Minutes from June 5th PTO-Steering Committee Meeting

OISE Peace Lounge 3:30 – 5:30

Attending: Robyn (chair), Brendan, Emily (and Kai), Duncan, Simon, Hartley,
Stephen, Jenni, chris (minutes)

Regrets: Deborah, Margo, Matt, Corvin

1. Report on 2008 PTO Conference
- Stephen began reporting on conference and Simon joined in. Below are some points touched on.

• Stephen found it quite positive; highlights included meeting people, going to workshops
• Julian Boal workshop on legislative theatre at beginning and end
• Opening ceremony not unpleasant but not as big a success
• Therefore opening ceremony is very important – Shannon woman reciting letter line-by-line with translation in Spanish
• Native American woman keynote – a bit them/us, then they left; talked about 53 hangings at Fort Snelling – heavy, heavy, heavy, heaviest
• Problem: Boal’s death not acknowledged until 11:00 pm
• Spontaneous memorial Sat.
• Spanish speaking community appreciated being listened to
• Organizers were very approachable, open, nice, waned to share
• Food Not Bombs session to talk
• Workshop on Sunday morning – Gender in Science
• Workshop on last day day – kids show was highlight – about young black males and invisible father
• Simon found keynote speaking out of context → you became a spectator during the keynote presentations; felt a little monologic
• Presented legislative theatre at 10:30 – going to City Hall – only 3 people came from City
• PO/TO balance – Victor Cole workshop; Deborah Arts & Activism
• TO group divided – Weinblatt – oppression; Boal purification
• Jokers meeting in Rio in July
• PO/TO confused

2. Program

• Pre and post conference
• Mixed Company and Catalyst will do one-pagers describing pre and post conference ideas/proposals
• Pre and Post will liaise with/join program committee
• Stephen suggested thinking about themes for pre and post which would remove pressure form theme for conference

3. Outreach

• Committed to approaching community organizations soon
• Robyn will talk to 519
• Committee will prepare outreach package
• Chris will contact some TCHC folks – youth human rights course participants
• We could do an Outreach event in late August/September

4. Space

• Report in E-mail
• Look at U of T theatre space

5. Budget

• 2007 expenses were ~$120,000; revenue was ~$106,000 leaving a shortfall of ~$12,000
• see draft budget – chris spoke to this briefly pointing out the need to decide on a base registration rate – e.g. past conferences have charged ~$75/day (including early reg fees, student and unemployed rates, etc.)
• Finance committee to meet

6. Liaising with PTO Board

• There were 7 retirees from PTO Board
• Simon Malbogat joined PTO Board
• Kelly – president elect
• Brendan will continue to be liaison to Board

7. Timeline

• Brendan will send timeline for input

8. Next Meetings

• June 26
• July 24
• August 28

9. Subcomittees

• All subcommittees to meet
• Subcommittees to write descriptions of what they do

Mixed Company Theatre: Joker's Symposium Proposal to PTO 2010 Steering Ctte

Our plans for the symposium are to create a tribute to the work of Augusto Boal and Paolo Freire by inviting five world renowned Jokers to create Forum theatre with five neighbourhoods in the GTA. The presentations will be in the local communities and we plan to perform them at downtown venues hopefully using the University of Toronto contacts. These presentations will celebrate and honour the two founders’ contribution.

During the preconference there will be a continuous collection of plays, presentations and workshops available to the public and conference attendees. We will be opening these slots to interested organizations and individuals who specialize in Pedagogy and Theatre of the Oppressed. We will promote and market the various and diverse presentations from the community groups in the GTA raising awareness of the PTO conference. These performances will continue into the weekend, offering the conference attendees entertainment at night and a chance to see the work that Toronto is doing.

Community workshops will be led by the five world renowned Jokers and they will also offer workshops focused on their Joking and creation methodologies. This will create a spectrum of choice for attendees to learn from these practitioners.

During this time there will also be discussion panels that question aspects of Theatre of the Oppressed. Topics for these panels will cover a range of themes such as aesthetics, challenges to Joking, style developments, etc.

