Riseup Labs and the Greenhouse Arts Project present a free training on Crabgrass, Riseup’s new online organizing toolkit, followed by a screening of Un Pocito de Tanta Verdad (A Little Bit of So Much Truth), a documentary from Corrugated Films examining an unprecedented media revolution that took place in Oaxaca, Mexico during a strike by the teachers’ union.

WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 20, 2008, 6:30PM
Mid-City Mall Branch of the Louisville Public Library

What is Crabgrass?¶

Crabgrass is a software libre web application designed for social networking, group collaboration and network organizing. Our goal is to create communication tools that are tailored specifically to meet the needs of bottom up grassroots organizing. By social networking, we mean the ability of users to get to know one another through their online contributions and presence. By group collaboration, we mean the ability of small groups to get things done, such as share files, track tasks and projects, make decisions and build repositories of shared knowledge. By network organizing, we mean the ability of multiple groups to work together on projects in a democratic manner.

Why Crabgrass?¶

Crabgrass enables social change organizations to get things done, get the word out, collaborate and network.

• To get things done, Crabgrass provides tools like task list management, meeting scheduling, asset management, wiki, and decision making.

• When it is time to get the word out, Crabgrass allows groups to create a customized home page where a group can list their event calendar, blog postings, and other public content (in development).

• To help collaborate, Crabgrass allows users to rate content, add keywords to content, comment on content, annotate content, alert others to content you need their feedback on, and track participation and revisions. Additionally, Crabgrass comes with many tools for democratic decision making.

• Since no group is an island, Crabgrass allows groups to create networks with other independent groups. These networks provide a place to work together on shared content and make decisions. Alternately, you can share a single document if that is the extent of the cooperation (in development).

All of these elements are implemented from a social networking perspective. Events, for example, allow one to RSVP, see who is coming or watching, and send to your contact’s calendar.

The Film¶

A 90-minute documentary, A Little Bit of So Much Truth captures the media phenomenon that emerged when tens of thousands of school teachers, housewives, indigenous communities, health workers, farmers, and students took 14 radio stations and one TV station into their own hands, using them to organize, mobilize, and ultimately defend their grassroots struggle for social, cultural, and economic justice. See http://corrugate.org/ for more information.

Please join us! For more information, please contact sunbird@riseup.net or jrobinson@riseup.net.