December 12th, 2017 IRC Meeting

Review

• Community WorcNite
• Verizon Protests

Decisions/Endorsements

• Improving outreach

Projects

Planning for 2018 Elections & Organizing

Training schedule:

• January: Boston
• February: Worcester

Once we set dates for the trainings we will put up a poll asking about our 2018 conference and whether to change it into several regional conferences.

In 2018, towns decide when their elections are held, but most are held in the first half of the year. State & county elections are in November. What offices are up in 2018 is listed here. We have been asked to hold a town election training in Milford this year.

Nomination papers for federal/state/county elections are available in mid-February. State/county candidates have until the end of May to gather all of their signatures, while federal candidates have until the end of July. The number of signatures needed vary from 150 for State Rep. to 2000 for US House of Representatives.

The electronic election for our officers went well in 2017, and we should consider doing it again. Such a change would allow us to decentralize our yearly conference and hold multiple regional conferences in different parts of the state. We could schedule monthly conferences starting in March or April. We could limit them to about 4-5 hours long, with the first half being training and the second half being discussion. If we want to go this route, we should ask our members soon and see who wants to organize their regional conference.

Digital Right of Repair

Details. Making calls to volunteers and members.

Statements In Process

• GOP Tax Bill (we opposed)
• MA Bill H.3641: An Act relative to electronic tolling - Approved our opposition to it. Past position is to remove the tolls on the Pike since it has long been paid for.
• US S.1241 - Combating Money Laundering, Terrorist Financing, and Counterfeiting Act of 2017 - Approved our opposition to S.1241. Need statement (Joe)

Other To Dos

FOSS Tutorials

Worcester farm group is interested in having some FOSS tutorials. Perhaps:

• how to do basic labels in GIMP,
• work through a few sample spreadsheets related to seed cost and
• similarly applicable real-world situations, depending on the needs of the group

Basically how to do graph design & product management with open source tools. Malt will put together a one paragraph description of what we need and we can mail it out to ask pirates to help.

Tech/Outreach

• Review regular IRC meeting day. Poll sent to email list - Sent (jokeefe)
• email Loomio invite to supporters (jokeefe)
• set up torrents for PirateCon videos (creynolds)
• post remaining audio for PirateCon talks (srevilak)
• finish setup of myBB (jokeefe)
• install mattermost as slack alternative (jokeefe)

Mayfirst is looking at setting up a Discourse instance we could use.

Upcoming Events

• 12/17, Chelsea Manning's Birthday
• 12/27, 6-9pm, Somerville Cryptoparty, The Sprouts, 339R Summer Street, Somerville
• 1/1, Pirate Parties 11th Anniversary
• 1/3, 6pm – 9pm, Community WorcNite #16, The WorcShop, 243 Stafford St, Worcester, MA 01603. Registration

See: 2017 calendar

Participants

• jokeefe: James O’Keefe, Somerville
• hvxgr: Tom Rodman (Milwaukee) / ahoy
• Joe: Joseph Onoroski, Lowell
• Malt: samuel capradae, worcester
• Ross

Observers

• igel

Minutes

 


