{"id":5629,"date":"2018-08-20T22:35:41","date_gmt":"2018-08-21T02:35:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/masspirates.org\/blog\/?page_id=5629"},"modified":"2025-06-19T17:21:19","modified_gmt":"2025-06-19T21:21:19","slug":"conference","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/masspirates.org\/blog\/conference\/","title":{"rendered":"2025 Conferences"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Spring Conference<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

We are working on the conference recordings and will post them as soon as they are available. You can find notes from the conference at our wiki<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our Spring 2025 conference was Sunday, June 15th in the Lavender Room at Arts at the Armory, 191 Highland Ave., Somerville. The conference started at 10am and ends by 4pm.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Arts at the Armory is wheelchair accessible, has free parking in the back, is on the Route 88 and 90 bus lines and walking distance from the Gilman and Magoun Squares MBTA Green Line stations. The Lavender Room is in the basement and is accessible by stair and elevator.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Registration<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The conference was free, but we requested that participants register in advance<\/a>. We encouraged attendees to mask to protect everyone’s health. We had masks and COVID tests for attendees as well as air purifiers. We live streamed it<\/a> for people who could not attend in person.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Schedule<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our conference schedule and session descriptions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Time<\/strong><\/td>Session<\/strong><\/td>Speaker<\/strong><\/td><\/tr>
9:00am – 10:00am<\/td>Setup<\/td><\/td><\/tr>
10:00am – 10:15am<\/td>Opening Address<\/td><\/td><\/tr>
10:15am – 11:15am<\/td>Policy and Platform Discussion<\/td><\/td><\/tr>
11:15am – noon<\/td>Monopoly Free Capitalism<\/td>Wendy Welsh<\/td><\/tr>
noon – 12:30pm<\/td>Lunch and protecting your privacy hands on<\/td><\/td><\/tr>
12:30pm – 1:00pm<\/td>How to navigate your local government<\/td>Steve Revilak<\/td><\/tr>
1:00pm – 1:45pm<\/td>Review of Party Initiatives<\/td><\/td><\/tr>
1:45pm – 2:30pm<\/td>Road to Town Meeting<\/td>Kolby Blehm<\/td><\/tr>
2:30pm – 3:00pm<\/td>Candidate Tutorial<\/td>James O’Keefe<\/td><\/tr>
3:00pm – 3:45pm<\/td>Election planning for 2026<\/td><\/td><\/tr>
3:45pm – 4:00pm<\/td>Closing Address<\/td><\/td><\/tr>
4:00pm – 5:00pm<\/td>Clean up<\/td><\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Conference Sessions<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Policy and Platform Discussion<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

We will start by presenting a summary of the party’s current policy positions. From there we will discuss what positions\/policy areas we should add. The goal is not to engage in lengthy policy debates, but to identify any gaps in the current platform, prioritize those issues we need to review and adopt positions on. Each individual policy is important, but our platform should be greater than the sum of its parts, a coherent and convincing argument for the party.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Monopoly Free Capitalism<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

My presentation is a study of Power and Progress focusing mostly on monopolistic forces. The study of economics tends to hide the significance of power, attributing wins and losses to merely consequences of good and bad choices in the voluntary participation in the market. But the truth is: in economics nothing is more important than power. That is a conspicuous discrepancy, which leads me to think of Assata Shakur\u2019s words: \u201cNo one is going to give you the education you need to overthrow them.\u201d I\u2019m not advocating for overthrowing those with power, but rather to shrink those Goliaths down to a fair size so they can\u2019t just crush us with one single step. By getting rid of monopolies we will be able to participate on an equal playing field. Let\u2019s step outside the typical study of economics and give \u201cpower\u201d the analysis it deserves. At the very least understanding power will help any individual make better choices within the system as it is today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The mega corporations have too much power over us, and with that they have the to power buy politicians disrupting our Constitutional Republic. My presentation will cover the negative effects of monopolistic power and a method to get rid of monopolies called Monopoly Free Capitalism. Monopoly Free Capitalism which is an alternative to capitalism. Simply put, it is capitalism without monopolies. Antitrust laws aren’t working to decentralize power. Monopoly Free Capitalism will succeed where antitrust has failed. This is a solution to corruption and economic inequality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lunch and protecting your privacy hands on<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

While eating, people knowledgeable in privacy will give hands on tutorials for tech like signal or tor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How to navigate your local government<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Steve Revilak, a Pirate town meeting member in Arlington and our First Officer, discusses how town government works and how you can bring change to yours.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Review of Party Initiatives<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

First we will outline each of the party\u2019s efforts, assessing their isolated efficacy, as well as their role in accomplishing the party\u2019s overall goals. We will discuss areas we should improve and what changes we need to make. Finally, we will make plans for the next year, including how to gauge the success of our projects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Road to Town Meeting<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kolby Blehm will discuss his community education program, currently titled “Road to Town
Meeting”, which aims to educate his town on the year long cycle of town government culminating in voting together at town meeting and resetting with elections each year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Candidate Tutorial<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Captain James will give a quick intro to running for office.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Election planning for 2026<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

We will discuss the races we currently know we are running in for the upcoming year, as well those we might compete in. We will discuss candidate recruitment, voter outreach efforts, and overall strategy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Spread the Word!<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Share our Facebook event<\/a> or post up our conference flyer<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you want to come up with a better version of the filer, email us<\/a> and we will send you the editable Scribus<\/a> document. Scribus<\/a> is a libre desktop publishing application similar to In Design, PageMaker or QuarkXPress. If you want to create your own in another desktop publishing application, the original images are at: <\/p>\n\n\n\n