OccupYrCorner Meeting #4

Another amazing and well stocked meeting this week for OccupYrCorner! We had 11 creative, passionate, and focused Occupiers all there to discuss their experiences, interests, and plans regarding Occupying Corners. We even were chased out of our first meeting place by a disgruntled comedian! But we made the most of it by re-occupying a block down, marching with signs across the intersection.

Agenda Items - November 30th

Past Occupations and Experiences

• We reviewed the Chula Vista and City Heights Corner Occupations, as well as Horton Plaza Walkthrough focusing on the attention we got from not only passerby, but shop owners, and police. When a police officer appeared standing at a corner at our City Heights Occupation, we quickly resolved to rotating corners at each light change and making sure to stay along the building edge or curb edge, away from foot traffic. Each time, the officer left.
• We reviewed some of the public feedback and responses we've received while out, as well as conversation topics (mortgages, unemployment, fraud) and oddities (conspiracies).
• We stressed the importance of matching your message with your location, and making sure your message is graspable at a human level, and not shocking or trying to shame. Anoki retold a story Susan shared about having a sign that read "Local Vendors Not Foreign Spenders" at an international arts festival and quickly having to swap signs! Linda found that her sign "Need Not Greed" may be too off-putting this holiday season, and thought to focus it more into "People In Need Not Corporate Greed." 
• We reviewed topics of legality, citing this article from the ACLU shared by Toby that talks about our rights on the sidewalks. 

Website

• We touched upon topics of having the entire site translated into Spanish, headed by Ken. He contacted Occupiers in Chula Vista to assist. 
• We also talked about instituting a global map that we can pinpoint Occupied Corners, with pics and notes. Dave has been sharing options on the main OYC Facebook Group page
• We also talked about expanding the site's capabilities beyond Facebook with Groupware a la Ken. 
• On the topic of Facebook - We had a lengthy discussion and vote on how to handle off-topic posts on the OYC Facebook Group page. We agreed that if the post obviously has no relevance, we would each do our best to bury the post with on-topic posts or by bumping up on-topic posts with thoughtful comments. It would also be best to try and find a way to relate the post, but if we can't please mention we are trying to focus the page for these reasons:

• As we are expanding this group nationally, having local items diffuses our reach by alienating out of San Diego County Area Corner Occupiers

• As it is an important topic, for sure, posting it solely on the main OSD page and not here allows for more focused conversation that everyone can partake in. An important driving comment on one page may be lost on another.

• Everyone is on both pages and will see it, most likely. The onus is on you to keep that puppy active with bumps, shares, and conversation in the main OSD/OWS pages to give it reach. We are only a division of 100 from that larger group.

• We also talked about setting up a group calendar (possibly through Google) to post on the site for us all to rally around actual dates. And co-ordinate it with Facebook Events. 
• We also discussed handing out admins for the blog, Twitter, and Tumblr

Materials

• A recurring topic that came up was the importance of refining the message on one's sign so that the message is almost completely all about the viewer. We agreed that signs that touched upon the banking industry had the most impact as many feel comfortable talking about those on-going scandals. Signs that referred to issues that everyone is dealing with, and are not coming from an accusatory stance, get results. Also, the more clever and easy to read the better. 
• Ideas were flowing throughout the evening, as we first talked about our newest outreach idea "Occupy Your Lunch". Everyone seemed to be a fan of the concept, and Tammy came up with a great idea regarding them - you can leave them behind! They don't need to taken with you each time, you can leave a message for the waiter or next person to take that table. We even discussed expanding the design to have one to keep and one to leave behind, with appropriate messages. 
• Linda came up with a great idea of us making those "Lost Dog" print outs with strips at the bottom leading to a website that discusses our most important topics. This may just be to OYC, OSD, OWS, or something else. It could say "Lost Your Voice?" or "Lost Rights" or "Lost Freedom" with a cute pic and concise info and be hung at laundromats, small shops, book stores, Whole Foods, etc. 
• Incompra Design is donating the edge of a sheet from a print job to us, meaning we can have a 3-fold business card sized mini-brochure that touche upon OYC on one side and says "OCCUPY" or something on the opposite side. Instant mini-protest sign! Amounts and more to come. 
• We discussed utilizing QR codes more; on flyers, table tents, etc.
• We also discussed ways of blowing up the signs (4 x 4, 9 x 9) and the interest in having a Materials Day at Kinko's one upcoming weekend soon.

