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.