We had a planning meeting tonight for the Animal Advocacy Camp which will be happening January 23rd, 2010. That seems like a long time away, but it's really quite close (frighteningly close).
In between me being crazy and excited and rambling on about how fun this is going to be, we talked about quite a bit and sorted out some important details.
The big question that will frame the event is:
"How can we be more effective advocates for
animals?"
The format of the event will be open space, meaning that the attendees will set the agenda at the beginning of the day. Anyone can propose a session for the event around the main question.
For instance, some potential topics we thought about were:
- A session of storytelling (stories about outreach, best experiences, worst experiences, horrible mistakes, etc)
- Discussions on tactics
- Discussions about topics (fur, factory farming, etc)
- How to talk to the public
- Individual actions
- How can groups work better together
- Historical precedents
There is a lot of room for discussion within the frame of the main question. We all can learn a lot from each other. This is a great opportunity to tap into the collective knowledge of many other experienced people in the community. Bring along your tough problems, questions you haven't been able to answer, problems you've been trying to solve.
I'll be posting more news as the event develops, but if you're interested in helping with it, join the Google group. If you'd like to learn more about the open space format, check out Chris Corrigan's Open Space Resources.
