one week out!

Only  one week to go!

The RNC Welcoming Committee, UA-Midwest and the Seeds of Peace want to
invite you and your friends to join us for four days to polish up on our
Direct Action and Street Medic skills, or learn a whole new set of
tools in a beautiful setting in Southern Minnesota. From Thursday, July
31st  until Sunday, August 3, we'll  rendezvous in southern Minnesota to
practice and hone our organizing and action skills.  Oh, yeah, and of
course, to boogie down at the Anarchist Idol No Talent Show taking place
Friday evening! Bring your banjos and harmonicas (or thrash gear) and
come ready!

The camp/retreat is free, but we are encouraging a donation to help
cover costs of equipment and the space. The owner has donated the land,
but we would like the park to continue to operate, so we will hopefully be
making a donation to him at the end of the camp.

We are still working out the kinks for our exact
training/skill-share/workshop schedule but here are things that will be
included:

Direct Action 101
Blockading 101 & 201
Urban Street Tactics
20 Hour Action Street Medic Training
Strategic and Tactical Non-Violence
Night Games
Gender Dynamics
And more!

While all these skills can be taken back to our communities and
campaigns, these workshops will be facilitated with the September 1
"Swarm,Seize,Stay: Crash the Convention" framework in mind. Bring your
questions and ideas to hash them out and experiment with a little bit
because...

On Sunday morning we will have a 3 hour Mock Action to bring all the
pieces together. Keep this in mind with your friends and affinity group,
because after breakfast we're gonna blockade the campground! The exact
scenario will be announced on Friday at camp, but think outhouses as
intersections, and the camp kitchen as a convention center in some
Midwestern city.

If you haven't already, please RSVP  to rncactionretreat@riseup.net

Get on the announcement list at
action-camp2008-subscribe@lists.riseup.net

When RSVP'ing please answer a few questions for us, k?

1. How many of you are there?
2. Do you need childcare? If so, how old are the young 'uns?
3. Do you have a workshop or skill-share you want to facilitate? If so,
can you give us a description and needs (if you want to lead a puppet
workshop, tell us what supplies you need)
4. Are you planning to get yourself there?
5. Will you be attending the Street Medic track?

Location/Getting there:

*The Camp is being held at Harmony Park , a 300 acre music venue near
Albert Lea MN. It is roughly 1 ½ hours south of Minneapolis.  for
directions see

http://www.harmonypark.com/directions.html

*If you are driving yourself, please try not to arrive to the site
before 12 pm on Thursday July 31.  If you need to arrive earlier than
that, please contact us to arrange arrival.

As of this writing, we plan to have a  shuttle / car pool leave from the
Seward Cafe in Minneapolis promptly at 12pm on Thursday July 31.

We have a ride share section at our website:
https://actioncamp08.wordpress.com/2008/07/11/ride-share/
Use the comment section to communicate ride-share information.

Remember this is a semi-primitive camping situation. Come prepared with
a tent, sleeping bag, water bottle, bug repellent, sunscreen, rain
gear,condoms, sunscreen, and  anything else you'd bring for a weekend in
the woods. If you have a climbing harness and gear, bring it! We plan to
have some ropes set up for the beginner and experienced folk. Plus,
remember to bring your talent, or lack thereof. :) Please DON'T bring
firewood. It will be available on site.

We strive to be as inclusive as possible, so we will have a womyn and trans
only space available for camping and some workshops. Please be
respectful of this space.

This is a sober event. That means no alcohol or drugs. We are
unapologetic about this and will cite several factors for our decision
to do this. One is the wishes of the land owner and to avoid police
harassments. We also feel that a sober space will allow us to focus on
the camp and not the party. We also feel that a truly safe, inclusive
space includes recognizing and combating chemical dependency and abuse
within our communities. It's on open event, but we reserve the right to kick
you out if it becomes an issue.

An on-site medic and mediation team will be available.

Photography is a consent issue. Please don't take pictures without
permission.

There is always the possibility that media will show up at the camp,
wanting to ask questions, film or take pictures. For the respect and
safety of others, please do not communicate with the media in any way and
contact the media liaison team ASAP to deal with the situation
accordingly.

Dogs are OK, but PLEASE watch them. We don't have dog care, and really
don't want the land trampled by our four legged friends. If your dog
gets out of hand, bites anyone, or is just a plain pain in the ass, we
will ask you and them to leave.

A kitchen (thank you Seeds of Peace!) with breakfast, lunch, and dinner
will be provided, as will childcare. We are asking everyone to
contribute at least one hour to on-site logistical stuff.

We will have an emergency contact phone number. It will be announced in
the week before camp.

Members of the Seeds of Peace Collective will be providing a number of
the scheduled trainings, and will be assisted by Welcoming Committee
members and others with experience in direct action and practical skill
trainings.

 Thursday:
 Dinner 5PM
 7PM fight the green scare/prisoner support letter writing.

 7PM Open time: medic?

 Friday: Breakfast at 8AM
 9-1PM street medic part 1
 9-1PM: Blockading 101  (intro, planning, scouting, etc)
 9-1PM: Open time ?
 1PM: Lunch
 2-6PM: Street medic part 2
 2-6PM: Blockading 201 (lockboxes, etc)
 2-4PM: Open time?
 4-6PM: Gender Dynamics Discussion?
 6PM Dinner
 7PM:Blockading 201/w-t only?
 7PM: Medics ?
 7PM: Open time?
 Prisoner letter writing.

 9:30PM: No Idols, No Talent Show

 Saturday: Breakfast at 8AM
 9-1PM street medic part 3
 9-1PM: AP Blockading 301  (tripods, cars, barrels and more)
 9-1PM: Open time ?
 1PM: Lunch
 2-6PM: Street medic part 4
 2-6PM: urban street tactics (de-arresting,movement,communications, etc)
 2-6PM: Coldsnap Legal Collective Training

 6PM: Dinner

 7PM-9:Blockading 201/w-t only?
 7PM-9:open
 9PM-10PM: Mock action spokes council

 10PM: Movie?

 Sunday: Breakfast 8AM
 9-noon: camp blockade
 noon: lunch
 1PM: Closing circle