draft of email update from MSP

[Lucas Shapiro]

Hey team,

Here's my early draft.  Lara is undoubtedly improve upon this... maybe it should be shorter?

xx

Lucas

Greetings from the Movement Space Project!

We had a really inspired and productive summer and wanted to share what we've all achieved together in a few short months and what's in store as we move forward.

Firstly, we want to thank the 150 of you who filled out our on-line survey... ranging from younger activists, seasoned community leaders, to the heads of powerful movement organizations!  While we closed out phase one of survey collections on Sept. 1st, we're keeping the survey open as an effective method for engaging new supporters.  

The responses you've provided are a goldmine of thoughtful feedback about our collective vision, programming priorities, and location options.  Most of you who filled out the survey also offered to share your skills with us and/or to participate in a working group or to explore joining our core leadership team.

We're currently sorting through the survey responses, incorporating clear priorities into our work plan, and getting ready to launch working groups and deepen our relationships across the MSP.

We'll also be hosting a large potluck get-together for all MSP supporters in October, to build community, connect people to MSP organizing opportunities, and provide more detailed updates about how things are shaping up.  Stay tuned for details!

Finally, we've included a summary of our main accomplishments to-date.  Thanks for playing an important role in this collective process!

As always, don't hesitate to contact us and we'll do our best to keep everyone in the loop.

In solidarity,

-Movement Space Project

UPDATES  & ACCOMPLISHMENTS T0-DATE

• Conducted over 60 one-on-one meetings to date with a diverse set of organizers, activists, community leaders and cultural workers.

• Established the core team of organizers who will help guide this project forward in consultation with other movement allies and project supporters.

• Conducted two visioning and planning sessions with supporters to further workshop the project and fine-tune language describing our collective efforts and intentions.

• Crafted a preliminary decision-making structure outline to clarify roles, accountability and various ways for individuals to contribute to the project.

• Began conversations with social justice organizations and existing movement spaces around NYC (ex: AJ Muste Institute, Bluestockings, Brecht Forum, the Commons) that are looking to collaborate and potentially find a new shared location together.

• Visited successful movement spaces in several states and a few outside of the country.  Developed a support team from those spaces to inform our process in NYC.

• Partnered with CUNY Law School’s Community Economic Development clinic, where students will be offering us legal counsel for the Fall ’12 semester (option to extend into ’13)

• Established a web presence, with a simple, interactive website and a Facebook page with hundreds of “fans” and a potential reach of over 50,000 individuals.

• Collected 150 surveys with detailed responses to questions about programming, movement needs, location and other priorities.

[Lara Weibgen]

Looks great to me! My suggested edits are below. Also, I wonder whether we should sign this with our names now that we have a provisional core?

Greetings from the Movement Space Project!

Thanks to the enthusiasm and participation of our growing network, we had an incredibly inspired and productive summer. We're writing to share some of what we've managed to accomplish over the past few months, and to let you know what's in store as we move forward.

First, we'd like to thank the 150 of you who filled out our on-line survey -  ranging from younger activists to seasoned community leaders to the heads of powerful movement organizations. While we closed out our first phase of survey collection on September 1st, we're keeping the survey open as a preliminary way of engaging new supporters.  

The responses you provided are an amazing resource, full of thoughtful feedback and exciting new ideas. Most of you who filled out the survey also offered to share your skills with us, participate in a working group, and/or explore joining our core leadership team. We're grateful for your support, and look forward to working together soon!

We're currently sorting through the survey responses, developing a work plan that reflects the priorities of our advisors and supporters, and getting ready to launch working groups and deepen our relationships across the MSP community.

We'll also be hosting a large potluck get-together for all MSP supporters in October to build community, connect people to MSP organizing opportunities, and provide more detailed updates about how things are shaping up. Stay tuned for details!

Finally, we've included a summary of our main accomplishments to date. Thanks for playing an important role in this collective process!

As always, please don't hesitate to contact us with your ideas, questions, suggestions, or concerns. We'll do our best to respond to all correspondence and keep everyone in the loop.

In solidarity,

the Movement Space Project team
(Denisse Andrade, Jan Bindas-Tenney, Sky Cohen, Sharon Cromwell, Zakia Henderson, Michael Premo, Lucas Shapiro, and Lara Weibgen)

UPDATES & ACCOMPLISHMENTS TO DATE

• Conducted over 60 one-on-one meetings with a diverse set of organizers, activists, community leaders, and cultural workers.

• Established a core team of organizers who will help guide this project forward in consultation with other movement allies and project supporters.

• Conducted two visioning and planning sessions with supporters to workshop the project and come up with appropriate language to describe our collective efforts and intentions.

• Crafted a preliminary decision-making structure outline to clarify roles, accountability procedures, and different ways for individuals to contribute to the project.

