This 4 day training was 2 days on framing/story-based strategy w/ smartMeme, and 2 days of fun w/ the Flip Cams and Tweet-decks making mock campaign videos and online campaigns, with Jen Caltrider.
I took the opportunity to learn more about using final cut pro, an made this video blog about the summer camp!
I had a wonderful time working with all these beautiful, incredible, bold and brilliant organizers - and innovating the story-based strategy curriculum to mesh with viral video production and online campaigning. It was tons of fun, and I learned a ton too.
THANKS to PTP and all who made this amazing training possible!
I was so pleased to attend the 2009 national gathering of the Progressive Communicators Network (PCN), held in Chicago at the end of May. The conversations were rich, the connections were deep, and the insights were exquisite. What an amazing network!
Along with the great discussions (and party!), one of the highlights for me was the workshop on the story-based strategy model. We hadn’t done anything quite like this before. Patrick and I, with support from Anasa Troutman of the Movement Strategy Center, designed this session for this special group of skilled practitioners. It was such a wonderful challenge, and I felt myself growing into the moment. I was so humbled and honored to be in the space and share some of our “edge thinking.” And now you we can share it with you too!
Thanks to Nell Greenberg from Rainforest Action Network (who I recruited on-the-fly to shoot this low-fi video on our Flip Cam), the world can watch the workshop on smartmeme.blip.tv! Its about 45 minutes, and we go into some detail about the strategy model presented in RE:Imagining Change with examples to show each stage in the process….enjoy!
*You can download the slideshow from this presentation (its higher res than this video) at slideshare.net/smartmeme
* You can download the Story-based Strategy Campagin Model “Chart” handout HERE.
Pics from the workshop….
Anasa Troutman from the Movement Strategy Center opens the session on story-based strategy.
smartMeme workshop at the PCN national gathering, Chicago 2009
Doyle giving workshop at PCN national gathering, 2009 in Chicago
What PCN is all about:
PCN exists to strengthen and amplify the power, voices, and vision of grassroots movements that are working for racial, social, economic, and environmental justice. Network members use communication strategy, framing and messaging, and media tools to: 1) enhance the influence of social change movements on public policy and opinion; and 2) realize a world without poverty, racism, and other forms of oppression. The Network is a project of Spirit in Action, a movement-building support organization located in western Massachusetts.
A thousand THANK YOUs to the Progressive Communicators Network for bringing this amazing group together!
Last week I was Philadelphia for a retreat with Iraq Veterans Against the War to develop communications strategy and assess the shifting spin. While McCain is insisting that the “surge was a success,” and the Obama camp is talking about Iraq in the past tense, the fact is that the US is still waging an illegal war. Just this week, the war has escalated with the bombing of Syria. Although the story of the Iraq War is changing, the ugly everyday reality of the occupation continues - and IVAW continues their critical mission: To end the Iraq occupation; To ensure full benefits for all returning service members; To pay reparations to the Iraqi people.
SmartMeme is working in partnership with IVAW to help achieve these goals. We gathered last week to envision what might 2009 bring.
The stakes are high. As the economic recession kicks in, military recruitment is going up. US military deaths in Iraq war reached 4,189 this week. 150,000 troops are still on the ground, and 1.2 million Iraqi people are dead. Thousands of Veterans are struggling for healthcare, education, and to put their lives back together.
IVAW members are working around the clock to tell these stories, heal from the wars, and build a movement of Veterans and GIs to bring peace and justice to Iraq. Kris Goldsmith is one such leader who is featured on CNN’s “Back From Battle” special, airing this Saturday and Sunday 8 p.m. ET on a special edition of Anderson Cooper 360.
“I don’t think that my 18-year old self would recognize who I am today. At the age of 18, I thought that I was going to be a career soldier…. I never imagined speaking out.”
SmartMeme has been supporting IVAW’s efforts since 2006. To be working with these amazing leaders in this latest chapter in our collaboration is an honor. Each time I am with them, I am humbled and emboldened in my commitment to the antiwar movement. I am so grateful to them for their courage to speak out and share their stories with the world.
I am also hella proud to celebrate with IVAW the release of the new book Winter Solider - Iraq & Afghanistan: Eyewitness Accounts of the Occupations. These are the powerful words, images, and documents of this historic gathering, which show the reality of life in Afghanistan and Iraq. You gotta get it online here!
Good News from our partner Protect Our Waters! On August 5th Nestlé released a statement of their intention to cancel the contract with the McCloud Community Services District to build (what was to be) the largest water bottling plant in the United States! Nestlé’s action to cancel their contract is a huge victory for McCloud community, the biodiverse ecosystems of the watershed, and the larger movement against the corporate takeover of the world’s water!
But this water fight is not over! In response to Nestle’s announcement, the Protect Our Waters Coalition released a statement that:
If the project does eventually move forward, the coalition wishes to ensure that the company is held accountable to do everything possible to mitigate the plant’s environmental impacts and maximize the economic benefits for McCloud.”
Read the Mt. Shasta News story here.
Tara Lohan of Alternet says:
This news is really an incredible turn of events and the concerned townspeople who organized to hold Nestle accountable to the people of McCloud and the environment should be applauded — as well as the organizations who have worked along with them…
Thanks Tara! And the warmest congratulations to the Protect Our Waters Coalition, other allies, and to the people of McCloud! It was the dedication and tireless organizing of the community that made this happen! You are in inspiration to us at smartMeme and people the world over who are standing up to the greed of the corporate water grab. Bravo!
