Archive:2005-08-14

Here be the record of another conference call.

14 August 2005, 3 p.m. EST

Introductions
Please give us your: Quick responses to each question, then moving on.
 * Name, school, class year
 * One question that you'd like to ask about FreeCulture.org or starting/running a local chapter

Week in review

 * Comments on Comment on 37 CFR Part 202, anyone?

Events

 * What sort of events might our local chapters want to do next year? Brainstorm.
 * Jimbo Wales campus tour
 * Screenings of Thought Thieves contest winning films
 * Mixtrade (see proposal)
 * Speakers, discussion panels, debates, film screenings, lectures, concerts, reading circles, LAN parties, open source beer brewing parties, brown-bag lunches, listening parties, leafletting, public demonstrations, agit-prop street theater, revolutionary knitting circles...
 * Organize volunteers to work on free software, Wikipedia, Project Gutenberg / Distributed Proofreaders, etc.
 * Create content (and release it under a Creative Commons license) : produce a podcast or show on your campus radio station or low-power FM, film or photograph campus events and share the files online
 * Activism: meet with your Congressman; organize call-ins or letter-writing campaigns; circulate petitions; pressure your university or local community for change; etc.
 * see also Local projects
 * Do any of these events require national coordination?

Attendance
Gavin, Nelson, Andy Scudder, Andy from Emerson, Rebekah Baglini, Becky, Karen from Scripps, Inga at NYU, Lauren from MIT, Stephen

Introductions

 * Inga is a sophomore at NYU
 * Question: What evens are other chapters planning?
 * Andy is a senior at Emerson (his favorite color is lime green)
 * Question: Are there specific guidelines and expectations for groups?
 * Every group should be in contact with freeculture.org: make conference calls regularly, respond to e-mails and mailing lists, and get people involved with freeculture.org
 * Each member should be added to your group's mailing list and the freeculture.org announce list.
 * We recommend that each group has a blog on campus webspace or otherwise (we can provide blogs if needed), a mailing list, and a wiki for meeting notes, etc.
 * We like to have information and documentation from your events! Publish them to the web and let other chapters know what you're doing.
 * Karen is a sophomore at Scripps College
 * Question: How much money can groups expect for budgeting activities?
 * It depends on your school...
 * At NYU, you only get a token amount of money for your first year, but then can have access to more funds later
 * At U of Florida, you can get funding for events, but have to be around for a year before you can have a budget
 * Be prepared to pay out of pocket for advertising and printing fliers
 * Look for co-sponsors! They can help you organize, get funding for, and run events, get speakers, etc.
 * Lauren is a sophomore at MIT
 * Question: How do you find other people who are interested?
 * We discussed this last week and Rebekah has been working on some guidelines for this topic.
 * Andre from Free Culture UK
 * Question: How can we organize campaigns together that involve an international audience (e.g. both the US and the UK)
 * There is some common ground between the US and UK, e.g. calling for expanding copyright terms, the issue of software patents, etc.
 * Stephen Compall is a Senior at the University of Evansville

Week in review

 * Comments on Comment on 37 CFR Part 202?
 * No comments on the call, so make any more comments on the wiki, otherwise it will go out essentially as-is.

Events

 * Let the climate of your school determine the balance between activities, activism, etc.


 * Non-specific events: debates, lectures, brown-bag lunches, LAN parties, get people to contribute to a free software project or wikipedia, put on a campus radio show/podcast/low-power FM station, screen public domain or CC films (e.g. the winners of the Thought Thieve$ competition; our activist packet should help provide resources and information for this, but we need more organization/resources)
 * Activism: participate in petitions of laws, write to your congressmen