Kandymanz
Starting Member
United States
1 post
Joined: Dec, 2001
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 Posted - 2001/12/11 : 20:46:08
Dear Progressive Colleague,
“All who have meditated on the art of governing [humankind] have been convinced that the fate of empires depends on the education of youth.E Aristotle
From May 29-June 2, 2002, just outside of Columbus, Ohio, 20000 youth from across North America will be gathering at ACE; the Activism, Celebration, and Education Conference.
This four-day outdoor gathering will focus around Harm Reduction, Civil Rights and Politics in modern youth culture as they exist today. Its goal is to gather (inter)nationally recognized speakers and organizations together for the purpose of exposing North American youth to socially progressive and active grassroots groups from around the globe.
ACE will feature speakers and trainings in diverse areas of the three major themes, and we will be profiling several groups who currently work to educate and support youth, and who advocate responsible and progressive government policy change. It is also the focus of the ACE conference to celebrate the existing creative diversity of the youth community through live performances of musicians, DJs and other performance artists. The general schedule will be trainings and workshops during the days and community wide celebration in the evenings.
This is our selective invitation to you to express your interest in being involved in this gathering. The conference is being organized by grassroots, mainly youth-focused groups in both countries: DanceSafe, the Higher Knowledge Network, Students for Sensible Drug Policy, and many more. The ultimate goal of the ACE conference is to network and link progressive youth and student groups by spreading the message that Knowledge is Power.
Some of you have already been contacted by AJ Cook (DanceSafe) in regards to this conference and how your group might participate. At this stage of planning, we are solidifying organizational participation and collecting additional names and contact info from interested speakers and performers. We are working hard to ensure the widest possible participation and diversity of experience at the youth level and are attempting to keep participant registration costs to less than $50 per person.
Workshops will run from 9:00 am- 4:00pm daily. There will be three workshop areas, one “home stageEfor each of the three main themes: Harm Reduction, Civil Rights and Politics. Presenting organizations will be attached to one of the themes (or two or all three, depending on your group) and will present their workshops from that area. Workshops will run on the hour, every hour (between 9:00 and 4:00) and last for 45 minutes each, allowing 15 minute breaks between sessions. We want to encourage groups to lead these workshops in the way they are most comfortable. Not all of us are lecturers, just as not all of us are adept at more interactive workshops! When planning your participation, please remember the audience will be youth (ages 15-30ish) and decide the format you would like to use: interactive workshop or lecture. Please also let us know if you would be willing to participate in panel discussions during the conference.
Music, performance and celebration will happen in the evenings to encourage as many youth to attend workshops as possible. In the evenings, these performances will happen from the main stage, therefore not “competingEwith any of the workshops. The list of participating performers is growing every day and includes some of the biggest names in youth culture. Stay tuned for more info and a performers list to be released soon.
We will also have an area at the conference site where youth participants can check out information booths from representing organizations. Groups that are chosen to present, as well as some non-profit groups will be offered booth space (including 1 table and 2 chairs) at no cost. Organizations not presenting are encouraged to setup an info booth for a cost of $200. We will waive these fees on a case-by-case basis for groups who have special circumstances. Special circumstances may include youth-run groups, grassroots groups with no funding base, and others. Please let us know if you believe your group could fall under the classification of “special circumstances.E Our intention is to encourage as many groups to represent themselves as possible and offer the widest diversity of information to youth conference participants.
We have already received many in-kind donations for this conference, in particular, the Buckeye Lake Music Center venue (check out: http://www.puff-n-stuff.com for more information). We are working hard to secure more donations as one of the features of this conference will be an awards ceremony where we will be presenting scholarships and grants to youth-run organizations and individuals who work hard and traditionally are denied or have trouble securing funding from most sources. As organizers, we are committed to donating the entirety of proceeds received back into our youth communities. If you would like to make a donation on behalf of yourself or a specific group to help us make this conference reach its goals, please contact us as soon as possible. Donors will receive tax-deductible receipts through one of the main conference sponsors, DanceSafe.
Accommodations and meals will be covered for presenters and performers. And in consideration for the donation of their time, all performers and artists will be presented with a Tax Deductible certificate for the amount they would usually charge for such an event, courtesy of our non profit sponsor, Dancesafe. Youth conference participants and all conference organizers will be camping on-site at the large camping area at the Buckeye Lake Music Center. The camping facilities are “beautiful and tranquil with rolling, tree-lined hills. This is primitive camping at its best. Toilets are on site and there are no shower facilities.E We have arranged lowered rates with a Motel located 5 miles from the conference site, and are willing to arrange accommodations for those who aren’t able to camp. We do ask you however, to keep in mind that conference funds spent on accommodations, transportation, etc. will not be available for youth conference scholarships and donations to youth organizations. Again, please contact us as soon as possible if you would like to discuss your accommodations.
If you are interested in joining us as a speaker, organization or performer, please reply to this email by Friday December 21, with your contact info (contact name, email, phone, and mailing address) and a short description of your skills and/or organization. We will be following up this email where possible with a phone call to your organization- please feel free to ask us any questions you may have or forward them via email. More detailed info about the conference will be sent as it is finalized.
Thank you in advance for considering how you might participate in this important conference, and for your timely reply. We look forward to hearing from you!
Ainsley Dyck for the
Higher Knowledge Network and
ACE Conference Planning Committee
AJ Cook for
DanceSafe and
ACE Conference Planning Committee
Bryan Oley
DanceSafe,
HrDatabase, and
ACE Conference Planning Committee
Our dream team of participating groups includes:
Food Not Bombs
Erowid
Students for Sensible Drug Policy
Lindesmith-Drug Policy Foundation
No More Prisons
Queer Youth Training Collaborative
HRCNet
Rave Defense
EMDEF
NARL
The American Civil Liberties Union
MAPS
Cop Watch
Active Element Foundation
End many, many moreE
Alert moderator 
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