Closing Session

Audio of workshop reportbacks and conference evaluation (I have the rest of the closing discussion recorded as well, but have not captured and encoded it yet - SteeV )

Conference evaluation

• big shouts to Austin

• needs more involvement from outside united states
• more tech stuff
  • should've had a BIG opening session to find out what people wanted: lots of people wanted stuff that wasn't quite so addressed in this conference
• LOCATION - getting funding for solidarity
• target audience - who is invited
• childcare!
• plan a 10 day conference!!
• plan 2 years in advance
• us or global?
  • this was a US conference
  • BUT - there were still lots of US-IMCs who didn't seem to make it
  • need to get in touch with those imcs and feedback to them.
• big thanks again - for all the free food and beer!
• regional conferences!
  • NorthEast regional conference this summer - imc-nena

what about taking stuff home?

• some groups tried to make action points that were gonna have a real effect, rather than conversation just ending...
• need to get stuff on the wiki - need to have a record of what we've done

Workshop feedback

see main wiki collections! - i couldn't keep up with this bit!

lots of discussion, though....

*imc-women

• • topic imc?
  • invitation to all women to join the list
  • notes and audio will be available to all
  • discussion on gender imbalances, experiences in meetings, how women confronted these experiences, anti-sexism, lots of societal conditioning that affects us all.
  • frustrating that session was cancelled but no information given out. there was a really constructive alternate session:
    • women are often a minority in their collective, important to provide space for them.
    • promotion of using stuff like the wiki and listservs to share information

• non-geek web-publishing didn't happen
• improving journalism skills - this was a constructive workshop

• blogs
  • use of syndication
  • introduced blogging concept
  • indyblogs.protest.net

• how-to radio
  • prometheus!
  • pirate radio
    • low cost transmitters

• how-to radio
  • provided a cd with examples
  • discussion on how to construct a radio
  • hands-on skill sharing - how to use a mini-disc,
  • portland imc don't take out 'ums' and 'ahs' from their stuff!
  • use ogg-vorbis, get away from mp3
  • newer version of audacity - multi-track open-source editing program

• print caucus
  • 6 papers represented
  • discussed issues like
    • funding
    • process
    • future co-ordination;
      • make a weekly pdf that could be printed and distributed
      • re-activating print.indymedia.org and having content from all the newspapers up there
    • guidelines on 'how to start an indy-paper'

• imc-video discussion
  • check out the wiki page!
  • online session - bittorrent, encoding and distribution methods.
  • be great if stuff was a lot more accessible online!
  • ImcATXConf05VideoDiscussion

• Geographies
  • various stuff discussed! - have we plateaued as a network?
  • need to increase communication!
    • http://contact.indymedia.org
    • increase awareness about global resources and lists, e.g. irc,
      • regular summaries to go on imc-communication - BlackBeard to start this - volunteers required!!!
    • use of liaisons to increase communication flows
    • consider who's gonna be reading emails,
    • trust

• IMC and underserved communities
  • bunch of exercises looking at external ideas of repression

• Setting up an IMC at mass mobilisations
  • all on the wiki!

• Race and gender in IMC
  • building solidarity around these issues
  • whole load of stuff that wasn't able to be printed but can be emailed to people

• academia
  • cautionary tales of what happens
  • indyresearch.org to be set up
  • discussion about the tensions between academics and imcista's
    • collection of information
  • transcript to be available
  • aside: the ImcUk has done a lot of work on the wiki about interaction with academia and academics: http://docs.indymedia.org/view/Local/ImcUkResearcherGuidelines

• working group

Collective health

• good discussion at the ImcOceaniaConfCare - and particularly the reference material

• discussion about individual and collective health - i.e. the health of indymedia (local)collectives and how we deal with difficulties and repression
  • need for redundancy - one person should not be essential
    • need to share knowledge - what happens when that person leaves?
  • this is also related to gender imbalance
  • solutions?
    • regular skill shares
    • mandatory vacations for people - by default they're not able to do everything
    • regular meetings in collectives about caring for each other - lots of collectives actually do do this

• • "if it all falls apart when we leave, it should all fall apart - don't be afraid to pass on the torch"
  • many people need a break! have busy lives....
  • having non-meetings - e.g. imc-drunks in san francisco go out bar-hopping

• discussion about personal relationships and conflict in imc (sorry - i missed most of this bit!)
  • silence is screaming out "help me" - we need to hear the voice that is silent.
  • should note where our starting point is as well - what society is like, who we are, where we come from in society

• "we are at war - we are supposed to be bringing down empire and neighbourhoods" - it's great that we're discussing this but we also need to focus on the lifestyle we're living in (in the USA)
• Indymedia has saved people's lives - it has helped by getting information out there.

US-IMC

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-- GarconDuMonde - 20 Feb 2005
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