Desert Convention 2.0

Sympathetic ears and people who want to help other people are not limited to the anarchist community alone. Hell, a lot of "anarchists" have caused a lot of damage in people's lives and many people are turned off of an idea or a person when the "a" word is used.

That's why we've come up with an idea.

2 convergences at the same time. The "Desert Anarchist Conspiracy" and the "National Activist Convergence" (both names are subject to change).

The same issues are present here, but the whole tone changes quite a bit.

1. This will happen in late May or Early June.
2. Our location will need to be larger and have more separate rooms. The possible locations still remain the same, and the necessity for a head count still remains. Locations include: recreation centers, UNLV, the convention center, the Gay & Lesbian Community Center, and any other place that we can think of that may become available.
3. Networking and advertising are necessities for every event, but now we have to focus on diversifying the places we attempt to pool from. This needs to start immediately, if at all possible. Making sure to include that we will cater to children and non-English speakers is just as important.
4. Housing and food will be harder as we will have to cater to even more people than before. UNLV is still our dream location, as it has classrooms, dorms, and the Thomas & Mack. We still need to look into people willing to donate food, find yards or couches for people to crash on, get convention rates at motels/hotels, and try to find more possible options.
5. Transportation will largely be determined by the location we choose. So will housing, for that matter.
6. Programming is going to be a logistical nightmare, I anticipate. We want to have both things going on separately with free movement possible between the two convergences. We also want to focus on harmony, mutually beneficial actions, and mutual goals that different groups are sure to have. We also need to get something going on for both convergences to make it relevant, interesting, and interactive. However, incorporating workshops, guerilla workshops, skillshares, art galleries, music, etc., won't be an issue.
7. Media and press involvement will mostly be done by the Independent Media Center we hope to be running by this time. Independent media is welcome, but the "Press" will have to sign contracts that force them to request to quote people or use their names or pictures, etc.
8. Funding may be an easier issue since we will be attracting more diverse people. Also, a fee that will be openly sliding-scale is a definite possibility to cover our costs.

Basically, the same thing will be going on in the same place, just as 2 separate and unified things.

The main focus for the first convergence, as I understand it, will be:
1. Networking and getting people to organize in their own cities. We want to promote the establishment of cultural centers for anarchism, radicals, etc. in every place radicals and anarchists exist, the nature of which is to be determined by that area. The thing to remember for these cultural centers is that it needs to be a place that anarchists, radicals, etc. are known to frequent and congregate so that other people of similar dispositions have a place they know they can go.
2. Planning for annual convergences in the Las Vegas valley such as this one. Also planning for convergences of every sort: art, music, networking, feminism, or anything.
3. Finding mutually beneficial actions, goals, etc. for various groups and promoting harmony within the anarchist community as well as between anarchists, activists, and others. Also promoting the negation of condemnation between varying groups.
4. The establishment of a centralized location for communication between anarchists in every city so that people can know how to find other people, what is happening where, where the cultural centers are in various regions, as well as a library-like database for literature, propaganda, skills and workshop outlines, instructions and plans, etc.

Convergent Reality

As the fabric of space and time undulates and the distinctive dimensions of reality move their own ways, the time in which multiple realities converge approaches...

And in our own reality, in our own world, without any awareness of the various realities moving their various ways, a convergence of a totally different nature is being plotted.

Here in the desert, things are finally starting to get busy. Food, festivity, and business are happening, and things are starting to roll.

But what does this mean for people outside the desert? It means that we want you here. We want to meet you, we want you to meet each other, right in the middle of the Las Vegas valley.

Here's what we have so far:

The Desert Anarchist Conspiracy

Las Vegas has had several attempts at activism and anarchism in its humble valley for, well, ever since I can remember. There even used to be a community radio station. Each one has failed in time, some lasting longer for others. If you ask around, the general consensus falls into 2 regions of blame: the transitional nature of the city of Las Vegas (and to some extent Henderson as well) and the lack of motivation brought on by a flourishing entry-level job market.

Well, after some time and thought, one problem that we can’t beat can be turned to our advantage. Not all of us are using Las Vegas to transition. There are some natives and residents that plan to stay here. And not all of them are apathetic toward the world around them, though if they’ve been here long enough they are probably disillusioned to some extent. Transition can be used to our advantage, just as it is being used by the major casinos and the city itself.

