So several local St. Louis bloggers have been thinking a lot over the past few months about how we can build a better sense of community among the people who create, consume, and share the information that progressives care about in the St. Louis region. As an initial step in this direction, we're having an Online Organizing and Community Building Workshop this Saturday from 9 AM to 4 PM at the Regional Arts Commission on Delmar. It will be free, but RSVPs are required.
Here's a slightly more detailed schedule for the training than is on the facebook page:
- 9 AM to 9:30 AM Introductions (bagels and coffee provided): In addition to the great workshops, a huge part of the value of this gathering will be the opportunity to network with other bloggers, citizen journalists, activists and assorted wonderful progressives. Please try to be there at 9 AM sharp to help kick start the conversation about how we can build a stronger community.
- 9:30 AM to 10:30 AM Adam Shriver will be facilitating a discussion among a great panel of guests about the current political situation in Missouri. There will be a number of huge, important political fights coming up in the next year that will inevitably shape the trajectory of our work. The panel will include Sean from FiredUp Missouri, Lara Granich of Missouri Jobs with Justice, as well as Paula Hodges and Otto Fanjen from the Missouri National Educators Association. All of these panelists will have an excellent big picture perspective on the issues that will be front and center in 2011.
- 10:30 to 11 AM The brilliant Sylvester Brown, former Post-Dispatch columnist and currently collaborating with Tavis Smiley, will discuss the state of the media. Understanding the limitations of our media's ability and willingness to cover the issues we care about will provide helpful context as we think about how we can improve our ability to create, organize, and communicate important information.
- 11 to 11:30 AM Adam Shriver be discussing a new project that's been developed to help foster community among progressive journalists and online activists, as well as create an incubator for progressive citizen journalism. This project will provide a vehicle for progressive ideas to find a larger audience, and will help to provide a shared knowledge base that can inform our future activism.
- 11:30 AM to 12:30 PM Workshop Session A:
Option 1: Blogging 101 with Clark from Show Me Progress
Option 2: Telling a Story Through Video with Ed Reggi from Show Me No Hate
Option 3: Search Engine Optimization with Jaelithe Judy of Momocrats and Care2,com - 12:30 to 1:30 PM Lunch on your own (but highly encouraged to network with others and don't go to a sit-down place!)
- 1:30 to 2:30 PM:
Option 1: Online Community Building Discussion
Option 2: Getting audio from progressive events and podcasting with Peter Jones
Option 3: Working with Traditional Media with Ed Reggi from Show Me No Hate - 2:30 to 3:30 PM: Workshops by Suggestion (throughout the day, we'll ask for suggestions on what people would like to learn about or teach about, and this will be the time for these improvised trainings and discussion)
- 3:30 to 4 PM Debrief and Moving Forward
A huge thanks to the Regional Arts Commission for hosting us, and to the AFL-CIO, AFSCME, Missouri Jobs with Justice, and FiredUp Missouri for sponsoring the event. Thanks also to Gloria and Stacy from Occasional Planet and Jerome Bauer for project-related help, and to Juan Montana from Cherokee Photo Booth for some excellent advice and assistance. Also special thanks to Adam Shriver and Sean from FiredUp for taking care of a lot of the logistics.
