Notes from Sunday's Support and Skill Share Call 8/2/09


This was a really exciting call because it was Icarus' first ever wonkavator skill share with a specific focus!

and for three people on the call, this was their first time on the wonkavator! yeah, awesome!

present on the call....

Brian (detroit)
Stephanie (detroit)
Hannah (boston)
Agustina
Sandpiper (asheville)
Annie (NYC)
After (ohio)
Inel/Molly (asheville)


greetings, introductions, agreements and call guidelines set, meeting roles delegated...

Inel agreed to facilitate and invited others to cofacilitate as inspired
Sandpiper took notes.
After kept track of the time.

CHECK IN QUESTION POSED...


What is your interest/involvement in icarus or in local group organizing?

Brian and Stephanie are working together to get a local icarus group off the ground in Detroit.

After is involved with the Icarus Support Network Working Group and is also interested in starting a student group on her college campus.

Hannah is a part of organizing a brand new icarus group which has been meeting for a couple of months now in Boston.

Annie led the student icarus group at NYU for two years and now is one of our education and outreach coordinators for icarus. Her focus is on helping others start college campus icarus groups.

Agustina is a participant and organizer of a radical mental health group in Argentina.

Molly/Inel helped seed and start the local group in asheville which is four years old now. She is also the coordinator for the Icarus Support Network working group. Hopes to get support around issues for her local group as well as give support to others on the call.

Sandpiper has been a member of the icarus project web community for the last two years, is a part of the Support Network working group and is helping put the icarus zine together... visit the Icarus Zine Project Group here... https://site.icarusprojectarchive.org/icaruszineproject She has also been getting involved with the local group of mad hatters in asheville.


Support and Skill Share discussion begins with a question posed by Inel...


What do you feel you do really well and what are your passions about organizing locally in your community? What do you want to learn or what support do you need?


*COLLEGE CAMPUS ORGANIZING...

After would love to start a group on her college campus, but doesn't know where to start and is scared that there will not be any support from the administration or counseling center on campus. She's also afraid that the administration won't play by the rules.

Annie has had experience working with the administration at two different schools and is familiar in dealing with confrontations with counseling centers and administration on college campuses.

At NYU they couldn't organize an icarus group with the sponsorship of the counseling center or administration so the they came up with ways to bring students together on campus and frame it in ways that didn't threaten the university. This could vary from campus to campus though.

Right now Annie is helping create foundational tools such as SEED Packets which would include a guide for starting icarus campus groups, a facilitation guide, a history guide and other kits, tools and techniques.

She is also working on networking with other campuses to get Icarus groups started.

There is a google group for those interested in campus organizing and an organic group working group too... called "Campus Icarus" https://site.icarusprojectarchive.org/og

For more information on the google group or the Campus Icarus organic group you can write to annie here... annie@theicarusproject.net


What makes campus groups special to organize? How is organizing a campus group different than organizing other local icarus groups?

Annie shared thoughts and experiences in regard to this question...

1) Figuring out how to deal with the administration
2) Determining your allies: Who are your allies?

ie: the counseling center? professors? mentors? other staff/faculty?

The NYU group approached the campus counseling center but couldn't get the support to start a Campus Icarus group... you have to have a counselor present if you are going to have a support group so at NYU they created a STUDENT LIFE GROUP and hosted events and workshops... the student life group could be a support group this way without calling itself a support group.

3) Student Turnover: How do you sustain your group with students graduating etc.?

4) More work goes into organizing a college campus icarus group. Need passionate people for organizing and need ability to delegate

Inel added that the main difference in campus organizing is that you are dealing with institutions that are concerned about the liability of sponsoring an Icarus group.


*ORGANIZING A LOCAL GROUP IN BOSTON...

Hannah shared that the local group in Boston has had some really great meetings in which members felt connected, supported and safe. But they also have had meetings that were more hostile and conflict ridden. The facilitators don't have a good strategy to handle angry judgmental people. How do you deal with that? Do you tell the person "This is what the group needs from you...?"

