Covering a change in our event cycle, student societies, film night, local elections, and many other things!
Manchester No2ID Logo
Local Elections 2007
--------------------
The local election campaigning was on the whole a success. It did not attract a great deal of media attention, but highlighted the existence of Manchester No2ID among Manchester City Council candidates and gained us some useful contacts for lobbying through parties.
The process of contacting candidates was pretty simple once it got underway; next year we should attempt to tackle the entirety of Greater Manchester.
Flyering Events
---------------
Attendance this year at Fortnightly Flyering events has been pretty poor, due to Thursday being inconvenient for people and to a general feeling that the events don't produce a fantastic return on the time and effort invested. Everyone at the meeting agreed that it would be best to suspend the Fortnightly Flyerings, effective immediately.
Instead, we will make a more concerted effort for monthly Saturday afternoon flyerings. We will hold these in Manchester every month, probably in St. Anne's Square which doesn't have as much foot traffic as Market Street but does have more people with time to stop and chat. We will have a stall, petition sheets, and orbiting leafletters. We will make more of an effort to publicise these events further in advance.
The next Saturday afternoon event will be on either 2nd or 9th June. Discussion is taking place on the Manchester No2ID list at
http://www.no2id.net/mailman/listinfo/no2id.manchester over which date suits people better. The July flyering will be on Saturday 14th July.
Monthly Meetings
----------------
Moving our monthly meeting to Thursdays has harmed attendance; we will move back to Wednesdays with immediate effect.
The next Manchester No2ID meetings will be Wednesday 13th June and Wednesday 18th July, both at the Town Hall Tavern at 7pm.
Public Meeting
--------------
We discussed the possibility of holding a public meeting on a Saturday evening in July. Possible venues include the Town Hall Tavern, the Friends Meeting House or the Basement. A weekend in July was suggested, possibly the same day as the afternoon flyering event, or the weekend after (though Dave would not be able to make this).
Suggestions for potential speakers would be welcome.
Students
--------
After an academic year, our student society has achieved little, which is a shame. It is about time we looked at booking a Fresher's Fair stall for Manchester University; it would be good if we could also get some presence at MMU and Salford Uni. It would be worth contacting those universities' affiliated political party societies as a "seed" for a No2ID presence. We don't know whether our inactivity this year at Manchester Uni will count against us with the SU.
We should make running a Students Against ID society as easy as possible - try to organise termly rather than monthly events, centred at the University. We already have a Manchester SAID presence on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=2320437216 though the group has no members yet. Our aim for a student society is to get the Student's Union to pass a motion opposing ID cards as well as to drum up support for the anti-ID cause. All it will take is one or two students with a little time and inclination...
Media
-----
We should make more effort to get involved with the media, writing more letters to the MEN and other local press and sending more press releases. Getting involved in reasonable numbers on Internet discussion boards would also be good; Swindon No2ID do well out of their talkswindon.org website.
Unions and Parties
------------------
If we have more time for organisational campaigning due to loss of Fortnightly Flyerings, we should redouble our attempts to get political parties, unions etc.
Movie Night
-----------
We have discussed the possibility of a Sunday evening Manchester No2ID-sponsored film night at the FAB Cafe on Portland Street. This has been agreed in principle, and a date and film need to be confirmed. Suggestions include "Brazil", "1984" and "V for Vendetta". The film would be preceded by a short talk from a No2ID speaker (probably Dave), and attendees would be encouraged to sign our petition and pick up leaflets. Dave would rather do this after the smoking ban comes in.
Diary Dates
-----------
Saturday 2nd/9th June (TBC): Stall and flyering, St. Anne's Square, 1pm
Wednesday 13th June: Meeting, Town Hall Tavern, 7pm
Saturday 14th July: Stall and flyering, St. Anne's Square, 1pm
Saturday 14th/21st July: Public Meeting (TBC)
Wednesday 18th July: Meeting, Town Hall Tavern, 7pm
--------------------
The local election campaigning was on the whole a success. It did not attract a great deal of media attention, but highlighted the existence of Manchester No2ID among Manchester City Council candidates and gained us some useful contacts for lobbying through parties.
The process of contacting candidates was pretty simple once it got underway; next year we should attempt to tackle the entirety of Greater Manchester.
Flyering Events
---------------
Attendance this year at Fortnightly Flyering events has been pretty poor, due to Thursday being inconvenient for people and to a general feeling that the events don't produce a fantastic return on the time and effort invested. Everyone at the meeting agreed that it would be best to suspend the Fortnightly Flyerings, effective immediately.
Instead, we will make a more concerted effort for monthly Saturday afternoon flyerings. We will hold these in Manchester every month, probably in St. Anne's Square which doesn't have as much foot traffic as Market Street but does have more people with time to stop and chat. We will have a stall, petition sheets, and orbiting leafletters. We will make more of an effort to publicise these events further in advance.
The next Saturday afternoon event will be on either 2nd or 9th June. Discussion is taking place on the Manchester No2ID list at
http://www.no2id.net/mailman/listinfo/no2id.manchester over which date suits people better. The July flyering will be on Saturday 14th July. Monthly Meetings
----------------
Moving our monthly meeting to Thursdays has harmed attendance; we will move back to Wednesdays with immediate effect.
The next Manchester No2ID meetings will be Wednesday 13th June and Wednesday 18th July, both at the Town Hall Tavern at 7pm.
Public Meeting
--------------
We discussed the possibility of holding a public meeting on a Saturday evening in July. Possible venues include the Town Hall Tavern, the Friends Meeting House or the Basement. A weekend in July was suggested, possibly the same day as the afternoon flyering event, or the weekend after (though Dave would not be able to make this).
Suggestions for potential speakers would be welcome.
Students
--------
After an academic year, our student society has achieved little, which is a shame. It is about time we looked at booking a Fresher's Fair stall for Manchester University; it would be good if we could also get some presence at MMU and Salford Uni. It would be worth contacting those universities' affiliated political party societies as a "seed" for a No2ID presence. We don't know whether our inactivity this year at Manchester Uni will count against us with the SU.
We should make running a Students Against ID society as easy as possible - try to organise termly rather than monthly events, centred at the University. We already have a Manchester SAID presence on Facebook at
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=2320437216 though the group has no members yet. Our aim for a student society is to get the Student's Union to pass a motion opposing ID cards as well as to drum up support for the anti-ID cause. All it will take is one or two students with a little time and inclination... Media
-----
We should make more effort to get involved with the media, writing more letters to the MEN and other local press and sending more press releases. Getting involved in reasonable numbers on Internet discussion boards would also be good; Swindon No2ID do well out of their talkswindon.org website.
Unions and Parties
------------------
If we have more time for organisational campaigning due to loss of Fortnightly Flyerings, we should redouble our attempts to get political parties, unions etc.
Movie Night
-----------
We have discussed the possibility of a Sunday evening Manchester No2ID-sponsored film night at the FAB Cafe on Portland Street. This has been agreed in principle, and a date and film need to be confirmed. Suggestions include "Brazil", "1984" and "V for Vendetta". The film would be preceded by a short talk from a No2ID speaker (probably Dave), and attendees would be encouraged to sign our petition and pick up leaflets. Dave would rather do this after the smoking ban comes in.
Diary Dates
-----------
Saturday 2nd/9th June (TBC): Stall and flyering, St. Anne's Square, 1pm
Wednesday 13th June: Meeting, Town Hall Tavern, 7pm
Saturday 14th July: Stall and flyering, St. Anne's Square, 1pm
Saturday 14th/21st July: Public Meeting (TBC)
Wednesday 18th July: Meeting, Town Hall Tavern, 7pm
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