Tech for Community Organizations Event (March 13, Boston

Fri Feb 27 19:14:20 CST 2004

From:           	"Liat W and Rich C" <oc2004 at organizenow.net>

Good Morning!

About 150 people working in community organizations, unions, and
progressive advocacy groups, from 12 different states so far,
will be converging in Boston on Saturday, March 13th for the 5th
annual Grassroots Use of Technology!

This is an affordable event and we encourage you to
forward this email to any organization or campaign who
is interested in modernizing its organizing infrastructure.
You may register by phone or over the Internet.  We ask
you to send in your registration in the next 2 weeks, because we
already have OVER 100 people planning to come and we will likely
reach our max of 150 by the end of the month.

If you can't make it to Boston but you want to subsidize
the attendance of low income persons, we encourage you
to make an online donation using the link on the
reply/registration form.

Thanks and please accept our apologies for crossposting!

Rich Cowan and Liat Wexler
for Organizers' Collaborative

P.S. If your organization would like to be listed as a
co-sponsor please let us know and we'll send you a letter
with the sponsorship rates (starting at $75), or see the
sponsorship information at
http://www.organizenow.net/conference/pdf/sponsorinfo.pdf

Sponsorship comes with two admissions and allows us to make
this an affordable annual conference for small nonprofits.

****** CONFERENCE ANNOUNCEMENT ******

You are invited to the fifth annual conference on:

G R A S S R O O T S    U S E    O F    T E C H N O L O G Y
Massachusetts Institute of Technology  - Cambridge, MA
Saturday, March 13, 2004  *   8:30 am - 5:30 pm

CONFERENCE WEB SITE
http://www.organizenow.net/conference04.html

  ******* Co-Hosts *******

  Center for Reflective Community Practice at MIT
  MIT Greens

  ******* Cosponsors *******

Silver Sponsor:
  Wainwright Bank

Patron:
  GAIA Host, Inc.

Sustaining Sponsors:
  CitySoft
  Green Media Toolshed
  Groundspring.org
  Staff of Peace Development Fund

Supporting Sponsors:
  Evolve Foundation
  Kintera, Inc.
  Technology Assistance Network

Basic Sponsors:
  Blue Amber LLC
  Citizenspeak.org
  Commonwealth Coalition
  Community Media & Technology Program, UMass/Boston
  GroupServe Foundation
  Lelievre Information Services
  Orion Grassroots Network
  PICnet, Inc.
  TecsChange

Featuring
- Technology for Political and Civic Engagement
- Open Source and Free Software for Nonprofits

Program includes Speakers and Workshops on

  * MAIN PLENARY Grassroots Voices in Technology Innovation: 
    Creating new technology solutions for community building
    (Ceasar McDowell, Center for Reflective Community Practice)

  CASE STUDIES on:
  * Transportation Justice, bringing grassroots and coalitions
  together
    (Khalida Smalls, T Riders Union/ACE)
  * Accessibility in Online Political Participation:
    How to Make Sure You're Not Leaving Out >10% of Your
    Constituency (Judy Brewer, World Wide Web Consortium)

  WORKSHOP TOPICS:
  * No staff? No budget? No Problem - 
    Online Organizing for the Accidental Techie 
    (Tia Sumler, Leadership Conference for Civil Rights)
  * Enhanced Voter Lists and the Civic Engagement Initiative
    (Bob Lelievre, Lelievre Information Services)
  * Mapping with GIS - Targeting for Campaigns
    (Lucia Gomez)
  * Social Capital: Concepts and Tools for Building Community
    (David Crowley, Social Capital, Inc.)
  * Cyber-campaiging: Blogs, Meetups, Evites
    (Jesse Gordon, DeanVolunteers.org & Jason Davis, Mass For
    Clark)
  * Devil in the Details: 
    Improving Data Quality from the Streets to the Database (Cass
    Brewer)
  * Taking your Web Site to the Next Level: 
    Benefiting From a Database-Backed Web Site 
    (Caroline Meeks, Aristoi Consulting)
  * E-Advocacy
    (Jo Lee, CitizenSpeak.org & Sarah Bennett) 
  * And more!

