OccupyVictoria - VIHippieChick's account (Part 1)

Yesterday I joined the Occupy movement. I admit that I'm late joining as the People's Assembly of Victoria came to life over two weeks ago but October 15th was only the beginning of what's to come. I hope to help spread the word that the movement is more than just camping and the opportunity to participate is ongoing.

I joined the march on October 15th and listened at the assembly in Centennial Square because I believe that a collective voice is louder than an individual. The current political system is failing the majority. My continued involvement is because I realize that this is not a fad and the main message from the global Occupy movement is inequality.

I'm not camping but I support those who can and are. Quite honestly I'm very much torn but personal circumstances, including not actually owning a tent, make camping difficult for me. I hope to talk more with the campers over the next couple days and share their stories as to why they are camping. What I am doing is participating in the Process working group and the Media working group.

First off - what is a working group? These are smaller groups of people who have a strong interest in specific parts of the OccupyVictoria movement. There is one for food, a safe place, tech, media, process, logistics, etc. These groups facilitate concentrated discussion on their related topics from which proposals to the general assembly are put forward. Anyone can join the discussion and the working groups have been asked to set a regular schedule of their meetings to help people plan to attend.

The Process working group's main purpose is to establish an agenda for the general assemblies and to facilitate and conduct the general assemblies keeping with the process of consensus. This was a real eye opener for me. While I've sat on various boards I am use to a majority rule. Robert's Rule of Order has prevailed. With consensus everyone has to agree. How this transpires in meetings (whether it be a working group or the general assembly) is a proposal is made by any member; clarifying questions are asked; discussion is had and a consensus is sought. Those participating can either agree, abstain or block the proposal. If there is a block the block is explained; further discussion is had and a call for consensus is again sought. This continues until there is no block. A topic can be tabled to either later on in the meeting; until the next meeting. If tabled until the next general assembly the proposal can go to the relevant working group, if any, and more concentrated discussion had for an amended proposal or new proposal. While the process produces a unanimous agreement it sometimes takes awhile to get to the agreement.

Some people questioned why there is a need for a process working group and the answer, in my opinion, is simple - there needs to be some sort of order to aid everyone in working together. Otherwise we'll all try to speak at the same time and no one will be heard. 

The start of the October 16th general assembly demonstrated that. A proposal was put forward to open an account with a credit union to keep the cash donations received in a safe place. Questions non-related to the proposal were raised and despite advising those concerns would be addressed later on in the meeting, the whole discussion went off topic awhile. Once the process was accepted and adhered to by all participating the meeting started to flow again.

The media working group currently is trying to liaise with media requests for interviews. We work together to respond to requests and schedule an interview with a member from the People's Assembly of Victoria. May sound simple but so far those of us in the Media working group all have other commitments such as school and jobs which make it a challenge to respond to these often time sensitive requests. As the movement evolves I imagine the role of the media working group will evolve as well.

So that's a little bit about my experience on Day 2 of OccupyVictoria. I hope to share my perspective daily. If you want to help OccupyVictoria please check out paov.ca for updates from the various working groups. Also stay tuned to my blog as I will continue to share my experience with OccupyVictoria.

From Crazy Talk to Reality

A few weeks ago me and three of my single mom tweeps fantasized about a life where all four of us lived under one roof and could assist each other in raising all the children between us. The Single Parent Co-operative. For days afterwards I couldn't let go of the idea. There has to be a way that single parents can ban together to help each other not just get out every now and then but to be there during the emergencies; supporting each other in the good and bad.

There is....start smaller. I broke down the concept into two phases - child care and housing. Then I added a phase - programming for the kids such as sports or music. But to get started I needed money.

Then I saw a tweet from another tweep (incidentally another single mom) about The Awesome Shit Club. A group of people that raise money, accept submissions of awesome shit, and give away money to the most awesome idea.

That brings me to tonight’s adventure. I became an “Awesomer” of the Awesome Shit Club. I presented my idea alongside 10 other Awesomers o the 16 Awesomites who voted on who was the awesomest and win the pot of funds. There were a LOT of awesome ideas and all pretty diverse in topics and fields.

Long story short – I didn’t win. But sometimes it’s not the intended prize that makes an experience worthwhile. It’s the connections and networking that further an idea to bring it to a reality. I walked away with two contacts interested in helping make the crazy talk of a few single moms into a reality. Because of them, I feel I won.