Solicited Advice - Festival

Silicon Valley category:Idealist.org Silicon Valley Category:SV Volunteer Category:SV Projects
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==Allen Gunn==
Notes from meeting with Allen Gunn, Executive Director, Aspiration, 2007-03-29 11AM, Aspiration offices, San Francisco CA
===Frame it=== 
*First thing: Frame it, set expectations
*Not a panel, antiquated, form of control
*Best events in the context of social change are those that flatten the roles
*Emphasize peer sharing ethic, rather than an expertise culture
*Everyone has expertise and knowledge that is valuable to share, and in the act of sharing, one gains capacity. Articulating what you know is the best way to learn – it’s in formulating speech that you synthesize and understand.
====Goals==== 
*Festival of change
*Your idea of making it party-like is brilliant. A huge party is a great idea, but what are the goals for that party?
**Is it going to get drunk? 
**Strengthen ties between stakeholders who are passionate about working for positive social change?
**It’s a celebration of life and potential for change
**Punchline is your helping people to find an opportunity to plug in and be a part of that change
**You’re helping people find skills and insight to give them the ability to work for the change they want to see and to be
**You’re tapping into the artistic and musical creativity and joy that creates a mood that inspires understanding of what a more just and healthier world would feel like
====Message to all participants====
*Come with an idea of what you might share as well as what you might gain
*Not to hangout with your friends but to hang out with the friends that you have not yet met
*Come with the hope that change is possible, and the knowledge that you’ll have an affirmation of that at the end of the day
====How do you get there====
Second-level goals
Set it up so: 
*People share skills?
*Discover allies around issues?
*Have fun and feel closer?
The goals imply the event structure, facilitative model, venue
===Venue===
*Hardest piece is finding the venue
**Check out the Cupertino place – crowded – work with City of Cupertino
**Find a private property? Plusses and minuses to private & public
**A big flat open area, preferably with some trees
*If outdoors, means smaller group sizes, outdoor discussions are not audible, and sound amplification is noise pollution
*What is the geography, topology of your outdoor layout. E.g. Burning Man – chill out tent, skillshare bazaar, thematic areas, not controlled by orgs or individuals, but instead are collectively facilitated and populated. That’s when the cool stuff happens. Avoid anything pitch- or soapbox-like
**Micro venues – vignettes – no booths
**Music area, performance, jamming. Multicultural, music that gets people dancing, celebrating: salsa bands, African drums, music of empowerment
**Skills area
**Question area - how does that work?
**Games area
**Art area
**Circes that form a large circle around a center space 
*Pick a headcount – my votes is not too big, 2-300
**That drives venue selection and infrastructure
**Less is more – getting lost in the noise risk of bigger event
**Smaller – a series – start with a small one
**A buzzkill to wait in line for 15 minutes to take a leak
===Food===
*Figure it out – find out how people bring food
*Get food providers, x% of proceeds
*Let participants bring their own food – a picnic; focus on beverages
*Try to find ways to offload logistics to participants
*No plastic bags, paper plates, everything compostable. Talk to Green Mary to have a zero waste event; greenmary.org
===Next steps===
*Find someone who does this
**e.g. outdoor music promoters – see who they are that would be willing to sit with you and give advice
**you’re inspired by what they do, want to learn from what they know
**not planning to make any money off of this, not competing with their events
**Outreach – how to publicize – who will give free radio time, newspaper coverage, tv time
*Logistics team –1 logistics person per 20 participants (you should not have any "day of" duties)
==Darian Rodriguez Heyman==
Notes from meeting with Darian Rodriguez Heyman, Executive Director, Craigslist Foundation, 2007-03-29 230PM, CLF Offices, San Francisco CA
===Keep it as simple as possible===
*Free
*Bring your own food & drinks (with some extra to share)
===Focus on production, promotion, and programming===
====Production====
Space, restrooms. sound system, power generation etc
====Promotion====
*Get promotional partners to spread the word, in addition to Craigslist Foundation, Idealist, Aspiration 
*We ask them to make a good faith effort to promote, we give them the materials, in exchange we list them as a promotional partner on our website
====Programming====
*Fun games
*Educational content
*Make a schedule, bounce it off Darian, Liza, Ami, Gunner – e.g. 11AM – Introduction icebrakers, 1PM – Gunner speaks on Open Source for a Better World, 3PM – Thre-legged race, 8PM – Fireworks
===Immediate: set date & venue===
*Date : September/October 2007 Do it this year
*Venue: Find the right park; Get reservation & permit
===Define===
*Name: Better World Festival, something that’s active
*Come up with a one-sentence tagline
*A one-page event description that will help people to contribute time, talent, equipment for free
**This event is designed to celebrate, connect, and inspire people who are dedicated to bringing about positive and lasting change
*CLF, Idealist, Aspiration logos at bottom
*End with call to action – “if you have any questions or if you would like to support this event, please call or email me”
===Other considerations===
*Green event – will cost $300-500 to keep event green
**Options: Get an org to step up to be the greening funder; ask for $5 donations from participants; ask government environmental agencies to supply
*Set up an evite
==Member feedback==
*Doreen – picnic bag auction – to pay for the greening
*Lynn
**Hispanic U – parking’s just for 100
**Tents – nonprofit oportunities, international, each with a facilitator
*Gina - put it on organizing team to get facilitators for tents
*Matt S. - Looks good to me! It would be great to hold the event in 2007. I like the name "Better World Festival." It will help tremendously with donations if we can get under someone's 501(c)3 umbrella. Who will be on the central planning committee?