Minutes of the 2nd IFN Volunteers’ Meeting 16/02/12

The meeting was held in the Stag’s Head pub from 7pm. 6 people attended.

Next meetup: Tuesday, 13th March in the Stags Head from 7-9pm. Facebook event here. 

• Upcoming IFN events:
1. MissRepresentation: in the Sugar club, Feb 22nd – sold out, March 11th – tickets still available (book online at https://entertainment.ticketsolve.com/shows/126522267/events)
2. Action on X events: Feb 21st: public meeting in the Gresham hotel 7-9pm, Feb 25th: public rally at Liberty Hall (the IFN is part of the coalition behind Action on X -http://www.facebook.com/?ref=home#!/actiononx2012 )
3. IFN March Book Club: March 6th, ‘Kicking and Screaming’ by Ivana Bacik (http://www.facebook.com/?ref=home#!/events/162002483916599/)
• Other events/dates: March 8th is international Women’s Day. There’s no IFN event since we have so much on around it. What is happening in Dublin? (Website with events: http://www.internationalwomensday.com/search.asp)

• Areas in the IFN strategic plan:
1. Reproductive Rights (e.g. Action on X)
2. Prostitution & Sex Trafficking (e.g. TORL support)
3. Reclaiming the word Feminism (e.g. theme of launch last September, do we need a new campaign?)
4. Women in Politics (e.g. 50:50, gender quota legislation support)
5. Economic Inequality (e.g. gender-based criticism of budget 2012)
• Other areas we want to work in: Violence against women, LGBT rights, Media representation of women.

• Form of volunteer meetings
1. Need a purely social event/meet & greet/get to know you thing. Make clear: no obligation to commit to anything, all are welcome, transfriendly.
2. A monthly social? Continuation of above.
3. Themed volunteer nights around a specific (topical) issue/campaign. Short talk/lecture (invited guest/IFN person) followed by discussion


• How to recruit volunteers
1. Build a structure to encourage volunteering, e.g. give clear guidelines for blog posts (length, suggested topics etc), e.g. volunteer form on website asking how much time can you commit?, which of these areas are you interested in (tick boxes) etc
2. Make the minimum commitment clear, e.g. it’s fine if you just want to write 1 blog post/come along to 1 volunteer meeting
3. Be clear about the roles volunteers can play/recruit volunteers for specific jobs
4. Use a poll on Doodle.com to find the best time/place for the meetings
5. Contact volunteer email list regularly with event info & jobs we need volunteers for


• Events
1. Use meetup.com where any member of the group can organise events, e.g. groups like Running Amuck have had success with this
2. Place calendar of events centre stage on website/FB. Share google calendar?
3. Use free spaces: Seomra Spraoi, The Living Room, The Lantern Centre, The Exchange (open for booking events)
4. Publish an ‘Equipment Wish List’ online and look for free donations/loans of equipment. Record events and put record online, video or Dictaphone and transcribe.


• Ideas for events
1. Irish version of ‘This is what a feminist looks like’ (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3YA13GNT8Mc)…fun, people will want to be involved, use free equipment, publicity.
2. Film screenings & discussion = good format, screen The Purity Myth, Riot Grrl (look for ideas at LGBT film festival)
3. Feminist writing group
4. Lecture series with discussions
5. Flash mob, liaise with dance groups, use ‘ohm’ flash mob (circle of people chanting ‘ohm’)


• Academia
1. Recruit those carrying out academic research in gender-related areas to write blog posts on their work…support and promote research already being done
2. Run ‘What is feminism?’ workshops in secondary schools…issue not addressed otherwise


• Stance on issues
1. Avoid being defined by stance on abortion. People who disagree can choose not to participate in those campaigns.
2. State that we’re transfriendly on FB/website
3. Publish ground rules for FB like for any forum & delete posts which violate them, e.g. no misogyny, homophobia, transphobia etc…FB page will be a welcoming space


• Funding. TENI gives funding and there’s a small poll of applicants. Look into Grundyvig funding.
• Promotion. Get t-shirts to advertise presence at events, leaflets to hand out at our events & other organisations events, get business cards.
• Networking. Reach out to other groups, e.g. TENI & LGBT groups, college fem/gender societies.
• Miscellaneous. Set up blog posts to automatically post to FB.
Thanks to those who attended the meeting. Please comment to let me know if I’ve missed something. Those who weren’t there, please comment if you have anything to add.

Emma Regan
IFN Coordinator

---