[IMC-US] IMCistas Organize and Socialize in Austin

Thu Mar 10 18:51:58 CST 2005

hey everyone,

a feature about IndyConference went up on indymedia.org.

IMCistas Organize and Socialize in Austin
http://www.indymedia.org/en/2005/03/113385.shtml

I'm including the HTML, just in case someone wants it as an article on their local IMC, or elsewhere.

sincerely,
Bradley

* * * * *

*Header:* <a href="http://austin.indymedia.org">Austin</a> / <a
href="http://us.indymedia.org">US</a>: INDYCONFERENCE DISPATCH

*TITLE:* IMCistas Organize and Socialize in Austin

*IMAGE:* http://baltimore.indymedia.org/usermedia/image/6/indyconference.jpg

*ABSTRACT:*

A few months after the Independent Media Center celebrated its fifth
anniversary as a non-corporate resource for the <a
href="http://www.cat.org.au/maffew/cat/openpub.html">open-publishing</a>
of news and information, about 150 IMCistas, mostly based in the <a
href="http://us.indymedia.org">US</a>, gathered in <a
href="http://austin.indymedia.org">Austin, Texas</a> for <a
href="http://www.indyconference.org">IndyConference</a> which took place
February 18-20. The weekend included both formal and informal workshops,
discussions, and skillshares with the goal of improving our
effectiveness as a radical media network. There were also presentations
from media activists Douglas Kelner, John Downing, Clemencia Rodríguez,
and Amy Goodman.
 
Our discussions included themes such as <a
href="http://docs.indymedia.org/view/Local/ImcATXConf05GuerillaWorkshop">Professionalism
and Indymedia</a>, <a
href="http://docs.indymedia.org/view/Local/ImcATXConf05InstabilitiesWorkshop">Shortcomings
and Potentials of IMC</a>, <a
href="http://docs.indymedia.org/view/Local/ImcATXConf05GeographyWorkshop">The
Geography Hurdle</a>, <a
href="http://docs.indymedia.org/view/Local/ImcATXConf05MassMobWorkshop">
Setting up an IMC at a Mass Mobilization</a>, <a
href="http://docs.indymedia.org/view/Local/ImcATXConf05BloggingWorkshop">Blogging
and Indymedia</a>, <a
href="http://docs.indymedia.org/view/Local/ImcATXConf05CommunityWorkshop">IMC
and Underserved Communities</a>, and <a
href="http://docs.indymedia.org/view/Local/ImcATXConf05RaceGenderWorkshop">Race
and Gender in Indymedia</a>. Other workshops and skillshares included <a
href="http://docs.indymedia.org/view/Local/ImcATXConf05PrintWorkshop">IMC
Print Caucus</a>, <a
href="http://docs.indymedia.org/view/Local/ImcATXConf05VideoDiscussion">IMC
Video Discussion</a>, <a
href="http://docs.indymedia.org/view/Local/ImcATXConf05RadioShowWorkshop">How
to Do a Radio Show</a>, and <a
href="http://docs.indymedia.org/view/Local/ImcATXConf05DocumentingWorkshop">Documenting
Resistance</a>. A generous amount of time was dedicated to <a
href="http://docs.indymedia.org/view/Local/ImcATXConf05CaucusGeneralWorkshop">discussing
Indymedia.us</a>, an open-publishing website and a portal site <a
href="http://indymedia.us/en/static/syndicationfaq.shtml">syndicating
news from local IMCs in the US</a>. Before the Friday workshops began,
we discussed <a
href="http://docs.indymedia.org/view/Local/ImcATXConf05Documentation">how
we would document the conference</a> and coordinated our coverage
efforts. We hope that you find the documentation useful and encourage
your feedback about all aspects of the conference.
 
[ <a href="http://austin.indymedia.org">Austin Indymedia</a> | <a
href="http://www.indymedia.us">Indymedia.us</a> | <a
href="http://www.indymedia.us/en/static/syndicationfaq.shtml">Indymedia.us
Syndication FAQ</a> | <a
href="http://baltimore.indymedia.org/newswire/display/9614/index.php">John's
Indyconference Dispatch</a> | <a
href="http://austin.indymedia.org/newswire/display/19374/index.php">
Indyconference Fosters Different Views</a> ]

*BODY:*

On Friday afternoon, conference participants gathered in the Governor's
Room at the <a href="http://www.utwatch.org">University of Texas</a> to
meet up with each other and ensure that everyone would be well
accommodated while in Austin. One person's anonymous feedback to the
conference organizers was that, "meeting face to face definitely adds to
the feeling of solidarity with, and accountability to, the IMC network."
Our discussions included <a
href="http://docs.indymedia.org/view/Local/ImcATXConf05GuerillaWorkshop">Guerilla
Journalism Ethics: Professionalism and Indymedia</a> (<a
href="http://phonophilia.com/events/indyconf/">audio</a>), <a
href="http://docs.indymedia.org/view/Local/ImcATXConf05InstabilitiesWorkshop">Internal
Instabilities: Shortcomings and Potentials of IMC</a> (<a
href="http://radio.indymedia.org/news/2005/03/3875.php">audio</a>), as
well as Trolls, Hackers and Moderation. In the evening we communicated
with keynote speakers <a
href="http://docs.indymedia.org/view/Local/ImcATXConf05FridayKeynote">Douglas
Kelner & John Downing</a> on the topics of "Oppositional Politics and
the Internet" and "Radical social movement media: their typical
Achilles' heels and their surprising powers."
 
