[Imc-africa] minutes from meeting 12-13-06

[Ben Samuels]

Hi all,

here's some minutes i've tried to put together.  if anyone has anything 
else to add, please feel free.  I'll try to add this to the wiki. thanks 
to Terna for the wiki organizing.

On Dec. 13th, 2006 several members of the imc-africa working group met 
in an irc chat and also in a skype conference call to get updated 
information on the project and move ahead with some plans.  You can see 
most of the irc log on the wiki. (unfortunately i was unable to log the 
beginning of the meeting.  if anyone else has it saved, please udate it)

Here is a brief summary of the key points of the meeting:

African Delegates to the Convergence Imc:  Sphinx told us that there are 
several people in africa that are hoping to attend the imc-convergence 
but do not yet have funding.  Some of them are facing some extreme 
conditions in their home countries.  There may be some funding available 
from the WSF to help them travel to Nairobi if the imc registers as an 
official group.

Finances- The main action taken was the decision to have the X-Y funding 
which was about $1800 be sent directly to prometheus so that it can be 
used for the initial equipment purchases for the radio transmitters.  It 
seems that eveyone agreed that we should go ahead and be ready to build 
two transmitters although there was some concern over whether there 
would be a group ready to operate a transmitter in Nairobi.   There is 
another $4250 coming from imc-finance anf also a couple hundred dollars 
raised by individual imcs and donated through paypal. How to allocate 
this money and get it to nairobi is still being discussed on the list.

Space:  there was a space lined up with a good price, size and internet 
connection but it was too far away from the wsf.  It seems John has 
found a closer space and is ready to get the funding to secure it.  
details about the size and internet weren't available but we're hoping 
it will work out.  the original space had 50 rooms for accomdation.  The 
new space *might* be close enough to the wsf to use their wireless 
connection but this needs to be confirmed.

Equipment: in terms of the radio, andy will use the x-y money to 
purchase the neccesary transmitter quipment, some from the UK and some 
from USA.  If possible someone from the UK might be able to save the £70 
shipping cost by bringing directly to nairobi.  Some strstegies for 
making sure it arrives safely were discussed including splitting the 
equipment up between multiple people and multiple bags, and being clear 
that it is to be use for workshops at the WSF, and it might be helpful 
to have some documentation to that effect.  The rest of the equipment 
(for mounting the transmitter and outfitting the studio) will be 
purchased in nairobi.

Visas for Kenya- we got some information that the WSF has a special 
arrangement with an immigration officer in kenya and that anyone 
attending the wsf should be able to get a visa at the border.  People 
coming from usa and uk do not need visas but do need an address of where 
they are staying when they enter the counrty.  everyone else should stay 
tuned for the up to date information of what address to use when they 
enter.  It looks like they will not a letter of invitation but this 
isn't certain.

There was some discussion but no real decision on whether or not to 
register the imc as an official group delgeation.  this involves paying 
for five registrations together.  it may allow us to find some extra 
funding to get african delegates to nairobi.  It looks like anyone who 
wants to get into the wsf will need to pay for registration anyway.  
hopefully we will follow up on this on the list.