How to manage closed items & meetings?

Closed (also known as Confidential, In Camera, Executive Session) items are items that are not visible in the regular public meeting, and the information is only visible to a certain group of participants with specified access to closed information. In many cases, items can only be considered closed from the public if they meet the legislated requirements.

There are two ways of handling closed/confidential meeting items in eSCRIBE:

Separate meeting type for closed meeting where all items are closed
Closed items, or category of items, within a regular open session agenda

While there is no right or wrong method, there are pros and cons to each method of handling the closed information within eSCRIBE, this document will outline these factors and review how to create closed information for each option.

	Pros	Cons
Separate Meeting type for Closed Meeting	eSCRIBE will manage 2 templates (open & closed sessions). Formatting and meeting procedure may be different for each meeting.	There will be two separate meetings in eSCRIBE’s meeting list. In the Participant Portal, participants will have to navigate between two separate meeting sites.
Closed Items Within a Meeting Session	Users only have to manage one meeting in eSCRIBE, the closed meeting will be a sub-site within the regular open session.	A template for the closed session of the meeting cannot be pre-populated. Formatting and meeting procedure must be the same for both meetings.