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?