Convention

So You Think You Can Convention? by Robin Markle and Alex Grosskurth, Philly SDS

Last summer’s national convention was a milestone for SDS in forming our identity as a national organization; we transformed from a haphazard collection of isolated chapters to a functioning national body. The conference calls to plan the 2007 National Convention were the first time many SDSers had talked to anyone in SDS from outside their state, the first time they had organized with SDSers outside their chapter.

In the process of planning and attending the convention SDSers had a chance to develop leadership and organizing skills together, to make mistakes and learn together, and to share some common experiences that united us as part of a national organization. We learned how to make decisions together, and put our values into practice. We developed a vision for our organization, including defining who we are and what we are building, an approach to collective liberation politics, a respect for local organizing, a commitment to solidarity with workers and communities on the front lines, and our principles of unity. We also defined what makes a member and a chapter, and debated long and hard what an appropriate national structure would be.

Since last summer, SDS has grown into an organization with a welcoming committee for new chapters, a bi-monthly news bulletin, working groups that manage fundraising, chapter communications, and media, and plan events like the Action Camp and RNC/DNC actions. We even have a Visibility working group to make all this new national work visible and accessible to members to expand the pool of national leadership.

Along the way we’ve learned a lot of lessons the hard way. When we had to hold up the plenary at last year’s convention so that people with similar proposals could quickly try to combine them, we learned that setting deadlines for work and sticking to them is vital. When womyn spoke out about the aggressive, chaotic, silencing atmosphere on convention planning calls, we learned to have solid facilitation and an awareness of “step up, step back”, so everyone feels comfortable participating. And perhaps most moving was the realization during the long structure plenaries at last year’s convention that reaching consensus isn’t about everyone getting exactly what you want; it’s about everyone finding something you can live with.

This year’s National Convention will be held July 24-28 at the University of Maryland at College Park, near Washington, DC.  It promises to be just as pivotal an event as last year’s.  For the past 3 months, dozens of SDSers from around the country have been doing outreach, finding facilitators, and planning the agenda through weekly conference calls. College Park SDS and DC SDS have been working on all the logistics for the event. Meanwhile, the Fundraising working group has been soliciting donations to ensure we can afford all the resources we need, and the Media working groups has been prepping for great press.

And with last year’s convention under our belt (we’re so much smarter and stronger!), this convention’s going to be a cinch!  Unlike last year, we set a deadline for proposals more than a month ahead of the convention, so this time proposals will be well-publicized and understood before we even set foot in College Park.  This also means that unlike last year, the convention’s agenda will be set far in advance of the event, and we’ll be well prepared for each section of the schedule, with facilitation, activities, and discussion questions.  And unlike last year, we also won’t have to spend so much time on process and process-of-process, and we’ll be able to dive right into the decisions and accomplish much more!!

Accomplish what, you ask?  Well, we’ve put it off for long enough.. but it’s finally time to create a national structure!  After this convention, assuming we can put our noggins together and come up with something we can all agree on, SDS will have an open and visible process for decision-making at the national level, which will open up all kinds of opportunities for leadership development and support for chapters.  Also, this convention will be the first opportunity we’ve had to launch national campaigns that can help us strategically build power in our communities!

But this convention is not JUST about doing the work of building the organization, it’s also time to reflect, re-focus, and have fun!  Time will be spent developing our collective liberation politics, and tearing down the walls that white supremacy, hetero-patriarchy, and class have erected between us.  We’ll also get together in break out groups, workshops, fishbowls, and games, to discuss the cultural, strategic, and political issues in SDS that have been lingering and need to be addressed to strengthen our community and our work.  But SDS Conventions are also about meeting cool activists and organizers from around the country, learning from one another, and celebrating! And we have a LOT to celebrate this year!

We’ll see you in College Park!