As a way to incorporate artists from in and around the city as well as bring awareness to the opening of the conference, we plan on orchestrating a public event in Dundas Square. This event will be a mix of music, dance, puppetry, theatre, visual arts and education. The goal is to “Take back the Square” and bring attention to the work of Augusto and Paolo.

We will offer a wide range of TO performances and skill workshops for the incoming conference attendees. We will be flexible and adaptable to the ideas that will come to us in the next few months and provide a space to showcase the various works that will be created for the conference.

Over the next couple of months we will solidify our budget and come to the PTO steering committee and board for start up funds. What we ask of the board is that you help to provide us with space to use during the preconference at OISE and any U of T theatre venues, and your contacts and connections in the city.

Mixed Company Theatre

157 Carlton St, Suite 201

Toronto, ON, CAN

M5A 2K3

416 515 8080

symposium@mixedcompanytheatre.com

Outreach Prep Materials

BACKGROUND INFO ON PTO:
Pedagogy and Theatre of the Oppressed (PTO) is a not-for-profit organization whose mission is “to challenge oppressive systems by promoting critical thinking and social justice.” We organize an annual meeting that focuses on the work of liberatory educators, activists, artists and community organizers.

The PTO organization grew out of an annual conference held in Omaha. The conference has since been held in various locations throughout the U.S. (e.g. New York, Toledo, Los Angels, Minneapolis-St. Paul). The people who attend the PTO conferences are popular educators, theatre practitioners, activists, academics, teachers and artists who work with, critique, and are inspired by the ideas of Paolo Freire and Augusto Boal.

In 2010, the PTO conference will be held in Toronto, marking the first time it's ever been held outside of the USA. The conference steering committee is looking for as much input as possible from groups and organizations in Toronto, in order to base the conference on the needs, desires, concerns and interests of Toronto communities. We are also interested in connecting with organizations across Canada and internationally.

WHERE ARE WE AT NOW?
The next PTO conference is scheduled for June 2010 and will take place at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (OISE) at the University of Toronto. Currently, we have a steering committee who meets once a month, as well as a number of sub-committees (Outreach & Communication, Fundraising & Finance, Space, Hospitality) who meet regularly to discuss the various details of the conference. As we begin organizing more intensely next fall, we are looking for input, participation and dialogue from anyone who feels they or their organization might benefit from this conference.

OUTREACH QUESTIONS
What does your organization (or do you) do?
What community(ies) do you serve?
What are the needs of your community? Your organization?
What are some of your goals/projects/desires for the next year?

OUR CONTACT INFO
email: ptotoronto@gmail.com
blog: www.pto2010steering.blogspot.com
PTO official website: www.ptoweb.org/

Minutes for Steering Committee Meeting, May 8th 2009

In Attendance: Matthew, Adam, Sara, Robyn (minutes), jes, Duncan (chair), Heather, Alisha, Simon, chris

Regrets: Emily, Brendan, Bonnie, Corvin , Jennifer

1. Report from Programming Committee
• difficult for program committee to move forward without a theme
• Melt This” proposed as a potential theme: issues of the economy, boarder crossing, environment, conference/symposium
• capacity building for local groups – support through skills in popular education or theatre
• global outreach using technology
• evaluation criteria for proposals, diversity of T.O. communities in steering/programming committee
• proposal for “Melt This” as theme, from programming committee to steering committee

“Melt This” discussion:
• provides lots of potential for imagery/graphic
• how do we proceed with the decision-making process?
• 11 or 12 members of both programming and steering committee are in favour of “Melt This” as theme—unanimous consensus among those present at May 8th steering committee meeting

• provisional decision to make “Melt This” the theme of PTO 2010, major objections should be raised within a week of the minutes being posted

2. Heading to Minneapolis
• Simon, Duncan, Stephen, Corvin
• 8 hours of volunteer work, shadowing conference organizers to learn structure of conference
• 1 hour facilitated discussion at end of conference (Sunday and/or Monday?)
• Duncan and Simon remaining for post-conference wrap-up

