Hey everyone, it’s time for a forking update but this one’s going to focus on two things: what others have already contributed and what we still need. A lot of people really want to get involved but have no idea how to dip their toes in. Some people with my encouragement have been posting these ideas and honestly they just haven’t gotten enough attention.

I want to start by reminding everyone that this is a DIY conference meaning it’s up to you to make your reality. People like @erikaharris, @lesliestarrohara and @dragonanarchist have already started in small ways just by posting the things they’d like to see and honestly guys, that’s the beginning of this.

Yes, that's a chicken made of forks, thank you Google

This thing is subject to change at any time and that’s the beauty in it. It’s not going to be your standard conference in any sense so it’s only natural that there will be some confusion. Much of this thing has been born in private conversation and discussion which is not in any way shared online as part of this debate.

Some time after I posted my intent to fork my friend Amanda known here as the @dragonanarchist posted her thoughts on the project. Like her love and partner @larkenrose, she is great at looking at the big picture of things and in her post titled “The Great Forkening of Anarchapulco: A Counter to the Counter Conference or a Best Buddy” she outlined the things she did and didn’t love about Anarchapulco.

She ended the post with her vision for the concept as a whole, a truly decentralized open sourced concept which utilizes circles instead of squares. Intending to smash the standard speaker/audience style conference structure, she uses the metaphors of circles to help us organize in a way that will let what’s truly valuable shine, not just what we as primary organizers think is valuable.

“I imagined,
instead of...
a week-long speaker/event type schedule, with ONE person on a stage talking at an audience,
there were an event with a marketplace of Ideas/Topics, and each Topic or Activity had it's own space, it's own circle or room or building for it, and anyone who wanted to discuss that topic, trade goods/service related to that topic, or teach about that topic could do so in that area.
There could be a room/building/circle for people all discussing health/food, sharing recipes, vendors selling foods, discussions arising about it, where anyone can end up having the floor to speak, depending on how the conversations go.
There could be a room/building/circle for music -- performers, vendors, creators, writers, or anything related to that.
There could be one for Philosophy.
One for Investing/Financial activities or topics.
One for Bitcoin/Cryptocurrency.
One for varied worldviews, from spiritual practices to ideas for how to live better.
One for Relationships/Love.
There wouldn't really need to be one central focal meet up point, and different planned activites could be centered around the varied Idea/Topic Circles.”
“The Great Forkening of Anarchapulco: A Counter to the Counter Conference or a Best Buddy”

This was the result of many very passionate conversations on the topic between Amanda and I and I honestly love how she laid out goals for the concept of the thing. It gives people an idea of what the big picture could look like and it’d be decentralized and full of freedom, which is exactly what anarchists really crave.

In her post “Steemfest Anarchapulco If You Fork Them Will Folks Come” @erikaharris voiced her support of both forks we proposed, as well as a great idea for a possible forking event a different sort of open mic thing she’s dubbed the “Listening Lounge”. For anyone interested in the Listening Lounge, please contact Erika as she’s still very interested in doing this!

“I'd like to create a warm and attentive atmosphere in which creative people can gather and express themselves:
poets
storytellers
singers
musicians
comedians
It's a little like an open mic night... but with DEEPER LISTENINGbuilt in.
Imagine yourself inside that circle of random chairs. You are the center of our kind attention, as you share your craft for up to 10 minutes. When you're done, you rejoin the circle. You then receive another 10 minutes to either hear feedback (of how we were impacted by what you shared), and/or you tell us how you were impacted by sharing it.”
Steemfest Anarchapulco If You Fork Them Will Folks Come

Erika has also proposed another event in her Hempcoin Series that I really loved but received only a little support so far, although I’d be willing to bet that is partially due to lack of visibility, not a bad idea.

@erikaharris says she’s interested in this still but is totally open minded if someone with more time and inclination would like to take over this idea and make it reality. I share this to let all of you know if someone comes up with a great idea but isn’t able to make it happen for whatever reason, there’s no reason someone else can’t take it over and make it happen if they want to. There’s also a possibility for a collaboration here too, keep that in mind and think outside of the box.

What the idea is is a workshop meant to educate people on the wonders and uses of hemp as well as the possible value behind Hempcoin. Its got three parts and those three parts could be changed should someone else decide to take it over, or work with @erikaharris on this thing.

“What's your pleasure... jewelry, moisturizer, paper, flour, soap, twine? There are a number of things we can make together. If there is a special project you have in mind, please let me know. Otherwise, I would organize for two easy crafts: coasters and bracelets.”
Hempcoin Series

One of the first people to post their thoughts and desires for the fork was @lesliestarrohara. She shared her support for the ideas as well as her vision for something she’s dubbed the “Anarchopreneurial Idol”.

