Occupy Fort Collins One Year Anniversary

Posted by OccupyFC Communications on October 6, 2012
Posted in: Events. Tagged: , , , , , , . 2 comments

Occupy Fort Collins will turn one year old this coming Wednesday!

Many have claimed that the Occupy movement is dead. These people either don’t know what they are talking about, aren’t paying attention, or have an interest in seeing it disappear. Where it has shrunk in sheer numbers of event participants, it has grown in connections formed both globally and nationally, and in its maturing process and ideology. Here locally, we’ve seen an initial lull in interest and participation give way to a renewed spark of energy which resulted in probably the busiest month of activity since last October, with three actions packed into just a few weeks.

While our actual numbers have lessened in the last year, we’ve found that many, if not most, of those who came out that first day still strongly support the movement, but feel they are too busy to participate in the ways that were asked of them at that time. With this in mind, we are exploring the ways we can engage with those of you who feel this way, finding ways to facilitate involvement in the movement how ever small, while not having to give up your lives for it.

One year later, on our first birthday, we want to celebrate a successful and eventful first year. We aren’t planning anything extraordinary, but would love to see everyone again, and hear from people what they’d like to see happen going forward, where they feel they can be involved, and enjoy some food and community together.

We will gather in the northwest corner of Library Park, Fort Collins beginning at 4:30 on Wednesday October 10th, for a potluck and discussions, with a General Assembly beginning at 6:30. In case of bad weather we’ve arranged to have the Mennonite Church as a back-up location.

Looking forward to seeing everyone and celebrating a successful first year!

The Details

Occupy Fort Collins Celebrates 1 year Anniversary
Place: Northwest corner of Library Park (Matthews and Oak)
Date: Wednesday, 10/10/12
Time: 4:30 PM, and a General Assembly at 6:30 PM
All are invited!

GA Notes – Sep 26 2012

Posted by OccupyFC Communications on September 27, 2012
Posted in: GA Minutes. Tagged: , , , , , , , . Leave a Comment

GA Notes: 9/26/12

Announcements/Discussions:

- Oct 10 is Occupy Fort Collins 1 year Birthday!  We talked about location options, and are now leaning heavily toward Library Park from 4:30-whenever, with General Assembly beginning at 6:30 sharp.  Planning to have food, emphasize reusing utensils, low-zero waste event, have some music.  Discussed having a way to gather participants and passers’-by (sp?) “vision for a better future”, etc (maybe a sort-of suggestion box, or surveys).  Hold a GA and be sure to have solid facilitation, stacker, time-keeper ready to encourage smooth flow.  Set up literature/info table to be sure any new participants have an inclusive person to check in with.  Still need someone to design/print flyers for distribution.

- October 2nd (this coming Tuesday) the Corporation Separation Movement’s, “Resolution to Reclaim our Democracy” will be on the Fort Collins City Council’s agenda (2nd item) and they encourage anyone who supports it to be present.  There will be stickers or lapel tags of some kind you can wear to show your support if you choose not to speak.  It’s possible that City Council will make their final decision that on the resolution that night.

- Two OFC folks just got back from Pueblo and reported that the house Occupy Pueblo and Occupy the Roads are fixing up to be a community center is coming along nicely.  They helped sand floors and install wall framing while they were there.  More help is needed for this great Occupy project, so consider going down and helping out.  **Discussed how we can help promote the “Pueblo – SOCO” project through our Comms outlets to try to get more people down there.

- Occupy the Debates happens Oct 3rd in Denver.  Who is interested?  If you are, there is interest in carpooling.  Lots of great stuff going on down there.

- Discussion of whether OFC should help bring attention to a trans-partisan campaign/petition to open up the debates to all viable presidential candidates.  The topic was tabled until Monday’s GA where it will be on the agenda as a proposal.  If you support or oppose please come on Monday to discuss.  Here’s the link to the campaign/petition:  http://OpenUpTheDebates.org

- More discussion/planning/brainstorming about the Community Fair & Assembly we’re talking about doing.  No concrete plans yet, but we are wanting to make sure we do it right, and acknowledge that it takes time for that to happen.  Thinking it should happen mid-December or early January, but it’s still open.  Input is welcomed on how to make it the best, most effective event possible.

