Brendan Gleeson brings up an excellent point. I too am an oversees member of
the RGS-IBG and ne'er a ballot reached me. I have to say that I am less than
swayed by the appeals to stay in and fight. That is obviously easy for me to
say as a non-UK resident, and the argument that the organization is vital to
the prospects of postgrads carriess the ultimate weight. But for me, this is
preciely why the time is ripe to begin to think about international
organization. Obviously it should be UK based colleagues and comrades who
lead the discussion of how to proceed, but however that discussion goes, I
think it would be a very forward looking thing to begin to build the
international allegiances. That is obviously one of the things that the
Vancouver conference can inch forward. It is a beginning not a conclusion.
Whether a breakaway IBG is viable, UK residents hsould decide, but at the
same time, there is an extraordinary opportunity to create something
radically new -- WITH all the benefits of internet technology. Why be bound
to national, pre-internet dinosaurs as a form of orgnization?
neil smith
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