Minutes for January 23rd Meeting
Peace Lounge at OISE, 3-5pm
Facilitators: Adam & Sara
Minute-taker: Robyn
Time-keeper: Emily
1. Sara (IF Theatre), Robyn, Hartley (McMaster/York), Jana (York), chris (catalyst/York), Bonnie (SPIKE), Matt (catalyst), Laura (York), jes, Emily, Brendan, Kye, Adam (IF Theatre), Corvin (catalyst)
Regrets: Jenny, Stephen, Simon
2. Change Agenda item 9 to “Structure of Conference Sessions”
Add “Attending PTO 2009 Conference” as Agenda item 10.
3. Report from Meeting with Ellie Frieland: chris & Brendan
Sonia from Minneapolis and Ellie from the Board compiled a handout for our organizing committee
--note from president
--background
--budget 2007
--PTO conference timeline
--more documents (evaluation sheets, etc.)
--notes from evaluation meeting with conference participants 08.
No history of formal process with formal vote in deciding where conferences will be held; Ellie is enthused that we want to take the conference on in 2010. They recognize us as the organizing group for PTO 2010. Casual meeting with advice, conversations about the history of PTO
Dates: last 2 weeks of April (non-starter for American participation – hinders participation).
Or end of June (which might not be out of the question – might become more accessible for public school teachers)
PTO has a mandate to work with groups to get their proposals to an acceptable level. 99.9% of proposals are accepted for the conference – but this might be something we want to reevaluate. Our local committee nominates speakers and PTO board invites them. PTO board has $500 budget for speakers. Boal workshops in past have funded part of the rest of the conference.
4. Committees: Written Brainstorming Exercise
-Actions Needed: accommodation, fundraising, billeting, interpretation, making the program, food, coordination between/across communities, childcare, contacting presenters, phone tree, website/blog, budget, registration/database tracking
-Committee Headings: Space/Accessibility, Communication/Outreach, Programming, Hospitality/Housing, Fundraising/Finance, Making it to PTO 2009, Steering Committee
--Communication/Outreach: Matt, Brendan, Robyn, jes (youth advisory), Hartley, Corvin
--Programming: Matt, Sara, adam, chris, Stephen
--Fundraising/Finance: chris, Laura
--Hospitality/Housing: Brendan, Emily, Sara
--Space/Accessibility: Laura, Bonnie, Adam, Corvin
--Volunteer Coordination: Laura, chris
--Attending PTO 2009: jes, Robyn, chris
--Anti-Colonial Committee:
--Executive/Admin Committee (Committee of the Whole)
BREAK
-Committee signup and contact information exchange (committees are provisional)
5. Decision-making
Can committees make decisions or do decisions having to go through organizing? How will decisions me made? How will the steering committee be formed? How big should steering committee be? How do we start now with a steering committee?
--Informal (but rigorous) consensus – with capacity for anyone to invoke formal consensus
--Group autonomy (task policy), but no large decision made without consulting with committee of the whole
--Less structure as it emerges
--Conference has not been pulled off in this way (democratic) before
6. Are we using OISE?
--Food? Cafeteria has been closed, but there should be storage room
--Available for free
--Most presenters request A/V – making it difficult/expensive for non-campus conference space; we cannot get it for free at OISE, but free space might ameliorate the cost
--Bahn Centre: UofT (St. George just above College) – new, lecture hall and lots of room
--housing/space committee should have a chance to look around
--OISE as a hub – jumping off point for self-organizing
--get a deadline from Daniel for booking OISE space
--Corvin: getting a campus group to sponsor for space at U of T
7. Outreach – Building on Community Mapping
--How can we diversify our core group?
--Making concerted effort to get out of academia – get out of communities that are predominately white, academic
--Laura will do outreach with film fest she is helping to organizing
--Recruiting through community centres sustainable participation
--TCDI: solidarity and communication with that group
--Should we think about how to market this conference to community groups?.
--Conduct analysis of why this group is so white?
--How did each of us come to know about/be invited to this group?
