16 May 2018

Meeting minutes for May 2018

Meeting minutes for Wednesday, 16 May 2018
In attendance: Jeff, Barbara, Bob, Kara, Struan, Marsha


Welcome and Introductions


Reports

Minutes (Marsha)

  • March meeting: That meeting was canceled because of bad weather.
  • April meeting: Marsha will post detailed minutes when/if she finds her notes from that meeting.
    • The April meeting was attended by Prachi Rao (AIUSA Field Organizer), two first-time attendees, Jeff, Barbara, Bob, Gina, Struan, and Marsha. 
    • We wrote a total of 42 cards for Amnesty International's annual Nowruz action.
    • Some discussion about Struan possibly starting a new AI group in Swarthmore
Social Media Director's Report (Barbara)
  • Created a Facebook event (rather than a regular post) for this meeting and paid to boost it
  • The event reached over 1000 people but yielded only 6 interactions
  • Next time Barbara will boost the regular post (and not the event)
Announcements 

There will be an AIUSA membership call on Wednesday, 23 May, at 8 p.m.
  • Topic: refugee resettlement
  • To participate, dial 646.568.7788 and use the code 748869667
2018 Malvern Harvest Oktoberfest is on Sunday, 9 September, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.
  • Last year we got a booth for free (normally $50 for nonprofits)
  • Marsha will ask event organizer if we can have a free booth again this year
  • For this to work, lots of Group 342 members will need to sign up for a shift at the booth
  • Ideas: "pay to argue" (Jeff), book sale (Struan)
Courses on human rights issues at edX.com (Bob)
  • Find them here
  • Bob has gone through them, says they are brief and very informative
Old Business

New Swarthmore AI group
  • Was discussed briefly with Prachi at the April meeting
  • Since then, e-mail discussion with Jeff and Struan, followed by conference call with Struan, Prachi, and several AIUSA staffers
  • Seems to be a lot of pressure from AIUSA for Struan to spearhead new group in Swarthmore, but that is something he cannot take on right now
Updates and Actions
  • Peaceful Protester in Pre-trial Detention (Russian Federation): UA 90/18
  • Yet Another Environmental Defender Killed (Colombia): UA 88/18
  • Human Rights Activist Unable to Leave Country (Equatorial Guinea): UA 89/18
  • Poet Under Illegal House Arrest "Prepared to Die" (China): UA 270/17
New Business
  • AIUSA Annual Local Group Census 2018
    • Questions about contact info, activities, accomplishments, goals
    • Marsha to ask members (via Google Group) who wants their name and e-mail address included in census
  • Discussion about meeting structure
    • How to get first-time visitors to engage and return?
    • Struan's suggestion (based on experiences with past AI groups): Do letter writing first, then have some activity (usually planning for an upcoming event)
    • Marsha's suggestion (for meetings and tabling): We should come up with a concise, clear description of Amnesty International that we can all use whenever people ask "Who are you and what do you do?"
Next meeting: Wednesday, 20 June 2018, 7:30 p.m., Wegmans cafe in Malvern

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