[9:03pm] jokeefe: Agenda: https://masspirates.org/wiki/December_12th,_2017_IRC_Meeting
[9:03pm] jokeefe: ids
[9:03pm] jokeefe: James O’Keefe, Somerville
[9:03pm] hvxgr: Tom Rodman (Milwaukee) / ahoy
[9:03pm] Joe: Joseph Onoroski, Lowell
[9:04pm] Malt: samuel capradae, worcester
[9:04pm] jokeefe: Anything to add?
[9:04pm] Malt: nope
[9:04pm] hvxgr: no
[9:05pm] jokeefe: Review
[9:05pm] jokeefe: How did Community WorcNite go?
[9:06pm] Malt: One person showed up
[9:06pm] jokeefe: The Verizon Protest in Boston was well attended
[9:06pm] Malt:
[9:06pm] Malt: i got their email, haven't yet added to crew
[9:06pm] Malt: glad to hear that
[9:07pm] jokeefe: cool
[9:08pm] hvxgr: Verizon Protest on our east side was well attended (12 or so with about 5 signs). One of the attendees did a podcast on Sat night.
[9:08pm] jokeefe: good
[9:08pm] jokeefe: I posted / emailed on the follow up event that started today
[9:09pm] jokeefe: Decisions/Endorsements
[9:09pm] Joe: brb
[9:09pm] jokeefe: ok
[9:09pm] admech joined the chat room.
[9:10pm] Malt: welcome
[9:10pm] admech: ahoy.
[9:10pm] Malt: heard y'all had luck with the protest
[9:11pm] Joe: k, back
[9:11pm] jokeefe: ahoy
[9:11pm] Joe: ahoy
[9:11pm] Malt: welcome
[9:11pm] admech: We did. Turnout was great and it went pretty well. Not much credit to us, though; a lot of other groups stepped up.
[9:12pm] jokeefe: they did
[9:12pm] jokeefe: Agenda: https://masspirates.org/wiki/December_12th,_2017_IRC_Meeting
[9:13pm] jokeefe: I wanted to discuss improving outreach
[9:13pm] Malt: yeah?
[9:14pm] Joe: ^
[9:15pm] jokeefe: Suggestions? I lean toward phone calls
[9:15pm] Malt: I was hoping to get more flyers out for the upcoming repair night but i'm going to be gone for a lot of the month
[9:15pm] Malt: I think more lead time on our events might help
[9:15pm] Joe: I think if we move forward with the youtube, we will be doing just that. Phone calls will get us only so far, most people like to have context to check out before committing.
[9:16pm] Joe: Even if the content is only telling people of the events that we are doing/
[9:16pm] jokeefe: admech, how have you found txt’ing?
[9:17pm] admech: One thing I took away from the other night is that there are a ton of people in Boston prepared to turn out in the cold for tech freedoms. I'm not sure how best to reach them.
[9:17pm] Joe: Change.org has been getting a lot of hype over this.
[9:18pm] Joe: https://www.change.org/p/save-net-neutrality-netneutrality
[9:18pm] hvxgr: For the green pty, we started a people database; we're still working out all the fields.  We have a new outreach committee lead that is trying to working on a "new visitor (potential new member) process".  On theory is to follow up with texting, calling, and emailing, within one week, and then interview.
[9:18pm] admech: As far as texting, my response rate here is not encouraging; our database needs a little cleanup and mass text response rates when I was working on the other campaign weren't great.
[9:19pm] admech: I will say, though, that one of the many things Millennials are proud to have killed is the cold call. Texting/other asynchronous communication is definitely better.
[9:20pm] • admech is switching devices. Carry on.
[9:20pm] Malt: yeah i hate cold calls 
[9:20pm] Malt: flash back to working fundraising
[9:20pm] admech left the chat room. (Quit: https://webchat.pirateirc.net/)
[9:20pm] jokeefe: main voter choice organizer swears by phone calls
[9:20pm] Malt: it's hard to refuse a voice call
[9:21pm] Malt: like, people want to say yes
[9:21pm] Malt: in the union we'd go doorknocking
[9:22pm] Joe: doorknocking is what I know as well. Hard to ignore someone at the door.
[9:22pm] admech joined the chat room.
[9:23pm] jokeefe: Agreed, but that works in bulk, less so when you have 10 people in your town
[9:23pm] Joe: Plus it makes papering a town easier and more cost effective. Mass mailings are expensive.
[9:23pm] jokeefe: admech, updated conversation on the wiki mtg page
[9:24pm] Malt: i think it doesn't work for us, yet
[9:24pm] admech: thanks
[9:24pm] Malt: doorknocking
[9:24pm] Joe: Agreed, when we are running it will be more important.
[9:24pm] Malt: but directly contacting other groups about events is good praxis
[9:24pm] Malt: like the ACLU with the cyber cafes
[9:24pm] Malt: crypto
[9:25pm] jokeefe: So:
[9:25pm] admech: If we knock on someone's door, we need to have something to tell them about and something for them to do..
