UMass Boston Labor Research Center looking for a proposal from us
I e-mailed Susan Moir from UMass Boston a couple days back. Here's some relevant snippets of her response:
About the conference, I am very interested in hosting it but I'm looking
for three things:
* A planning committee that is not us here at the LRC. We are
very short on resources and cannot pull off a conference but can support
and host one.
* A timeline
* A budget
I need to make a decision about our involvement by early July so I will
need all of the above before then. I have cc'd my peeps who are also
interested in this project as well as some of my staff who will b
surprised to find out that I am even considering a conference next year!
I think that it is a very exciting idea for the LRC to host a conference
on labor and technology. It fits very well with our research agenda on
the Future of Work. Let's see if a proposal can come together.
Any questions for Susan?
I have one. She says "but can support and host one." I'd like to know exactly what that entails.
Here's my questions to Susan
Here's some questions off the top of my head.
Budget
========
Do you need to see the money up front or can it just be on paper?
If the LRC hosts, will that space be free?
Will the LRC be able to pay for any of the costs?
Space
========
How much space could LRC offer?
What potential dates would the space be available?
timelines
Seems like we're getting a pretty good handle on a budget (roughly 10K at this point, though much depends on how much the site costs).
In terms of a timeline, does anybody have an example of one for a conference of similar size that we could use as a template? That might also give us a better handle on the tasks involved in organizing the conference.
I have actual cost figures for UMass
$10,000 is short money for a conference depending on the number of participants and amenities, food for example. I've checked availability and will post the results here when I get to the office today. I also have a site layout.
Proposal for LRC
Spoke with Susan at a meeting the other day and it looks like we have till 7/10 (at the latest) to submit something. So here's a first draft based on suggestions so far. Susan thought space at UMass would run about $1000 a day, and suggested the $1000 food budget.
Looks like some funding might be available via the LRC's "Future of Work" program, particularly if it's held at UMass.
-----
Labor Technology Conference
Date: January 20-21, 2007
Location: UMass Boston
Anticipated attendance: 75
Budget:
$2500 hotels
$2000 site rental
$1000 food
$1000 equipment rental
$1000 travel sponsorships
$500 printing
$500 office supplies
---
$8500
Planning Committee (in formation):
Bill Bumpus
Steve Dondley
Eric Goldhagen
Wayne Langley
Matt Noyes
Shai Sachs
Rand Wilson
Timeline:
July 2006-September 2006: recruit planning committee members
July 2006-November 2006: enlist sponsors, raise funds
September 2006-November 2006: recruit presenters, workshop leaders
October 2006-January 2007: publicize conference within labor movement
Thanks, Bill
July is next week. We need to get cracking.
What are the figures above based upon? From the wiki provided by Mark Dilley?
UMass Bsotn Conference
Let me get back to some of the questions asked earlier.
I am anticipating that the Labor Resource Center can cover the costs of space and food for 50-75 participants on campus for two days. That would be one small ballroom (for plenaries); 4 breakout rooms; 2 breakfasts, 2 lunches and coffee breaks. I estimate roughly $4-4.5k.
I have been thinking a Friday and Saturday in January. Friday, Jan 5 is already booked so dates should be identified soon. The following weekend is MLK. It would be best--parking, workload at the LRC, etc--to have it when school is not in session. School starts Jan 29.
If an external group handles registration and there is no on-site registration, space rental on campus is cheaper.
My deadline is driven by an upcoming meeting all the UMass Labor Center Directors where we set priorities for the next year. I would like this to be one of the priorities.
For those unfamiliar with the LRC, we are developing a technology initiatve as one focus of our research agenda: The Future of Work in Massachusetts. We ran an intensive course last winter for union leaders that addressed the uses of technologies for organizing. Wayne Langley and Bill Bumpus were both involved. Steve Bachman is consulting with us on the development of an On-Line Resource Center where unions and community groups can participate in an open source website of jobs and employers in Massachusetts.
