6-13-07
icarus project staff conference call
madigan sascha ashley will
will notes
ashley facil

check-ins

sasch- didn't get van am grant. same person who told us we'd get it, bc board met and didn't want to fund it was nat'l as opposed to local. try a year from now. no one in nyc off right now. now rel w/ fh feels tenuous

ash- doing much better, on meds & helping. morning landscaping, good. kind of relieved about grant, not healthy main job on computer, want to transit icarus to activism not paid job, take pay cut. at farm in hudson valley

will- friend in jail, another in lockup after suicide attempt, rocky. but now friend out of lockup, which is good, helped to advocate for this. lost sense of big picture on icarus where are we what r we doing but letting that go as we are in unknown place now w/ materials, tour, changes with ashley, just accepting this. feel like whiplash with changes, icarus flies all over place, very unstable at times and chaotic and unclear, have to just go with this personally, realized it a long time ago.

madigan- thinking about process alot. yoyoing emotionally, but accepting about it, btwn got to be definitive/make lists and other part -- wait, other variables, not in place to charge ahead w/grandiose plans. idea of centralization, org principles, how to empower + work with community, what is comm + where is it. plan to be back in ny. dealing with timeframe issues on record. getting tick back east, deciding about chiapas, going to mindfreedom, hearing about social forum gathering. staff call last week - how do we think about our work, centralized orgs, fh giving us opportunities. we're not capitalist go-getters way we might be groomed to be. putting out as question to all of us - last summer, big vision meet at farm, put on context where we were before + now. jordan nyu in lawrence KS now wants to help w/ tour. tour needs to get info to do events themselves, event or day to mobilize coming out, mad pride, wellness. we need couple of sentences to encapsulate sentences of tour.

tour
coming off guide
fundraise
voicemail
accountant - jessie update
outreach materials


AGENDA:
fundraising

**********************FINANCES AND FUNDRAISING *************

we have 39K in bank
4250/mo current expenses
we have 9 mos - thru end of feb
note - based on staff @ 800/mo

but other expense s--
travel, print more books etc, tour.

we have enough $ to get thru this yr if we don't spend a bunch more $. if we want to make it priority to put out a bunch of materials we want to restructure or fundraise

excel spreadsheet

sascha -- losing grant is a big blow.
fall tour - alternative means of income? get paying gigs on college campuses. go back to private funders to print materials. print materials is key. easier to raise $ with materials than without them.

will -- what about FH commit?

ash - they advanced us our paychecks but they haven't raised us any $.

sascha meeting with ken dudek

will - last time we appealed for $ it was winter solstice, so should we put out another appeal?

ash - no worries to raise $ to get thru this year, print materials, pay for website, work thr end of yr. not want to do end of the year desperate appeal at the end of 07 that we did at end of 06. longer term fin strat - important.

will -- what about a commission based fundraiser like at vfr and arise for soc just?

sasch - sounds like something to consider but finding the right person is hard, ads really hassle last time. sasch and mads going to talk w/fh about less

good to talk to FH for advice and ideas

will -- let's start a low-grade scramble now on finances instead of a high grade scramble at end of yr, as ash says.

************************ TOUR *****************************

mads - collective call this sunday. time in sept b4 will goes - gathering tour meet in hudson. then we still have oct, places in holding pattern, continued interest coming in. need a tagline -- couple of sentences that encapsulates intention of tour: wellness alternatives, plans, carnival, mad pride

will - what about ask hosting local groups commit to raise xxx amount of $ to host us?

ash - make clear not prohibitive that we won't come unless you raise xxx $.

will -- greasevan?

ash -- what's happening with people who want to go on tour and be presenter

will -- idea of core presenting group and add-ons. also clear to ad-ons like mel and eliza that can't guarantee airtime, it's flexible

mad -- will+mad commit to be in many/majority. Eddy on west coast, Michael on east coast, Seven definitely portland possibly NW, maryse/alex? -- school, brooklynne might leave country, ashley, jenny in LA wants SoCal/SW, Eliza/Mel from UK,

*will in portland for school and unavail sept 24-oct 4th*

will -- if 22nd sept is all-day retreat in hudson valley, tour could kickoff in NE

providence herbal gathering first week in oct, good place to start tour.

ash spending most of winter in CA. how to get truck to CA? not veggie

sasch - comic artist friends wants to make tour poster 4 color



************** COMING OFF GUIDE + POP ED MATERIALS ***********

Sasch - put alot of energy into materials we already have finished. ash plan on working with sarah in city for this -

sasch - ani difranco playing mid of july - we got one of the tables for this. getting materials ready for that. July 18th NYC. max also asked to do this.

