[IMC-Boston-Discuss] Off-List and Into the Streets!

[sharpie at riseup.net]

So I did it. I signed up for the IMC-Discuss list. Now you're all going to
regret it. We'll see how long I last.

I spent some time looking into the discussions from this month.

_____

1. I think offlist discussions are only a problem if A. meetings aren't
promoted publically or B. decisions are made outside of General Meetings.
I am of the opinion that Proposals can be made outside of General Meetings
but that decisions should only be made at General Meetings with something
resembling a Quorum.

If a major decision has to be made, individuals who can't make a meeting
shoudl be able to voice input electronically. ESPECIALLY If the insistence
on 1 meeting a month continues. I am consistently of the opinion that the
fracturing of the General Meeting structure, without strong working group
nodes continues to prevent Boston Indymedia from becoming a really
worthwhile force.

For example, I have missed the last 2 General Meetings because

1. I was covering the Fred Phelps demonstration the first weekend in June
and was exhausted so I didn't make the meeting. (the key thing here being
that i was too busy "being" the media to "meet" about the media.

2. I was away at my family reunion, which I mentioned multiple times on
multiple lists, so because we only have one meeting a month, I will only
make 1 meeting in 3 months! And I suspect there are plenty of other people
in the IMC Boston network who have similar problems.
_____


2. Another issue I've seen around is that lots of people like to say "we"
and discuss *their* OPINION of what Indymedia is or should be, invoking
this sort of monolitic idea or force as though Indymedia has only one
goal, intention, manifestation, etc. we are ALL the media, to be as we
wish, and the only limitation are the fairly broad principles of unity
that are primarily about ending oppression/hierarchy and have little to do
with specific workings or ideas about how the imc should manifest itself,
i.e. primarily as  website, a print project, a tv show, etc.
______


3. Granted I've never seen the office space, but it doesn't seem to be
particularly central to most of the people involved with the IMC
currently. and it seems to be an expense we shouldn't be paying. i think
we have to ask whether or not it benefits the IMC, or more specifically
the various members of the IMC. If I have to start travelling to downtown
Boston to go to IMC meetings, I'm even less likely to attend them. I live
outside of Union Sq and am not near any T stations. I also no longer have
a car. I think its great to have a finances meeting about allocating the
money from the benefit, but to think that we should spend a majority of it
on a space that no one uses is really just bad business practice. If we're
going to be sustainable we have to have a sustainable business model. I
know, no one thought I'd be the first to say it, but its been said. I have
a lot of equipment that could go into an IMC office, but if its only going
to collect dust, whats the point?
_______


4. I would like to go to this finances meeting, but its basically
impossible for me to get anywhere in Boston by 6:30. 7 is a possibility on
some days, but 6:30, not a chance. I would need to walk 1.5-2 miles to the
Central Sq. T at arond 5 when I get off(if I'm lucky), and then take it
into Boston whenever it arrives.
_______


5. I feel like part of the problem with our inabiity to grow is the
prevalence of folks who are Academics or have an abundance of time to
spend on the internet. It's been asked repeatedly why more people don't
engage in discussions online, well part of it is a lack of access to the
tools of list-serve production. We can't all afford to sit online and
write responses to everything the other people who can sit online for long
periods spits out. This is why decisions should be made at regular general
meetings that happen more often. Those of us who are spending lots of time
spewing at emails should perhaps get off the internet, take care of our
home/personal lives and use the extra time to have face-to-face
discussions with our peers in this Indymedia Project thing.

so I leave you as I began,

Off-List and Into the Streets!

sharpie