GA/Meeting Notes – Sep 17 2012

Posted by OccupyFC Communications on September 17, 2012
Posted in: GA Minutes. Leave a Comment

Announcements and Discussions:

Happy Birthday Occupy Wall Street!
Alec Bike Tour Sep 22nd: Meet at Foothills Mall Bus Transfer Center at 10:30am. Ride updates/announcements:
  • Still need volunteers to talk about ALEC at each stop
    • Becca doing Walgreens
    • Cargill stop has a volunteer
    • HP has a volunteer
  • Could use an extra person to show up to starting point early to direct people to meeting location
  • http://occupyfortcollins.org/fallofalec for more info
  • Still trying to get food volunteers for meal of some kind at end of ride
    • A couple of people volunteered to help, but could always use more
  • Still need to send out soapbox announcement to newspaper, or a press release
  • Need to set a date this week for sign/flag making get together
Corporation Separation Group’s resolution will be on the City Council’s agenda Tues Oct 2nd
  • If you support it, go and show your support by being there or even speaking if you feel like it, need support!
Oct 10th is the anniversary of Occupy Fort Collins – ideas?
  • Festive atmosphere, but encourage signs, discussions, etc
  • How about re-occupying the corner of Maple/College for the day?  Positives/negatives?
  • How about Oak Street?
    • Food?  Cake?  Music?
  • Zach is doing research on possibilities, will report back with findings

Meeting Notes from Monday Sep. 3 2012

Posted by OccupyFC Communications on September 4, 2012
Posted in: GA Minutes. Tagged: , , , , , . Leave a Comment

First, A quick look at some upcoming dates, details follow:

  • Sep 6th – OFC Protest to support Bradley Manning
  • Sep 8th – Peace in the Park
  • Sep 17th – OFC Presenting at Sustainable Living Fair regarding Economic Sustainability
  • Sep 20th – Food Coop presents free “Bag It” movie about disposable grocery bags
  • Sep 22nd – OFC “The Fall of ALEC” Bike Tour
  • Oct 2nd – CSM Resolution discussed by council
  • Oct 3rd – David Barsamian talks about potential war with Iran
  • Oct 10th – Occupy Fort Collins one-year anniversary!
  • Dec 1st – FCCAN fundraiser

Proposed Agenda:

  •     Quick Announcements
  •     Break into Working Groups (Sustainable Fair, Bike Tour, Community Assembly/Fair)
  •     Reconvene and report back
  •     Shuffle participants and break out again (only if neccessary, TBD)

Quick Announcements:

  • OFC Protest for Bradley Manning on Thurs Sep 6th at Noon – Location: Obama campaign office in Fort Collins (specific location TBA);  Bring a sign relating to Bradley Manning, Julian Assange, Wikileaks, or related.  Bring educational info, if you can, to share with passersby/participants, etc.  Tell your friends!
  • Peace in the Park taking place Sep 8 from 11-5 at Foote Lagoon in Loveland.  Yearly event, has booths (fair style)
  • Council Meeting this Tuesday Sep 4th.  Come support the local CSM Group and encourage City Council to support as well as bring the “Resolution to Reclaim our Democracy” to the floor for a vote on Sep 18th.    Those who want to speak in support can do so at 6pm during public comment period.  Those who don’t want to speak can wear a lapel sticker that shows support, look for these on the way in. (9/4 UPDATE: Resolution will be up on the agenda for City Council at Oct 2nd meeting, attendance is encouraged)
  • Sep 20th at Everyday Joes: the Food Coop is showing a free movie called “Bag It” which relates to the ecological impacts of disposable grocery bags.  A representative from the movement to place recycling bins for these bags all over town will be present for questions afterward.
  • Oct 3 at Bizzarre Bazaar there will be a talk by David Barsamian regarding the potential for an attack on Iran.
  • Dec 1 is a fundraiser for FCCAN.  Music and fun.

Working Groups:

Bike Tour:

  • Sep 22nd (World Car-free Day).  Starting point Creekside Park (10-10:30am for bagels and coffee, 11am we ride), then head to first destination.  The most critical details have been ironed out, and a poster and flyers are in the works.  Now dubbed, “The Fall of ALEC” bicycle tour.  Discussion about writing a soapbox to promote/educate about the ride and why we are doing it (volunteers welcomed for this, both writing and researching).  Route mostly planned but needs to be solidified.  Need people to approach local/supportive businesses for donations of bagels, coffee (brewed, not grounds) etc.  Also would like to fund raise to offset expenses of supplies expected to be purchased.  Food not Bombs contacted for potential food-related support.  Planning to make ride enjoyable as well as informative/protest-based.  Plan to highlight positive things in community as ride goes along (ideas for this still needed).  Plan to make stops short (2-3 mins) for rest/speaker to present info about that location.  Support vehicle will be available, need truck to act in this role (with bed for putting bikes of those who can’t complete tour).  Will have water, minimal bike repair supplies  (BYOE… Bring your own everything! Including water bottle, coffee cup, patch kit, etc if at all possible).  Supplies will be limited)  Potential cash-mob of local businesses along route, or maybe at a lunch location along route.  Tell your friends!   Get involved!

