[Imc-web] Web outreach

[Paul Riismandel]

  What I think is interesting about this e-mail from global IMC process 
is the idea of trying to communicate to community groups how IMC and the 
IMC website is useful to them.  

Perhaps this sort of outreach is something an IMC Web group can consider.

--Paul

-------- Original Message --------
Subject: [IMC-Process] update from portland re. "New IMC or reform Old 
IMC" topic
Date: Wed, 11 Dec 2002 12:57:06 -0800
From: fellowtraveler at riseup.net
To: imc-process at indymedia.org



Howdy all --

Recently, there was a brief discussion about an email sent to New IMC by someone
in portland who had questions about what community members can do if they don't
like their IMC.  This discussion started on the IMC-Process list here:

http://lists.indymedia.org/mailman/public/imc-process/2002-December/004326.html

Last night, in response to this, three portland indymedia volunteers attended a
meeting of the organization with which this individual is most associated, in
order to address concerns that he or other people in that organization might
have with portland indymedia.  We gave a presentation on the IMC network and on
how portland indymedia works, especially regarding the newswire and
center-column feature stories.  The general focus was on how portland indymedia
can be a resource for that organization and for the activist community at large. 

This presentation was part of an ongoing process (with which most IMC activists
are probably familiar) of describing what "open publishing" is, and explaining
that there is no official portland indymedia "coverage" of events; rather the
coverage comes from the people who post to the site.  In the case of portland,
all an organization has to do is post a story about its event, and it will
become a feature.  

I've found that these concepts are difficult to understand for many people
because they are used to media being a passive thing, wherein the most you can
hope for is to beg a newspaper to do a good article.  Indymedia, by contrast, is
an interactive thing, wherein you can just post that good article yourself.

Additionally, not everyone there was aware of how much information about their
movement and issues are already prominently highlighted on the portland
indymedia website.    

We're hoping that this presentation to this organization, as well as continued
dialogue with its members, will help them to better utilize portland indymedia
as an activist tool, and that they will have fewer complaints as time goes on.

We plan to have more of these "How you can use portland indymedia" presentations
with other activist organizations in town.

love+solidarity,
spArk




-- 
corporate media is a disease.
indymedia is the cure.
join the media rEvolution:
http://portland.indymedia.org

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