Looking forward to seeing the feedback to Bill's proposal.
s
More reasonable budget
The 4 to 4.5K seems much doable. I'm heartened by that.
could be more
I think the 4K was just for space and food? We'd still need to cover equipment, printing, etc. I think the hotel and transportation pieces are where we have the most leeway - the more $$ we raise the more we can consider bringing in people from outside the area.
sources
Yeah, I used the budget wiki, plus info from Susan on rental fees at UMass - seemed like as good a starting point as any!
I think perhaps our most immediate task is to start nailing down some of the conference's content. A question for folks who have attended similar events (e.g., LaborTech or the Organizers' Collaborative): were there any workshops presented there that would be useful (or could be adapted) for our envisioned audience?
UMass Boston Conference
Just reminding all that I need a 1-2 page draft proposal very soon. Nothing fancy but must include a brief description of the purpose of the conference and the intended audience, # of expected participants, planned dates, a few of the suggested workshop topics and the proposed bottom line cost (How about we just say that the conference will cost ~$10k and the LRC will cover ~$5k?. We also need either the name of the lead contact person or, if no one is willing to commit yet, the names of the planning committee members. This last thing is non-negotiable. The LRC will not be able to go forward on this partnership unless the partners have names attached.
an updated version
Labor Technology Conference
Purpose of conference: to increase the familiarity with and use of new media technology by union activists.
Intended audience: Union members and other working people
Planned dates: January 20-21, 2007
Possible workshop topics:
Community Internet, Wi-Fi and Net Neutrality
Labor Culture and Technology
Radio and Labor Media
Web Sites, Blogs and Using Technology to Build Organizing and Information Networks
Workplace Issues Internet Access and the use of the internet on the job
Labor Media, Education and Labor Culture
Globalization For Workers Using Communication Technology
Labor And Who Controls The Internet
Embedding Workers and Spying On The Job & Off The Job
How To Start A Labor TV Community Access Show
Micro Radio and The Labor Potential
Technology, Deregulation and Health and Safety
Labor Networking, Democracy and the Internet: Lessons For Today and The Future
Streaming You Labor Rally Or Conference and How To Do It
WIN, Pacifica and Labor Radio
Development of regional labor portals and LaborNets Internationally
Defense of internet for high value content and for democratic control
International labor media network
Outsourcing, Technology and Labor & Organizing Tech Workers Here & Abroad
Building International Labor Film & Video Festivals-Lessons On How To Do It
Location: UMass Boston
Anticipated attendance: 75
Budget:
$2000 hotels
$4000 site rental
$1000 food
$1000 equipment rental
$1000 travel sponsorships
$500 printing
$500 office supplies
---
$10000
Planning Committee (in formation):
Bill Bumpus
Steve Dondley
Eric Goldhagen
Wayne Langley
Matt Noyes
Shai Sachs
Rand Wilson
Timeline:
July 2006-September 2006: recruit planning committee members
July 2006-November 2006: enlist sponsors, raise funds
September 2006-November 2006: recruit presenters, workshop leaders
October 2006-January 2007: publicize conference within labor movement
conference
Good start, Bill. Thank you. If you the can send the proposal in Word, it will save me time reformating it.
It would be very helpful to me to have the organizational identification for each of the Planning Committee members.
When can the Planning Commmittee meet and when can I meet with the Planning Committee?
Tuesday the 11th?
How about if we schedule a meeting for July 11, before or after the NLRB demo? (Assuming Steve will be in Boston for the occasion!) We could probably meet at one of the many watering holes on Causeway Street).
Do folks think January is still a reasonable target date? We seem to be kind of slow in getting off the ground. I like the fact that we're using Drupal (and Wiki) as the main tool for organizing the conference - hopefully by the time we're done we'll be able to give a workshop on how (or how not) to organize conferences online! On the other hand, if things don't pick up some over the next few weeks, maybe we should think about shooting for a later date (maybe spring break?)
Folks can email their affiliations ("for identification purposes only") to me at wbumpus62@comcast.net.