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How
to Open The Sewer in Your Town
In the
tradition of the cafès philo movement that has been growing
in Europe for over ten years now, we are endeavoring to spread the practice
of two-fisted, impromptu philosophical discourse across this fair land.
Opensewer meetings help you stay inspired and spiritually awake, and
keep you buzzing for days afterward.
We're
thrilled when people contact us about starting an Opensewer Gathering,
and so we try to help as much as possible. Here are some ways we help:
- We
come up with topics for discussion (but we're open to your ideas);
- We
provide reading materials about the topic, linked from the website;
- We
post detailed information about your gathering on the website. This
provides a single point where everyone who is interested in Opensewer
can access information;
- We
publish the post-gathering photographs and summary that you generate.
Gatherings
are pretty informal. There is some, but not an extraordinary amount,
of preparation required to properly organize a meeting. The following
is a list of the primary responsibilities:
- You
must do everything possible to hold your meetings on the same night
as other Opensewer Gatherings across the country;
- You
must make a good effort to assemble a good-sized group of people.
This includes some advertising (like posters), placing an announcement
in a local "free" paper, word of mouth, and whatever else
you can think of. Excessive creativity is encouraged;
- You
must pick a good venue. Coffeehouses are good. Some bars are good.
Avoid places that are too noisy, or that might try to kick you out
if you stay too long. OS Gatherings have been known to last 5-6 hours,
and sometimes more. Book it well in advance (one or more months, if
possible);
- You
must start the meetings with the same topic as the other concurrent
Opensewer Gatherings;
- You
must moderate your meeting, attempting to keep the discussion somewhat
close to the topic at hand (although the beauty of Opensewer Gatherings
is the fact that the discussion tends to go all over the place);
- You
must make sure the gathering is photographed (just pass a snappy or
digital camera around the group!);
- You
must make sure that a summary of the meeting is written within 3 days
after it takes place. The photographs and summary must then be forwarded
to OS central so we can post them!
Remember,
this is IRL--the physical presence is the key thing. Click
here when you're ready. We'll contact you, and begin the process!
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