Anarchist Free University Meeting Minutes

Sunday, September 28 2008

In Attendance: Nick, Christian, Michael, Possum, Isaac, Maggie, Rob, Eddie, Craig

Passed around and accepted by the group.

• Course Updates
• Promotions
• Finances
• Stone Soup

Craig's Build It Yourself: Salvage Carpentry For Beginners (see Craig's full outline at BuildItYourself ):
Craig has created a course, secured a space and set dates.  The course will be 4 weeks long, and will take place on Saturday afternoons in the garage of the Linux Caffe - 326 Harbord St. (corner of Grace and Harbord).  On a side note, the Linux Caffe may end up being a place where we're able to hold future classes, as the owner seems very friendly.  Check out the full course outline for dates at BuildItYourself .

Angel's course on Architecture: According to Christian, Angel has arranged for a space at the Center for Social Innovation, but details are not yet forthcoming.

Isaac's class on Clowning: Isaac has put further work into a class on Clowning, and has put together a loose outline.  His course would probably be two classes long, and each class would be two hours each.  Isaac said he would consider doing the course several times over if there is a demand for it, which would be great for anyone who can't make one or more of the dates he sets.  His class would examine - among other things - the "Pochinko" method of clowning, and would also try to make clown noses available so everyone would have something tangible to take home with them.  He mentioned that the clown noses would cost money, and inquired as to whether the AnarchistU cash could go toward some noses (they're about $1.00 each).  The venue still needs to be worked out, though someone suggested "The Storefront" and Dovercourt and Bloor.  Quite a few people expressed interest in the class at the meeting, and we look forward to a full course outline!

Possum is considering a class on consciousness and philosophy of the mind, but he is still hashing everything out.

Christian brought a great poster to share with the rest of us.  Rob suggested that we add a wheelchair symbol to the poster to advertise that the meeting space is accessible.  Christian also put forward that he likes doing graphic design, and can do graphic design for AnarchistU related stuff whenever it is needed for general AnarchistU promotion, or for promotion of individual classes.  Christian decided to print a large number of these posters for posting around Toronto, and I believe he requested some money from AnarchistU to cover the cost of colour photocopying.  Possum also suggested that we have a "postering party", and that we tour some alternative and Anarchist-friendly spaces with them. 

Michael suggested that we set up an AnarchistU "hotline" with recorded messages about our contact info, meeting dates and locations, and class information.  He has done some preliminary research on how much something like that would cost, and is looking further into which provider would be best for such a thing.  It was mentioned that many community health centres provide this sort of service for people who need access to a voicemail box, so some CHC's may be able to help us.  He said he would research further and keep in regular touch with Maggie and Possum about his findings.  By next meeting we should have some info that will help us to decide whether or not to move forward on an AnarchistU hotline.

Same discussion as always: what to do with out money?  Currently, the ~$700 that we have is being doled out in small amounts for promotional materials for AnarchistU. 

Currently, our money is in a bank account with a monthly service charge of $5, and various bits of red tape prevent us from getting a non-profit account with no service fee, so our money is disappearing slowly.  Also, Possum is the only signator on the account.  In an attempt to keep Possum from succumbing to capitalist greed and absconding with our only money, a co-signator is being added to the account, so that all withdrawls will require two signatures.  Maggie volunteered for this position, and also suggested that we explore an Alterna Credit Union bank account, which may get rid of the service fee.  Maggie agreed to look into the Alterna bank account issue, and both she and Possum agreed to add her name as a signing authority on the account.

Stone soup was a monthly pot-luck that used to occur at Bike Pirates when it was located on Bathurst Street.  The idea was that everyone brought something to throw into a soup pot, and we made delicious soup, curry, stir-fy, and various other goodies every month to provide a vegetarian or vegan meal and some camaraderie, while building a positive community.  Stone Soup was never officially a project of the AnarchistU, but many of the people from AFU wree involved in the project.  Possum, Christian and Nicholas (and possibly others?  I can't remember) would all like to get it going again, and agreed to email each other to discuss a mutually agreeable time to start organisaing it again.  It was suggested that we meet after the next general AFU meeting to discuss venue and any planning that needs to occur.

Rob brought up that the AnarchistU general meetings used to have a much different dynamic than they do now.  For instance, we used to gather at people's houses to have a pot-luck before the meeting itself occurred.  It was echoed by other participants that the meeting structure we have now can be very tedious¹, and that they wished to have a more intimate feeling of community.  We all agreed that we should try to increase the "human factor" at meetings, and try to make them more fun!  We can do things like that by bringing snacks to share, having an introduction and a "check-in" before we begin and other more personal things like that.  Remember, we're trying to build a community, not an institution.

Meeting adjourned at 4:30pm.

¹ " Your Politics Are Boring As Fuck" by Nadia C, CrimethInc^? Workers Collective

-- NickDodds - 07 Oct 2008