NOTES CONFERENCE CALL 2/16/12
Facilitator: Jasmine
CHECK-INS
Phoenix – All-day action.
Annapolis – Mall area, street theater, community outreach, questions for ALEC legislators
Louisville – Inviting community groups in, radio spots
Charlottsville – Verizon – signs, skits, coordinating with Fredericksburg
Tampa – Outback or Chili’s. Bill 7172 awareness (minimum wage)
Boston – Researching. Educational focus.
Minneapolis – Rally and speeches at the capitol. Bill to get money out of politics. Flyering, outreach to community and organizations.
Las Vegas – March by various ALEC corps and ending at NV energy. Coal-fired power plant. ALEC bills passed re re-use of coal ash waste. Deregulation/blocking EPA regulation. Used in commercial products.
Harrisburg/Carlysle – Debating target, perhaps Walmart.
Martin Co., West Palm Beach – Bank of America (support fossil fuel companies, foreclosures). Press release, coordinating with other activists, labor.
TX? – Halliburton – film screenings. Working with other Occupations
Dayton – March, theater, more than one ALEC corp. Trying to garner support.
Erie – 1-3 targets. March. No GA approval yet.
LA/Long Beach/Riverside – Walmart distribution center, working with labor
Connecticut – Pfizer, all day event, working on logistics. Regional action. Coordinating with community groups, labor, other activism groups
Madison – Debating targets…Alliant Energy or Oscar Meyer
Williamsburg/Brooklyn – Bank of America. Working with OWS (targets are Koch Brothers and Pfizer)
Merced/UC Merced, CA – Bank of America, informational. Mic check at Walmart.
Mexico City – Working with various occupations, organizations, vote for least favorite corporation to choose target. Translating materials into Spanish.
Seattle – Mic check at mall
OWS – Green action at NY Public Library, satellite marches – shut down Pfizer, BoA, Koch Brothers, roving shutdowns of various branches
Shutdowns/disruption of business? 7 cities.
Information and context about F29 (David)
Call to action was January 1. Why ALEC? Midterm opportunity to delegitimize and shut down ALEC. Building energy for future actions, including future coordination (direct action network?). ALEC conferences: 5/11 in Charlotte, NC, in Salt Lake City 7/20-7/30 and in DC 11/28-11/30. Building toward May 1 General Strike and G8/NATO actions in Chicago 5/18-5/20. (Organizers will present at next call.) Thom Hartmann, progressive radio, talks about ALEC – reach out to him for support? Mexico City – Day of Action June 18-19. Many major meetings occurring in Mexico City this year. Looking to connect with other occupations participating in G8.
Action Plans and Corporation Choice
Security culture – no need to mention who, when, where
Resources on website
Portland – Affinity groups targeting various ALEC corps, march through city to meet up with actions that are happening. CD, performance, art, informational.
Suggestion: To time actions to be coordinated as a movement.
Boston – Wants to connect with LA.
Connecticut – Work together with OWS re Pfizer. Offer to Boston to join CT in Groton.
Williamsburg/Brooklyn – Asking for Bank of America research for strong ALEC connection.
Charlottesville – Working with Virginia Organizing focusing on bank divestment (BoA/Wells Fargo). Verizon is #F29 target – corporate greed.
Email join@shutdownthecorporations.org to connect with other specific Occupations.
Thinking about F29
Media we are creating for ourselves
We are looking for 5-10 clips from each occupation participating in F29.
One of those clips should be an interview where an activist says to the camera, “We’re in -insert city here- where we’re targeting -insert ALEC member corporation here- because of -insert bill or issue here-.”
This will help build awareness of ALEC members and why they’re so worthy of targeting.
We have a dropbox
video@shutdownthecorporations.org
Need pictures for Flickr photostream during day of action at above email address or tag with #F29.
National Media
So far…Reuters New York Times, The Guardian, Salon, Truth Now.
Need written paragraph with quote as above BY 2/23 sent to media@shutdownthecorporations.org
Spanish flyer will be on the website by Sunday.
National Media Messaging
http://tiny.cc/f29media (media messages). Feedback is welcome. Email to media@shutdownthecorporations.org
Local messaging: Corporate practices are very negative + Connection to ALEC (usually not direct line, as ALEC is secretive). OK to make the direct link if issue is related to ALEC corporation’s interests…(ie., health care legislation = Pfizer). All corporations should be held accountable for all legislation. Visit www.alecexposed.org
Building momentum/support
Post #F29 to Occupy web pages and social media. Create a buzz. Flyering. Posters and flyers on website, with space for local action. Pre-media for local actions.
Conference call re media will be upcoming.
Pre-media ideas: Radio, alternative media, along with MSM to avoid corruption of message. Local weekly papers, student media (journalism schools), free cable access. Make phone calls. Will be further discussed at media conference call next week. Email to media@shutdownthecorporations.org for help/ideas.
National coordination/support
Website www.shutdownthecorporations.org
Emails for contac – (yourcity)@shutdownthecorporations.org
Media – training next week. Messages about local actions before this training if possible
Research – www.alecexposed.org or “why” tab on website.
Listservs – Discussion and National-Coordination
Info on how to join listservs in follow-up email.
Closing the Call (15 minutes)
Next calls
Permission to share contact info
Review next steps resulting from this call, future calls, etc.
Brief Check-Outs (Reflect on the value of the call)
End
