Inviting new participants

Inviting new participants into our circle of insiders:

We've discussed this and have come up with some guidelines that feel safe for most of us:

each member may invite no more than 1 person at a time to a face-to-face meeting.

The inviter is being the "sponsor" of the invitee in the sense that the inviter is responsible for making a wise choice of someone who will not be disruptive, controlling, manipulative or in other ways destructive of our hopefully very creative process.

Some characteristics we think makes a person fit well are:

• basic respect for others opinions, even if they disagree
• open-mindedness
• conversational fairness (lets others speak)
• keeps their commitments
• trustworthy and closed-mouthed
• someone who understands the privacy concern of others and is respectful of that

Some people should be avoided that tend to:

• be argumentative
• be intent on coming out of discussions "the winner"
• monopolizers
• agressive, ego-driven types

So, in other words, be careful and considerate about who you invite into this close family.

It is suggested that there may be some "disqualifiers" for invitation into this group, too, such as:

• Those who produce drama wherever they go
• Those who intend to run for political office (they haven't "gotten it" yet) 

It may be wise to develop an introductory statement for new attenders, since it may not be clear what our purpose is, unless it's clearly stated. It's expected that this statement may be a challenge to develop.