Questions from steering committee that members will take to Minneapolis:
• internal processes around scholarships/bursaries, criteria for workshop evaluations
• success they’ve had drawing groups both locally and nationally
• how does the conference balance pedagogy with the theatre?
• how they specifically overcame obstacles they faced?
• how details (like food, accessibility, youth) were dealt with?
• place of the conference – did things happen outside of the central location? (reflecting on our own ability to facilitate travel around Toronto)
• Simon notes that in the pre-conference promotional material there is very little about the Twin Cities community
• how does AGM fit into conference? Does the issue of membership and leadership have any greater clarity with “new generation” of PTO members? How does the election process go?
• if there is a surplus, does it come to this conference? What does Minneapolis have to offer us? $500 speaker’s fees
• how does conference apply for grants? Do individual steering committees apply, or does PTO apply? –chris: we are responsible for 95% of the budget
• how has Minneapolis mobilized their local communities for the conference? When does that mobilization start?
• how many international people in Pop Ed are attending Minni, and funding for that?

3. Final Session at PTO 2009 (on Sunday and/or Monday)
• Corvin (and chris) designing structure for session
• could Deb Barndt co-facilitate on Sunday?
• ask Brendan and Emily how the PTO 2008 session went?
• lots of feedback regarding PTO 2009
• did PTO 2009 ask us for Sunday or Monday? chris had assumed we were asking about Monday. Are they asking us for both? Do both sessions exist?
• Simon will send message for clarification from PTO

4. Finance
• chris will have draft budget for those going to Minneapolis conference
• who would we be applying under officially for grants? Catalyst centre? Symposium?
• we have to take Symposium into account in PTO 2010 budget. Importance of continuing dialogue between Symposium and conference organizing.
• meet with granting officers re: pre-conference, outlining local participants, festival concept throughout conference
• institutions committing to registering their members. How do we entice organizations to do this?

5. Space
• we need preliminary budget
• OISE thinks it’s problematic that we’re asking for 3 full floors for an entire weekend
• Daniel sent rubric where we must specify rooms and times
• can we use model from TCDI conference?
• can Adam get us U of T space?
• space committee/outreach should be talking to U of T theatre department
• OISE does not have outdoor space—but U of T has lots, can we find out how to book it?

Next meeting: June 5th, 3:30-5:30 at OISE Peace Lounge (7th Floor)
• We ask that all sub-committees commit to meeting before the end of May.
• Chair: ? Minute Taker: ?

April 24th Steering Committee Minutes

PTO Toronto Steering Committee Meeting April 24th 2009

Present: chris, Sarah, Adam, Brendan, Emily, Simon, Fiona, Corvin
Regrets: Robyn, Stephen, jes, Matt, Bonnie, Hartley, Jenny, Margo

1.Travel to PTO 2009

-Duncan looked into travel and driving only makes sense if 5 of more are going.
-Duncan and Simon will be flying from Buffalo on the 19th at a cost of ~$150
-People can contact Duncan for flight info if they want to fly
-Right now only Duncan, Simon and Corvin are going for sure.
-Corvin will coordinate a “What's Happening”-type workshop for people at this years conference
-chris suggests that as many of us as possible become members of PTO regardless of whether we are going this year.

2.Space

-Adam has confirmed with Daniel that we can book space for the weekend of June 17th 2010.
-We should book 2,3,4,5th floors, the auditorium and the Peace Lounge.
-Simon suggests that if we find other spaces we can always scale back our OISE space
-some space ideas include Transac, Taragon, Inest, 519, St. Chris.
-space committee will examine other space options
-brendan suggests that the space committee focus on an auditorium space for performances 'cause anything is better than the OISE auditorium

3.Budget

-chris will prepare a draft budget for the next steering committee meeting based on the TCDI budget.
-Mixed Company has been looking into funding grants for Jokers' Symposium
-chris suggests that a coordinator position would be useful and suggested an Artist in Residence -grant from the Toronto Arts Council might be able to be used for this.
-possibly a GA position could be used for coordinator; budget committee will research GAships with contacts at FES York, OISE and UofT.
-Margo has offered assistance in applying for grants
-chris asks that people email him all funding deadlines and he will coordinate grant writing schedule

