With the PIEs advisory group/editorial board now (mid-May 2022) starting to come together, it's time to start spelling out what goes into producing the PIElink, and all that that entails. That is, if the role of the group is to advise others - lets call them the 'production team' - then let's first see what the team needs to do, with the advice of the group.

On other pages (HERE) we have looked at what kind of company structures in UK company law, might be suitable to pick up the PIElink, in the short term and beyond.
Here we’ll look at what that company needs to be able to do; including what activities could well be contracted out.

What does it take to run the PIElink?

The short answer is: it all depends on who you are, and what you want to do.

If you are Robin (and yes, it's me writing this ) then I'd say I spend probably 60-70 hours a week on all this; but I can't make any distinction between 'work on the PIElink' and 'work on PIEs'. The PIElink is probably my main outlet for all thinking and communications on PIEs, so the distinction between running the PIElink,  developing the whole PIE approach, and engaging with the PIEs community just doesn't exist for me.

But for anyone else, we might want to try to make a distinction between those three. I do suspect, though, that won't work out. Those three aspects really are totally interwoven - at least, in the PIElink in its current form. But let's try.

In House
In the simplest of models - and perhaps the most effective and cost-effective in the long run - one company and one production team co-ordinates and itself organises all these activities ‘in house’ - as Robin in effect did. The advisory group ensures - hopefully - that nevertheless it is open to outside developments and works in partnership wherever possible and suitable to any particular activity. But the in-house team also co-ordinates meetings of the advisory group - and any sub-groups on particular topics.

Farming out
Perhaps the most obvious example of farming out would be to work with an events management company to set up and run forums and webinars. The advisory group advises on what is needed; the company sources the speakers on any topic; and the events company advertises and runs the programme on the day.

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