[Imc-africa] Convergence-Based IMC

[Jay]

Hi John and Imc-Africa,

My apologies for not writing in French too.  My written French is 
terrible!  Would providing computer translation be helpful?

(Mes excuses pour ne pas écrire en français aussi. Mon Français écrit est 
terrible ! Fournissant la traduction par ordinateur serait utile ?)

I'm so excited, John, that you and others from Kenya, and from around 
Africa are excited about this possibility!  I love your suggestion about 
setting up a local working group to talk about logistics.  Has that 
happened yet?  If so, how did the meeting go?

I've had a bit of experience setting up converengce-based IMCs, though just 
a bit.  At this point, the main logistical questions for the local IMC 
itself would be:

-- find the right physical space for the IMC.  (is it big enough for the 
number of people we expect?  does it have enough electricity?  what sort of 
access will there be to the public, i.e. is it in a building that requires 
some sort of conference badge to get in?  will we have to pay any rent on 
the room?)

-- internet access (how much will it cost?  is it already wired into the 
room or does it need to be wired?  how much bandwidth do we need and for 
how long?  how many computers are available locally for us to use?  how 
many laptops should we try to get people to bring?)

-- telephone line (is there already one in the room we can use?  would we 
rather use a series of cell phones?  if so, how much would that 
cost?  Having a land telephone line is really helpful because cell phones 
can be unreliable, but then again, maybe not much less reliable.)

There are many organizational issues to approach too, such as figuring out 
exactly what we kind of things we envision happening at the IMC: a low 
power radio station definitely, but also do we want to webcast the radio 
station?  That will require the right computer/s.  Do we want to have a 
print project to write articles about the WSF while it's happening?  Do we 
want to do updates on a WSF web site?  (if so, where will the site be 
hosted and what techs will maintain it?).  What sort of workshops/trainings 
will we try to hold?  How will we publicize them (print something up?  if 
so, how much will that cost?).

A lot of these organizational issues are things we could talk about 
internationally, using the imc-africa lists and other means of 
communication, and wouldn't have to fall on the shoulders of the local 
organizing committee.  Though, obviously, the more of this that's organized 
by people in Kenya, the better everything will be.

A whole other set of issues has to do with fundraising.  To do successful 
fundraising, we really should have an itemized budget.  Since right now the 
main logistical questions are space/internet/phone, John, do you think your 
working group could come up with a quick list of costs for those things, as 
well as an estimate of office supplies and any other logistics?  They can 
be rough estimates, but we really should start talking numbers soon.

We should also talk about lodging/air fares etc. in another e-mail, though 
those discussions have to happen really really soon if we're going to be 
able to raise money.

Very exciting!
Jay



At 8/25/2006, John Bwakali wrote:
>Dear Indymedia and Prometheus colleagues,
>My name is John Bwakali and I work together with Oloo, Grace and others in 
>Indymedia Kenya. I am quite thrilled about the prospect of 
>convergence-based IMC during the World Social Forum that will be held here 
>in Nairobi. I look forward to meeting you Judith and Grace anytime you 
>will be in Nairobi so that we can unify our efforts. You can reach me on 
>my cell phone 0720-792390. The idea of involving Maseno university is 
>quite timely and strategic.
>
>To our international colleagues, we in Indymedia Kenya will rise to the 
>challenge and do our bit to ensure that these ideas will find due and 
>speedy implementation. It is great that our colleague Oloo is right at the 
>heart of organising WSF and am sure that Indymedia Kenya will work closely 
>with him.
>
>Concerning the logisitics of all of you who will be coming to Nairobi, one 
>of the things we can do is what we did in Dakar - find a house that we can 
>rent for that period so that we can all stay there, strategise...We can 
>also put together a working group here to start tackling some of these 
>issues. Oloo and I will meet sometimes next week to set the ball rolling.
>
>How are comrades in IMC Africa fairing? Angola, Senegal, Cameroon, 
>Nigeria....I think WSF provides an opportunity for us to coalesce again 
>and start talking and taking action.
>
>Have a great weekend.
>
>John Bwak
>
>
>Want to be your own boss? Learn how on 
><http://us.rd.yahoo.com/evt=41244/*http://smallbusiness.yahoo.com/r-index>Yahoo! 
>Small Business.
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