4.Theme

-Still have not received a list of past themes from PTO board
-Fiona suggests the theme “Resisting Precarious Times”
-Email with theme brainstorm has been circulated
-there was discussion of having a theme before PTO 2009
-theme debate will continue

5.Program

-the Programming committee is strongly encouraged to meet

6.Pre Conference Event

-Mixed Company has sent out a call for proposals to around 1000 people worldwide for a Jokers' Symposium
-Simon will be talking to Julian in Minneapolis about participating
-other Jokers could include: Sanjay from Sanskriti; David Diamond from Headlines; Michel from Stage Left; Format Amsterdam; Robert Macinni from Italy
-The Symposium would run June 14, 15, 16th
-Mixed Company has been looking in to space; Transac wants $5000 for 5 days
-Symposium could include shows and facilitated discussions
-Some theme ideas include “best practices”, Western Jokers in developing regions
-event would bring together Canadian Pop Theatre groups for the first time in many years
-highlight the diversity of practice in Pop Theatre (not just TO)

7.Post Conference Event

-Emily suggests having a post-conference Open Space event
-Build a schedule during the conference and provide space after
-Brendan mentioned that Stephen has hoped to incorporate Open Space and that feedback from past conferences had called for its use
-some concern about whether this would draw enough interest for post-conference event
-suggested that a Pop Ed post event might balance out Jokers' Symosium

8.Anti-Colonial Organizing

-Hussan wanted to know if group was committed to incorporating anti-colonial analysis into every meeting.
-people were in strong support of doing this but some wondered if we needed a “training”
-group acknowledged our whiteness and our so far unsuccessful attempts to do outreach to other communities in the city doing PTO stuff
-chris pointed out that we are “still on the ground floor” and that the problem will only become more acute as planning continues
-Brendan will talk to Hussan

9.Date of Next Meeting

- The next meeting was set as Friday, May 8th 3:30-5:30pm at OISE Peace Lounge

Minutes from Steering Committee, March 20, 2009

March 20, 2009 – OISE Peace Lounge 3:30 – 5:30

Attending: Hartley, jes, Emily, Brendan, Matt, Duncan, Bonnie,

Regrets: Deborah, Jenni, Robyn, Simon, Margo

1. Steering Committee Commuication

• Google Groups doesn’t seem to be working consistently for everybody; this could be because some people’s e-mails are awaiting moderator confirmation
• look into Google Groups and who’s receiving info; jes will talk to Robyn about this

2. Meeting with Warren

• Brendan had a quick meeting with Warren
• Warren is willing to work with us on a proposal: vision, theme
• Re: coming to PTO Warren recommended that as many as possible attend
• They could possibly waive conference fee as well as arrange billets
• Warren suggested that some come early and “shadow” Minneapolis organizers

3. Attending PTO Minneapolis

• who’s definitely almost possibly going: Simon, Duncan, Steven, Deb Barndt
• wants to / maybe: Jes, Matt, chris, Emily, Brendan (and Kai), Adam L, Hartley
• can’t: Robyn, Bonnie,
• look into memberships – perhaps create membership fund to support
• Brendan will talk to Warren about financial constraints

4. Conference Date:

• last weekend of June 2010 is G8 in Huntsville
• Corvin suggestions: OISE is okay; alternatively an OISE prof could book space at UofT; Judy Rebick & Ryerson
• Moved and agreed that we take OISE as space for last weeks of June: 18, 19, 20
• confirm G8 dates; confirm pre or post and this opens up possibility for pre-G8 events
• Mixed Company – Jokers Symposium – we support Mixed Company in organizing their symposium as a pre or post event
• Adam will contact Daniel to confirm acceptance of OISE

