[Imc-bigmuddy] cities list

[ana velitchkova]

Provocation obviously works, Running Dog, even I'm
responding :-)

Count me on the Southern Illinois IMC side :-)
Treesong. We can't leave our bio-region behind...

I agree with Jen's points as well but also I
understand Running Dog's worries about the number of
people involved (I'm guilty but not really). Actually,
I don't think the two points necessarily contradict
each other. Rather, they complement each other. Being
on the cities' list can help the involvement problem
with all the advantages Jen mentions. Outreaching
regionally could boost involvement and "justify" the
Big Muddy IMC being on the cities' list as Running Dog
insists on. Even if we are rural (actually, that
shouldn't sound bad, why does it?), so what! Look at
the Bulgarian site (on the cities :-) for comparison
and you'll feel much better about the Big Muddy. About
the search for authenticity, I feel that we already
ARE authentic, we don't need to search for something
that we are not. Of course, this doesn't mean we can't
improve… 
Bla-bla-bla…

Here's also some concrete stuff…

A solution to the involvement problem is definitely
outreach and here are some easy to do things that can
attract more people or at least let the people in the
region know about the Big Muddy IMC (if that is the
goal, is it?): 

*** To reach more SIU students:

1. Canvass the campus with flyers… a message like
"Post YOUR news, let the world know about what is
happening around you" or something better than that
together with the web site address would be great.
There are people among us who have mastered the
canvassing business :-) so…

2. Send an e-mail to Student Development and ask them
politely to forward the message to all RSO's
(Registered Student Organizations) officers. The
person to contact is Ellen Auld?, I believe. The
message could explain what the site is about and how
it works and that EVERYBODY can not only read but also
post stuff. It should also encourage the officers to
use it and to forward the message to their
constituencies. Through the Student Development'
listserve, we can reach a lot of the people who are
likely to get involved/ who ever get involved.

2a. If you prefer, we can just ask for the contact
info of selected groups and individuals and send them
the message mentioned above. 
Personally, I'd rather opt for the first choice
because it's more open and inclusive even though that
way we might attract the attention of people who don't
have the kind of thinking we would like probably most
people to have :-)

3. Contact key RSOs (USG, GPSC, BAC, HSC, ISC, etc.)
and offer to make presentations to their groups about
how the Independent Media works and how it can help
them (you need to convince people why they should do
what you want them do to). These organizations are the
ones organizing a lot of stuff and they are likely to
post.

*** To reach high school students:

(Here I have to start with the disclaimer that I know
nothing about American high schools - I have only been
in the cafeteria of one of them twice. Anyway, I still
believe that we need to start attracting and involving
people when they are still young [not that we are not
:-)])

0. Plan something like a youth corner/page for the
paper.

1. Send a flyer encouraging students to write about
issues through the superintendents of all the southern
Illinois high schools we want to reach. The procedure
is: you bring the flyer to the superintendent's
office. After it gets approved and stamped, you make
as many copies as you want sent and give them to the
clerks at the superintendent's office (I've done that,
by the way, it's not an illusion). They can send it to
all the schools/teachers they are responsible for. It
just has to have educational value, which of course is
no problem - free speech, writing practice, etc.

2. Just post the flyers in the schools we want without
worrying about the superintendents (I don't know how
possible that is, as far as quantity and legality are
concerned and whether we are concerned about them
anyway).

3. Work through the English or Speech teachers
(whoever seems cooler to the students :-) or both.
Again point out the educational value of writing for
the paper/site and encourage the teachers to announce
the opportunity for the students to get involved. (the
Speech teacher at the Carbondale High School is a
friend of mine so I could talk to him if that turns
out to be what we want to do).

*** To reach unions in the region:

1. The only ones I know of are the ones at SIU
(Faculty Association, etc.) and they are easily
approachable (with the same offer to do presentations
as for the key RSOs).
2. If anybody knows about any other in the region,
bring it up too, please.

*** To reach other organizations:

1. Again, offer presentations about how the
Independent Media works and how it can help the
particular organization and ask the core people to
forward the invitation to all their constituencies
(Peace Coalition, Shawnee Greens, etc.)

*** To reach the larger community:

1. Canvass eateries (Harbough's, the Long Branch, etc)
with flyers encouraging people to post their news.
2. …….. up to you to come up with more ideas…

For all that to happen we need only:

 One or two flyer designs
 Some cash to make copies of the flyers
 Volunteers to spread the flyers
 A letter to send to the RSO officers
 A letter to send to the superintendents and
the teachers
 A presentation about how the Independent
Media works
 Volunteers to contact groups and make the
presentations

What do you think? 