Outreach

• USA - We were all very happy to report that we are now over 100 members on the Facebook Group, a goal set by Sam when the group started.
• NY - Dave shared a tale regarding his friends in New York hearing about OccupYrCorner and being interested
• SD - There has been a recent report of a Corner Occupation being planned in Vista.
• SD - Anoki shared that each time he goes up at GA, people recognize him more and more, and some refer to him as "the OccupYrCorner guy". 
• SD - We discussed using the Balboa and Genessee Ave event as a talking point with other Occupiers about how Corner Occupations work... they did it themselves! 
• SD - We also discussed staging Corner Occupations at the Civic Center about the power of Corner Occupation by covering every physical corner in and around the square one day, all holding the same sign. 
• USA - We also discussed planning staged posts to Occupy Facebook Groups, where a member posts an image and link to the OYC site, and then the other members take turns commenting and bumping to keep it up for a while. We should discuss time zones and areas.

Schedule

Regarding OccupYrCorners role in supporting the movements of the Movement: we reached consensus that we as OccupYrCorners must adopt a model that endorses first the interests of each individual, and then the Occupation. Thusly, we will always present events and options for future Corner Occupations as invitations, with someone acting as "Host". This role includes arranging the date, time, and choosing a good spot to Occupy, etc.  As with the Port Shutdown, the consensus showed that there was little about the shutdown pertaining specifically to OYC, but we in no way want to stunt the Occupiers going, nor diminish their want to Occupy Corners while there. It is an individual practice by a group. When a "Host" invites, it's up to the individual to decide if it fits their schedule and interests. 

December

• SD - December 14th: Port Shutdown -  Dave is hosting, check the Facebook Group page for details
• SD - December 7th: OccupYrCorner Wednesdays - We discussed aiming to get 8 Corner Occupiers to cover the intersection of 5th and Market, which has a diagonal crosswalk with which we could synchronize exciting and visible crossings
• SD - Materials Day  - Dave discussed us getting together on a weekend soon at a Kinko's to create materials

January

• SD  - January 8th: "OYC x 100" day - Sam is spearheading an Occupation of the Corners of Broadway all across the city of San Diego. Keep up to date on the Facebook Group.

Future

• SD - La Jolla and Genessee - Ken and Jimmy discussed taking OYC into La Jolla
• SD - El Cajon - Ken discussed taking OYC into El Cajon
• USA - Mall Walkthrus - The idea of doing orchestrated walkthrus at a Mall came up a lot. Doing this with Pocket Protestors signs proved useful to Linda and Anoki at their Mall Occupations. We had a short conversation on how the Pocket Protestor Signs allow one to quickly stash away your sign if needs be. At a Mall Walkthru, Occupiers should plan to show up then split up, so that mall go-ers will see the signs at different parts of the Mall. SD - options are Fashion Valley, UTC, Mission Valley, Horton Plaza; looking for Hosts and Dates.
• USA - Baseball Season - The baseball season would be a great time to Occupy Corners down by the Stadium
• USA - Airports/Cruise Ships - We discussed standing at Airports in suits with arrival signs that said "Occupy".
• SD - Sidewalk Walk - We discussed organizing walkers with signs to circulate down the Gaslamp, holding their signs high and walking calmly among the sidewalk goers. 

And that is that! I apologize for anything missed or needs correction/clarification, please add to the comments below. Thank you so much for everyone who took part in this amazing meeting and for all the Corner Occupiers that were supporting us in mind and heart! Thank you for your flexibility, drive, and belief in this concept and helping make it something tangible and recognizable! 

Occupy!