Agustina shared that this kind of thing happened in her group in Argentina. The group was trying to be tolerant and respectful of a person who joined the group, but this person was hijacking the group and the collective didn't know how to stop that from happening especially because they were trying to be an anti authoritarian and anti oppressive group.

(Agustina writes about it in the forums here https://site.icarusprojectarchive.org/fo.....highlight=)

And another icarus group that participated in the recent 3rd Sunday Call is having to deal with a similar situation in their local support group too. So this is something a lot of local groups deal with. What can you do?

Inel shared that consensus driven groups work really hard to accommodate different people with their differences and in their different states, and that can be difficult.

It is a delicate balance.... on one hand you try to accommodate and give positive support to folks with different skill bases and on the other hand you need to have guidelines and boundaries to keep the group safe. You need to focus on the group as a whole rather than just trying to accommodate one person or a few people.

SOME SUGGESTIONS THAT WERE GIVEN TO HELP DEAL WITH THIS KIND OF SITUATION:

1) Have guidelines or agreements for meetings. Some groups read these agreements aloud at the beginning of every meeting. This can really help!

2) Go back to the meeting agreements and explain or go over the agreements that people may not have understood or seem to be having trouble keeping. This helps the individuals in the group understand what the group needs from them in order to be a safe space for everyone.

3) As a facilitator you are a time keeper and vibe watcher. If the energy is getting too heated or tense, call a break. You could say something like Let's take a break and shake it off. While the group takes a break, you can talk one to one with the person whose behavior is affecting the group. Give the person specific examples of what is or isn't okay.

Agustina shared that in her group they found certain questions to work well when the energy became loaded and heavy.... Someone would say,

Are you okay?
Do you want to go out and smoke?
Do you want to go for a walk?

They would invite the person to step out with someone else from the group if they wanted.

3) Use "I" statements and address the behavior of the person, not their character.

4) The NYC group has come up with three hand signals that those participating in the group can use..

(((EDITOR'S NOTE: Can someone help me fill in what I missed here? thanks!)))

a) I'm uncomfortable/I'm being triggered out >>>
b) I totally get it/ >>>> make twinkle fingers
c)

5) To take the pressure off you could ask the person who is angry, hostile, or tense

Is there anything you need from the group?
Is there anything else you need from the group?


After commented that she really liked the idea of hand signals especially for those times you are suffering from PTSD or triggered out and can't verbalize it.


*GETTING A GROUP OFF THE GROUND IN DETROIT

Brian and Stephanie shared about the Detroit group next. The Detroit group hasn't had their first support meeting yet, but they have met to do a lot of other organizing to get their fledgling group off the ground. The group has been busy setting up meeting guidelines and making and posting fliers to put the word out about the group. They also potentially have found a permanent meeting location for their group which is amazing! So far, those involved in organizing detroit icarus have received emails from individuals interested in joining the group. They also have received other random signs that people are getting the fliers.

This is hopeful and exciting!

As far as organizing with others goes, Stephanie shared that she struggles with being patient with others in the group. She wants everyone to be HEARD in the meetings and she doesn't want any one person to get burdened. She doesn't want to appoint leaders but wonders, "how do we get stuff done?"

Inel complimented the Detroit group for going into this with their eyes-wide open and not identifying one person as the group leader. Even if you have no appointed leaders, people coming to the group tend to see certain people as the leader anyway. But what you really want is to encourage group ownership and group leadership. This is an ebb and flow kind of thing .


SOME OF THE SUGGESTIONS FOR ENCOURAGING GROUP OWNERSHIP AND GROUP LEADERSHIP:

1) delegate tasks... break tasks down into really tangible bites (micro tasks) and partner people together to work on them if need be..

just as an example, if you are creating a flyer to advertise the group, one person could do the writing for the flyer, another person could edit it and another person could do the artwork.

2) practice stepping aside or stepping back... if one person always steps up and steps in & does things for the group, it gives other people in the group the signs and signals that they don't need to do anything. Someone else will do it, right? We need to be conscious as leaders that if we step up all the time, we block the path of someone else to step up. So we practice stepping aside which means we are still there to give support but we are not in taking on the main role. An example of this would be to invite someone to co-facilitate a meeting with you. We also can practice stepping back and out of the spotlight. An example of this would be to have someone else facilitate, but be the back up person if needed.

