So, it’s currently 10.30 11.00 am on Saturday, November 14, and I’m happily installed at the press centre at Laugardalshöll arena, where the National Assembly is taking place. I’m even all geared up with Flip camera, SLR camera, etc. but foolishly left the cord to connect my Canon to the computer at home. D’oh!
There is a great atmosphere here – very buoyant, yet also very focused. The setup is as follows: 162 numbered tables of nine divided into two separate areas (A & B). Each table has its own facilitator who makes sure everyone’s voice is heard, even those who are timid or reserved. In addition, there are 18 “helper ants” for the two areas, whose job it is to run tickets with the written-down results from each table to a central area where they are processed.
Not sure of the exact number of people here, but there are many. Probably around 1,500 all-told. There are several tables with refreshments – coffee, tea, juice, water, fruit, rolls, yogurt, etc. Lunch is provided by Icelandic farmers and importers, and at the end of the day there will be Icelandic lamb soup on offer for everyone, courtesy of the farmers’ association.
Major props to the people who have organized this assembly – it truly is remarkable to have been able to put all this together. The amount of organization required is staggering – from the actual methodology to the logistics of setting up tables, getting drinks and refreshments for everybody, greeting people at the front and making sure they know which table they are assigned to, etc. etc. And everything done on a volunteer basis!
Apparently there will be entertainment in between the different sections – right now a choir of some sort is getting ready to take the stage walk through the area.
A live streaming from the event is available here.
All Tweets and Facebook updates, PLUS the results as they come available, can be viewed here.
Just a reminder that I’m Tweeting from there – you can follow in the sidebar, or on Twitter [even if you're not a user]. The hash tag [for those of you who are seasoned Twitter users] is #thf09, although many people will be in Icelandic.
I’ll probably be updating throughout the day and, well, there won’t be any weather reports today [see discussion in comments from last post!]
{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
So there’s about 0.5% of the Icelandic population there? That must mean something! The equivalent for the UK would be about 300,000 people – the population of Iceland!
the choir is the one my daughters sing in
Have a good day, I’ll be following the meeting as much as I can.
Wonderful! We need this kind of positive thinking to balance out the angry thinking that sadly is also needed. Over here I’d would expect this to be dismissed out of hand if it got any coverage at all. Honesty, what a concept.
Don’t feel bad about the missing cables, at least you could go get it if you really needed it. Imagine me walking off the plane and suddenly realizing that my whole trip had to be done on a single charge of the camera’s battery, d’uoh! I wish I could digitize the thousands of pics that are stored in my head….. I love that country.
I don’t speak Icelandic but I’ve been watching live and find the structure and engagement quite amazing- this feels like true citizen democracy. Here in the UK we have nothing like it. The national forums are no more than rubber stamping devices for emerging government policies. Maybe Iceland is giving us a model to follow. The key test is- how much will to-day’s outcomes influence the development of national policy?