Jim, Loki and Niamh Present.
Jim passed on apologies from Joni.
Jim brought up the discussion about PEBBLE on WitchesUnitedKingdom and informs the group that WUK members are not keen on joining. For Loki�s benefit Jim described WUK.
Jim brought up introducing the UPK on WUK and what kind of message should be written.
Niamh suggested emphasis on it being a voluntary/democratic group.
Jim expressed concern that the post on WUK should present the best view of UPK and opened the floor to suggestions. He also mentioned that he obtained permission from the list owner.
Niamh suggested that permission was sought from the list owner if they were to post elsewhere even if it were not required.
Loki suggested we include our aims and ideals.
Jim agreed and suggested simple aims, democratic, all paths, and �fellowship� online meeting place for pagans, campaigns (trees etc.)
Niamh suggested that it be pointed out that it is member driven and they should be referred to the forum for more information.
Loki suggested that it be included that it is free.
Jim agreed and added that he liked �member driven.� He suggested that he would like to include the fact that the forum is friendly and tolerant and does not need to be strongly moderated.
Niamh considered the wording for it and came up with �The UPK forum is free to any pagan to join (whether or not they are a member) to wind down after a long day, socialise over a cuppa and tackle some of the key issues troubling pagans today.�
Jim agreed and requested a transcript. He set Friday/Saturday for creating a draft and created a short list of people to send it out to for proof reading/thoughts.
Niamh asked about a ballpark word count.
Jim suggested he would like something no more than 1 screen�s length.
Niamh suggested 200-300 words.
Jim asked the group how to sum up the aims in short and asked about other methods of advertising.
Niamh suggested �The UPK aims to re-establish the ties between pagan groups who share a county and solitary witches so that they can call upon the wisdom of their elders and give a clear voice to government about their concerns.�
Loki suggested signatures, adding to big search engines and pagan link sections and checking mywiccaspace.
Jim agreed but suggested the wording �witch� may want to be reconsidered.
Niamh agreed, stating she understood some people were offended by the term witch or pagan for that matter.
Jim suggested that when we have the new website up and running then search engine promotion would be useful.
Niamh replied that the same promotion could be done for the forum and included that she had been updating the old website.
Jim suggested including �Currently being reconstructed� on the front page of the old site because search engines pick up on these things.
Niamh agreed to include this in her updates on the 11th October. Niamh suggested it may help to keep a list of sites contacted.
Jim agreed but suggested it went somewhere specific.
Niamh agreed to set an appropriate place up for it.
Loki made his apologies at 9pm and left.
Jim suggested approaching the same group more than once in a short period could have a negative effect on our aim. He suggested anyone wishing to advertise the UPK contacted Niamh.
Niamh suggested that anything that suggested censorship even if it was not the case could also be detrimental.
Previous attempts to censor the pagan community by organisations were discussed. The conversation broke down into personal pleasantries and the meeting was adjourned.
