Workshop Preparation Meeting

[forest]

Hey All,

Just a point-by-point update on the meeting we just had in the library courtyard to work out logistics for the event on Sunday.

Hugh will be designing the posters. He'll send out a PDF on Thursday afternoon, and on Friday morning all of us will be responsible for plastering the campus. Lauren mentioned that doors are effective. We will also make two giant posters for the dining hall stairwell.

We will have a table in Downcommons every day for the rest of this week. Lauren, Casey, Ethan, and me will try and get there a bit after noon to talk to people specifically to promote (and give faces to) the event, but also talk about the group and its current, open state.

Shel will be setting up a facebook event. He'll also be occupying the Bennington Wiki with info about the group and the event.

I'll get in touch with Patrick with basic info about parking, meals, etc. I'll get the meal vouchers from Student Life to give to him when he arrives.

Fizza & Lauren will meet Patrick in the dining hall around noon. At 1 they'll show him around campus.

At 3PM we'll have our regular meeting in the CAPA Symposium. Patrick will be invited to join in.

At 4PM the workshop will start. I'm going to email patrick to let him know we'll like a facilitated discussion to be part of it, and we'd like participants to leave with a sense of what our issues are and some ideas of how we can start to address them in a politically organized way. The event will officially end at 5:30 but we have the space till 8 if the discussion wants to go on longer.

The event will be recorded by a camcorder Hugh will set up and (maybe) live-streamed from my iPhone.

Yay!

Solidarity,

Forest

[forest]

Hey Patrick,

We just had a great meeting to plan for the event. Everyone's looking forward to it. Minutes from that are below.

In response to your other email, you *could* have free reign over the entire time from 4-8. We're thinking of advertising the event as being and hour and a half long so people who see it don't feel like they'd be making a huge commitment in arriving, although I imagine many of us will stay longer. You're also invited to come to our group's regular weekly meeting from 3-4, also in the Symposium.

We decided at the meeting that before putting down a fixed schedule we wanted to consult you. If it's not already incorporated in the workshop, we'd love to have a facilitated discussion about what our issues are and come out of the event with concrete ideas about how we can start to work on them. You could facilitate this or a couple of us could. What we're looking for is something like a speak-out in which people will be able to recognize their own concerns being voiced by others. This could be organized by topic, or free-flowing; we'd love to know what you are planning.

Now, basic info. When you arrive at noon, you'll be able to go to the dining hall where there will be two meal cards waiting for you. Fizza and Lauren, fellow SOA participants, have volunteered to have lunch with you and then show you around campus starting at around 1. Fizza's phone number is 8026813312 and Lauren's is 6109522719. You can call them any time after you arrive. 

At 3PM our normal weekly meeting starts, and we'll be having it in CAPA this week since we have the space. You're welcome to join us.

Then of course the workshop starts at 4. 

As far as parking, the best space for visitors is a parking lot by the Visual Arts and Performing Arts (VAPA) building, which you'll see on your right when you get to the end of the long driveway entrance to the campus. Take the right fork in the road, go past the first intersection, and the parking lot will be on your right. 

To get to the dining hall from there you'll have to walk back and up the hill, and look for a big brick building.

Also, just to be sure, the college is at 1 College Dr. Bennington, VT. Here are google's directions from Dewey Square: http://g.co/maps/z4vxy.

Finally, my phone number is 8024455597. Call any time. And see you soon!

Solidarity,

Forest

Begin forwarded message:

[Lauren Hamilton]

Note on posters if they are still in progress - the sustainable food project is available to do snacks on Sunday.

[Patrick St. John]

Hey everyone,

Here's what I'm planning, a rough agenda for tomorrow's workshop:

- Group intros

- What is student power? What is the nature of the university today?

- Where we were: a (brief) history of student power

- Where do we want to go?

- How do we get there — at Bennington?

  - Powermapping Bennington College

  - Strategy

  - Tactics

- Closing prayer and singing of the National Anthem (just kidding)

See you all tomorrow!

Solidarity,

Patrick