Earlier this month, @lily-da-vine announced her intention to fork Anarchapulco. The idea is to provide alternative events and programming to both complement and extend the duration of the main Anarchapulco conference.
I thought this was a rad idea, and voiced my support, telling Lily I'd be down to help. Lily asked me to brainstorm ideas for the Great Forkening, and over the past couple of weeks, I've come up with a thing or two.
This post is about the most exciting (to me) possibilities I've brainstormed thus far:
The Anarchopreneurialism Track
The decentralized nature of the fork (longer duration, multiple locations, presumably fewer competing events happening concurrently) should allow for a deeper and more thorough focus on different interest areas or "disciplines" of anarchist living. One of these "disciplines" is something I'll call anarchopreneurialism.
If there's one thing Anarchapulco attendees have in spades, it's brilliant entrepreneurial ideas. I attended Anarchapulco 1 and Anarchapulco 3, and I lost count of how many awesome ideas for businesses I heard. Businesses that not only held a lot of profit potential, but that also could become a powerful force for disrupting statism. A lot of these ideas came from young folks who have tons of drive, but little in the way of resources or entrepreneurial experience. At the same time, there are many people at the conference who are already seasoned entrepreneurs with three or four successful startups under their belts.
So why not put these two groups together in a loosely organized setting, with the intention of nurturing some of those ideas, and see what happens?
While the main conference generally has good programming for entrepreneurial anarchists in the form of speakers and workshops, I think the Great Forkening can offer some unique opportunities in this realm.
For instance:
Mentorship Opportunities
- Budding anarchopreneurs submit a proposal of their business idea, including a business plan and an introductory video.
- A database is created.
- Seasoned anarchopreneurs select an individual or team whose project they are interested in, and a mentorship is formed.
- The mentors and mentees can meet with each other during their time in Acapulco, then exchange contact information and continue the mentorship when they return home.
Anarchopreneur Idol
- Budding anarchopreneurs develop a presentation for their business idea.
- A panel of seasoned anarchopreneurs is assembled to judge the contestants.
- Through a series of presentations and Q&A sessions with the judges, contestants are eliminated American Idol-style.
** Phase 1: A basic presentation of the business idea
** Phase 2: A presentation on how this business will aid in the disruption of statism
** Phase 3: An intense question and answer session in which contestants are grilled on their idea's profitability, their own entrepreneurial suitability, and any other questions the judges have. - The last anarchopreneur standing gets prize money to start their business. (The prize money can be collected through donations in cryptocurrency and/or fiat.)
How to Profit as an AnarchArtist
At this year's conference in February, @erikaharris and I gave a talk called Art Your Way to Anarchy. (Click the link if you want to read the text version of our speech.) In it, we discussed how creative expression can be integral to freeing the individual and freeing the world. We encouraged creators to go out and create!
What we didn't touch on is how difficult it can be to support even a modest lifestyle as an artist. The traditional wisdom in our culture is that artists either have to starve, or "sell-out" to become superstars. If this traditional wisdom ever was true, it has ceased to be so. Advancements in technology make it possible to make a comfortable living as an independent creator. No longer do artists have to be dependent upon the Music Industry, the New York Art Dealers, or the Big Five Publishing Houses for our careers and sustenance. But, as artists, many of us have been trained by our culture that "art isn't profitable". We've been admonished to "keep it at the hobby level" and "don't quit your day job."
I truly believe that the world suffers when talented artists forego creation to stay in unfulfilling day jobs. And this is doubly true if the artist in question happens to be an anarchist! The world needs our creative endeavors to aid in its awakening. In order for that to happen, AnarchArtists have to embrace the idea that Art Can Be Profitable. We need AnarchArtists to become Anarchopreneurs!
So for the Great Forkening, I think it would be amazing to have workshops and panels focused on how to make your art profitable. How to share your artistic message of emancipation--your novel, your comic, your short film, or whatever it is you're creating--with as many people as possible, and how to get PAID so that you can devote more of your time and energy to creating and sharing that message.
That's my vision for the Great Forkening. I'd love to hear yours!
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Hi! I'm Leslie Starr O'Hara, but my friends call me Starr. I live in the mountains of North Carolina and I am a FULL TIME WRITER! I write humor, essays, and fiction here on Steemit and elsewhere.
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