[IMC-Process] Online form: Proposed new IMC! (Bloomington IMC)

[bmag at bloomington.in.us]

Submitted by: John Howard <bmag at bloomington.in.us> on Thursday, February 3rd, 2005 @ 1:29:15 am (-0800)

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Online Form Fields
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proposed_imc_name:
Bloomington IMC

proposed_imc_url:
bloomington.indymedia.org

current_url:


city:
Bloomington

state:
Indiana

country:
USA

contact_name:
John Howard

contact_email:
bmag at bloomington.in.us

contact_phone:
812.327.6635

tech_name:
John Howard

tech_email:
bmag at bloomington.in.us

tech_phone:
812.327.6635

focus:
regional_focus

critical_dates:


supporting_groups:
Bloomington Media Arts Group (BMAG) - a collaboration of students and citizens working to empower local independent media in Bloomington, Indiana.

WFHB Community Radio
WFHB exists to provide a neutral community forum for the exchange and discussion of ideas and issues, and to celebrate and increase the local cultural diversity. WFHB Bloomington Community Radio is a member of the National Federation of Community Broadcasters and receives its support from its listening members and business underwriters. WFHB is a not-for-profit corporation held together by a handful of part-time staff and scores of dedicated volunteers.

Boxcar Books and Community Center, Inc.
Boxcar Books and Community Center, Inc. is a volunteer run, non-profit organization that exists to provide new and used books, zines, magazines, and comics on topics of social justice, independent media, and fiction for the community; send literature of all types free of charge to prisoners in the midwest; and to provide a meeting space for community and literary groups.

Reel Democracy
Reel Democracy is a Bloomington, Indiana film forum that hosts public screenings and discussions of politically-relevant films. Their hope is that these films will contribute to a more informed electorate.

We have received a very positive response from many other campus and community groups, especially among social justice, environmental, and humanitarian organizations.

introductory_statement:
Bloomington exists as a culturally progressive oasis in an otherwise parched state that is dominated by conservative politics, religious zealotry, and corporate media espousing the current party lines.

We are poised to form an alliance among Bloomington\'s existing community media, united through a collective effort to share information, resources, and human energy in order to serve as a positive example of grassroots activism in Indiana, and the region.

While we understand the benefits of disseminating our news to a global network, we feel that participation in Indymedia will help illustrate that our local and regional issues are part of a larger, global struggle.

resources:
Our collective is blessed by the active participation of technically competant, self-proclaimed geeks balanced by artists with a good eye for design and usability.  Our experience includes work with open source content managemnet systems, RSS Syndication, PHP scripting language, MySQL databases, and server administration.  We are working locally to acquire the necessary server/bandwidth- but we would also appreciate the help of any existing IMCs.

Our collective is also blessed with experienced and successful local activists. A series of focus groups combined with over a half year of trial and error has produced a solid vision and collective organizing principles.

outreach:
We have been working on a larger organizing strategy that essentially turns common approaches to community engagement inside out.  The notion of outreach, for example, typically suggests that one’s efforts are “the center of the universe” and that others should be brought in to the group.  After refining our methods, however, we adopted the idea of “In-Reach” and began instead to get out and into the campaigns, organizations, and social groups of others.

We began by looking for the stories that aren\'t being told, or the stories that need to be told a lot more. By personally engaging these groups in discussions, workshops, and publishing technologies that enable us to better understand and enhance their messages, we have filled a real need in our community.

identity_makeup:
By continually emphasizing a joint effort between campus and community people, we have established an environment that celebrates diversity.  Our collective ranges from high school students doing class projects on indymedia, to college journalism students that are rethinking their career choices, to concerned middle-aged townies with relevant stories to tell. Spiritual discussions focus on cooperation.

We have nearly equal gender balance, though racial/ethnic identity is rather typical for our geographic location i.e. white.  We do have programs in place to Reach In to minority  

steps_represent_diversity:
Our In-Reach Committee has developed programs to increase the diversity of our collective.  First, we are just going door to door canvassing in every neighborhood in our little college town.

We have firm resolve to regularly get off campus and into the community, as well as bringing local residents on to campus, bridging the psychological gap.

We are actively seeking input and membership from International students, and academic programs that include multicultural and global exchanges, civic engagement, and group centered leadership as their core values.

We envision a thriving participatory media scene- thinking globally, acting locally



steps_involve_new_workfields:
We simply get to know each and every member through their own words, desires, concerns.  We look at their background and experience, of course- to see how we may benefit from their talent.  But more importantly, we want to know what each member expects from the collective - what do they want to do, and how can we encourage them to grow, to try new things- to be a bit random and paint with different colors.  We emphasize that every member is a leader in our group and has the opportunity to directly effect our actions.  We attempt to pair up new members with more experienced mentors who can help them understand where we have been and how they can get involved.  We are just now realizing the need for more social events that can help people get to know eachother better, celebrate our little victories, and honor those contributors large and small. Thus our first \"Community Media Potluck\" is coming up in a couple of weeks.