[9:25pm] jokeefe: 1) More advanced notice
[9:25pm] jokeefe: 2) Txt/call people in addition to emails
[9:26pm] jokeefe: 3) Door knock/mailings if possible
[9:26pm] Malt: outreach to relevant groups
[9:27pm] Malt: ^agreed with admech^ working on our Asks is a good idea
[9:27pm] admech: Agreed. I'd add 4. take advantage of existing networks: organizations and friend/affinity groups with related interests.
[9:27pm] jokeefe: 5) Reach out to new sign ups early to see how they can help
[9:27pm] admech: I saw a LOT of college-aged groups of people Tuesday.
[9:27pm] Joe: I think we are all in accord with this.
[9:28pm] jokeefe: It is making sure it gets down
[9:28pm] Joe: We have an accord. (correction)
[9:28pm] hvxgr: Do you have monthly or quarterly face to face meetings (could attract new members there)?  Is there any party business done at the crypto parties? - those seem to be frequent.
[9:28pm] Malt: colleges are good recruiting areas
[9:29pm] jokeefe: yeah, monthly / quarterly face to face meetings are needed
[9:29pm] Joe: We were planning to meet monthly.
[9:29pm] Malt: themed meetups are fun
[9:30pm] Joe: My office is coming along nicely. We can meet anytime there.
[9:30pm] jokeefe: On a related issue, I found out that mayfirst has a self-hosted discord instance we should be able to use
[9:30pm] admech: Oh,nice.
[9:30pm] Malt: raaaad
[9:30pm] jokeefe: Can we plan for next Sunday?
[9:30pm] Joe: I have one small job to bang out. Should be free to do anything after.
[9:30pm] Joe: It's in Worchester 
[9:31pm] Malt: next Sunday is
[9:31pm] Malt: the day before Christmas?
[9:31pm] Joe: Si
[9:31pm] Joe: Sorry, this Sunday
[9:31pm] Malt: i'm clear
[9:32pm] jokeefe: great, 7pm, then
[9:32pm] jokeefe: ?
[9:32pm] Joe: Malt, need a ride?
[9:33pm] Malt: that'll make it way less likely for me to quit at the last minute, so sure!
[9:33pm] Joe: lol
[9:34pm] Malt: gotta get duck pad thai at viet thai though
[9:34pm] Joe: I could just build you a moped. Then you will never have an excuse
[9:34pm] Malt: haven't been in months and i'm craving it
[9:34pm] Malt: i have a car, i just
[9:34pm] Malt: hate driving 495
[9:34pm] Joe: lol
[9:34pm] Malt: and driving in general
[9:34pm] Malt: boston is terrible, worcester is worse somehow
[9:34pm] Joe: Can I hit you up for gas $
[9:34pm] Malt: yes that too
[9:34pm] jokeefe: yeah
[9:35pm] Joe: My greenscreen ripped, so I'll be getting a new one I hope
[9:36pm] Joe: But it won't be critical anyways
[9:37pm] Malt: i should make a bigger point of getting more worcester folk active
[9:37pm] admech: jokeefe, any thoughts on an occasional Boston meetup?
[9:38pm] admech: Or Boston-ish.
[9:39pm] Joe: I support a meet up at any location, just have space we can us that will not cost anything.
[9:39pm] Joe: If there is one more central I would be happy to support it.
[9:39pm] jokeefe: admech, too late for this week, and week b4 xmas isn’t likely to work
[9:40pm] admech: Yeah, we'll get back to it after the new year.
[9:40pm] jokeefe: 1st week of january?
[9:41pm] Malt: there's the worcshop crypto cafe that wedsnedsay
[9:41pm] jokeefe: yes
[9:42pm] Malt: any of yall following alabama?
[9:42pm] Malt: it's not looking great  moore is up 7 points with over 60% reporting
[9:42pm] jokeefe: was thinking of a lunch meeting
[9:44pm] jokeefe: BTW: vote for gop tax bill is next week https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/12/us/politics/republicans-tax-bill-deal.html
[9:44pm] admech: Yeah. My schedule is still unclear, but Thursdays might work.
[9:45pm] jokeefe: ok, that would work. will email you
[9:46pm] jokeefe: Suggest something in boston/cambridge and something outside the 95
[9:47pm] jokeefe: can figure it out over email
[9:48pm] admech: Sounds good.
[9:48pm] jokeefe: Malt - yes, it doesn’t look good for Jones
[9:49pm] jokeefe: guess we get to look forward to dumb ideas such as this from Moore https://boingboing.net/2017/12/12/grand-old-plutocrats-2.html
[9:49pm] Ross: New York times is predicting a Jones win based on the remaining votes in cities and the black belt.
[9:50pm] jokeefe: Joe, what is your fundraiser update?
[9:50pm] Joe: https://www.elks.org/lodges/contactus.cfm?lodge=87
[9:50pm] Joe: http://www.steveskitchencatering.com/dinner-buffet-entrees222.html
[9:50pm] jokeefe: needs to make up 5% with 30% of votes remaining
[9:50pm] Joe: We just need to choose the date and we can get in.
