Think Tank: Overview
Last year I had the pleasure of attending Fat and the Academy. It was a two-day conference, all body- and fat-positive that made me feel supercharged. It was empowering to be surrounded by like-minded people. And I'm pleased to say I felt that way about the Think Tank too.
This post won't go into the minutiae; there's too much to cover in just one post. Instead I'll follow Rachel's recap and start with a big overview to be followed by more precise details over the coming days. Yes, minutiae.
- The sheer amount of diversity and talent in the room was fantastic. Lawyers, DBAs, designers, bloggers... there was a great cross-section. I was really floored.
- We spent a little time talking about the shortcomings of today's movement and why, amongst other things, we didn't feel comfortable giving money to the current orgs. The general feeling was that there weren't enough tangible, real goals. And not one person in attendance was a member of any org, nor had anyone contributed to any org.
- We did establish a comfortable number of goals to tackle in the next 3-6 months! That's the big news. It covers everything from working with MAFRAD on their Media Guide, to a website and identity, to assembling a "go to" contact list - useful when dealing with the media. (These are all of the details that'll be forthcoming.)
- Another general consensus was that we are empowered enough to work with the media. Our network spreads far and wide, so we should make a concerted effort to work with local newspapers, TV stations, websites... and so on.
- Another idea: a good company/bad company list. We need to catalog which companies are worth supporting with our pocketbooks and which aren't - and why.
- Another idea (!): online training for dealing with the media. Webcasts, podcasts, etc. so we can be well-equipped... and developing the resources to make this easier.
As you can see on the Twitter stream there's a lot more there. These are the first things that I wanted to get out there.
Oh, and I'm planning on a second Think Tank in February. This one will also serve as an update on how things are going, of course!
More to come!
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I can see disagreeing with the current orgs, especially if you disagree enough to form a seperate group. On the other hand, they've already been doing this for a very long time. Not only do they represent a large member base for collaboration and support on the goals here, but they also have quite a bit already in place so that you don't have to re-invent the wheel. I think that any new FA group would be smart to collaborate (not join, but be willing to work with) with the existing groups, for efficiency and credibility sake.
So was there an overall Goal decided upon to work towards? Like one, big, measurable, "this is when we know we're successful" sort of goal?
I don't think we consciously sat down and said, "This is the one big goal." However I'd argue that the agreement upon creating a new organization would serve that - and the goals noted here all have concrete, measurable results.
hmmm..I had a much more elegant response, but I believe my computer hiccoughed at the wrong moment and I lost it, so here's a recap
I do think those are great goals. The 50 states/provinces/countries project is particularly exciting and I think will be a fantastic resource to coordinate state and local campaigns for fat rights. I just feel that these goals as well as the organization needs a broader picture to encompass it's projects...call it a long-term goal, a mission statement, statement of purpose, etc. It needs to be clear enough so that other proposed projects can be held up against it to say, "is this project meeting our overall goals?" It's difficult for a large organization spread out geographically to stay on the same road without a clear final destination.
Also, while something like "promote size acceptance and human rights for fat people" is a good goal, it's also the goal of every other FA organization out there. This org. needs to distinguish itself, either by having a unique mission, or by having a similar mission as the other FA groups, but approaching it via unique methods. If I'm jumping the gun on the intention of the "elevator pitch" project, just let me know and I'll shaddup
By the way, if you were at the Think Tank and did not receive an email a couple of days afterwards... let me know!