Community Organizing through Engagement: Organizing Chaos Since 2005

Community Organizing through Engagement:

Organizing Chaos Since 2005

Coordinating individual efforts within a group to establish a common purpose.

To reach a common goal

Autonomous efforts orchestrated collaboratively within a community.

Emergent Behavior

Our formula:

We are friends first!

Build a community around events that promote our collective interests.

Turn these interests into goals!

How do you keep activists active in South Florida?

Reasons for Success

• Always building social networks

• Very local

• Keep it light; never forget to have fun

The local scene vs. the big picture

Focus on the Community

Putting the "Active" in "Activism"

Creative:

Workshops

Forums

Film Screenings

Activities:

Biking!

Baking!

Broadcasting!

Our Resourcefulness is Our Most Valuable Resource!

What do we use?

• Community participation to get big jobs done

• Free resources like social media

• Google Docs is our friend!

• MOST IMPORTANTLY: OUR RELATIONSHIPS

Networking

Networking is about "being there":

- We form connections with other groups by attending their events and promoting their interests.

Collaborations

- Greenpeace- One Sky Florida- Code Pink- STAND- Occupy Miami- Social Butterfly Foundation- Urban Paradise Guild- Sierra Club- Green Mobility Network-Tropical Audubon Society-Frontyard Theater Collective-Purple Line...

BUILD A BETTER BLOCK

COLLABORATIVE URBAN PROJECTS

PURPLE LINE

SOCIAL CAPITAL & COLLABORATIVE NETWORKS

URBAN ART INSTALLATION

TRANSIT ADVOCACY & DEMONSTRATION

SOCIAL CAPITAL

PURPLE LINE

PURPLE LINING

PURPLE LINEUrban Art

PURPLE LINEAdvocacy and Demonstration

PURPLE LINEAdvocacy and Demonstration

How do our meetings work?

• Collective Agenda-Setting

• Consensus-Based Decision Making

• Rotating Facilitators

• Meticulous and Entertaining Minutes

• Brevity

• Snacks

• Banter

• All Emerge responsibilities are volunteer-based

• We have a guilt-free, no-tears model for getting things done

• We combine social events with productivity

• We show gratitude to every participant, organization, and party...

...after all, every minute dedicated to Emerge is a gift for which we are grateful.

Fighting Activist Burnout:

Group Exercise

• Form groupsSelect note taker, moderator, presenterEach group to put on an assigned event

Group Exercise

• Discuss event planningDiscuss who to partner withDiscuss promotion effortsDiscuss fundraising effortsDiscuss coordination effortsDiscuss follow up efforts

Gain from Experience

•What works?•Can this approach build community?•What can be done differently?

Successful Events

•Generate interest•Shift public perception•Change policy

Meetings every Tuesday at Sweat Records at 7 PM.

JOIN US!

How you can find us and get

involved:emergemiami.com

@EmergeMiamiFacebook