Thank you for being a co-chair!
We’re really excited that you’re a co-chair and helping keep our working groups running. This onboarding page will help to show you how to use our various tech tools and help you get up to speed on what co-chairing is all about!
Using this website: treat this website like a directory of information; to start, I recommend looking at the intro links and what co-chairs do (about 30 to 45 minutes). Then you can look at the other how-to videos and documentation as you are working on particular tasks, or if you’re interested in a topic or curious about something.
Website notes: most links on this page automatically open in a new tab. Most links are to documents in our internal Google Drive; you need to have an account with permission to view documents in the drive (which is open to all members). If you are having issues viewing any of the files, please ask the officers for help.
Intro to SVDSA & What Co-Chairs Do
Intro to SVDSA: One-page intro (Google Docs) – includes a brief intro on who we are, why we fight, and how we communicate with each other in SVDSA.
Here are some past projects we are proud of:
- Stop the RV Ban in Mountain View (Jan 2020) – SVDSA worked with the Mountain View Housing Justice Coalition to gather signatures to stop a proposed RV Ban that Mountain View City Council had voted to pass. SVDSA gathered about 1/3 of the thousands of signatures required in a little over one month, and we were able to get the ban referred to a ballot measure to be voted on in Nov 2020.
- Marriott Strike (October 2018) – SVDSA provided community support for a strike by the UNITE HERE! Marriott hotel workers that went for over a month. We brought food, walked the picket line, turned people out for rallies, created fun picket line events, and fundraised for a strike fund.
What Co-Chairs Do:
- What Do WG Co-Chairs Do? (video, 9min 6sec) – Overview of what working group co-chairs do, which includes an explanation of which parts of the role are critical and which are optional as a co-chair.
- One-pager of Working Group co-chair resources – contains paths to working group specific information – for example, how to find your working group specific Slack channel and Google Drive folder, as well as a meeting planning checklist to reference.
Website Calendar & Booking Venues
Website Calendar:
- Event cadence (Google Spreadsheet) – List of events cadence that repeats each month so that working group meetings and recurring events are at the same time every month, making it easier to schedule & to make sure events don’t accidentally overlap.
- How to Use WordPress (Google Doc) – important walkthrough for using wordpress to publish calendar events.
- How to Add Calendar Events to the Website (video, 11min 1sec) – video showing how to add an event by going through two example events.
- Timeline of Event Planning (Google Doc) – tips on how much lead time to give an event (6 weeks before, 4 weeks before, the week before, etc)
- How to Determine the Date and Time for your Meeting or Event (Google Doc) – tips for polling members on when to host the next meeting or event. Includes different polling methods you can try out.
Zoom:
- Zoom best practices (Google Doc) – how to use Zoom and the best zoom settings for meetings.
- How to create a zoom meeting (video, 8min 45sec) – video showing how to create zoom meetings with two example meetings.
Venue:
- Venue policy (Google Doc) – Important venue accessibility requirements for in-person working group meetings. Some are surprising or not intuitive, so it’s important to understand this policy in detail: for example, a coffee shop may be a good place for a social event but would not be permitted for a working group meeting because of the implicit cost of being at a coffee shop.
- Venue list (Google Spreadsheet) – list of our known venues, accessibility information, price. See also this Google Doc with more detailed booking information for certain venues. The chapter can pay for the venue in advance or they can reimburse you – be sure to fill out the expense approval and reimbursement request form as soon as possible.
Agenda Setting & Facilitating Meetings
- How to Create an Agenda (Google Doc) – this is a how-to for finding previous meeting agendas and then making a copy for your next meeting in the same folder.
- Making Exciting and Collaborative Meeting Agendas! – these are tips for how to ask for agenda items on Slack or during the meeting, as well as other activities you can hold during meeting time to make the meeting a little more exciting and help with turnout & meeting attendance.
Miscellaneous
- How to use the Google Drive (Google Doc) – tips for navigating the SVDSA Google Drive.
- SV DSA Bylaws – the bylaws have some information on chapter and working group structure that can be useful. Examples: it contains charter requirements, leadership representation requirements, voting methods for different internal elections.
- Information Security Best Practices (Video, 11min 38sec) – if you collect sign-ups or sign-ins for your working group it’s useful to know the basics of keeping contact information secure.
- SV DSA Expense Approval / Reimbursement Request Form – file reimbursement requests or purchase requests with the treasurer.