Strike Debt Meeting - 11 Feb 2013

= Strike Debt Meeting- February 11th 2013 =

Attending: Dana, Kendra, Joe, Richard, Ian, Anna

Planning for April 6th
Venue Report: The event will be held at Middle East from 2pm until 5pm on Saturday, April 6th. It costs us $400 dollars to hold the event here. We will be in the venue that has space for 194 people.

Budget: Dana and Richard got a $900 budget approved for our event at the last General Assembly meeting. This event will be Free to All. We will pass the hat around during and after. We hope to give some money back to GA and give a little the musicians.

TOTAL $900
 * T-shirts: $200
 * Supplies: $200
 * Transportation: $100
 * Venue: $400

Programming: We will be dividing this event in 3 parts:
 * 1) where we are: testimonies
 * 2) how we got here:
 * 3) what would we like to take.

Components of Event:

1. individual testimonies: this will fit und the "where we are" part of the event. We will ask Angela to speak about her debt.
 * Joe also suggested that we put a call out on the OC websites to see if anyone else would like to speak.
 * We were thinking 2 or 3 testimonials at about 5 minutes each.

2. Wall Paper Sharing: 2 parts. Set up one area where people can write and share their stories and experiences of debt. Set up a second are where people can brainstorm potential solutions to our debt dilemma.

3. Jubilee: Debt Resisters NYC: Will someone be willing to come and talk about the NY Debt strikers experiences? Who is the contact person on this??? We also received an email from NY Debt Strikers about potential collaborations. Richard has agreed to be the contact person on this and discuss future joint efforts.

4. Videotape Testimonials: Steve, you were the contact person on this. You had mentioned a videographer? Is this still a possibility? Can you chase this down and report to us about it at the next meeting?

5. Lawyer: must give good/clear legal advice. Ask Larry to speak? He used to be a debt collector.

6. Skits: Joe is the go to guy on this. He is thinking through ideas now. Please contact him if you would like to help and collaborate.

7. T-Shirts: Dana is heading this up. We have $200 to go towards making Tshirts. He will have a design to show us at our next meeting. We will be planning a T-shirt making party at our next meeting. It has been requested that a few T-shirts be made by March 6th so that they can be brought to Salem State for the Student Debt Roundtable Discussion.

8. Petitions: Anyone know of any petitions that we could have set out on April 6th??

9. Free University Online: putting together resources for those who are seeking out free education online. Also, have resources for those dealing with their debt. Debt strikers' manual, etc.

10. Food NOT Bombs: The main question is "Are they up and running?" The main contact person is Matt. We also discussed contact 1. Deb Sirotkin Butler, 2. Steve, 3. Linda. Kendra has agreed to be the contact person on this.

11. Music: We would like to have 3 thirty minute sets. Kendra has a band that she has talked to who will do it for free. Dana knows a good DJ and Richard has contact Rick Berlin who has also agreed to do it. We will not pay an honorarium but we will be passing a hat and kicking them something for they time and help.

12. Authors of The Future of Higher Ed: Dana is the main contact person on this. They have agreed to collaborate and speak at this event. Dana will solidify up details by next meeting.

13. Other ORGANIZATIONS: Collaboration: We discussed the possibility of collaboration with Dollars and Cents. Kendra will contact them.

Outreach: Our goal is to have all blurbs, flyers, write-ups, etc complete by March 15th so that we have time for a widespread, comprehensive outreach campaign.
 * 1) Ian: He made a contact list on google documents.  He will do a blurb write up by next meeting
 * 2) Deb: She is good at facebook events and advertising. Kendra also knows another woman who is good at this. Kendra has agreed to contact both women about FB outreach.
 * 3) Anna: I will make an event flyer and share it online by our next meeting.
 * 4) Ethernet: riseup.net: collective document creation and editing.

February 26th Debt Speaker
George Caffentzis will be speaking on the history of debt resistance at Community Church of Boston at 7pm. We are planning on advertising this with all other occupiers and on Facebook.

Cathedral/Noam Chomsky Event
Anna wrote a proposal her contacts in the Episcopal Church. She has a meeting with Bishop Tom Shaw on February 28th to discuss potential collaborations. May Day is too soon for this event. Perhaps later in the year.