“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.)”
“Anarchopreneurial Idol”

She also touched on the need to educate artists on how to support themselves as anarcho-artists. She brings up an interesting point that artists have been plagued with communistic tenancies in the past, not wanting to work for money believing it was toxic when in reality it has the power to set us free as artists. She envisions workshops on teaching people how to capitalize on the stuff they make next year and this is one idea I really hope to see happen/intend to be personally involved with.

As a glassblower I hate seeing posts from other glass artists sad because they have to sell their work to pay for their craft. Selling your work is nothing to be ashamed of but often artists have no idea how to value their work so this sort of thing would be a great breeding ground for growth in that.

We’ve also had a lot of just blatant support like we received from @arcanebear in their post about our forks. We have had many people contact us telling us they already intend to be going to Anarchapulco and express great interest in the fork, which was the goal the entire time. Here are his thoughts on the Steemfest Fork:

“It will be easier for many of those on the american continent to get to Acapulco packed with a shorter, easier flight and front-run by an already awesome conference Anarcupulco sometime in Febuary!? Perfect.”
Can't Make it to Steemfest2? What if it Was in Mexico?

@modprobe shared his reasons for why he’s forking the conference with us in his post Why I am Forking Anarchapulco, here’s a bit of what he hopes to see during the fork:

“There is room here to create, and here are the tools to do it. We can make anything we can imagine, and I'm excited to see what we create. For my part, I'll be cooking up some ideas for blockchain and cryptocurrency oriented activities and opportunities, among other things. I welcome others to join us, adding more visions, directions, ideas, and content. I welcome more still to just come along for the ride. I don't know what exactly it will be, but it's gonna be good. I can't wait to see you here.”
Why I am Forking Anarchapulco

We’ve also talked of our intention to fork Steemfest and guys that’s all just another part to this Anarachapulco fork. Recently we posted another update on our intent to fork highlighting many of the reasons why we’re forking. We also shared a bit on our vision for this thing, which is another DIY event only Steemit themed.

“But from what we can tell we will also be utilizing a completely different concept as far as the conference itself is concerned. We’re applying the same DIY open format concept to this fork as we are to Anarchapulco’s fork. Looking at the schedule for Steemfest you can see it had speakers on stages just like many other conferences which is fine, and necessary at this point in many ways. But we want to offer the alternative that we’re trying to offer with Anarchoforko to this fork which is an experimental way to do things, a possible better way in the future.”
Couldn’t Make it to Steemfest2? Consider Our Steemfest Fork in Acapulco

My last post about the Steemfest Fork inspired @worldclassplayer to write their own thoughts on the fork and what they’d like to see. It doesn’t matter who you are, if you’re interested in this thing start posting what you want to see from themed party ideas to bitcoin workshops and share it with me so I can share it with others.

@worldclassplayer came up with a cool idea for Steemit Olympics which reminded me of college when the library I worked for on campus hosted the Library Olympics. It was honestly a great way to get to know the other employees in the library and a lot of fun. Here’s a quote from their post:

“Maybe this could be the beginning of the Steemit Olympics. I'm not saying that it's got to copy any sort of olympic structure of time trials and exact sporting events...but maybe....just maybe...creating a new much cooler sort of world wide steemit olympics could be a real thing...i think the fun and funny of it all would be in placing a strong emphasis on recreation and leisure with a bit of ridiculousness.”
Steemfest Fork in February Movement of Jah People

If there’s anyone out there that has posted on any of this without my knowledge, please let me know! I wanna read and share your post about it!

A lot of people have asked where we are in the planning stages and the truth is behind. Regardless of that we feel it’s still totally feasible to put this on and have been working at full steem ahead for this idea(pun intended). We’ve got a Steemit special guest narrating the trailer for our fork that we will share when we post the whitepaper, a comprehensive forking update we’ve honestly been sitting on for too long.

We’re in talks with people about funding and sponsorship for this thing, as we will need money to rent venues from mansions to a possible resort if there is enough interest. There will be a ticket price for participation with this thing to cover costs as well.

But honestly a big part of this thing is up to all of you. Start posting about events or the concept. Contact me to start making those ideas a reality because that’s the goal here, this is supposed to end in a reality based anarchistic experiment here in Acapulco.

There’s really only one rule to this thing guys and it’s that this has to be in Acapulco, the main bay. For that reason events outside of the city in neighboring suburbs like Pie de la Cuesta, Diamante or Bonfil will not be considered a part of the fork (those areas have plenty to offer but we want to focus on the city of Acapulco here). The idea is to bring the anarchists back to the bay and depending on traffic there can sometimes be a full hour drive from there to the bay. So if you’re living over there and reading this (or plan to stay over there during the conference) and interested in being involved consider starting up a home base in the bay for the duration of the fork! We want you involved, it’s just gotta be close by.

Stay tuned for the whitepaper and the trailer!

All proceeds from this post go to putting this thing on.