[mrg-announce] Green-Rainbow Strategic Planning Hearing - Sat. Aug. 11

Tue Aug 7 10:57:10 EDT 2007

AN INVITATION . . .
Strategic Planning Meeting for the Green-Rainbow Party
Towards a GRP Strategy for 2007-2009
Saturday, August 11, 2007 * 1:00-3:30 P.M.

Hitchcock Center for the Environment
525 South Pleasant St * Amherst, MA

The political winds are changing, yet the Green-Rainbow Party has struggled
to provide a  strong, visible alternative to the people of Massachusetts.
Now is the time to make YOUR voice heard about the purpose of the GRP, the
direction it should take, and the priorities it should focus on over the
next few years that will help build the Party into a vibrant force for
making the 10 Key Values a reality.

You are invited to participate in the second Green-Rainbow Party strategy
hearing on Saturday, August 11, to help the GRP Strategic Plan Working Group
develop the strategy that will move the Party forward in the next three
years.

This is your chance to turn those burning criticisms and lingering hopes for
the GRP into strategic actions and messages for the Party to take up. The
results of this meeting will be used to help the GRP Strategic Plan Working
Group produce the best possible plan for the Party's future, so please come
and share your thoughts, concerns, and ideas. If you can cannot attend, or
wish to supplement your remarks, please send your written comments to
elibeck AT gmail.com, or mail them to the Strategic Plan Working Group, c/o
John Andrews, 22 Kendall Road, Lexington, MA 02421.

For more information please call Eli Beckerman at (617) 821-1453 or visit:
http://www.green-rainbow.org/Committees/Strategic_Planning

Childcare and snacks can be provided, but we need advance notice that you
request it.

The meeting will allow each person a fixed amount of time (approximately 5
minutes) to speak about whatever they feel will help our strategic planning
– though we include 10 focus questions to help elicit a response.  There
will be some time to respond to presented testimony near the end of the
meeting.  Members of the Strategic Plan Working Group will be present to
record the
proceedings.

-------------------   FOCUS QUESTIONS  -----------------
To get people thinking about strategy, the Strategic Plan Working Group
developed the following set of focus questions. If these questions inspire
any ideas, write them down so you can share them! We will welcome handouts
along with verbal presentations, and if you cannot attend, send us your
comments following the instructions above.

1)  What should the GRP do to be helpful and relevant to the problems with
which you and your community are struggling?

2)  What have you seen the Green Party, Rainbow Coalition Party, or
Green-Rainbow Party do over the past six years that is an example of why you
feel the Party is making a valuable  contribution?

3)  What do you think the GRP should have accomplished six years from now to
justify our commitment to it?  Try to identify some specific goals in terms
of electoral success,  shaping public
opinion, empowering people working for justice, sustainability, democracy,
building a green movement, etc..

4)  What can the GRP bring to advancing solutions to important problems that
cannot be better accomplished by nonpartisan issue-related movements?

5)  What kinds of problems or opportunities do you think should be receiving
our attention? Why?  Have we been neglecting any problems or opportunities
that we should have been addressing?

6)  Can the GRP be successful working in coalition with non-partisan
issue-oriented groups?  How?

7)  What types of electoral work do you want to see the GRP involved in over
the next six years? What offices and what types of campaigns should we focus
upon?  How should we approach
campaigns (in terms of positioning, strategy, etc.)?

8)  What tactics, actions, or initiatives should be used to ensure success
over the next six years? Are there any tactics, actions, or initiatives that
you think are unproductive or counterproductive, and should be avoided?

9)  What makes people get involved and volunteer to help the GRP?  What
causes people to back away and not make a commitment?

10)  Is there anything about the GRP organizational structure, bylaws, or
processes that should be changed to make the Party more effective?

Are there any other questions that we need to be asking?

Directions to the Hitchcock Center [http://www.hitchcockcenter.org/map.htm]

Hitchcock Center for the Environment, Inc.
525 South Pleasant Street
Amherst, MA 01002

>From areas North of Amherst:
Take Interstate 91 South to Exit 25. Turn left at the end of the ramp onto
Route 116. Turn right onto Routes 5  and 10 and Route 116 and pass the
Yankee Candle complex. Turn left onto Route 116
(towards Sunderland).  Go over the bridge and continue on Route 116 for
approximately 10 miles until it ends at Route 9 in Hadley. Turn left (east)
onto Route 9. At the intersection in downtown
Amherst, turn right onto Route 116 (also called South Pleasant Street). The
Hitchcock Center is one mile from this intersection. Take a right at our
driveway (where there is also a sign for The Common School at the same
entrance). After entering the driveway, take the first left into the parking
lot.

>From areas South of Amherst:
a). Via Interstate 91.   Take Interstate 91 North to Exit 19 (Amherst Exit).
Turn right off the ramp and go over the bridge. Take Route 9 approximately 6
miles to the center of Amherst. At the intersection  in downtown Amherst,
turn right onto Route 116 (also called South Pleasant Street). The Hitchcock
Center is one mile from this intersection. Take a right at our driveway
(where there is also a sign for The Common School at the same entrance).
After entering the driveway, take the first left into the parking lot.

b). Via Route 116. (heading North)  Go through South Hadley and continue
over "the Notch" on Route 116. Pass Atkins Farm Store on your left. Pass
Hampshire College on your left. Approximately 2 miles after Hampshire
College, you will see our sign on the left (where there is also a sign for
The Common School at the same entrance). After entering the driveway, take
the first left into the parking lot.

>From the East:
Take Route 2 west to exit 16. Take Route 202 South toward
Amherst/Belchertown. Turn right on Amherst Road, follow it (turns into
Pelham Rd and then Main St) to Amherst Center, then left on
South Pleasant Street (Route 116 South).

Problems with PDF? Download it at
http://www.green-rainbow.org/Committees/Strategic_Planning/SPWG_Aug11_Invitation.pdf
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