Readme

Welcome! Welcome!

Thank you for participating in the APC Member Convening 2021 – Nurturing Solidarity Achieving Transformation

A Readme¹ document is the “what-I-need-to-know” guide to orient and encourage participation. You will find here some useful links to navigate the event.

When?

• From 15 to 19 November 2021

• Check out the schedule [Insert link]

• Check out the program [Insert link]

We have participants from more than 78 countries and we span across more than 11 timezones. We have tried our best to find a good working option.

Where?

• Check out the meeting and coming together spaces [insert link].

Who?

• APC members – organizations, collectives, individuals and their teams/boards

• APC Executive Board

• APC staff

• Documentation team

• Interpreters

• Captioning service

• Facilitation teams

• Tech team

• Interconnections and pop-up hosts

• Party team

   

How will it work?

The Nurturing Solidarity Achieving Transformation is our yearly convening and the second to happen remotely. It is a collaborative, learning event and a space to connect, discover and hope together.

To participate, as for any APC hosted event, you need to register. With the registration you will be provided with credentials: a login (the email address you provide) and a password. This will give you access to all the spaces, platforms and tools for the convening.

APC Member convening is a registered participants only event. The email address you have provided in the registration is the one that identifies you as a registered participant. If for any reason you find yourself unable to use/access your registered email please inform asap the APC Tech Support Team.

This is how we have organized the convening:

• We convene for five days.

• We have a programme that span all time zones, starting at 3:00 UTC and ending at 22:00 UTC.

• We open the room(s) 30 minutes before the start of the plenary/event. We start on time.

• We have 7 plenaries – of 1 hour 30 minutes.

• We have 4 regional interconnections: Asia/Pacific; Africa; Europe and Americas.

• We have 35 thematic interconnections, members hosted events of 60 and 90 minutes.

• We will as many pop-up as we want for fun, skill sharing or just to relax and meet with one another.

• We have care actively weaved in our plenaries and pop-up.

  • One hour break is planned between scheduled plenaries and interconnections.

  • We invite you to to build your own schedule and to spend an average of 4.5 hours online.

• We have a party to organize together.

• We have the Best Future Awards with winner to be chosen and voted for.

The theme

This year’s member convening continues the online conversation we began in 2020 with an eye to the future. Reconnecting members’ local and national realities with the larger APC member community and its shared global context addressed via the APC strategic plan, whose direction and content are informed by the member network and governed by the APC council, and which embodies how we thrive, change and generate changes globally as well locally.

Three overarching questions will lead and inform our five days together:

1. How have you, as members of the APC network, been able to thrive and adapt?

2. What are your insights for the future, and what are you looking to in the future?

3. How can your strategy and insights for the future, as individuals, collectives and organisations, conflate with/inspire/guide the development (and growth?) of the APC network?

All seven (7) plenaries and four (4) regional interconnections are co-hosted by APC members and APC staff. All interconnections are hosted by member and supported by APC staff.

Plenary Themes

Day 1 - 15 November – Opening Plenary: APC Member Network, a Community of Communities

Day 2 – 16 November - 1^st Collective Future of the Network plenary: How we see us and what frame our changes

Day 3 – 17 November - 2^nd Collective Future of the Network plenary: How we keep us relevant

Day 4 – 18 November - 3^rd Collective Future of the Network plenary: How to leave uncertainty and practice possibility

Day 5 – 19 November Closing plenaries: How we thrive a celebration of APC members stories, practices and projects of solidarity, Best Futures Awards (category: Solidarity, Collaboration, Innovation, Creativity) and party

Best Future Awards

The best future Awards are recognition we share with one another. During 5 days you will be attending many sessions, speak and listen to many many people. Discover new ways of thinking, doing, resisting, resting and creating changes.

We have though of 4 mainawards: Solidarity, Collaboration, Innovation and Creativity. Help us choosing the person, the collective or the organization that for you deserve one or more of them. When attending a plenary, an interconnections or a pop-up think who would you like to acknowledge and share it with the Best Future Award committee. Also if you would like to be part of the explorers join us and let’s look around together.

Yes, Best future Awards have prizes! Cause happy competition make our ❤️ 🧡 💛 💚 💙 💜 🖤 🤍 🤎 beats!

Interconnections

They are regional and/or thematic conversations on issues and projects proposed by APC member community. Members are the hosts and APC staff will support. They are 60 to 90 minute long sessions which will run in parallel and across time zones.

Pop-ups

Are shorter sessions between 30 and 60 minutes on any topic. Members and staff can suggest care time, skill sharing or just have fun and catch up with one another. They can be scheduled and promoted on the Convening Website and shared in Mattermost or can be extemporaneous inspired by time and people.

Orientation Sessions

On the 11^th and 12^th  of November 5 Orientation sessionsessions of 30 minutes each will take places for members and Staffstaff to learn about the Convening,convening, its spaces, platforms and tools. Two sessions will be in French and Spanish.

All members that are hosting interconnections or want to understand and know more about BBB members servers and additional 15 minutes session will look at BBB for the host.

