Tent City/Info Tent

Welcome Occupy Boston's Info Tent

What is the Info Tent?

Occupy Boston’s Info Tent serves to greet visitors to the Occupation and provide useful information to both newcomers and occupiers alike. If it is your first time to Occupy Boston, please feel free to come stop by the Info Tent for a list of daily events (like speakers, workshops, marches, etc.) overview on our many Working Groups, background on Occupy Boston in general or just to voice your viewpoint on how we can or should move forward.

Come share your stories with us in our Visitors Book, where you can voice your stories from the 99%. Ideas and suggestions? We’ve got a book for that too, so let us know how you think we can improve and different directions we can take this movement. We are all in this together and operate on a horizontal democracy, so your opinions count as much anyone else’s. We are the 99%.

Where we are located

The Info Tent is the first tent you see when coming to the main entrance of the Occupation, closest to South Station.

Info Tent Volunteers

Like everything at Occupy Boston, Info is run by dedicated volunteers who help staff the tent to welcome people into our Tent City and try to help answer any questions. We need all the help we can get, so if you are interested in getting involved at Occupy Boston the Info Tent is a great place to start. Please e-mail us at InfoTent@OccupyBoston.org for more information.

Working Group Meetings

The Info Tent is run organizationally by a dedicated working group. We meet every Monday at 7:00pm on location. While you don’t have to be in the working group to volunteer at info, everyone who wants to join the working group and help keep things running is more than welcome. As with every working group and Occupy Boston in General, we operate as a horizontal democracy based on the consensus model. Current Working Group Members include:

Rita Andrew Kevin

How you can help

Start by contacting us at InfoTent@OccupyBoston.org. We also have a mailing list that you can sign up for to get internal updates (mailing serve address) as well as a more general mailing list to give you once-daily updates on Occupy Boston – from daily Volunteer Opportunities, Calendar of Events and news on the ground.

The fact of the matter is we is we need volunteers in every working group at Occupy Boston. From Food, to Free School University, to the Library and Logistics, every working group needs a hand as we work together to build this movement. We welcome your help at Info; but please feel free to look at other working groups and see where you think you could help (which for many of us is more than one spot.)

And if you are feeling up to it, just come on down to Occupy Boston and tell us you want to volunteer. We always have plenty to do; and working together is how we get it done.

General Assemblies

General Assemblies are every Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday at 7:00pm at the main stage. This is where Occupy Boston comes together, operating on the consensus based decision making model. Everyone is welcome to come, and everyone has a voice and a vote. This is where we see horizontal democracy operating in its purest form; where resolutions are proposed, debated and passed (or failed) by vote of the people. There are no lobbyists or corporate money influencing us; and nobody is speaking for you. If you want your voice heard, this is the place to be. Please see the General Assembly page for more information, including minutes of passed meetings.

Contact Us Do you have feedback, questions or suggestions? Please contact us at InfoTent@OccupyBoston.org

Minutes from Meetings'

Meetings are every Monday at 7:00pm and open to anyone to join. Below please find minutes from the November 7th, 2011 meeting (with e-mail intro summarizing)

Hi Everyone,

Below please find notes from tonight's working group meeting. in sum:

• We resolved to try and have a meeting on the weekend as well as a weeknight, so perhaps Mondays and Sundays

• We resolved that we need two white boards, one of which will have the daily calendar written out. If someone could spearhead this by getting in touch with logistics either on-site or via e-mail that would be very helpful. They have whiteboards at their tent

• We are doing another volunteer training on Monday, November 14th at 7pm. Todd and Larry are going to run this one; please advertise the volunteer training when people come into the tent. We could also use a sign out front, as that helped last time

• Please continue to ask people to sign up for the email list as that is how we are coordinating volunteers

• if possible please familiarize yourself with the website, in order to help direct people

• I think it would be great to have a list of key contacts and email addresses for different working groups on site. I will try to get that going, if anyone can help let me know

thanks

Kevin

InfoTent Working Group Meeting I Mon 7 Nov 7.00 pm

Kevin, Andrew, Matt ,Todd, Larry, Ridgley/Anne, Alex, Katherine, Dan, Bill in attendance. Minutes by Larry

Changes at InfoTent Review: Kevin

Email sign up sheet: every person coming in asked if s/he wants daily email: InfoTent collecting email addresses for all Occupy Boston to be further disseminated with Transparency Visitors' Book: Should we try to type them up to save record? Good response on this from group members. Dan will scan. Todd will start with the typing. Keep one visitor book here, other books to be taken offsite as need arises and when people can work on them. Please indicate what has been typed up! Proposal to rotate books offsite received with some enthusiasm.

Volunteer Drive: looking for volunteer to do volunteer training. Todd and Larry Monday the 14th proposed at 6 pm and accepted. Kevin/Andrew will do the training.

Andrew noted increasing need to keep InfoTent premises clean. Lots of unaccounted for/unclaimed items piling up. No more "left luggage" in tent. Color-coded Filing system for flyers to be implemented. Time-sensitive items in blue.

General Discussion on Working Group: Need to keep track of contact info for all working groups. Todd brought up example of Tom Hayden and inability to reach Rachel. "Lost Opportunities" to be monitored in general.

Buttons to be sold? Donation-based system (including donations of time/work) preferred. Referral to GA proposed.

Merging gap between Media and Info: 2 White Boards from logistics to be ordered to foster flexible responses to better monitor unforeseen changes in events.

Frustrations/challenges: contact info for presenters at events who cancel, etc. Kevin concerned that info will get swamped if we start taking responsibility for all aspects involving contact for Occupy. Meetings to be moved from Monday, increased to other nights? Sat at 6 proposal generally well-received. Andrew to create Google group to better co-ordinate between/outside of meetings. Donation box needs to be available on Sat without fail for the whole day.

Kevin Issues: - Email mailing list - first thing you should ask; dont ask twice - Visitors books, Ideas book - thoughts? anyone can type up?