------>> what materials already done and want to covert? <<<-----
"mission statement from website"
"preramble already laid out in snappy way in support guide"
"FAQ - about icarus proj" -- hasn't been written - ash take first stab at this,
"breaking down walls around madness and mental illness - guide to organizing ic grps"
"postcard"
icarus brochure?

ashley - working on with sarah - just to talk about what would look like to work with us, introduce to indesign, show how indesign works. how much we'd pay her, per project, overview. start working with her on lower salary - internship, learning indesign, once efficient raise to rest of us. some collab with her with ash.

will -- sounds good

mad -- need doc with values of organization. underlines our vision from our website

missions statement, vision, principles, how we work with loc. groups, not just bipolar,

madigan -- trauma training at long haul - going thru fight flight free freeze trauma but pathologizing

madigan -- look at what's been written already.

ash -- meet with sarah and see what

sasch -- start with mission statement and postcard

ash -- what goes on the postcard?

will -- culture jam, sendable postcard, tour postcard

all staff -- look at mission statement, post on thread on forum discussion

ash -- uncomfortable releasing coming off guide as is as icarus doc. really want to change some things. idea of making those changes seems triggering and difficult. want signif. changes. don't want to embark on those changes right now. so triggering to think about while going thru suicidal and thinking meds helpful. not helpful to be taking public stand on stuff. it should go out thru freedom center, link to it from icarus website.

mads -- what are basic things you'd want to change. originally it was what launching our pop ed series.

will -- don't agree. we had consensus to do coming off guide back in nov 2006, draft in feb 07. sounds like no longer consensus. 180 degree turn from where we were two half wks ago, like in another universe. collab writing = consensus on what project is, then negotiate constructive compromises. was mad at sascha bc he took back compromises, he negotiated in bad faith. can't get into editorial discussion on guide + rehash now at this meet. icarus wants a doc that is an anthology of people's voices of all different medication experience, which is not coming off guide. not what we decided orig when agreed to do guide.

sasch -- what feels bad to me, feels ironic - whole issue was there was no voice -- authoritative voice of you've done it, you can do it, meanwhile

will - we're back in editorial discussion

madigan - wants the superhero comics of 4 superheros with different relation to meds -- on meds, never on meds, on then got off, on then got off then went back on.

mads -- really import for me, i live with diagn, symptoms, no meds, world puts lot of pressure on me, total moments of despair, maybe i should be on meds and be better, opens up can of worms -- not an option for me. article in sf weekly -- so many people, wow you can live with stuff + never be on meds, i never knew that, that's important part of this. it is really important to me. real choice + self determ should underline whatever we do

sasch - dif stories so powerful

community wellness comic -- 4 pals w/dif relate to meds, archetypal experiences to meds

will so to clarify, no icarus $ for coming off guide, no distro, no icarus name on it, link to FC guide on site

********************** VOICE MAIL *************

put on ashley's cc

people want direct advocacy stuff

mostly we get nyc local #'s and advocacy type calls that we don't really do on ph#

put it on contact us portion of website

ash will send cc info to will to set up voicemail on same service fc uses.

********************** ASHLEY'S HOURS AND ROLE ***********

wants to keep track of hours and bill for hours. probably often less than 15hrs.

returning emails, keep stuff afloat.

********************** COLLECTIVE INITIATIVES ***********

did we pay oryx yet for this?

********************** FH ART SHOW **********************

mad + ash to follow up and get digital images of FH art show + will says will put on site.