[IMC-Seattle] Re: Do we need our own rented space now?

Tue Jul 20 00:45:54 PDT 2004

Laury,

 As I remember it, the reason the Imc in Seattle had to take a hiatus
was because there was a lack of energy to carry out its mission in the
space on fourth.  There were 3 maybe 6 people coming to meetings and
only three of them actually able to work in the space.  The folks who
came out to be a part of the meetings were the only ones who came to a
community wide meeting.

Everyone in the room came to a consensus on taking a hiatus, since there
was no energy to move forwards . One person stood aside.  

Part of the reason that there were so few people in the room, was
because of the enormous strains of trying to run an organization on an
impossibly low budget, partly it was political differences.  A  lot of
it was because of the bad energy between folks that got amplified
through e-mail flame wars.  It was so severe that we had to shut the
lists down as well.  I fear that will happen again.

We agreed in those meetings (which I know you weren't at were not yet a
member) on a few minimal principles. One was to not use e-mails to
attack people.  Express differences, yes, but not make accusations of
people without talking directly with them first.  We are all here trying
to make something work.  Rick may have a different opinion than yours,
but he should be able to express it.  The meetings are the place or
smaller groups are the place to hash things out.

That being said, I urge you to talk to many folks who were around in
January and during the hiatus.  There were only a few people to organize
and carry out the move.  When folks got to the Segue late at nite, they
were turned away from using the space by the manager.  The truck had to
be unloaded, and it was at a storage space in the cheapest part of town.
Rick has had the key, because no-one else at the time was willing to
take responsibility.  He and one or two others cleaned up the space for
weeks afterwards and people pitched in, but he was consistently there
and also consistently dealing with the  land lord and the creditors
during the last five months.  There was a committee of four to carry us
through that time so people could rebuild the IMC, ask all of them who
did what.

I remember at the end of the meeting, the space committee was empowered
to find a space of $130 or less (mainly for storage closer in, but if an
active space or other place was possible great), and to bring other
proposals to the group as a whole.  The question Jill raises about what
the space would be used for is a legitimate one, I read it as how would
a space help the IMC facilitate media making at this stage of the game?
And I am interested to hear what is coming out of all your efforts.

I don't know what is right about space, but I do know we won' be able to
rebuild unity if we start down the path of flame wars.  I assume your
good intent and Ricks.  I can see differences, lets work them out
politically and offer criticisms face to face where folks can deal
directly with them.

In struggle,

 Bill

-----Original Message-----
From: imc-seattle-bounces at lists.indymedia.org
[mailto:imc-seattle-bounces at lists.indymedia.org] On Behalf Of Laury
Sent: Monday, July 19, 2004 7:29 PM
To: ListSeattle
Subject: [IMC-Seattle] Re: Do we need our own rented space now?

Rick is being deliberately deceptive on a significant point:

We already have rented space now. It is called $130 a month storage.
Ironically, Rick is the only one who has a key. The rest of us have no
access to anything in the unit, including video and audio equipment as
well as a couple computers fully loaded with editing software.

During the last General Meeting, a few of us (including Rick)
volunteered to spend July looking to see if we could find a working
space for the excessive rate of (drum-roll, please) $130 or less. The
idea was to make the items in storage more available to membership and
to be able to train new media volunteers. The meeting voted on this
proposal . . . and it passed. (All this information was written down in
the meeting minutes.) During the past few weeks we have found some
promising leads. 

The storage/space working group is scheduled to report its findings in 6
days -- at a very public general meeting. Yet, Rick characterizes this
process as though it was some sort of deep, dark conspiracy:

A large discussion has been taking place within a couple of working
groups. It seems wise, at this point, to bring the question to the
larger
group.

In the past year, Seattle Indymedia was brought to its knees by people
who cared more about their personal agenda than the organization. I'm
sure that Rick's message gave flashbacks to many .... a sort of "here we
go again" sensation. Nothing can be further from the truth. Come to
Saturday's meeting and see what leads we have found. Or, better yet, if
you have collaborative/office space renting for $130 or less, let us
know!

Laury Kenton

From: Jill Freidberg <freij at speakeasy.net>
Date: July 19, 2004 12:55:07 PM PDT
To: imc-seattle at lists.indymedia.org
Subject: Re: [IMC-Seattle] Do we need our own rented space now?

Hi all

Since I have been unable to make any meetings (and will not be able to
make any until some time in August) I will weigh in here..

I think the more infrastructure that the Seattle IMC has (meaning space,
gear, etc), the more energy is diverted towards keeping that
infrastructure functional (in other words, finding the money to keep the
space open, finidng people to staff the space and make it useful). That
is energy, money, time diverted AWAY from media-making, media activism,
etc.

I have seen some pretty darn functional IMCs who have no space and no
hope of having space anytime soon (Mexico City as the most recent
example I have encountered personally)- and they aren't just makin media
either. they have found a way to even offer regular workshops in
different aspects of media-making, etc. without having their own space.

There is important media-related work happening in Seattle with or
without a space - pepperspray keeps doing good work, reclaim the media
keeps doing good work, and there are other less visible examples as
well.

I know a lot of folks feel the IMC's mission is really to FACILITATE
media making and media activism. I don't disagree with that, but I
didn't see the previous space doing that, so before rushing into a
costly, burdensome rental, the IMC should be REALLY REALLY clear on the
intended uses of the space and how those intended uses will actually be
implemented, by whom, with what funds, etc. If it just sounds more
convenient or comfortable to have a meeting space, then I don't think
that is really justification. Lots of important activist work has been
done over the years without physical space.

my $.02

jill

At 12:42 PM -0700 7/19/04, rickh at riseup.net wrote:

Folks,

A large discussion has been taking place within a couple of working
groups. It seems wise, at this point, to bring the question to the
larger
group.

Do we need our own rented space at this time? Some feel we do, others
feel we do not. We need input from YOU. It is YOUR IMC, so please, weigh
in on this large decision.

Here is my opinion, for what it is worth. While I would love to see us
have our own space today, I do not believe we are ready for that, nor is
it absolutely essential.

We still have no income. We are living on our savings, which is the
problem we had before. No income, but the bills keep coming.

And do we even need a space to make media? Most of the IMC's in North
America do not have their own space - so why must we have our own? And
let's face it, little media work was being done when we did have the
space
on 3rd Ave. Everyone's energies were directed at keeping the space
going.
That was not media work.

I feel, that until we have a sustainable plan, with steady income, it is
not wise to rent a working space. Again, not at all to say never, just
not right now. Have we not learned from the painful lessons of the past?

We do have other options. We need to examine all of them.

This, obviously, is a decision best left to the larger group. Please
respond and let us know what you think.

Thanks!

Rick Harrison

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