[9:51pm] jokeefe: http://www.steveskitchencatering.com/dinner-buffet-entrees222.html
[9:51pm] jokeefe: sorry, wrong window
[9:51pm] Joe: Looking at the pricing, 50 would cover costs but 100 per person would put good money in the bank
[9:51pm] Ross: https://www.nytimes.com/elections/results/alabama-senate-special-election-roy-moore-doug-jones When your all done here check out the prediction for the Alabama election. They have a live tracker.
[9:52pm] Squee joined the chat room.
[9:52pm] Squee: Umm, not sure what happened
[9:52pm] Malt: welcome back
[9:52pm] Squee: but it just kicked me out of Joe
[9:52pm] Joe left the chat room. (Quit: https://webchat.pirateirc.net/)
[9:52pm] Squee: But that's what I have
[9:53pm] Malt: huh
[9:54pm] jokeefe: thanks, Squee.
[9:54pm] Malt: is there a minimum deposit for that event? 100 per person is up there
[9:54pm] Squee: One sec
[9:54pm] Malt: the puerto rico fundraisers in worcester had a 15 per plate and people still wimped out on going
[9:55pm] Squee: Host for small room is max at 70 people
[9:55pm] Squee: 75 for Bartender
[9:55pm] jokeefe: so $20.31 per person for food
[9:55pm] Squee: 150 for security and 300 for the room for 4 hours
[9:55pm] admech: Yeah, I'd be hard-pressed to drop $50 on an event, honestly.
[9:55pm] Squee: Then looking at the menu....
[9:56pm] Squee: 16.25 per person for an option
[9:56pm] Squee: for 2 options, sorry
[9:56pm] jokeefe: two entree choices: meat and vegetarian
[9:56pm] Squee: ^
[9:56pm] Squee: Exactly
[9:57pm] Squee: The food is really good though
[9:57pm] Malt: just had an idea, what if we reached out to local retirement communities about doing "tech setup" meetings?
[9:57pm] Squee: Cellphone workshops?
[9:57pm] Malt: offer a way to let exasperated kids fob off their confused older relatives onto us
[9:57pm] jokeefe: well let’s think about it more. thanks for getting the numbers, Squee
[9:57pm] Malt: cellphones, tablets, e-readers
[9:58pm] jokeefe: interesting idea, Malt
[9:58pm] Squee: The dinner will serve another purpose though
[9:58pm] admech: Terrifying idea, Malt.
[9:58pm] Squee: It will allow us to gather in mass and discuss the topics of the day in a relaxed setting.
[9:58pm] jokeefe: it could
[9:59pm] Malt: hahahaha
[9:59pm] Squee: lol
[9:59pm] Squee: I am crunching the numbers as I type
[10:00pm] admech: No argument there, but let's keep costs low until we have a specific ask and not put a big cost barrier on coming and meeting Pirates.
[10:00pm] Squee: I figured that would be the idea, so I crunched the numbers for $50
[10:01pm] Squee: We would need to sell 12 Tickets to pay for the event. Anything more than that would be a boon
[10:01pm] Squee: That is not counting the $150 for security but I hope nothing would get broken with our crowd.
[10:02pm] Malt: i can't think of anyone in worcester who loves me for a $50 dinner
[10:02pm] admech: We're about at time. What do we need to do this week?
[10:02pm] Malt: prep for sunday?
[10:03pm] Malt: what will we be discussing
[10:03pm] Malt: i want to prepare beforehand
[10:03pm] jokeefe: the flyer(s) text
[10:03pm] Squee: I have two videos I want to shoot. Coming events being one and flyer text being the other.
[10:03pm] jokeefe: sounds good
[10:04pm] jokeefe: I’ll track down the mayfirst discord server.
[10:04pm] Squee: K
[10:04pm] Malt: pessimistic to think about, but a "how to respond to the loss of net neutrality" might be a good topic 
[10:04pm] jokeefe: agreed
[10:04pm] Squee: We could do a third vid for current events if we have time
[10:04pm] jokeefe: next steps from here
[10:05pm] jokeefe: let’s see what we come up with Sunday
[10:05pm] Squee: I would like us to start on current events at some point soon
[10:05pm] Squee: But this will be a good dry run for that anyways
[10:05pm] jokeefe: we are at time, as admech noted
[10:05pm] Squee: We are
[10:06pm] jokeefe: shall we adjourn then?
[10:06pm] Squee: Second?
[10:06pm] jokeefe: 2nd
[10:06pm] jokeefe: all in favor?
[10:06pm] Malt: aye
[10:06pm] Squee: Aye
[10:06pm] Malt: aye
[10:06pm] admech: aye.
[10:06pm] hvxgr: Aye/good nite all.
[10:06pm] admech: Evening all
[10:06pm] jokeefe: aye, thanks all
[10:06pm] Squee: Gnite!
[10:06pm] Malt: night!
[10:06pm] Malt left the chat room. (Quit: https://webchat.pirateirc.net/)
[10:06pm] Squee left the chat room. (Quit: https://webchat.pirateirc.net/)
[10:06pm] admech left the chat room. (Quit: https://webchat.pirateirc.net/)
[10:06pm] Ross: good night all