• Began conversations with social justice organizations and existing movement spaces around NYC (e.g., the A.J. Muste Institute, Bluestockings, the Brecht Forum, and the Commons) to explore possibilities for collaborating and potentially finding a new shared location together.

• Visited successful movement spaces in several states and a few in other counties. Developed a support network from those spaces to inform our process in NYC.

• Established a partnership with CUNY Law School’s Community Economic Development clinic, where students will be offering us legal counsel for the Fall 2012 semester, with the option to extend into 2013.

• Established a web presence with a simple, interactive website and a Facebook page with hundreds of "fans" and a potential reach of over 50,000.

• Collected 150 surveys with detailed responses to questions about programming, movement needs, location, and other priorities.

--
 
 

[Lucas Shapiro]

thanks lara for those fine edits!

i made a few additional tweaks below... mostly changing the order of the accomplishments list so that some punchier items are closer to the top.

should we send this out now?  or should we wait until we confirm the potluck times internally and then with melissa?

lara, were you able to get it so the movementsp...@gmail.com address doesn't list that it's coming from me?

lastly, brooke says she can accomodate 12-15 of us.  if there are people that most people feel excited about bringing into the core (upon reviewing those who expressed interest via the google survey), i'm definitely open to us inviting a few more people to join us at the retreat after we've scheduled 1on1 check-ins with them.

xx

L

Greetings from the Movement Space Project!

Thanks to the enthusiasm and participation of our growing network, we had an incredibly inspired and productive summer. We're writing to share some of what we've managed to accomplish over the past few months, and to let you know what's in store as we move forward.

First, we'd like to thank the 150 of you who filled out our on-line survey -  ranging from younger activists to seasoned community leaders to the heads of powerful movement organizations. While we closed out our first phase of survey collection on September 1st, we're keeping the survey open as a preliminary way of engaging new supporters.  

The responses you provided are an amazing resource, full of thoughtful feedback and exciting new ideas. Most of you who filled out the survey also offered to share your skills with us, participate in a working group, and/or explore joining our core leadership team. We're grateful for your support, and look forward to working together soon!

We're currently sorting through the survey responses, developing a work plan that reflects the priorities of our advisors and supporters, and getting ready to launch working groups and deepen our relationships across the MSP community.

We'll also be hosting a large potluck get-together for all MSP supporters in October to build community, connect people to MSP organizing opportunities, and provide more detailed updates about how things are shaping up. Stay tuned for details!

Finally, we've included a summary of our main accomplishments to date. Thanks for playing an important role in this collective process.

As always, please don't hesitate to contact us with your ideas, questions, suggestions, or concerns. We'll do our best to respond to all correspondence and keep everyone in the loop.

In solidarity,

the Movement Space Project team
(Denisse Andrade, Jan Bindas-Tenney, Sky Cohen, Sharon Cromwell, Zakia Henderson, Michael Premo, Lucas Shapiro, and Lara Weibgen)

UPDATES & ACCOMPLISHMENTS TO DATE

• Conducted over 60 one-on-one meetings with a diverse set of organizers, activists, community leaders, and cultural workers.

• Formed a core team of organizers who will help guide this project forward in consultation with other movement allies and project supporters.

• Established a partnership with CUNY Law School’s Community Economic Development clinic,  where students will be offering us legal counsel for the Fall 2012 semester, with the option to extend into 2013.

• Launched a web presence with a simple, interactive website and a Facebook page with hundreds of "fans" and a potential reach of over 50,000.

• Conducted two visioning and planning sessions with supporters to workshop the project and come up with appropriate language to describe our collective efforts and intentions.

• Crafted a preliminary decision-making structure outline to clarify roles, accountability procedures, and different ways for individuals to contribute to the project.

• Began conversations with social justice organizations and existing movement spaces around NYC (e.g., the A.J. Muste Institute, Bluestockings, the Brecht Forum, and the Commons) to explore possibilities for collaboration.

• Visited successful movement spaces in several states and a few in other counties. Developed a support network from those spaces to inform our process in NYC.

[Lara Weibgen]

Looks good to me! And no, I wasn't able to change the name on the Gmail address.

I agree about asking other people to join us on the retreat if there are folks we all feel enthusiastic about inviting.

--
 
 

[Michael Premo]

Looks good.

I'm cool with sending this out. Then sending out the potluck invite separately.

Michael Premo
917.547.1292
www.michaelpremo.com

---

From: Lara Weibgen <laraw...@gmail.com>

Sender: movement-...@googlegroups.com

Date: Thu, 13 Sep 2012 00:03:06 -0400

To: <movement-...@googlegroups.com>

ReplyTo: movement-...@googlegroups.com

Subject: Re: draft of email update from MSP

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