Off-topic topic about "going off topic"

Tangent highlights from our meeting on 03/19/03

1. Shouldn't the moderator/chairperson/facilitator keep us on topic?
2. Moderators have different styles.
3. Shouldn't we follow the same style as Christopher Phillips, originator of the Socrates Cafe concept?
4. Chris would be the first to argue that there is no one correct style or format.
5. What set of rules and procedures does this group wish to follow?
6. What is the will of this group?
7. Can a group have a will?
8. What set of procedures do we want to follow?
9. How should they be enforced?
10. What are the rights and responsibilities of the members of this group?
11. How do we decide these questions?
12. How is this group to govern itself?
13. Could we make that the main topic of our next meeting?
14. It could be a kind of Constitutional Convention for our Socrates Group.
15. We are a living experiment in spontaneous government formation.
16. Perhaps this is the same process Scott Peck called "community formation" in his book The Different Drum.
17. Let's hope we get it right.
18. Let's watch this process with mindful awareness.
19. Let's get back to our main topic this evening.