Party

The party is a collaborative adventure lead by Shawna, Smitty and you :) We are needing a co-hosting/facilitating team for the party. If you love APC party then help us make it memorable. If you are interested to (co-)host or help reach out to Shawna and Smiity.

Meeting in the digital

In order to build a friendly space for all, plenary and interconnections will have:

• Co-hosts pairs (Members/Staff) that will facilitate. They will hold the space, keep an eye on the time and the chat to bring your comments and suggestion into the main conversation.

• Tech support will help you understand and access the various technical functions, from captioning to translation and more.

• Documentation team: Two note-takers and one visual/graphic note-taker will document (only for plenary).

• Close Captioning: There is a super human following and typing everyone’s words so you can read along (only for plenary)

• Interpreters: There are more super humans interpreting into/from English, French, Spanish (only for plenary)

• Speakers: Will share their insights, thoughts, reflections, provocations.

• Participants: Will share their insights, thoughts, reflections, provocations. Will give meaning to staying together and make it special.

Interconnections hosts can agree on how to document their sessions with participants. They can agree and consent on recording, organize collaborative note taking and just focus on the moment.

Tips for attending sessions (plenary, interconnections, pop-ups)

• Before entering the room participants can choose her/his/their name, preferred pronoun, organisation, place (it is your choice, choose freely!). BBB will not give you the possibility to rename after entering the room.

• You can have your video on or off either way is fine

• Remember to mute when you are not talking.

• Sit comfortably, bring your tea, coffee, water, pencil.

• Close all your other applications and tabs on your browser to boost connectivity and enjoy doing one thing. ;)

• If you want to talk, you can raise your “HAND” or type into the chat, follow the host/facilitators indication, they will monitor and bring your voice and comments into the discussion.

• If for some reason you are not able to use sound and want to send your input, you can send messages in the chat.

• For breakouts rooms: we will use random groups and pairs or sometimes you will choose a group and then you will be assigned there. To enter the breakout room you “must agree to join”. The facilitator will send messages at half-time and three minutes before the end. You will be called back to plenary when the time comes automatically.

If you are interested and want to know more, watch the BBB Tutorial or visit BigBlueButton guides in our meeting wiki.

Principles and practices of participation

APC Member Convening is committed to providing a safe and welcoming environment for any of its convening whether they happen online or physically, face-to-face of in hybrid settings.

Participating to APC Member Convening 2021 imply acceptance of the Principle and Practice of Participation, the Code of Conduct and the Sexual Harassment Policy. They are also all on our [insert link bookstack].

We also follow Feminist Practices and Politics of Technology. Please read the extended version of the Feminist Principles of Participation, which inform APC’s Principles of Participation.

It is vital that discussions include and acknowledge a diversity of opinions and experiences, and that the community ensures harassment of any kind, is not tolerated.

We will take action in response to harassment related to gender, gender identity and expression, sexual orientation, disability, physical appearance, body size, race, or religion. APC does not tolerate harassment of participants in any form.

These are the framing principles we value and apply in this convening:

• Create a safe space for all participants.

• Be respectful.

• Be collaborative and participatory.

• Recognise and value diversity.

• Respect the privacy of participants.

• Be aware of language diversity.

• Handle disagreement constructively.

• Embed politics and practices of self and collective care.

Event incident team is composed by [insert name and emails]. Participants can reach them anytime by email or phone. Please contact any member of the Event Incidents Team with any questions or concerns you may have throughout the duration of the convening. Complaints will be treated confidentially.

Consent, privacy and confidentiality

The APC Member Convening creates safe and confidential spaces based on the idea that “what is said here, stays here”. They involve intimate, personal exchanges, with recording only during certain exercises, which will be announced to participants. Recording will be switched off as well as on upon request. We do not plan to use direct quotes for the APC social media accounts. If you want to quote someone or to share images, always ask for express consent. This includes:

• Ask for consent for photography, audio-visual recordings or quotes
• By default, stick to Chatham House Rule1: “When a meeting, or part thereof, is held under the Chatham House Rule, participants are free to use the information received, but neither the identity nor the affiliation of the speaker(s), nor that of any other participant, may be revealed.”
• Recording will be announced to participants so that they are aware and can make informed decision on turn on / off their video camera
  
  • Recording will be happening in the plenary and for documentation purposes.

  • Recordings are stored securely on APC servers.

  • Recording might be switched off as well as on upon request. We do not plan to use direct quotes for the APC social media accounts. If you want to quote someone or to share images, always ask for express consent.

• If you want to take screenshots, ask for express consent or announce it so that people can turn off their video if they do not want to go on record. Remember to edit names from the image.

• Ask yourself, do you really need the screenshot? Are there other simple way to build memories of good moments?Practices and politics of technology.

Documentation

Through the convening we will take different type of records:

• Audio recordings for internal use (with the consent of all participants in the plenaries).

• Text notes of plenary with the aim of writing up reports for internal use and to incorporate learning into our work and practices. [Insert name of documentation team] will do the documentation.

• The graphic/visual recording of plenaries to capture ideas spontaneously and syntheses them through visual note-taking. [Insert name of illustrator team] will do the illustrations.

