May 13th 2007 Minutes -- The 519

Present: Angel, Possum, Ryan (minuteman), Joaoa, Darren, Christian (facilitator)

Agenda

1. Virtual Classes

2. Alternative School Outreach

3. Course Check-in

4. Party

5. Promo

6. AFU Friendly Spaces

7. Minute Coordination

8. Consensus

9. Course Continuity

10. Wiki Workshop

1. Virtual Classes

Joaoa asked about the possibility of puttting on virtual classes. There has been some interest in the past--both local and international--for the prospect. Angel said we could possibly set-up a Skype network to put on our classes. Possum wasn't sure that the current AFU would be capable of handling virtual classes, but that we would encourage and support those facilitators who were interested in putting on such courses. This is an idea/discussion that will be picked up later.

2. Alternative School Outreach

There was some thought that we could involve alternative high schools with the AFU--that we could provide course credit for students interested in taking some of our courses. This prospect got Ryan, Possum and Christian excited and they decide they would form (yet another) committee to reach interested high schools Outreach@anarchistu.org. It was thought that many AFU courses (history, philosophy, art, etc.) would be appropriate electives for high school accreditation. Angel wondered if the this would affect/lower the level of engagement in the courses or that the material would be beyond the level of high schoolers. Both Ryan and Christian didn't think that would be the case and that interested students would raise to any challenge posed by the courses. This whole idea is still in embryonic form but the committee thought they should start contacting suitable schools in order to have something set-up for the Fall.

3. Course Check-in

Generosity Project: Although neither Rachel G nor Helen were available for comment, word on the street is that things are going just fine.

Contemporary Issues in Sexuality Discussion Group: This class will not be starting until the end of May, but Ryan said that he found space for Dee to host the class.

Hell in Eros -- Desire and Japanese Cinema: Ryan had his first class last week and he was really happy with the turn out and ensuing discussion. He said it should be a fun term!

Science Fiction And Radical Climate Change: Christian's course hasn't started yet either. He's been having a spot of trouble find appropriate space for the course--this is further complicated by the fact that he needs A/V hookup. This lead to a whole other discussion (see point #6)

... we should get a more detailed progress report from all of these facilitators by next month.

4. Party

Who would have thought planning a party would be so friggin' hard?

Plans for the previously scheduled Boat party fell though--people didn't like that the Boat was only available Sunday night. Ryan looked into scheduling the Canadian Corps/Legion Hall, and it looks like that venue is no longer AFU friendly due to the shenanigans of rabble-rousing ANARCHISTS!!! Darren made the point that these ANARCHIST!!! agent provocateurs weren't part of the AFU "family" and that short of assigning bouncers at every party there would be no real way of guaranteeing that this would not happen again and that, furthermore, we should probably forget the Canadian Corps/Legion Hall as a site.

Ryan did contact the Concord Cafe and has the place booked for June 30th, but there was no real decision as to whether we should go ahead with the booking. Darren said we should maybe just have a house party instead and then work our way up to a public/general party. Both Ryan and Possum tentatively, and cautiously, said they would consider offerings up thier respective abodes for a AFU house party.

All agreed that the AFU need more public parties/events but up to this point not much has been done about it. Possum and Darren said we should plan some day-trips/picnics to the Island or even Trinity-Bellwoods to get the process started.

5. Promo

Christian wanted to do some postering for his course, and Ryan said that he should combine his efforts with the postering for the Party (Dance Dance Revolution 2) and the Visioning Meeting. Mike sent out an email that all postering should be ready to hit the streets for May 26th. An email will go out to the street teams and the promo committee about this.

Christian also wanted to do some color posters and wondered if there were any funds for this.

6. AFU Friendly Spaces

Christian felt that there needed to be more done about this. Comically, or tragically, the discussion repeated itself near-verbatim from last month's meeting:

Christian in the past has used other apartments to host his courses, but he wondered if it would be easier if the AFU could provide a list of spaces available to use. It was agreed that it would be a good idea to consolidate our space resources and make them visible for any interested party. Rachel M stated that with every new semester she will email all course facilitators with available spaces, but is agreed that maybe a resource page should be created that lists all AFU friendly spaces.

... nothing new was said other than we should act on what we said last meeting. Oy vey!

7. Minute Coordination

Possum said that we really need to figure out a way to have the previous month's minutes ready for every meeting. He said that the 519 receptionists are fixing to punch him in the nose if he asks to use their printer one more time. For the sake of Possum's nose we should come up with a practice that ensures that someone brings a hard copy to every meeting.

8. Consensus

The spectre of consensus decision-making haunted this general meeting. It was decided that maybe we would increase the July general meeting by an hour to start the process of how we are to deal with consensus in the general meetings/other AFU affairs.

9. Course Continuity

Ryan, Possum and Darren talked about the need to create more coordination across the courses/semesters. Ryan suggested the idea of an over-arching course--taught by multiple people each taking turns--around such primary themes as "radical politics and practice," "the principles of free schools," "art and politics," or even "punk rock 101." Since the Fall/Winter semester is long time off, this discussion can be brought up later date but it was felt that more could be done to provide an introduction to "who we are/what we do." Ryan and Darren also though we should do more one-off workshops and demos around themes/issues that affect the community or even themes/issues that simply interest us--this would be a way of attracting people who are not certain about committing to a 10+ week course. Again, this is all a project that should be picked up in earnest after the June Visioning Meeting.

10. Wiki Workshop

Possum brought his laptop and was raring to go with a mini-workshop on the wonders of Wiki. Alas, no one showed up who needed such a demo. Maybe next time, Possum!

Don't think. FEEL. It is like a finger pointing away to the moon. Do not concentrate on the finger or you will miss all that heavenly glory.

Bruce Lee, Enter the Dragon.