Saturday was packed full of workshops! We explored topics such as <a
href="http://docs.indymedia.org/view/Local/ImcATXConf05GeographyWorkshop">The
Geography Hurdle: Organizing state and national IMCs</a>, <a
href="http://docs.indymedia.org/view/Local/ImcATXConf05MassMobWorkshop">Setting
up an IMC at a Mass Mobilization</a>, <a
href="http://docs.indymedia.org/view/Local/ImcATXConf05BloggingWorkshop">Blogging
and Indymedia</a>, <a
href="http://docs.indymedia.org/view/Local/ImcATXConf05RadicalWorkshop">Radical
Referencing</a>, <a
href="http://docs.indymedia.org/view/Local/ImcATXConf05ReportingSkillsWorkshop">Reporting
Skills</a> and <a
href="http://docs.indymedia.org/view/Local/ImcATXConf05CommunityWorkshop">IMC
and Underserved Communities</a>. There were also workshops focused on <a
href="http://docs.indymedia.org/view/Local/ImcATXConf05PrintWorkshop">Print</a>,
<a
href="http://docs.indymedia.org/view/Local/ImcATXConf05VideoDiscussion">Video</a>,
<a
href="http://docs.indymedia.org/view/Local/ImcATXConf05RadioShowWorkshop">Radio</a>
(<a href="http://radio.indymedia.org/news/2005/03/3880.php">audio</a>)
and <a
href="http://docs.indymedia.org/view/Local/ImcATXConf05CaucusGeneralWorkshop">US–IMC</a>.
There were many folks from Austin who learned about Indymedia for the
first time when they watched the film <a
href="http://www.democracynow.org/static/IMIATOW.shtml">Independent
Media in a Time of War</a> (<a
href="http://play.rbn.com/?url=demnow/demnow/demand/media_war_128.rm&proto=rtsp">Dial-Up</a>
| <a
href="http://play.rbn.com/?url=demnow/demnow/demand/media_war_256.rm&proto=rtsp">Broadband</a>)
and heard a <a
href="http://indypendent.typepad.com/nyc_indypendent_/2005/02/indyconference__2.html">presentation
from Amy Goodman</a>, host and executive producer of <a
href="http://www.democracynow.org">Democracy Now!</a> On Saturday night,
a local housing cooperative opened their backyard up to all the visiting
IMCistas for a party which turned out to be a great venue for a guerilla
video screening of popular <a
href="http://portland.indymedia.org/en/videos/">videos from the
resistance</a> such as <a
href="http://portland.indymedia.org/en/videos/#FuckTheCorporateMedia">Fuck
The Corporate Media</a> and <a
href="http://portland.indymedia.org/en/videos/#ACalltoMediaArms">A Call
to Media Arms</a>.
 
Sunday was an emotional day for many of the participants, especially
those of us that were involved in a workshop focused on <a
href="http://docs.indymedia.org/view/Local/ImcATXConf05RaceGenderWorkshop">Race
and Gender in Indymedia</a>. In a workshop on <a
href="http://docs.indymedia.org/view/Local/ImcATXConf05DocumentingWorkshop">Documenting
Resistance: The Historical Imperative of Video Archiving</a> (<a
href="http://phonophilia.com/events/indyconf/">audio</a>), we discussed
the possibilities of establishing a <a
href="http://indytorrents.org/">video archive</a> to properly store and
make available Indymedia footage. Our <a
href="http://docs.indymedia.org/view/Local/ImcATXConf05ClosingSession">Closing
Session</a> (<a
href="http://phonophilia.com/events/indyconf/">audio</a>), which
included almost all the conference participants, was also emotional for
some of us as we discussed our experiences with Indymedia, the ways in
which our local IMCs are both similar and different to other local IMCs
and the visions we have for the Indymedia network. One big area of
concern was <a
href="http://detritus.net/steev/mt/archives/000313.html">outreach to
people at other IMCs</a> that may not have known about the conference or
been able to attend for various reasons, such as time away from family,
inability to take off work and overall cost. We want to strengthen all
aspects of Indymedia, from our <a
href="http://contact.indymedia.org/cities.php">local IMCs</a>, to <a
href="http://us.indymedia.org">Indymedia.us</a>, <a
href="http://www.indymedia.org">Indymedia.org</a> and the areas on the
globe that may benefit from a <a
href="http://docs.indymedia.org/view/Global/NewIMCForm">new Independent
Media Center</a>.
 
The amazing level of face-to-face interaction and building of
connections is bound to strengthen the US and global network. Our
friends in Austin, including <a
href="http://www.rhizomecollective.org/">The Rhizome Collective</a>, <a
href="http://www.austinspokes.org">Austin Spokescouncil</a> and <a
href="http://austin.indymedia.org/">The Austin Independent Media
Center</a> were very hospitable to all the guests from out of town. Our
experiences at Indyconference will help us plan, and participate in,
future regional conferences.
 
Indyconference followed a regional conference that happened in <a
href="http://docs.indymedia.org/view/Local/ImcOceaniaConf2004">Oceania
last year</a>, as well as the <a
href="http://sandiego.indymedia.org/en/2005/02/107671.shtml">Media
EmergenC</a> which took place in <a
href="http://sandiego.indymedia.org">San Diego</a>. Shortly after
Indyconference, a <a
href="http://docs.indymedia.org/view/Local/ImcUkGatheringSpring2005">network
gathering</a> of the <a href="http://www.indymedia.org.uk/">United
Kollectives</a> took place in <a
href="http://bristol.indymedia.org">Bristol</a>. Discussions at the
network gathering included the <a
href="http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2004/11/300886.html">seizure of the
Ahimsa servers</a> and other recent libel/defamation case attempts, as
well as the <a href="http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/actions/2005/g8/">G8
summit</a> taking place July 6-8 in <a
href="http://scotland.indymedia.org/">Scotland</a>.