5. Conference Theme Brainstorm:

• We’re not gonna take it
• whose gonna take it: not us
• connecting to other 2010 things happening
• migration
• colonialism
• something fun and light
• who are our heroes
• what is a heroes
• role of heroes
• twisted sister and The Who
• Qui Bono – Who Benefits
• What is Peace
• Carnival – circus
• tie into Joker Symposium
• Batman Begins
• The Joker’s Not Dead
• Seize the Moment
• Repeat the Moment
• Make the Moment
• Borders
• Crossing Borders
• Breaking borders
• Defining Borders
• Drawing Borders
• Erasing Borders
• Jokering borders
• Remembering Borders
• Mapping Borders
• History of Oppression
• Remembering our History
• Resistance and Rebellion
• Global Problems, Local Solutions
• When is Enough Enough
• G8 is Enough
• Be the Change
• Holding Ourselves Accountable
• Responsibility
• Troubling the Waters
• Patti Lather’s new book
• Re: Public
• Re: framing

• send out e-mail for continued discussion and decision at pre-Minneapolis meeting
• chris will spawn an e-mail on theme brainstorm on Google Groups

6. Hussan’s offer to do some anti-colonial education with the steering ctte

• Brendan confirming Hussan’s interest

7. Outreach to groups we should have at the table

• check community mapping report
• Regent Park Focus – Adonis Huggins
• Children’s Peace Theatre – Karen Emerson, artistic director
• Sketch – Phyllis Novak, Rudy Ruttiman
• Native Earth – Jes can do outreach
• COBA – Collection of Black Artists
• Artists Mentoring Youth (AMY) – Claire Calnan
• Supporting Our Youth – Clare Nobbs
• 519 Church – jes has contacts
• Montreal – University of the Streets, Concordia Institute
• Jumblies – Ruth Howard
• PARC – Bob Rose
• Jack Pierpont – Inclusion Press
• No One Is Illegal
• KWIC

• chris will spawn e-mail on google groups about this
• everyone asked to add, and also inform whether contact as been made to avoice doubling up on people

8. Reports from Subcommittees

• Matt apologizes
• add Margo to Finance & Fundraising

Hospitality:

• decided to split up hotels, hostels and university residences research
• one hostel in Toronto won award
• suggestion of asking $25 for billeting for entire weekend which is given as subsidy to billeter to reduce conference fee
• suggestion to stay at Unionized hotels – e.g. Sheraton…
• check number of “accessible” rooms at hotels
• check services etc
• create ‘zine/map of our own of downtown Toronto
• think about storytelling event on Toronto Islands – history of Islands (talk to Shadowlands); Native Bus Tour; etc…

Funding Ctte:

• check out Tourism Toronto support
• research transportation discounts – Greyhound
• Laura Copeland’s advice
• Mixed Company interested in being connected to coordinate grant applications

• All subcommittees urged (STRONGLY) to meet before next steering ctte meeting
• Brendan will e-mail everyone ctte lists and e-mails

9. Looking Ahead:

• Friday, APRIL 24th – 3:30 – 5:30
• Friday, MAY 8TH – 3:30 – 5:30

• Matt to confirm Minute taking
• chris to facilitate

Report from Feb. 26th Steering Committee Meeting

So attendance at the last meeting was pretty slim - just Emily, Sara, Hartley Bonnie and I. We felt that we lacked quorum to make any decisions of a substantial nature.

We propose that we have the next meeting Friday, March 20th, 3:30pm at the OISE Peace Lounge. If it's ok with chris, he and Hartley will get their chance to facilitate and take minutes.

We are starting to get to the point where some serious decisions need to be made. The five of us spent the time this past Thursday assembling an outline for an agenda for the 20th. Feel free to add to this...


1. Set a date for the conference.

2. Decide on a (or some) place(s) to hold the conference.

3. Choosing a theme for the conference - Brendan will contact the PTO Board and get a list of all past themes (to be distributed by email).

5. Report from meeting with Warren Linds and discuss the creation of a "conference proposal" in conjunction with Warren, Ellie and Alejandra (Liaison committee from PTO)

6. Discuss Hussan's offer to do some anti-colonial education with the steering committee.

7. Reports from the sub-committees.