community organizing through engagement: organizing chaos since 2005
TRANSCRIPT
Community Organizing through Engagement:
Organizing Chaos Since 2005
Coordinating individual efforts within a group to establish a common purpose.
To reach a common goal
Autonomous efforts orchestrated collaboratively within a community.
Emergent Behavior
Our formula:
We are friends first!
Build a community around events that promote our collective interests.
Turn these interests into goals!
How do you keep activists active in South Florida?
Reasons for Success
• Always building social networks
• Very local
• Keep it light; never forget to have fun
The local scene vs. the big picture
Focus on the Community
Putting the "Active" in "Activism"
Creative:
Workshops
Forums
Film Screenings
Activities:
Biking!
Baking!
Broadcasting!
Our Resourcefulness is Our Most Valuable Resource!
What do we use?
• Community participation to get big jobs done
• Free resources like social media
• Google Docs is our friend!
• MOST IMPORTANTLY: OUR RELATIONSHIPS
Networking
Networking is about "being there":
- We form connections with other groups by attending their events and promoting their interests.
Collaborations
- Greenpeace- One Sky Florida- Code Pink- STAND- Occupy Miami- Social Butterfly Foundation- Urban Paradise Guild- Sierra Club- Green Mobility Network-Tropical Audubon Society-Frontyard Theater Collective-Purple Line...
BUILD A BETTER BLOCK
COLLABORATIVE URBAN PROJECTS
PURPLE LINE
SOCIAL CAPITAL & COLLABORATIVE NETWORKS
URBAN ART INSTALLATION
TRANSIT ADVOCACY & DEMONSTRATION
SOCIAL CAPITAL
PURPLE LINE
PURPLE LINING
PURPLE LINEUrban Art
PURPLE LINEAdvocacy and Demonstration
PURPLE LINEAdvocacy and Demonstration
How do our meetings work?
• Collective Agenda-Setting
• Consensus-Based Decision Making
• Rotating Facilitators
• Meticulous and Entertaining Minutes
• Brevity
• Snacks
• Banter
• All Emerge responsibilities are volunteer-based
• We have a guilt-free, no-tears model for getting things done
• We combine social events with productivity
• We show gratitude to every participant, organization, and party...
...after all, every minute dedicated to Emerge is a gift for which we are grateful.
Fighting Activist Burnout:
Group Exercise
• Form groupsSelect note taker, moderator, presenterEach group to put on an assigned event
Group Exercise
• Discuss event planningDiscuss who to partner withDiscuss promotion effortsDiscuss fundraising effortsDiscuss coordination effortsDiscuss follow up efforts
Gain from Experience
•What works?•Can this approach build community?•What can be done differently?
Successful Events
•Generate interest•Shift public perception•Change policy
Meetings every Tuesday at Sweat Records at 7 PM.
JOIN US!
How you can find us and get
involved:emergemiami.com
@EmergeMiamiFacebook