8. Communication
--We have no one way of communicating, and that’s confusing
--Have we been losing people by our lack of/mis-communication
--Phone tree and email – prioritize communication methods (ex. for a meeting cancellation, we should use the phone)
--Listserv: use Google group we already have in place (subscribe people rather than inviting them to subscribe)
9. Structure of Conference Sessions
--Comments by Stephen (see comments to the Tuesday, January 20, 2009 post)
--Matching issues/community organizers with the programming of the conference
--Delegate these comments to programming and outreach
--Fringe approach: invite people to host sessions
--We don’t need to wait until 2010 to do something (ie, we could program events in the fall – PTO events as well as outreach and networking opportunities)
--Open Space Technology: meeting is decided at time of meeting; agenda drawn up democratically. Have sessions in the program where agenda is decided upon people showing up to the session (which happened at PTO 2007)
--Stephen: bringing in fieldworkers or taking visits around Toronto visiting communities
--How can outreach and programming engage with each other (because they need to constantly be in touch
--Coming up with theme for conference sooner than later (delegate this task to every committee)
10. Next Meeting and Task Review
Next Meeting:
7:30PM Thursday February 26th (Tentative location: OISE Peace Lounge)
Facilitator: Hartley Jafine
Minute-taker: chris cavanagh
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
Monday, January 26, 2009
Resources From the PTO Board and Past Organizers
Here are some documents given to us from the PTO Board and past conference organizers...
"Standard Features" was created by the PTO Board to help us and future organizers know what has to happen at a PTO conference and some traditional elements of the conference.
Standard Features of a PTO Conference
These three documents are the compilations of participant feedback forms from the 2007 (Minneapolis-St.Paul) and 2008 (Omaha) conferences.
Evaluations from 2007
"Final Report" from 2007
Evaluations from 2008
These two documents were created by long-time popular educator and PTO member Larry Olds.
Larry Olds' Ideas on Making a Better Conference
Larry Olds' Ideas on Conference Programing
The "One Year Time Line" document is from the organizers of the PTO conference in 2006 (Chapel Hill). The budget is from the 2007 conference.
One Year Timeline of a PTO Conference
Final Budget of the 2007 PTO Conference
"Standard Features" was created by the PTO Board to help us and future organizers know what has to happen at a PTO conference and some traditional elements of the conference.
Standard Features of a PTO Conference
These three documents are the compilations of participant feedback forms from the 2007 (Minneapolis-St.Paul) and 2008 (Omaha) conferences.
Evaluations from 2007
"Final Report" from 2007
Evaluations from 2008
These two documents were created by long-time popular educator and PTO member Larry Olds.
Larry Olds' Ideas on Making a Better Conference
Larry Olds' Ideas on Conference Programing
The "One Year Time Line" document is from the organizers of the PTO conference in 2006 (Chapel Hill). The budget is from the 2007 conference.
One Year Timeline of a PTO Conference
Final Budget of the 2007 PTO Conference
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Agenda for January 23rd Meeting
PTO-Toronto Organizers' Meeting
January 23rd, 2009
3pm - 5pm @ The Peace Lounge (OISE)
Convener:
Minutes: Robyn Letson
1. (re)Introductions
2. Review Minutes from Last Meeting
3. Report from Meeting with Ellie Friedland (PTO Board Member).
4. Committees and Decision-making
5. Location(s) of Conference (OISE needs to know)
6. Outreach - Building On Community Mapping
7. Stephen's comments on structure of conference sessions (matching issues with fieldworkers) and on open space technology (as a form of decision making)
8. Communication: how we're failing and ways to improve
9. Next Meeting and Task Review
January 23rd, 2009
3pm - 5pm @ The Peace Lounge (OISE)
Convener:
Minutes: Robyn Letson
1. (re)Introductions
2. Review Minutes from Last Meeting
3. Report from Meeting with Ellie Friedland (PTO Board Member).
4. Committees and Decision-making
5. Location(s) of Conference (OISE needs to know)
6. Outreach - Building On Community Mapping
7. Stephen's comments on structure of conference sessions (matching issues with fieldworkers) and on open space technology (as a form of decision making)
8. Communication: how we're failing and ways to improve
9. Next Meeting and Task Review
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
November 28th Meeting Minutes
PTO Toronto Organizing Meeting
Friday November 28th, 2008
Convene and Welcome
Welcome to the TLC Peace Lounge
Quick explanation of Pedagogy and Theatre of the Oppressed in Toronto
Introduction
People at the Meeting: chris, jes, Emily, Adam, Robyn; Brendan; Hartley (Theatre @ York); Laura (Environmental Studies @ York U); Leah (Environmental Studies @ York), Jenny (Aiding Dramatic Change in Development); Stephen (Aiding Dramatic Change in Development), Hannah (Environmental Studies @ York); Stephanie (Drama @ University of Guelph); Katherine (Environmental Studies @ York); Jana (Environmental Studies @ York); Ainsley (Mixed Company Theatre); Simone (Mixed Company Theatre); Margo (evaluating community arts practices); Bonnie (homeless and disability issues); Hussan (No One is Illegal - Toronto); Ravi (OISE/UT?)
