Conference Call Minutes

[Jonathan Perri]

2/8/2009
West Coast Conference Planning Call
8:00pm

In Attendance:
Jon Perri- SSDP Staff
Micah Daigle – SSDP Staff
Brian Wallace – UC Santa Cruz
Alana Rogers – UC Santa Cruz
Rishi Malthora – UC Berkeley
Kat – UC Berkeley
Nick – Reed College
Alex Woon – San Jose State University
Gabe Lowenger – Pitzer
(Please let me know if I’m missing someone) - I just want to say THANK
YOU for making the call and for sticking through it - the first one is
always the toughest! I'm excited to be working with such great and
enthusiastic activists on this conference!

In General:
• Panels and Workshops will not feature more than 3 presenters
and two (2) is optimal.
• No overlapping panels – simplify the schedule
• Monday may serve as a lobbying day – CA chapter members that
can stay can lobby in Sacramento on DPA legislation.
• Broad coverage of topics is good

Friday:
Decided it would be best to not have panels on Friday.
Discussed ice breakers and networking opportunities such as Drug War
Jeopardy and Teams – on campus/off campus.
This would probably be the best time for touring the dispensaries
(Oaksterdam and BPG). This serves as an incentive for student to
arrive on Friday. It would also be a great networking opportunity.

Saturday:
Registration and Breakfast begins at 9:00am
• 10:00am - “Current State of Drug Policy Reform” Keynote (DPA)
• Panels will run 1 hour and 30minutes each with 15 minutes in between
each.
• No overlapping panels
• Day will consist of educational panels ran by members of specific
organizations such as ASA, DPA, and HRC.
o Topics brought forward included:
• “What is Harm Reduction?”
• "Race and the Drug War”
• “The Future of Medical Marijuana”

Concert/Fundraising Party:
• Maxwell’s – venue in Oakland (located next to BART)
• Micah’s pad in San Francisco (not as easily accessible from
Berkeley)
• Live Music from Roots of Creation/AMPLIFY artist
o Important to find something that is easily accessible for
people and leaves potential for fundraising.

Sunday:
Breakfast
• Day will consist of interactive workshops:
o Topics brought forward included:
• Campus Change Campaign
• Fundraising 101
• Working with the Media
• Understanding Research/Statistics
• Talking Points/Elevator Arguments
• Lobbying Training for CA State Legislation (student
drug testing and COMERA) to prepare students for lobbying on Monday in
Sacramento, CA.

Monday:
Possibility of arranging lobbying meeting in Sacramento on DPA
legislation for students that can stay until Monday.

Call ended at 10:00pm

What’s Next?:
• Headcount – What chapters are coming and how many students are they
bringing (Jon P)
• Extend room reservations and find out all fees/costs for AV
equipment (Rishi)
• Figure out what rooms will be best for breakfast and lunch
• Reach out to local business for food donations and discounts for
conference attendees (UC Berkeley chapter members)
• Plan next conference call (Jon P) – View West Coast Google Group
Discussions – should take place in about 2 weeks from today.

[Le Sheng Liu]

FYI...

I proposed to present on Harm Reduction but I am unable to attend on Saturday. In that case, I can recommend another speaker who has already said she is interested and available: Hilary McQuie of the Harm Reduction Coalition in Oakland. I'll follow up with her again.

Thanks,
Le

--
Le S. Liu
Gender & Social Equality : News Reform
http://CoverGirlsTheDocumentary.BlogSpot.com