*************** Agenda ******************

8:30-9:15am   Breakfast and Registration
9:30-10:40    Morning Plenary with Activist Case Studies
10:45-12:15   Workshops Session I
12:15-1:15pm  Lunch
1:20-1:45     OC Business plenary
1:45-3:00     Main Plenary with Interactive Discussion
3:15-4:45     Workshops Session II
4:45-5:15     Evaluation and Wrap up
6:00pm-8      Post-conference Dinner (optional, at restaurant)

Space is limited to 150 participants. $20-35 sliding scale
donation/ $7 student or unemployed.  Please register by March 5
to receive a full program. You may cancel up to 5 days before the
conference. (Note children under 13 may attend for free, we may
also be able to provide day care.) The event is wheelchair
accessible. Note: due to the demand for this event, people who
have an organizational affiliation.

*****************************************************************
**********

REGISTRATION FORM (please fill out and return to us)

___ YES, I'll be attending the conference on March 13, 2004. 

   ___Enclosed is a $______ registration donation via check.

   ___I am including my credit card information below.

   ___I am making my registration payment online (type
      "Conference04" in the Optional Comment box) at
      https://secure.groundspring.org/dn/index.php?aid=519

___ I (or my organization) would like to make an additional
    donation of $_____ to subsidize the attendance of low-income
    persons.  (Note if your extra donation is $20 or more, we
    will make you a member of Organizers' Collaborative). 

___ I can't attend, but keep me informed.  Enclosed is
    $_______ so that this conference may remain affordable
    to grassroots groups. 

Name:
Address:
Phone:
Email:
Organizational Affiliation:
Vegan/Vegetarian/Allergies:
Do you need additional services (childcare, signers, translators
etc.)? Comments:

Credit Card Info (MC/Visa/Amex - circle one) should not be sent
by email

Card Number _______________________________ Exp. Date______

Name, Address, Phone Number associated with Card, if Different

________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________

Organizers' Collaborative, P.O. Box 400897, Cambridge, MA  02140
conf2004 at organizenow.net  FAX 617-695-1295   TEL 617-426-1228
x108

*****************************************************************
*************

DIRECTIONS TO THE CONFERENCE SITE

Plane
MIT is 2.5 miles from Logan International Airport; 
taxi and subway service is available.

Train/Bus
Train and bus service arrives at South Station, which is 4
subway stops from Kendall/MIT (just go "inbound"). There are also
Chinatown Buses from NY City which arrive near Chinatown or South
Station MBTA, depending on the service you choose, and there is a
bus from TF Green Airport in Providence 7 times each day
(including 5PM, 6PM, and 8PM). Via MBTA subway system see
http//whereis.mit.edu/map

Commuter Trains Saturday Service see www.mbta.com

Automobile

>From the West, take Mass Pike to the Cambridge Exit, go toward
Cambridge and take a right onto Memorial Drive right after
crossing the river.

>From the South, take I-93 North and go most of the way through
the tunnel (to exit 26).

>From the North, take I-93 to exit 26 (exit 26, Leverett
>Connector
Storrow Drive).  If coming on Route 1 S., there is a new exit
right off of the Tobin Bridge in both cases, you want "Storrow
Drive West." Go 1.5 miles and take the left exit, "Route 2A -
Back Bay" (after the Copley exit). At the end of the ramp take a
right to go over the bridge to Cambridge, and when you reach the
end, MIT is on the right.  Information on MIT lot parking to be
posted.

A Campus Map is available at
http//whereis.mit.edu/map-jpg?selection=4&Buildings=go

Lodging within walking distance

  * MIT Hotel, www.mithotel.com (~ $135, 617-577-0200).

Lodging at union hotels

  * Radisson (617-482-1800) $105 if booked in advance, 3 subway
  stops from MIT. * Holiday Inn at Logan Airport (617-569-5250)
  $85, not near MIT. * More Options at Boston Area Union Hotel
  Page 
    http//www.bostonhotelunion.org/index.php3?web=about&page=shop
    s

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