= Invitation = The Leadership Committee of May First/People Link has set the date of the Membership Meeting the weekend of November 7, 2015. It will follow a day of pre-meeting workshops on November 6. '''Pre-Meeting workshops:''' Friday, November 6: 1:00 pm - 5:00 pm America/New_York[[br]] '''Membership Meeting:''' Saturday, November 7: 9:00 am - 5:00 pm America/New_York[[br]] You may participate in person in New York, in person in Mexico City or online. Please register to attend: https://outreach.mayfirst.org/civicrm/event/info?reset=1&id=10 '''New York''' St. Jacobi's Church[[br]] 54th Street and Fourth Avenue[[br]] Brooklyn NY 11220[[br]] The church, a movement convergence center, is in the Sunset Park area of Brooklyn, accessible by BMT subway lines "R" and "N". '''Mexico City''' Elisa !#10, entre Laura y Elvira[[br]] Colonia Nativitas[[br]] a cinco cuadras del Metro Villa de Cortés[[br]] México DF[[br]] '''Online''' Using jitsi-meet, our web-based video conference system: https://meet.mayfirst.org/membership Spanish/English interpretation provided to all who attend. Childcare provided by request (please request by Friday, October 23 via email to `members@mayfirs.org`) Please register to attend! https://outreach.mayfirst.org/civicrm/event/info?reset=1&id=10 == What Will Happen == The Membership Meeting is May First/People Link's highest decision-making body and, at its meetings, our organization determines its general priorities for the coming year and elects our Leadership Committee which implements the Membership Meeting's decisions. This year, the Membership Meeting takes place at an extraordinarily complex moment for the organization with a movement in flux, a clearly sharpened need in our movements for an organization of our type and a strategy that clearly needs updating and perhaps radical change. In keeping with those needs, we are starting this meeting with a morning keynote and panel. Representatives from the movements we are involved will tell us what their movements need from us, what we're doing well and what challenges we face. The Keynote Speaker in the U.S. will be Malkia Cyril of the Center for Media Justice. After the keynote, people from various movements will participate in a panel discussioin reacting to Malkia's remarks and making their own. We will then go into mesas, break-out groups, on various theme areas facilitated by key leaders and members of our organization. These mesas will write the priorities to be submitted to the entire Members Meeting for approval. They are then passed on to the LC for implementation. == Nomination and Discussion Period == '''Monday, October 19''' A period for online discussion, contributions as well as nominations to the Leadership Committee opens on October 19, 2015. On this date: * You may nominate yourself or someone else to be elected to the Leadership Committee * The final version of our organizational documents will be distributed. The current drafts are listed here: https://support.mayfirst.org/wiki/projects/membership-meeting/2015/org-docs. If you would like to make comments or suggestions on wording, please submit those suggestions by Monday, October 5th. == Who Should Attend == All members. If you can't be there in person, attend on-line. The rule is each organization member has two (2) representatives who can vote. Each individual member has a vote. Any member of a member organization can attend and participate in the discussions. You must register and your registration helps us with food and other arrangements. Registration link is here: https://outreach.mayfirst.org/civicrm/event/info?reset=1&id=10 == Questions? == If there are any, please email alfredo@mayfirst.org and he will try to answer them or forward them to someone who can. We'll be sending more emails as things develop. == Full Schedule == === Friday, November 6, 2015: Pre-meeting Training and Workshops Day === Members are invited to a series of workshops to orient themselves to May First/People Link, learn how to use the control panel, learn how to be more secure in your everyday Internet use, and find out why they should come to the membership meeting. Registration will allow members to choose to attend in person in NY, in person in Mexico City or via web conference. Depending on registration numbers, we may cancel in person venues with fewer than 5 registrants. All times are America/New_York. Mexico City is one hour earlier. * 1:00 pm - 1:45 pm: Member orientation. This session will cover the basics of May First/People Link, starting with our mission and vision of the Internet, and including concrete tasks like how to use the Members Control panel, how to check your email and how to ask for support. * 2:00 pm - 2:45 pm: 5 steps to increase your privacy. Learn about tools to increase your privacy in your organizing work, including collaborative editing tools, sharing documents using ownCloud. * 3:00 pm - 3:45 pm: Undestanding the denial of service attack and how we defended ourselves. Over the summer, the we were hit with a massive denial of service attack targetting reproductive justice groups. Learn about what happened and how we defended ourselves and what we can do to build a stronger movement. * 4:00 pm - 4:45 pm: The US Social Forum, Media Action Grassroots Netork, Allied Media Conference and more: Learn about our work in the movement and bring ideas to shape 2015 and 2016. === Saturday, November 7, 2015: Membership Meeting === All times are America/New_York. Mexico City is one hour earlier. * 10:00 - 10:30 am: Welcome and Key Note: One person in Mexico and one in the US will provide a key-note, live, via video conference and simultaneous interpretation. US speaker: Malkia Cyril. * 10:30 am - 12:-00 pm: Special presentation panel: The panels will be held separately in the US and Mexico. Panelists to be announced. * 12:00 pm - 1:00 pm: Lunch * 1:00 - 3:00 pm: Four Mesas, each on "key areas of struggle," to happen separately in the US and Mexico. In the US, these might be (with facilitators): * Human and People's Rights and Democracy - Catherine Albiza (NESRIA) * Relations with the Earth and Non-Human Life, Alternative Living and Climate Justice - TBA * Human Communications, Technology and Art - TBA * International Relationships and Movements - Jackie Smith (INOSA) These mesas must produce a very small number of concise "priorities" for the LC to work on. * 3:00 pm - 4:00 pm: SUmmary: New York and Mexico jointly, via video presentation: Presentation of the mesa proposals and approval by the Membership. * 4:00 - 5:00 pm Presentation of the published documents approved by current LC and to be voted upon in the coming week.