• Recording will be happening only in the plenary and only for documentation purposes.

• Recordings are stored securely on APC servers.

Active collective care

As part if this year's member convening we want to open the space for members to share with one another some of their ways of active collective care. for that, we invite you to kickoff the plenaries with 5-10 mins of your favorite activity rooted in care. what you share can be anything that you found has supported your well-being on an individual or a collective level.

Plan your participation and time online. Do one thing! Take breaks, stretch!

External communications and outreach

In 2021 we are deliberately prioritising coming together to reconnect and collaborate in a safe and comfortable space, where we will be present and engaged for and with the network. In order to prioritise this, we will slow down our external actions and put all our energies in keeping our network connected, informed and engaged, by focussing on internal communications actions such as the Dish of the day.

The only external communications output that will be produced is:

• By the end of the meeting, the illustrations done by the graphic ilustrators will be used to illustrate a general member convening article that will be published in apc,org.

Staff and members are invited to write blog posts on their experiences during the member convening, focusing on substance and their personal experiences, keeping in mind the privacy and safety considerations of the other participants.

Platforms and tools

Informed by our policies, practices and feminist approach to technology, most of the platforms and tools we are using during the Member Convening are FLOSS tools and tech platforms such as Mailman, CiviCRM, Mattermost, Bookstack, Drupal, dedicated etherpad, Nexcloud and OnlyOffice software for collaborative engagement.

BigBlueButton (BBB)

APC has invested in a self-hosted BigBlueButton (BBB) installation and worked on its customization to be able to host real time video-conferences using FLOSS. During the year thanks to the great human dedication of APC Tech we will be using a fresh and stand alone installation of BBB to host the plenaries and provide a safe and easy interpretation and captioning system. We have done “stress tests” to verify its ability to function well when the number of participants increases, and operation became more demanding and we have come to the conclusion that BBB would offer a stable and viable platform for our plenaries. We have developed alternative plan if numbers of participants increase drastically or if any unforeseen disruption happen. We are happy that with the collective effort of many organizations as well as individuals investing in alternatives and autonomous infrastructures, we are able to run our convening securely, smoothly and comfortably on FLOSS platforms and tools.

If you would like to read more, details are one click away on the Member Convening [insert link] You can also look at the APC policy on use of free/libre and open source technology and the APC WRP Feminist Practices and Politics of Technology.

Mattermost and mailing list

For one-on-one, one-to-many or many-to-many communications during the convening we will be using our mailing list and Mattermost. We are doing this to provide multiple entry points to access receive/share information in ways that respond to personal preferences and connectivity. Both tools/platforms can be used for real time and asynchronous participation. Using Mattermost during the convening will give you the possibility to have instant chat and share direct messages (DM) with people you would like to emeet.

APC Member Convening – Event website

Programme, schedule, information, manuals on tools, and anything about the convening will be available on the Member Convening Website. Visit, use and enjoy it and the scheduling tools we have add for you to create your own personal event experience.

Practices and politics of technology

APC prioritises free/libre and open source software (FLOSS) and open standards for the following reasons:

• Driven by community needs

• Sustainability

• Security.

The APC community applies the principles of FLOSS in our work in the following ways, wherever possible:

• Open document formats

• Creating content using Creative Commons licences

• Self-hosted online services

• Supporting the FLOSS development community.

In addition, APC applies the core values of feminist practices and politics of technology:

• Participatory/Inclusive

• Secure

• Appropriate/Sustainable Technologies

• Free and Open Source software will be given priority, but only if the participants can sustain their use post-training

• Transparent/Open

• Creative/Strategic

• Emphasising the Role of Women in Technology

• Emphasising Women's Control of Technology

• Fun!

   

Digital participation allowance

Moving from face-to-face events to online remote ones brings novelties, including finding sustainable, effective ways to support participation.

At the end of the convening, you will receive [insert amount] to help cover your connectivity expenses for the five (5) days of the convening. Please note that if you or your team will need the allowance, you need to write to [insert email] requesting the support.

APC Member Convening useful contacts

APC Member Convening Coordinating team is composed by many many people:

• For anything related with facilitation and hosting of Plenary and Interconnections reach out to Karel, Vassilis, hvale,

• For Comms related questions reach out to Flavia

• For Documentation related questions reach out to Liy, ….

• For Pop-up related questions reach out to Natalia and Shivi,

• For Organizational Care related questions reach out to cyn and Jen at careorg [@] apc.org for any question and doubts you have on the practicum

• For general inquiry you can reach us via email using convening [@] apc.org or using the mailing lists for issue relevant for all participants.

APC Tech support will be provided by Adolfo, Avi, Igor, k054, Maja and Rox you can reach out to support [@] apc.org for any technical question related to your access or any of the working spaces.

1 Mariana Fossati, GenderIT editor, created the Readme format for the 2^nd Feminist Internet Research (FIRN) Convening. We want to thank and acknowledge her for this brilliant hack of software installation practice.

2 https://www.chathamhouse.org/about-us/chatham-house-rule