

Ask HN: What to do about unreasonable organizations? - ndx

I'm trying to organize an event at a certain university. However, to host most events, every club needs to go through a dragged out, tumultuous process with the Student Council. Luckily, what I was trying to do was OK by their rules, and didn't have to be cleared. <p>Being civil, I emailed them, asking for a schedule, so my event wouldn't collide with theirs. My email was passed around to 5 different people, and eventually one of the VPs of the Student Council sent me an response, threatening me, telling me not to host the event without going through their elongated procedures (even though by THEIR regulations, I didn't have to). <p>This organization doesn't run very smoothly, and <i>no one</i> outside the council likes dealing with them. Everyone thinks it's a pain, and half the time, they're not even sure where to direct an issue. Unfortunately, the university itself doesn't want to address the problem, since the council is its own entity.<p>I may have overreacted a little bit, and I've considered legal action, and even causing a big (legal of course) mess. However, I need a reality check. When faced with a similar situation, what would you all do? <p>I know I should pick my battles, but they're essentially strong-arming every student - and that's not fair. If I make a mess now, it's going to impact the organization, school, and myself negatively. However, it might mean some changes are made, and students in the future won't have to deal with this. If I let it go, nothing changes. Unlike companies, this organization can't really fail on its own.<p>What's the <i>right</i> thing to do here?
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oceanehb
I'm not going to tell you what the right thing to do is, but what the most
practical thing to do is. The 2 don't always coincide.

Without knowing what type of event you are holding, I would err on the side of
caution and simply go through their process. Lest you want to get into a
potential legal battle, which I'm assuming you don't. Yes, you may be able to
create change in the system by fighting. However, on the negative side, you
may end up hampering your own progress. It's a decision you have to weigh.

Another way to maneouver the situation is to try to meet the organizers in
person with an open mindset and see if you can negotiate something. Try to
understand their mindset and see if there's an opening in their thinking.
Finding common ground is usually the first step to agreement.

I can't fully distill a solution for you without understanding the situation
and players involved, so I can only give practical strategic advise. Hope it
helps. Good luck!

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chc
Walk up to the student council president, offer to buy him or her coffee, and
calmly explain what you need help with. You'd be amazed what just talking to
people can accomplish.

If that fails and they're just being obstinate, either go through the process
or scrub the event. Either way, then go bug the student council to put
clarifying this rule on their agenda. Governing bodies like that almost
invariably have bylaws that allow you to pester them endlessly. Then it's in
their interest to fix the problem to your satisfaction in order to get you out
of their hair.

But the coffee thing will usually work, in my experience.

~~~
impendia
Indeed, do this first. If this doesn't work, consider finding out who the
president answers to, and talk to him or her.

You might get positive results if you make an unusual effort to be friendly
and polite, to try to understand the president's motivations, and to say
nothing bad about anyone.

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arkitaip
Why does the student council need to ok anything when you got freedom of
assembly? Is it because you want to have the event at one of their facilities?

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rhizome
So go through the process if it's required to use university resources. Is
this a case of poor planning on your part constituting an emergency on theirs?