We have at our fingertips access to cheaper travel (because without travel and tourism, there is no Vegas) and possibly some immunity to the increase in gas prices (and everything else) that our recession is bringing to us. We also have access to conference halls, dining rooms, convention centers, recreation centers, and various other facilities that are perfect for gathering large groups of people in. Hell, if porn and rodeo can get conventions, why can’t people interested in something greater than entertainment throw one together, too?!

And now is born the Desert Anarchist Conspiracy: a convention, our convergence, our way of making sure people who care about the world in Las Vegas have a meaningful way to contribute effectively and in a way that is sure to last.

The general issues we’ll be facing stand thus: finding a place to converge, making sure people have a place to sleep and food to eat, putting together a program that is applicable and interesting, getting the word out, networking, childcare, bilingualism, transportation, and funding.

As mentioned, we have tons of possible places to converge. The recreation centers around town often have conference rooms for rent, as well as gyms, tennis courts, game rooms, and other things we could use. UNLV may (emphasis on the indefinite nature on “may”) be willing to rent us their facilities (and if they do, we may have housing covered as well). The Gay and Lesbian Community Center downtown has facilities that they would probably let us use for free, and opening up conversation with them might provide us with friendly allies in the Valley as well. And of course, there are conference rooms in different hotels and casinos. The most extravagant option would be the rooms HUGE and small at the Convention Center downtown (with monorail access!).

The important thing to consider with the places we can meet is the size of the rooms we’d be using. How spread out or how crowded a room is can completely change the dynamic of an event, and significantly affects how positively or negatively people remember/perceive an event. We don’t want it too crowded and we don’t want it too spread out so as to prevent people from keeping only to themselves while making sure everybody is comfortable. This also means that we want to have a very good idea of how many people plan to attend so we can accommodate as accurately as possible, which is where networking and getting the word out come in.

There are various ways of contacting and connecting with people. A lot of people are familiar with Infoshop as a method of anarchist communication, and many people have forums they frequent, etc. These are a decent way to get word out. However, the most effective way is to pay attention to the people you interact with and then talk to them specifically about whatever it is you need to talk about (in this case, the Convergence/Conspiracy). If you give somebody personal attention and talk to them one-on-one, you’re more likely to catch their attention and get them to go along with whatever you’re trying to do. So to get this ball rolling, we have to talk to people. One possible thing to focus on for this first convergence is specifically seeking out organizers so that we can have them act of their own accord to find more people (think Pyramid Scheme without the capitalism). Also, having flyers, leaflets, posters, etc., already available for people who are interested so they, too, can get word out is advisable.

Aside from bringing people in from around the nation (at a time when that is an expensive endeavour), we want to bring people in from across the valley. With several buckets of chalk, interested and dedicated people, printers, mouths, markers, paint, and any other media you can get your hands on, over the span of 3 days, we could conceivably inform the entire city of our event. Also making sure people RSVP is integral. We can account for a lot of people to show up unannounced, but as mentioned before, the more accurate we are the better.

Networking should start as soon as possible, but in regards to advertising, timing is everything. Finding a balance between these and making sure we have the adequate space is worthwhile. Of course, accuracy can be completely negated as an issue if we aim for big and encourage people to move up, scoot in, and talk with each other. However we decide to do this, we can. Keep the issues in mind.

Once we have word out and facilities selected, or somewhere in-between, we need to look into securing housing and food. In regards to housing, it is conceivable that we could acquire convention rates at hotels/motels for people coming in. This would mean that we let the motel know we have people coming in and ask them to give people attending our conspiracy a discount rate. If we secure facilities at the university (which by all means is the most ideal route), we may be able to rent out the dorm rooms. Tents in yards and people on couches can also accommodate people, though this becomes an issue of comfortability with the people who wish to offer their homes and/or yards to people attending (and would demand carpooling). Any other options people can think of are more than welcome. Transportation can come in the form of buses, carpools, etc., and will all be relative to the location we select.