3) rather than having a ready to go mission statement before the group has fully formed, allow yourselves time to get to know each other and then you can evolve a mission statement together.

Brian also commented on how much work it takes to start a new group and to find interested people.

People want ready made groups, but groups take time to build!


SOME SUGGESTIONS FOR GENERATING INTEREST IN AND CREATING VISIBILITY FOR YOUR GROUP:

1. internet (email list, posts on craigslist, etc)
2. phone numbers on fliers, postcards or in alternative newspapers calendar of events
3. SEED EVENTS that reflect the values of the group (ie: films, panel discussions, ect)
4. partnering with allies/ally groups in the greater community (ie: one icarus group tabled at a recent anarchist book fair. at the tabling event they were able to give out their flyers and postcards and had an email list people could sign up for)

Stephanie said that in the fall the Detroit group is going to have a table at the DO IT YOURSELF FAIR. She also liked the idea of SEED events and wants to discuss ideas for seed events at her next group meeting. One idea is to have a seed event that deals with a concern that has come up a lot in the community. This is the concern about not using medication. The detroit group could have a seed event with a speaker who addresses this issue and an event that would provide people with more resources in regard to this issue.

*CLOSING COMMENTS, CONNECTING IN THE FUTURE & CHECK OUTS:

For checkout we shared the best way that we can be contacted so that we can continue to network and support each other beyond this call. We also shared what we are going to take with us from this call.

Agustina thanked everyone for sharing their experiences.

Inel shared that she'd like to follow up with people on the call and encouraged us to continue supporting each other. Would like support into how to breathe life into a solid and consistent group that has lost its pizzaz. Encourages others if they are interested to join the Support Network Working Group https://site.icarusprojectarchive.org/su.....rkinggroup TO get ahold of Inel you can PM her or write to support@icarusproject.net

After plans to get in touch with Annie about organizing a group on her campus and ways to get around the campus counseling center.

Annie loved today's skill share call and thinks it is really helpful for us to mentor each other in this way. Would like to have more of these support/skill share calls in the future. Grateful to Molly for organizing this call. Looks forward to hearing from After and anyone else interested in college campus organizing. TO contact Annie write to annie@icarusproject.net and/or Check out the Campus Icarus Organic Group https://site.icarusprojectarchive.org/campusicarus

Hannah felt like it was a great call and feels rejuvenated by the supportive voices and by the knowledge that we have this wonkavator support/skill share resource available! Likes the idea of speaking agreements - that agreements are spoken aloud at the beginning of every meeting. The ideas for stepping up and stepping to the side were helpful too. TO contact Hannah you can send her a PM. She is storm.brew on icarus or you can find her in the Boston subforum here https://site.icarusprojectarchive.org/fo.....m.php?f=90

Brian liked the sense of cohesion and hearing everyone's input. The call helped recharge him. Lots of thanks to Inel. Bryan is at icarusdetroit@yahoo.com

Stephanie especially appreciated the idea of "stepping back." Thanks Inel! You can contact Stephanie at icarusdetroit@yahoo.com or neci@aol.com

Sandpiper would love to see more of these calls for supporting and skill sharing with each other around our local group stuff! She'd also love to see more icarus rad/mad groups from around the country/world/galaxy support, share skills and collaborate with each other in this way! There are a lot of icarus groups or radical mental health groups that have been around awhile. It would be cool to have them participate in these calls. Lets keep having this kind of support available and spread the word about these calls! TO contact sandpiper you can PM her on the site.

In closing Inel reminded everyone of the THIRD SUNDAY COMMUNITY CALLS on the wonkavator. These are calls that you can get personal support and support for your local group too.

Dreams of a day when we can have "SEED GRANTS" for groups and more groups doing more of these skill shares. Would love a local group check in every three months or so. Lets use the site, use the resources and reach out! Lots of thanks to After for outreach on this call!