[Imc-newsroom] Re: URGENT: SCRA Conference

[Sascha Meinrath]

I'm sending in the proposal.  If anyone else would like to come, please
let me know ASAP.

--Sascha

On Sun, 17 Nov 2002, Sascha Meinrath wrote:

> Hi everyone,
>
> If anyone would like to come to the SCRA conference to be a co-presentor
> on an innovative session, please let me know by tonight!!!
>
> Three people have offered to come to the conference (June 3-7, 2003), it
> would be great to have more participants.  I will be home all evening
> (344-0183), so please let me know if you're interested.  One of the
> presentors is driving down and has extra room, so total costs for the
> conference shouldn't be more than $100 and we can work things out so that
> funding is not an issue.  More information on the conference as a whole is
> available at:
>
> http://www.nmhu.edu/scrabiennial/
>
> Below is a synopsis of the presenation:
>
> "Indymedia (R)Evolution: The Global Network & Rise of One Indymedia
> Center"
>
> Over the last three years, there has been a resurgance in grassroots media
> production and empowerment efforts. This global movement, called
> Indymedia, espouses a rhetoric of social justice, non-discrimination,
> democratic and participatory organizing structures, egalitarianism, local
> control of media production, skills-sharing and education, non-hierarchy,
> and devolution of decision-making power. At the center of this movement
> are media production and disseminations centers called Independent Media
> Centers (IMCs). In September, 1999 there was one IMC. Today, there are
> over one hundred IMCs in over forty countries worldwide.
>
> These alternative settings provide an ideal case study for investigating
> the processes and procedures that are conducive to their continued success
> and the logarhithmic expansion of the Indymedia network. Much of the
> research on alternative settings dates back to the 1960s and 1970s. Today,
> organizational research is mostly focused on coporate and established
> institutional settings. This forum provides an opportunity for an in-depth
> study of factors that support collaboration, sustainability, and expansion
> of alternative settings -- from the point of view of the participants
> themselves -- and offers a window into the successes and problems within
> the modern-day Global Justice movement.
>
> Truly understanding the factors that create successful outcomes requires a
> holistic analysis of the setting and deep knowledge of the organization.
> One way to gain a comprehensive undersanding is to participate and observe
> in the setting. As an ongoing participant and co-founder of the
> Urbana-Champaign IMC (UCIMC) and a core organizer of the Global Indymedia
> Network, the convenor been studying changes in the climate, processes, and
> protocols of one local IMC and Indymedia as a whole. This forum, provides
> a venue for:
>
> Viewing front-line Indymedia coverage of protests and events throughout
> the world; and,
>
> Listening to the stories of Indymedia participants;
>
> Sharing strategies and tactics that have led to participants effectively
> working together.
>
> Through participants' observations, we hope to contribute additional
> insight to answering the continuing question of "What contributes to
> effective collaboration?" In particular, we will attend to elements of the
> group process (e.g., decision-making, conflict resolution), structure
> (e.g., organizational tactics, evolution of the organization),
> goal-setting and implementation, and those factors that facilitate and/or
> impede collaborative work.
>
>