For this entire event, during it’s planning and execution, two issues we want to be absolutely certain we address are language barriers and children. Making sure that we can provide for Spanish-speaking people so that we can attract that community will broaden our range of people, issues, and interests, giving a broader pool of people to tap and diversifying the event for the better. Making sure we have childcare available is also important, as this issue can turn people away or convince them not to attend. These are also two issues in which we have to make sure are 100% definite in their execution: there can be no maybes.

Programming is going to be the final issue. There are tons of ways to do this. We can do it like a caucus, starting out on a national, regional, or state level and then moving to bigger or smaller groups, giving each group a list of pre-prepared, broad questions. We can hold workshops, guerilla workshops, and skillshares. We can provide workspace, areas for tabling, and so on (possibly even an art gallery). This is also the perfect time to work on addressing specific issues and give time toward planning for the next convergence. It is also extremely important to remember that whatever we do needs to be relevant and interesting: what we do and how we do it will determine the success or failure of the conspiracy/convergence.

It would be nice if everything was free, but as it stands today, it’s not. We can probably get a lot of things donated, etc., however, we’re going to want to look into how we’re funding this whole project. Fundraising, donations, or possibly even a sliding-scale fee are all possibilities. How do we want to go about this and how much do we need?

This is all we have so far: a general outline of our convergence. For those who don’t want to read it all, here is the outline:

1. Time
1. We hope to see this in late May or early June, 2009, and are going to plan as such
2. Location
1. Recreation Centers
2. University (Thomas & Mack, etc.)
3. Gay & Lesbian Community Center
4. Convention Center
5. Whatever we can think of.
6. Not too crowded, not too open.
3. Networking and Advertising
1. Get word out on internet.
2. Talk to people personally.
3. Specifically look for organizers? Leave nobody out.
4. Make sure to cater bilingually and include childcare
5. Figure out timing on advertising, network constantly
6. Get together supplies and volunteers for local advertising.
4. Housing and Food
1. Motels at convention rates
2. Dorms
3. Tents in yards and couches/floors?
4. Anywhere else we can think of.
5. How are we going to go about getting food? Ideas?

i. Possibly ask for donations from various charities or stores? Sunflower Market might be open to us. Does anybody have experience with this out here? Possibly link this to restarting the FNB around here?

5. Transportation
1. To Be Determined: based on housing and convergence location.
6. Bilingualism and Children
1. Make sure for everything to focus on making this friendly for Spanish-speakers and people with children.
2. Whatever we set up has to be absolutely certain to not fall through.
7. Programming
1. Caucus style?
2. Workshops, guerilla workshops, skillshares
3. Art gallery?
4. Workspace and tabling
5. Hopefully much, much more.
6. Discussions and planning for specific things?
7. Organizing and networking for the *next* convergence
8. Funding
1. Donations, free stuff, and possibly a sliding-scale fee.
2. Any ideas?

Desert Anarchist Conspiracy

That's right... Watch out! Anarchists in the desert are finally deciding to do something!

It's not like this hasn't happened before, but it's definitely going to happen again.

What is this conspiracy, you ask? It's a conspiracy to converge, collaborate, converse, cooperate, and live.

More information as it becomes available will be on here.

For now, go out and plot something! You know you want to!

Far, Far Too Long

Yes, it has been that long since I posted a blog worth reading. Amazing, isn't it? Well, I plan on updating a lot more.

Here's an update as to what is going on in Las Vegas. There is a group known as the Alliance of the Libertarian Left. People who consider themselves members call themselves ALLies. Kinda clever, I think. I'll be meeting with them soon to talk about what's what. The guy the contacted me in regards to it is also giving a talk at the Libertarian Party of Nevada's thingamawhatsit. So far as I can tell, these are pretty high-quality people I'm dealing with. Thank you infoshop! Hopefully soon there will be much more going on in Vegas, but then again, that could be too much to hope for.

Outside of Vegas, people are preparing for the DNC and RNC (Democratic/Republican National Convention). Some people are going to participate, other are going to observe, and the rest of us are going to disrupt, if not stop, both events in most possible ways, each person to their own means. I'm looking to get a tight group of people together to travel to Denver and then St. Paul, and hopefully even fly out an indymedia friend/photographer/amazing person. This will take fundraising, coordinating, and a lot of work, but it should also be a lot of fun! Check out www.unconventionalaction.org for more info. The site also has links to the nornc and dncdisruption sites.