!Viva la propaganda! :-)
 
Ana



--- Treesong <treesong at treesong.org> wrote:

> Hello,
> 
> I don't think it's necessarily getting nuts. I just
> think that a lot of 
> us have feelings on the matter that we've just been
> pushing aside for 
> the time being while working on other IMC stuff. We
> have these ideas and 
> feelings about it that don't get talked about very
> often. Subsequently, 
> several times now, it's been brought up and
> discussed in a somewhat 
> intense way. [And yes, this time it was brought up
> by Willie, which is 
> what started this whole round of emails.] Since it
> does take the form of 
> a flare-up, I can see why Eric would think that this
> was just some 
> random impulse for external validation. But it's
> been an ongoing 
> quesiton for the IMC, and one that I would like to
> see resolved in a 
> positive way.
> 
> First, I'd like to echo Jen's reasons for getting on
> the Cities list. I 
> knew that my using the word "official" was the wrong
> word for it, which 
> is why I put it in quotes [didn't I?]. I was
> basically referring to 
> Jen's Points #2 and #7 -- demonstrating to people
> that we are committed 
> members of this IMC network, while also in fact
> BEING committed members 
> of this IMC network. It's not about filling out some
> form -- it's about 
> becoming the more clear manifestation of the
> principles we've been 
> loosely organizing around for a long time now.
> 
> Second, I would like to say that even though this
> issue seems to trigger 
> some abrasive discussions, I don't think that it has
> to be that way. 
> Basically, I see two perspectives on the question:
> 
> (1) Before we even think about getting on the Cities
> list, we should get 
> our act in order so that we are in fact in accord
> with the commitment 
> we're about to sign on to.
> (2) We already have some sense of what we're signing
> onto, and 
> completing the process of getting on the Cities list
> will essentially 
> formalize and catalyze the very effort of
> act-getting-together that 
> we're discussing.
> 
> In other words, some of us seem to think that we
> should improve our 
> operation before we "link up" with the rest of the
> IMCs, while others of 
> us seem to think that linking up with the other IMCs
> can be a catalyst 
> for improving our operations. The more I think about
> it, the more I see 
> the validity of both perspectives. In the end,
> though, I'm still in 
> favor of pursuing the Cities list sooner rather than
> later.
> 
> Yes, Big Muddy IMC could use some work, especially
> in light of two 
> things: (1) the ongoing fluctuation in the
> involvement of key 
> organizers; and (2) the commitment to be an IMC for
> all of Southern 
> Illinois. But ultimately, I think that taking the
> time and effort to get 
> on the Cities list will not detract from the group,
> and will quite 
> possible improve the group.
> 
> #1 is pretty easy to address. We're in flux right
> now, perhaps even a 
> bit more so than usual. But that's the story of any
> group, really. I 
> feel that we're still coherent enough to function as
> an organization. 
> I've been involved in groups that were considerably
> more disorderly or 
> dysfunctional than Big Muddy IMC, and yet some of
> them still exist today.
> 
> #2 is more challenging. Are we the IMC for all of
> Southern Illinois? 
> We've always aspired to be such, as far as I can
> remember, and I see 
> hints of that on the horizon. But should we wait
> until we're 
> successfully active in numerous Southern Illinois
> communities before we 
> join the Cities list? As I see it -- and correct me
> if I'm wrong -- it's 
> okay if we're not yet the greatest model of an IMC
> that serves rural 
> communities outside of the C'dale/Murphy area. It
> would be pretty much 
> impossible for a group to appear on the scene and
> immediatelly become an 
> IMC for all of Southern Illinois. That's part of the
> rather unique 
> challenge of rural organizing. But it's a challenge
> that I feel we can 
> face by formulating our outreach strategy and
> committing to actively 
> pursuing it.
> 
> To make a long story short, I don't think that we
> should wait until 
> we've been successful with our outreach strategy to
> present ouselves as 
> an IMC for all of Southern Illinois. In fact, I'd
> say that the opposite 
> is true -- that actively presenting ourselves as an
> IMC for all of 
> Southern Illinois is a crucial part of becoming
> such.
> 
> Having said all of that, I do agree that we should
> consider the 
> possibility of just signing up as a Carbondale IMC
> and then expanding 
> our theoretical territory as our on-the-ground
> operations expand. I'm 
> truly open to arguments either way on that question,
> and I haven't made 
> up my mind fully. But for the time being, I tend to
> say that we should 
> self-identify as a Southern Illinois IMC since
> that's where our heart 
> lies, that's what the region needs, and that's where
> our 
> slow-but-still-existent momentum seems to be taking
> us.
> 
> Anyway, that's enough from me! Are we on for Sunday
> at 6 pm then?
> 
> Love and Healing,
> 
> Treesong
> 
> 
> Eric Deutsch wrote:
> 
> >its getting nuts because until someone sees that
> they can access another
> >imc from the list nothing is said. then suddenly,
> oh my god baby jessus we
> >better get on this here list so we can prove our
> reality.
> >that's why i say its nuts.
> >eric
> >
> >  
> >
> >>Why is this getting nuts? I hope I'm not stressing
> anyone out or getting
> >>people upset or that people are confusing the raft
> of criticisms I've
> >>slammed the list with as something merely
> rancorous. I'm not trying to
> >>be some sort of malcontent. Quite the opposite, I
> think a rigorous
> >>examination and serious discussion of the
> important issues is the kind
> >>of thing any organization needs in order to stay
> vital and remain
> >>significant.
> >>
> >>I also agree with your point about the non-profit
> status.
> >>
> >>
> >>----- Original Message -----
> >>From: "Eric Deutsch" <eric at alliedaccess.net>
> >>To: <imc-bigmuddy at lists.indymedia.org>
> >>Sent: Friday, November 12, 2004 11:14 AM
> >>Subject: [Imc-bigmuddy] cities list
> >>
> >>
> >>    
> >>
> >>>this is getting nuts. first lets become an
> independent non-profit org
> >>>and then worry about getting on the cities list.
> >>>eric
> >>>
> >>>
> 
=== message truncated ===



		
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