[New-imc] Re: Online form: Proposed new IMC! (DNC IMC)

Mon Jan 12 12:20:14 PST 2004

All good points, Ganesh.

The DNC IMC website was being created with solidarity of regional and
national groups in mind, who are getting into the streets of Boston
regardless of what Boston IMC does.  Action against the DNC, in whatever
form, is going to happen whether IMC gets involved or not.  So why not get
involved?  Therefore, the main focus of the site was to relate to these
groups in three distinct ways:

1 - to provide resources into housing, maps, transportation, eateries,
etc. for those coming into the city and unfamiliar with the area, and

2 - to fill our usual role as a grassroots media outlet covering the
actions of these groups, making sure the overall message of the whys,
wheres, and hows of a constructive protest is relayed to the public.

3 - detail background information on the convention, the party, current
issues, and current Democratic presidential candidates to better inform
our readers about such matters, that they may apply this information to
their own views and actions

Not to mention it would have complimented the similar actions happening
around the Republican National Convention in New York later this summer. 
So, you're right in saying this website was 'US-focused,' but rest assured
the IMC isn't specifically turning a critical eye against the Democrats
alone for any reason.

For the most part, DNC IMC *is* Boston IMC.  Our two biggest reasons in
wanting to create a separate website for the event were to have all the
components of a usual IMC (newswire, calendar, features, etc.) dedicated
to DNC-related posts and not lumped in with everyday posts the Boston IMC
receives on our website.  Also, the dadaIMC codebase doesn't appreciate
being a subdirectory within an installation; i.e.,
http://boston.indymedia.org/dnc/ wasn't quite working.

Also, I think a topic IMC based on the upcoming presidential election is
an *EXCELLENT* idea.  I can't stress that enough.  One could fill an
entire website simply covering electronic voting and how much of a farce
that's turning out to be.  I would definitely urge someone to step forward
and sponsor such a website.  I know I would love to get involved with
that.

Just be careful what name domain name one asks for.

Hopefully this helps clarify our reasonings.  Best regards,

Robert
Boston Independent Media Center

Montgomery Cheddar said:
> An IMC covering the annual general meeting of a particular political party
> seems odd to me. Why the Democrats in particular? It could be seen as
> promoting a party political agenda. Moreover, it seems US-focussed, rather
> than topical. As someone outside the US, I would rather see IMC coverage
> of the US Presidential election and perhaps this would be a better use of
> resources. Also, would it not be better if Boston IMC run its own coverage
> on the Democratic National Convention?
>
> Ganesh
> (India IMCvadi)
>
> clara <clara at ifrik.org> wrote:
> okay,
> just be quick and clear, even though I think there were numerous concerns
> raised on this list as immediate replies:
> I'm blocking such a url.
>
> I send a longer mail later today
>
> clara
>
>
> At 16:14 12-1-2004, Robert wrote:
>>Hey all,
>>
>>Wondering if I might strike up the discussion on my application again. My
>>apologies for pushing this along, but Boston desperately needs to get
>> this
>>underway.
>>
>>The feeling in Boston, with respects to the suggestions made on this
>>application regarding the DNS (e.g., democraticparty.topic.indymedia.org,
>>dnc.topicimc.org, etc.), is that we would still like to pursue
>>dnc.indymedia.org as the official URL for coverage of the Democratic
>>National Convention in July.
>>
>>I feel that the discussion arising from this applicaton, as I'm sure it's
>>sprang up from previous requests for issue-based IMCs, is an important
>>one. We should indeed amend our existing process for the creating for all
>>IMCs with a uniform URL for topic based websites. However, until that
>>decision is finalized, we should not allow process to impede progress for
>>current applications. The need for this website is long since due in
>>Boston, and judging by the respectful yet lengthy debate on how to handle
>>topic IMC URLs following my applicaton, we cannot wait for this approval
>>to come before creating our DNC website.
>>
>>It's been two weeks since I applied for dnc.indymedia.org. If I've read
>>the new imc website correctly, should no one block on new imc for three
>>days, the discussion move to imc process for one week, and approval be
>> met
>>should no one block there within a week's time. I hesitated a reminder of
>>this application because of the discussion, wanting to make sure everyone
>>was heard (and, yeah, because of the holidays). Given the extension and
>>no official block, I ask that this now move to IMC-process for review.
>>
>>The original application is included again below for easier reference.
>>
>>Also, on another note, a little while back there was question into
>>sponsors for all open applications; just to clarify for DNC, I am the
>>sponsor for this website, acting as liason for the Boston IMC.
>>
>>Thanks so much,
>>
>>Robert
>>Boston Independent Media Center
>>
>>--------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>
>>Submitted by: Robert on Sunday, December 28th, 2003 @
>>1:04:22 am (-0500)
>>
>>Client Variables
>>----------------
>>
>>HTTP_USER_AGENT:
>>Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 6.0; Windows NT 5.1; MyIE2; .NET CLR
>> 1.1.4322)
>>
>>Online Form Fields
>>------------------
>>
>>imc_name:
>>dnc.indymedia
>>
>>city:
>>Boston
>>
>>state:
>>MA
>>
>>country:
>>United States
>>
>>contact_name:
>>Robert
>>
>>contact_email:
>>robert at riseup.net
>>
>>contact_phone:
>>781-454-7825
>>
>>tech_name:
>>Robert
>>
>>tech_email:
>>robert at riseup.net
>>
>>tech_phone:
>>781-454-7825
>>
>>supporting_groups:
>>Boston IMC
>>
>>issue_focus:
>>yes
>>
>>critical_dates:
>>July 26-29th (DNC event)
>>
>>resources:
>>Boston Indymedia is already in preparation to assist organizing and to
>>cover the Democratic National Convention, held in Boston this July.
>>Several of the mailing lists for organizing working groups have been
>>formed, and we\'ve confirmed hosting space of the Buffalo IMC server,
>>Dissent, which currently hosts the Boston IMC website as well as many
>>other IMC websites in New England and the nation.
>>
>>outreach:
>>In addition to already working as an IMC collective to prepare for this
>>event, members of the Boston team have attended meetings of other
>> affinity
>>groups in the area. Individuals from our community and activists from
>>around the nation having inquired about information about this event, as
>>well as contact for other local groups, housing, transportation, etc.
>>This in mind, we will dedicate a large portion of the website will focus
>>on the efforts of local groups converging against the DNC.
>>
>>introductory_statement:
>>Originally intended placing a focus on the DNC within our existing
>>website, the Boston IMC tech team considered it would be both better
>>managed and better archived to create a separate website that could be
>>used in the future for other local IMCs to plan protests against in
>> future
>>conventions, wherever they should take place.
>>
>>
>>_______________________________________________
>>imc-process mailing list
>>imc-process at lists.indymedia.org
>>http://lists.indymedia.org/mailman/listinfo/imc-process