Background to PTO and their Board
Brendan gave a brief background to what the Pedagogy and Theatre of the Oppressed Organization is and what the conference series has looked like in the past.
He also explained the shift from Omaha to Minneapolis and the attempt being made to produce a more “community-based” conference and possibilities for a lasting network.
Community Mapping: Who’s involved, who should be involved?
Hannah gave an introduction to community mapping and explained the process.
The group used this process to reflect on who is involved at this point and who is not involved but should be. The results of the process are available in a separate document prepared by Hannah.
Issues raised in debriefing:
Do people have personal contacts with the organizations mentioned?
Heavily represent the Toronto/Southern Ontario region.
Very few Francophone and/or Québécois organizations
Some of the ideas are very general (e.g. “Aboriginal communities of North America”)
Initial Funding Ideas for Conference 2010
Informal brainstorm of possible sources of funding (see “Funding Brainstorm” posted on blog)
Issues raised in debriefing:
Should this be a consideration so early?
Ideological/ethical implications of funding
Need to know more about what the conference will look like before funding proposals can be drafted.
Structure of the Toronto Group: How do we organize ourselves and make decisions?
Robyn and jes presented the group with some ideas for possible committees. People were asked to sign up for a committee if they desired or give their email address to be invited to the organizing blog.
What will this thing actually look like? .
Organizing committee ultimately needs to be accountable for decisions made.
The organization of the Toronto group will need to be an on-going debate (occurring on the blog) and we will hopefully have some structure that can be approved at the meeting in January.
Last Thoughts and Discussion
How long will the conference be?
Keep this downtown – exclusionary?
Working for years for one conference seems like a lot.
2010 organizing offers possibilities for solidarity/support
- Year of resistance
- 10 000 – 20 000 organizers coming for G8
- Free Schools organized by resistance 2010
What does this mean for organizing popular theatre in Canada?
Why did Canadian Popular Theatre Alliance die?
How do we address issues of the past in the future?
Next Steps, Next Meeting, and Closing
What will happen before next meeting?
People invited to join organizers blog to discuss themes for the conference, agenda for next meeting, organizing models, etc.
Meeting with Ellie Friedland at chris’ place between Dec 26th and Jan 3rd.
Next Meeting
Chris suggested the 16th or the 23rd of January at the same time and place. A ‘straw pole’ of the meeting set the date as the 16th
Next meeting will take place Jan 16th, 3pm in the Peace Lounge at OISE
Simone will convene.
Robyn will take minutes.
Friday November 28th, 2008
Convene and Welcome
Welcome to the TLC Peace Lounge
Quick explanation of Pedagogy and Theatre of the Oppressed in Toronto
Introduction
People at the Meeting: chris, jes, Emily, Adam, Robyn; Brendan; Hartley (Theatre @ York); Laura (Environmental Studies @ York U); Leah (Environmental Studies @ York), Jenny (Aiding Dramatic Change in Development); Stephen (Aiding Dramatic Change in Development), Hannah (Environmental Studies @ York); Stephanie (Drama @ University of Guelph); Katherine (Environmental Studies @ York); Jana (Environmental Studies @ York); Ainsley (Mixed Company Theatre); Simone (Mixed Company Theatre); Margo (evaluating community arts practices); Bonnie (homeless and disability issues); Hussan (No One is Illegal - Toronto); Ravi (OISE/UT?)
Background to PTO and their Board
Brendan gave a brief background to what the Pedagogy and Theatre of the Oppressed Organization is and what the conference series has looked like in the past.
He also explained the shift from Omaha to Minneapolis and the attempt being made to produce a more “community-based” conference and possibilities for a lasting network.
Community Mapping: Who’s involved, who should be involved?
Hannah gave an introduction to community mapping and explained the process.
The group used this process to reflect on who is involved at this point and who is not involved but should be. The results of the process are available in a separate document prepared by Hannah.
Issues raised in debriefing:
Do people have personal contacts with the organizations mentioned?
