Partial streaming
In order to make it possible for as many members as possible to follow the 2020 AGM, plans are afoot to stream parts of the meeting in a protected environment.
The Annual General Meeting is one of the most important organs of the General Anthroposophical Society. But due to geographical distance and the costs involved, many members don’t have the possibility to attend this meeting in person and so depend for information on what happened on the written or oral accounts of others. In addition, they can never actively participate in discussions or in the votes. Last year, Gerald Häfner and Justus Wittich therefore developed proposals for the improvement of member participation. As a first step, one now plans to stream part of the 2020 AGM in German and English in a secure, password-protected environment.
For members only
The events on stage will be filmed and recorded (including the simultaneous English interpretation) and can then be watched live on a login-based digital channel. Only the persons speaking on stage will be shown and heard (both live and later via the archives); anyone not wishing to be seen can speak from the auditorium with only their voice being audible. The streaming is only envisaged for the lectures given at the Annual Conference and the plenary sessions of the AGM.
Access to the streaming will be restricted to members of the General Anthroposophical Society. They need to register personally via the Goetheanum Login for which they can apply on the Goetheanum homepage. The Membership Office at the Goetheanum will make sure that anyone who registers is really a member and will only allow access once this has been ascertained. The possibility of partially streaming the AGM has been investigated by Oliver Conradt, the Goetheanum’s data protection officer. The recording will be deleted after a fortnight.
Live streaming in a protected environment will initially only allow members passive participation. The process will then be evaluated in order to establish whether or not membership participation is significantly improved by it.