At the Community Forum held during Spring 2017, a decision was made to separate the role of staff from the role of the Board. (In previous years, the staff and the Board were the same group of people.) Staff will now essentially function as a logistics group, tasked with planning for and putting on the conference on an annual basis. In contrast, the Board, which will have staggered multi-year terms, will be tasked with long-term vision and community-based decision-making, utilizing input from the community and from various committees and working groups.

Below is some relevant information that was presented by the Governance Committee and ratified by the community and the Board during the Spring 2017 conference:

We the Spring Community Form ratify the following operating procedure changes:

1. The Board Members shall cease to run the actual conference, and instead shall create and oversee committees at its own discretion or at the behest of the Community Forum, and shall give those committees a specific charge at time of creation.
2. The Board shall appoint a standing committee, referred to as staff, to run the actual conference using the current election process.
3. The Board shall elect the next Board, with the understanding that Board members shall serve for at least two years and rotate out in such a way as to provide continuity.
4. When any committee runs into something out of the scope of their charge, they shall inform the Board, who will deal with it appropriately.
5. The board shall convene a Community Forum yearly at a conference
6. The Community Forum shall select issues for discussion brought to it by the Board or by a community member, and the Board shall abide by decisions made at the forum.
7. When the Board determines that an issue requires the input of or a decision by the greater Spring Community, the Board shall, when the Community Forum next convenes, present that issue to the forum.
8. Board members may serve on various committees when practical and convenient.
9. No committee shall have authority over any other committee. Any conflicts between committees shall be resolved by the Board.
10. When the Board creates a committee, it shall create a liaison process between itself and that committee.
11. Any committee created by the Board shall include at least one community member, with the recommendation that committees be comprised of at least 50% community members.

spring staff structure and the staff application process

(This process may change somewhat due to the staff and Board changes mentioned above.)

From time to time we field questions about how the staffing and organization for Spring works. How can a conferee initiate a personalized workshop or project at Spring? Who is on staff? How can a conferee become a staff member?

We are more than happy to explain this process.

Spring is mainly a do-it-yourself conference, where any conferee is welcome to suggest an activity or workshop, and if it seems right for Spring and it fits into the schedule, then the answer is “yes.”

Of course, Spring is more than just workshops and activities. There is a long list of nuts-and-bolts aspects to organize, such as making sure the site is rented and prepared, and obtaining insurance, and figuring out how to keep everyone happy and fed on time. Also, Spring must think farther than this conference or the next, and ensure its finances are in order and its community relationships are sound.

Because all that needs to occur on a timely basis, and is aided by a certain amount of institutional knowledge and experience, you may notice a consistency to the faces you see on staff from year to year. However, a position on Staff is available to anyone enthusiastic about Spring. In addition to the responsibilities mentioned above, Spring always needs a few staff members to help with the organization and run workshops and fulfill other positions, and also to provide Spring with new perspectives on how Spring is run, and to add their voices to the choir about where Spring is going.

Any conferee who has spent at least two years attending the full week-long Spring is welcome to submit an application to be on staff. Applications are distributed by email shortly after Spring, along with the survey which solicits your thoughts on your Spring experience. There are nine total staff positions available, and staff for one year chooses staff for next. Applicants are encouraged to devote as much time and care to the application as possible, and to answer all the questions fully and honestly. Applications are due in July or August, and applicants are notified either way by August or September.

The first staff meeting occurs in late September or early October. After that, Spring has five or six staff meetings over the course of the year, in order to prepare for the conference. These meetings tend to occur over weekends in southern New Hampshire or Massachusetts where there is sleeping space and plenty of food and good company. A staff member should be prepared to attend all of those meetings.

A Staff position begins at the first staff meeting, and ends once staff for the following year is chosen, sometime in late August/early September. Over the course of that period, everyone on staff has an equal voice in how the administration of Spring will proceed for that year.

However, please understand that a staff position is a one-year position, and does not guarantee a position on staff for the following year. This in no way reflects personal feelings, or a judgment on a staff member’s performance. It is simply to ensure that Spring can acquire new voices on staff from year to year, and that Spring staff not continue to grow lest it swallow the whole conference. But, if you’ve been on staff one year, and you wish to be on Staff the next, you are more than welcome to submit a new application.

All Staff members have a different experience at Spring than conferees. While it provides great pleasure to see ideas seeded at staff meetings come to fruition at Spring, Spring is also sometimes not as relaxing a place. Staff members may miss workshops, or have to travel off-site, or lift heavy loads. It’s a bit less of a vacation but it’s worth it to make Spring happen.

Please feel free to talk to any former staff members who will be more than happy to talk to you about what it’s like being on staff.