Trademarking IDEA

[Jurate Motiejunaite]

Dear Bojana, 
Thank you for raising some important concerns facing IDEA members
lately. I am glad to see that many issues which you are mentioning -
such as the cooperation between IDEA US and IDEA NL, as well as the ways
of improving the relationship between IDEA members and IDEA NL staff,
and the Governing Board are on the upcoming General Assembly agenda. I
hope that IDEA members will be able to provide the staff and the
Governing Board with constructive criticism enabling IDEA not to only
serve its members better, but will also make it a stronger organization
promoting its mission around the world. 
I will be able to report to you personally, as well as other members of
IDEA the outcomes of the discussion with IDEA members present at the GA.

The representatives of different IDEA entities - namely, IDEA-NL and
IDEA US - are also meeting tomorrow to discuss the ways of improving our
cooperation, as well as communication with the general public, which, we
hope, will solve the difficulty of understanding which IDEA does what. 
 
Apart of the problems which we are going to discuss during the upcoming
week, there are some points in your email which I would like to address
separately: 
1.	Trademark history: IDEA Governing Board members will discuss the
questions you are raising about reasons of IDEA Inc. Trademarking IDEA
name and the reasons (or their lack) for having problems with this
issue. I must clarify that there was no disagreement about not informing
IDEA members about issues of importance to them, indeed, our goal is to
inform our members about issues of interest to them. Addressing your
concern over the of Mr. Selegzi being both IDEA-NL executive director
and IDEA-US president in the past, and the difficulties arising from
such division of work, I want to point out that this is precisely the
reason why IDEA-NL has received generous funding from OSI to establish
an independent office in the Netherlands to better, faster and more
transparently serve its members and promote its mission. This brings me
to the next point:
2.	IDEA NL office: although we are always open for suggestions on
how to improve our relationship with and service for our members, I
believe that OSI funding for the project of opening an office in
Amsterdam is an endevour which brings benefits not only IDEA members,
but the promotion of debate culture worldwide. This support has allowed
to start IDEA's functioning as an independent organization able to take
responsibility of their own projects and events. To name some benefits
of the existance of the office, I could remind of Marcin's assistance
with project writing (supported by OSI) which has brought benefits for
IDEA members; IDEA Exchange which we organize annually; EYS project
(which allows us to organize an annual EYS conference); the starting of
the very successful DIN project. These are a few examples of how IDEA NL
is assisting its members and promoting IDEA globally. 
3.	IDEA-US and IDEA-NL's communication: although IDEA US is not a
membership organization the way IDEA-NL is, it does not stop it from
being internationally active. IDEA US has projects in Rwanda, Uganda,
South America, China, and Korea (to name a few) - I believe it is an
international reach and its claim to be an international organization is
just as valid as IDEA-NL's. Moreover, there are projects, where IDEA-US
has assisted IDEA-NL members and IDEA-US's partners with fundraising
from US sources and which have materialized in some very exciting
projects! Think of SEEYLI, for instance. Overall, I have been very
impressed and thankful for the assistance IDEA-NL staff has received
from IDEA-US and OSI NDP staff during the years (and especially during
this transitional period) - without their help we would not have the
impressive website, IDEBATE magazine, know-how needed for our project
implementation, as well as every day support which cannot be reported,
but is extremely valuable. Although the relationships can be clarified,
we are not in a situation where one partner has more say than the
others. Like IDEA-NL (and its members) has no say in OSI or IDEA-US
strategy, these two entities do not dictate the strategy of IDEA-NL.
Instead, we are looking for ways to create synergies and help each other
to promote our shared mission. 
4.	"Membership but not really" - IDEA-NL develops, organizes and
promotes debate and debate-related activities in communities throughout
the world. That is its primary mission which has been approved by IDEA
members. The development and promotion of debate activities is not
limited by IDEA member countries - instead, whenever having capacity,
and, with the help of its members, IDEA is striving to implement debate
education in new communities and to new target groups. IDEA is an
organization having administrative capacity to work together with its
members to promote debate internationally. I am glad that we will have a
chance to discuss our successes and failures in achieving our aim during
the upcoming GA, whereas IDEA Exchange will provide us with a chance to
brainstorm together with our members the new possibilities for
international debate. 
 
I hope this has clarified some questions. I will be glad to share more
information/reaction after our meetings this week. 
Best regards,
 
Jurate Motiejunaite
IDEA Executive Director
 
 
 
 
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