Heavily represent the Toronto/Southern Ontario region.
Very few Francophone and/or Québécois organizations
Some of the ideas are very general (e.g. “Aboriginal communities of North America”)
Initial Funding Ideas for Conference 2010
Informal brainstorm of possible sources of funding (see “Funding Brainstorm” posted on blog)
Issues raised in debriefing:
Should this be a consideration so early?
Ideological/ethical implications of funding
Need to know more about what the conference will look like before funding proposals can be drafted.
Structure of the Toronto Group: How do we organize ourselves and make decisions?
Robyn and jes presented the group with some ideas for possible committees. People were asked to sign up for a committee if they desired or give their email address to be invited to the organizing blog.
What will this thing actually look like? .
Organizing committee ultimately needs to be accountable for decisions made.
The organization of the Toronto group will need to be an on-going debate (occurring on the blog) and we will hopefully have some structure that can be approved at the meeting in January.
Last Thoughts and Discussion
How long will the conference be?
Keep this downtown – exclusionary?
Working for years for one conference seems like a lot.
2010 organizing offers possibilities for solidarity/support
- Year of resistance
- 10 000 – 20 000 organizers coming for G8
- Free Schools organized by resistance 2010
What does this mean for organizing popular theatre in Canada?
Why did Canadian Popular Theatre Alliance die?
How do we address issues of the past in the future?
Next Steps, Next Meeting, and Closing
What will happen before next meeting?
People invited to join organizers blog to discuss themes for the conference, agenda for next meeting, organizing models, etc.
Meeting with Ellie Friedland at chris’ place between Dec 26th and Jan 3rd.
Next Meeting
Chris suggested the 16th or the 23rd of January at the same time and place. A ‘straw pole’ of the meeting set the date as the 16th
Next meeting will take place Jan 16th, 3pm in the Peace Lounge at OISE
Simone will convene.
Robyn will take minutes.
Sunday, January 4, 2009
Blog Update! by Robyn
So, the Blog is no longer on "private" status. This means we don't have to invite you on as readers in order for you to access it. This decision was made after struggling to make the Blog both accessible and private (we should have known! haha); it just doesn't look like that is going to happen. Now you can check out the blog whenever you'd like, regardless of whether or not you have a Google account.
You can now subscribe to the Blog's RSS feed. This means you can be updated whenever a new entry is posted. If you'd like to do this, please take the following steps:
1. Click on "Posts" in the "Subscribe To" Box on the sidebar (right-hand side) of the blog.
2. If you use Google Reader, or My Yahoo, or one of the other RSS reader options, click its box and you'll get set up. If you do NOT use these, click on "Atom" at the bottom of the list. This will give you the option of making the Blog a "Live Bookmark," which means it will appear on your browser's toolbar and when you click on it, you'll get a drop down menu of all the posts.
Yikes, this probably sounds really complicated. If you don't want to do all this, I'd recommend bookmarking the Blog and checking it whenever you think to. If folks are still confused/frustrated by this Blogging business, I'm hoping we can dedicate some time to it during the next meeting.
Not everyone can make blog posts, but everyone can make comments to Blog posts. Please do so! If you scroll down a bit, you'll see that posts have been made on Community Mapping and on Groups and Committees.
Once again, if you have questions, please email me: robynletson@gmail.com and I'll do my best to help you.
You can now subscribe to the Blog's RSS feed. This means you can be updated whenever a new entry is posted. If you'd like to do this, please take the following steps:
1. Click on "Posts" in the "Subscribe To" Box on the sidebar (right-hand side) of the blog.
2. If you use Google Reader, or My Yahoo, or one of the other RSS reader options, click its box and you'll get set up. If you do NOT use these, click on "Atom" at the bottom of the list. This will give you the option of making the Blog a "Live Bookmark," which means it will appear on your browser's toolbar and when you click on it, you'll get a drop down menu of all the posts.
Yikes, this probably sounds really complicated. If you don't want to do all this, I'd recommend bookmarking the Blog and checking it whenever you think to. If folks are still confused/frustrated by this Blogging business, I'm hoping we can dedicate some time to it during the next meeting.
Not everyone can make blog posts, but everyone can make comments to Blog posts. Please do so! If you scroll down a bit, you'll see that posts have been made on Community Mapping and on Groups and Committees.
Once again, if you have questions, please email me: robynletson@gmail.com and I'll do my best to help you.
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