RCN Congress attendance - guidance

RCN Congress represents an opportunity for RCN members to influence RCN Council and RCN policy, and the RCN Research Society has in the past 12 years built up a strong presence, highlighted by a comment from the Vice Chair of Congress in 2005 who said “The Research Society don’t seem to have been as noticeable this year”. In formulating good practice, and to help with succession planning, the following guidance has been developed for potential attendees at Congress who are representing the RCN Research Society. 

  1. A Congress lead is identified (this person must be attending Congress, and preferably for as much of the week as possible).
  2. Attendees should aim to reflect a mix of Congress Stalwarts (those who know the ropes) and new or inexperienced people. This will help ensure continuity.
  3. A Congress lead for submitting resolutions to the Agenda Committee is identified (this person does not have to be attending Congress).
  4. When Council announces the Resolutions and Matters for Discussion, the Congress lead will work with all those attending Congress to go through each item, decide whether they would like to offer to second the motion (if applicable), decide whether there is something that needs a research voice in the floor debate, decide who will draft the speech, and pass said speech to the Congress lead before Congress commences. This means that if the person who offered to speak to the item is unavailable, any Research Society member who is around can still present the speech.
  5. If a member is being paid to attend Congress by funds from the RCN Research Society, said forum should be top priority if a conflict of interest occurs.
  6. Attendees will help to promote Research Society and Research & Innovation Team fringes, both before Congress, and especially during Congress.
  7. The nature of Congress means that unexpected things happen. To always be prepared for this, attendees will hold a meeting each morning to discuss the plan of action for that day.