My favorite place on earth burnt down (The Alystra), my two favorite painted areas were painted over, and my contacts and connections seem to have fallen into disarray over the past 3 years, so I need to get to work on all three. http://mycellar-door.blogspot.com will have a page up on the Alystra soon and we plan to hold a memorial service. I'll need 10 good people to help me with part two, and my network will be a constant project, I think...

If you read this and you are interested in getting involved, networked, etc., email me.


Enjoy life,
Le Reveur

Tiptoe

A lot of people simply don't like the police. So far as I can tell, this is with good reason, for those in power not only can, but do abuse it. Unfair laws, unconstitutional laws, peaceful protests: police are a weapon against the people. Police very, very rarely do anything positive. Rather, they are used by people against other people, or by the state against the people. In the meantime, the state profits from every bit of it. Police are paid, bureaucrats are given money, and more and more money is siphoned from people who want help to pay for more weapons against more people. $60 court fee, fines for walking across the street, fines for not paying fines, fees to get your paperwork, fees to register into programs, and the list goes on and on and on...

Most notably, however, is that the police make everybody feel uncomfortable. They are like the gun between two people, and whoever reaches it first doesn't die. Ironically, the weapons themselves carry weapons, making the situation even more dangerous. People feel like they have to slow down, move carefully, watch where their eyes are, etc., when a pig is around. One has to justify one's actions to oneself when simply walking by one, thinking something along the lines of "I'm doing nothing wrong, so I don't have to worry."

So why don't we all do ourselves a huge favor and let the police know what we're really thinking. Let's all tiptoe, slowly and obviously, any time a pig is around.

It is with great sadness...

that I view this most recent post of my good friend. Though I, myself, am united in this failure to this blog, I was surprised to see what he had to say when I opened it today, especially when I was about to recommend that we get more engaged in it. Of course, our viewers our few, and that was another thing that I had hoped to finish.

With sincerity, I would welcome and request you in this endeavor, as the potential is still great, as with all things, and we can achieve great things.


And with this in mind, I can't help but think of all people who involve themselves in an endeavor and let it fall to waste, or dispose of all their energy manifested from their passions in things that aren't conducive to those passions.

I speak of the poltical artists who create their art and don't talk to the viewer and incite their passions toward greater things.

I speak of the punk rockers who go to concerts, sew their clothes, steal what they don't make themselves, and waste their energies in mosh pits and petty theft when they could apply it to direct action and organized theft.

I speak of the "emo kid" who cuts themself, listens to angry or sad music, and focuses on aesthetics and superficiality when they could be acting to amend their situation, aiming their discontent toward removing the objects of their discontent.

I speak of the activist who goes out and protests the war yet never thinks to go out and physically stop those who go out and kill (by nonviolent means, mind you. What is more counterproductive than violently ending violence?).

I speak of the blogger and writer who says what should be done, points out the injustices, or even holds their tongue, without going out and directly promoting those things that they research and write about so passionately.

And I speak of those who try and unite one group to create our glorious disaster without appealing to those other groups: the anarchists that don't appeal to the democrats, the communists who don't appeal to the socialists, the democrats that don't appeal to community organizers, the charity workers who don't appeal to the anarchists, the punks who alienate the emos, the hippies who alienate the industrious, the do-ers who alienate the thinkers...

So let us first pick up the yoke of our duty to ourselves and others, that obscure duty that nobody seems to agree upon what it entails or where it came from, and then go out with the weight of the world on our shoulders and begin our glorious disaster. Not on one persons shoulders, but on the shoulders of every benevolent and caring individual, so that the weight itself does not crush us entirely.

Come friends, unite in this decaying world to utterly decimate it! Long live the disaster!

This is my last post.

I am sorry to say that I have failed this blog. It had the potential to be great and I let it go. My only hope is that my friend who I leave this with can one day make this a seedy spot where collaborators of all walks of life to come together to tear down what is evil.

I will leave you with these words:

We do not want a revolution. For a revolution implies that we end up in the same place when it is all over. What we want, my comrades, is disaster.