Sustainable Living Fair:

  • Presenters are prepared, although Zach could still use help with research on Fracking topic to support his points, reach out to him if you are interested in helping him in any capacity.  Four topics relating to Economic Sustainability:  General Occupy discussion, Corporation Separation Movement, Fracking related, and Move your Money/Banking.  One hour time slot total, considering leaving 15 mins if possible near end for Q&A with attendees.  Great outreach potential here, we want to have people available to collect contact info and pass out OFC material, get in touch if you can help with this!

Community Assembly:

  •  Formed working group to plan a community assembly and info fair, which tentatively planned for November sometime.  Concept still in formative stages, but hope to bring out many people from the area, have lots of community groups who’s work supports the 99% attend/table etc, give these groups/individuals a chance to briefly talk about what they do and are up to currently, then have mingle/breakout time for people to interact and/or discuss solutions to issues.  To help with visioning come to Oak Street for regular OFC meetings and working groups afterward.  Topics to brainstorm:  How to make the event appealing to both “groups/presenters” and participants, resulting in high attendance, enjoyment;  How to weave in a change aspect for potential solutions to emerge;  What other things might make it more appealing but not overcomplicated (band? food? etc).

Communications:

  • Talked about the renewed interest to produce an OFC newsletter.  A volunteer on the Comm group has stepped up with interest to curate, no further details yet.  Discussed different possibilities for monitoring fb/site postings, etc to address gaps in frequency of communications.  Decided to allow, on trial basis, retroactive approval of postings, with posts marked by author somehow (initials, symbols, etc).  Also discussed reiterating posting guidelines for both mailing lists.

 

OFC Meeting Notes

Posted by indigojourney on August 24, 2012
Posted in: GA Minutes. 2 comments

Occupy Fort Collins (OFC) Meeting Notes

_____________________________________________________________________

Previous Meeting Notes:
8/23/2012,  8/16/2012,  8/9/2012,  8/2/2012, 5/31,2012, 4/14/2012, 4/4/2012,

Working Group Structure: (last updated 2/19/2012)
Occupy Fort Collins OverView: (last updated may 31)

Movement Building Calendar: Northern Colorado Spreadsheet

Occupy Colorado Contact Info: Spreadsheet (lasted updated: jun2, 2012)
_____________________________________________________________________

 

Project Planning Documents/Links:
Sustainable Living Fair: “Sustainable Economic Practices” 9/16/2012
ALEC bike tour Event planning document 9/22/2012
spring 2012 collaboration ideas document done.

 

Other Projects:

Who are we?: OFC Survey *What is your vision of a better world?
*What does your community need to get there?		 (pending)
Fort Collins/ Larimer
Public Space		 list
Occupy Fort Collins Grant draft
NoCo Retreat PriorititesVision

 

PRESS LINKS
(to add to the website, FB, twitter, “knowledge library”, etc)

 

Newspapers: Examiner.com
Radio: 88.9

 

 

July 4th Activities

Posted by OccupyFC Communications on July 3, 2012
Posted in: Events. Tagged: , , , . 1 comment

Greeley Parade

There is a lot going on this 4th of July. Occupy Greeley has invited us (and you..) to take part in the Stampede parade that happens every July 4th in Greeley. They have a permitted spot in the parade and plan to do street theatre demonstrations and more. It would be great to get as many people as possible out to support this combined event, so please join us! Occupy Greeley has asked us to be at the parade by 8am to coordinate, so we are planning to meet at 7am to carpool from Fort Collins. If you are interested, come by 1712 Lakeshore Dr to hop in with someone, or just meet at the parade staging area at 8. If you have the capabilities, please bring a digital video camera or smartphone to record the event. See you there!

National Gathering Visioning Process

We are inviting those who want to take part in the National Occupy visioning process to join us for this activity later in the day. This will happen shortly after the parade, and the results of our activity will be synthesized into the larger document which will come out of Philadelphia later this week. We’d love to have your input. The specifics are still in the works on this, so check the facebook page or email communications@occupyfortcollins.org for more info.

International Workers’ Day, Immigrant Rights Day, May Day Celebration organized by Occupy Fort Collins

Posted by daveBell23 on April 27, 2012
Posted in: Uncategorized. Leave a Comment

There will be a May 1st celebration and Pot luck at 5pm at Jefferson Park in Fort Collins, all are welcome. May 1st has traditionally been a holiday that celebrates workers rights and immigrant rights all over the world. We will meet at noon on May 1st in Old Town Square in Fort Collins to spread the word to the public about the forgotten legacy of May Day and to educate ourselves about the history of workers struggles as well as announcing the potluck at 5pm.

May 1st celebrations also have historic roots in pre-Christian traditions from many cultures such as The festival of Flora, the Roman goddess of flowers, the Walpurgis Night celebrations of the Germanic countries, and the Gaelic Beltane holiday.

We hope to have music, maypole dancing and food. Feel free to bring your favorite food or drink, but you don’t have to bring anything besides yourself and a friend.