeline, add a new task or a new activity that is really the learning of those spaces and planning for all this other little workflow timelines that impact the overall timeline. Having this political conversation and caring conversation, because those things are part of the texture of an event and they should not be treated alienated from the central core of the conversation and decision making of an event.

 

 

 

Work templates

Correspondence

Sample emails and communications for planning and coordinating CommsLabs events, including templates for logistics, coordination, and safety information, streamline the process.

Safety & Security

Safety and security was addressed through tools for identifying and addressing potential concerns, including a scenario planning template for in-person gatherings. A travel safety template captures important local information, emergency contacts, and action plans. Samples include travel tips and safety guidelines.