September 26, 2007

Geeks in the Woods

Posted by Samhita Mukhopadhyay at 12:57AM

• Comment Now
• Email
• Print
• Reprints
• Share

Sitting in the common area at Hollyhock retreat center, the location of the annual Web of Change Conference, on Cortes Island off the coast of British Columbia, I found myself staring out onto the beautiful Pacific Coast and finally getting a chance to reflect on the work that I have been doing for the past few years in technology and social change. Clearly the point of this innovative conference, given the serene location and resourceful community put together to make WOC happen. In the moments I was not spacing out and gazing off at the beautiful view of the Canada coast, I checked back in to see that I was surrounded by some of the most innovative thinkers in the world. It is rare in social justice/organizing work when one is given the opportunity to reflect on the state of internet organizing in a slow paced, partially wired, nurturing and nourishing environment. It is something I believe every movement needs a little more of; pause and self care.

Web of Change is an annual conference that brings together innovative, conscientious thinkers and leaders to discuss the different ways we can use web technology for social change. This years Web of Change certainly lived up to every expectation I had heard previously. The combination of brain power, location and access to hot tubs 24/7 has that kind of effect I suppose.

After five days of networking, collaborating and partying, I can say in reflection that the role of internet technology still holds currency in the current climate of organizing, leading and fundraising, to say the least. Specifically, I went to Web of Change representing the Youth Media Council and the work we are doing with regards to technology and organizing with our constituents and the greater social change internet community. I participated in a panel discussing the ways in which we can maintain political credibility while developing sites that support movement building. The objective behind sites such as Future5000.com, Mybloc.net, Youthmediacouncil.org, and WiretapMag.org, is to support organizing work as it already exists and to enable their work in new and nuanced ways.

We repped all these sites at this years Web of Change conference which consisted of some other heavy hitters such as Democracy in Action, Forest Ethics, EchoDitto or innovative new sites such as Host a Caucus. We were able to strategize and share the work that we are doing with respect to internet technology and social change, whether that be developing fundraising modules or developing social networking sites for social change activists or finding new ways to strategically design internet campaigns.

The rich conversations filled my brain with new ideas and ways to move forward with my different technology projects, but it also left me with a slew of questions. How can we get more money for our social justice campaigns online? The internet is full of money. How can we begin to direct some of that money toward making good in the world and spreading our knowledge through websites and actually have real money to fund these projects? Most of these projects run on passion and on very limited, if any, budget at all. While I love sharing the work that I am doing with youthmediacouncil.org, Feministing and here at Wiretap and am dedicated to continuing it, how do we make these projects sustainable?

Can you get with me on that?