[New-imc] Proposed new IMC!

[bennett at whitecloud.com]

A proposed new IMC is being requested.
Details are as follows:

Proposed IMC Name:	IMC Tallahassee
Contact Name:		Bennett Hoffman
Email:			bennett at whitecloud.com
Phone:			850-222-1156
City:			Tallahassee
State:			Florida
Country:		US
Tech Contact Name:	Dubravko Kakarigi
Tech Contact Email:	dubravko at kakarigi.net
Tech Contact Phone:	850-222-2211
Regional Focus:		yes
Issue Focus:		yes
Event Focus:		yes
Critical Dates:		
Supporting Groups:	To be determined - members of:
Tallahassee Greens
Whoseflorida.com
Heart of the Earth
Mother Earth collective, Sierra Club, and many other groups are in our initial group.
 Others who we expect to support us:
Tallahassee NOW
Friends
Southern Springs
CURG
PEER
and many other progressive, ecological and political action groups centered here

Other comments:		With just the most basic outreach at one Green Party meeting we gathered a list of over 20 people with a wide range of contacts throughout the area. We have each been contacting others in the area. In addition, there is a very active list serve in the area serving hundreds of community activists on various topical lists including peace groups, ecological issues, and political and social activist issues. There are 2 major Universities in Tallahassee (Florida State and FAMU) with strong journalism and film schools which we have extensive contacts. Since this is the state capitol there are many journalists and media groups in town with which we have contacts. We plan to be working at first with a core group to firm up the organizational and technical infrastructure as we begin a wider community outreach.  As the group coalesces we will begin discussing editorial and other policies of consensus.  Dubravko and Bennett have been working with Sharpie on this projec!
 t.   We would like to set up an initial listserve through indymedia in order to begin the next stage of our outreach.
Resources to contribute: Arrangements will be made by the Technical contact group headed by Dubravko to provide the server and the technical skills for this project.


Why we want to be an IMC: The 2000 election galvanized progressive groups in Tallahassee and in Florida.  With the ever-growing corporatization of the commercial media, there needs to be an alternative in Tallahassee that is actively networked with the rest of the state.  IndyMedia affords the ideal vehicle or rallying point for progressive groups, in that it can service all who participate under a neutral banner.  This may help overcome the territorial impulses of any organization that keep these groups separate, and in many cases unaware of each other's presence. 
The coming 2002 election will be of national interest and will focus on issues that are critical to Florida. Tallahassee, being the Capitol, is at the center of this activity.  This election more than any in our recent memory promises to hinge on the media outreach of a well-funded, highly organized incumbent administration.  There needs to be an alternative available to the media saturation that has already begun throughout the state that is distorting the public record.  The people need more information than is available through the corporate media.
More long term, we envision a statewide portal with satellites throughout the state.  We want to focus the Tallahassee site on the Red Hills bioregion.  This region runs from the Gulf of Mexico into Southern Georgia. Tallahassee is at the center of this region that encompasses much of what is called The Big Bend area of Florida.