1993 Summer of Gatherings by Chuck Munson The Summer of 1993 will probably go down as the Summer of Many=20 Gatherings when the history of the 90s anarchist movement is=20 written. Gatherings were held in San Diego, Vancouver, San=20 Francisco, Philadelphia, Madison and Denver. The flavor of these=20 events varied, but they all were promoted as anarchist events. Were=20 they successful events? You=D5ll have to ask the participants to find=20 out. Does a plethora of gatherings indicate that the movement is=20 strong? The focus of this will be on the Madison Gathering which I attended. =20 I=D5ve talked to and read accounts written by participants at the other=20 gatherings. They had different themes and ranged from the formal=20 to the informal. I=D5ll also talk about some of the problems involved in= =20 hosting a conference. The San Diego gathering was a meeting of activists who have been=20 involved in the Love & Rage Network. Not all of the events revolved=20 around the network, but the big news coming out of this gathering=20 was the =D2end=D3 of the old network and the birth of some new projects. = =20 I should also mention that a lot of acrimony between factions has=20 also resulted. The breakup of the L&R network was expected by=20 some outside observers. There have been two main tendencies in=20 the L&R network, which have been evident since the network=D5s=20 inception. The first tendency was manifested by those who were=20 committed to building a decentralized and informal network across=20 the continent. These folks have decided to discontinue their=20 participation in the L&R Network, instead opting for a variety of=20 projects. The other tendency could be described as the more=20 centralized, program-oriented, action-oriented group. Some of these=20 folks wanted to institute a membership system in the L&R network=20 and the controversy stemming from that suggestion is somewhat=20 responsible for the rift. During the last weekend in July several hundred anarchists from=20 around the continent met in Philadelphia for the Mid-Atlantic=20 Regional Anarchist Gathering. This was evidently the most organized=20 of the summer=D5s gatherings. There were lots of workshops and lots=20 of networking was done. A new decentralized computer network or=20 =D2web=D3 was launched and is now in use by several dozen activists=20 around the globe (but mostly in North America). The Philly=20 organizers apparently did an excellent job, even with the hassles=20 from the city they had to put up with. During the first weekend of August, some local anarchists and I=20 hosted the Great Lakes Regional Anarchist Gathering and Picnic. The=20 main activities were held on Saturday and Sunday at the Wilmar=20 Center, a neighborhood center on Madison=D5s east side. It sits in a=20 neighbor renown for its progressive residents. The flavor of this=20 gathering was more laid back than the Philly event. Workshops=20 were held, but not lots of them. Workshop topics included=20 alternative housing, creating anarchist neighborhoods, wild foods=20 foraging, phreaking and hacking, a Midwest anarchist network, the=20 Web proposal that was discussed in Philly, prison support, freight- hopping, and several others. We held most of the activities outdoors=20 as it was a beautiful weekend. One of the positive aspects of this Gathering were the group dinners=20 that were cooked using the center=D5s kitchen. Everybody did a=20 wonderful job of pitching in to find food, pay for it, cook it, and clean= =20 up the mess. (Although I was disappointed with some of the=20 =D2anarchists=D5 who did little to help at all). On Saturday night, we all= =20 dropped by the local cooperative bakery to help them celebrate their=20 open house. How many people attended? On Saturday, during the height of the=20 afternoon when lunch was being served, I counted over a hundred=20 attendees. I=D5d estimate total attendance for both days to be around=20 150. It would have been nice if more locals had shown up, but=20 overall the people who attended represented a good cross-section of=20 the contemporary anarchist scene. We had folks there from Wind=20 Chill and some chicago anarchists. There were the folks from the=20 twin cities, Detroit, Columbia, Missouri; Philadelphia, Texas, and=20 Indiana. We must thank the folks at Nottingham Co-op for housing=20 most of these people and putting up with a few hassles from our=20 crowd. The folks from Dreamtime Village and some other volunteers did a=20 =D2mud people=D3 event. At the workshop on creating a Midwest network we decided NOT to=20 create a new network, but to strengthen ties between existing=20 projects, individuals, and new folks. What were my thoughts on the whole affair? Well you about how=20 party hosts are usually not the ones having the most fun at a party,=20 because they have to be responsible. I definitely felt that way, but=20 was really glad to see the people who came. It was great to talk to=20 friends in person who I normally write to each day on the Net. It=20 was also wonderful to meet in person people who I=D5ve met on the Net=20 AND those I know from other projects. I should share my misgivings about the event. I started planning for=20 it in November of 1992. Gatherings are not like business=20 conventions, but they still require some planning. I had attended=20 two previous anarchist gatherings. In January it looked like we had=20 about 6 to 10 people who were interested in making this happen. =20 Then we didn=D5t have meetings for several months. In the Spring I=20 started gearing up for the gathering. I arranged for some new=20 meetings, which nobody attended. Bumping into other anarchist that=20 I knew from around town seemed to work better than meetings. In=20 May we had a benefit which was well attended and gave us enough=20 money to put a deposit on the Wilmar Center. In June it became=20 clear that we didn=D5t have a large enough core group to be able to put=20 on a four day, well-organized gathering. We toyed with the idea of=20 canceling the affair, but it became apparent from rumors that lots of=20 people around the U.S. knew about it that we had to host some sort=20 of event. So we scaled the event back to one day and then I=20 expanded it to two days. In reality, several people arrived in town=20 days before the gathering officially began, so the event did =D2happen=D3= =20 for four days. In retrospect I would definitely do it differently. A=20 gathering shouldn=D5t be announced until you are sure you have a=20 decent-size core planning group to pull it off. Don=D5t forget to let your= =20 local alternative media outlets know about it. I=D5m generally hesitant=20 to deal with the mainstream media, but one of the local dailies did a=20 decent write-up of the gathering. Near the end of the gathering we collected donations. Fortunately=20 these funds were enough to cover the charges the Center levied=20 because of various violations and the theft of a large aluminum=20 kettle, but, unfortunately, that money couldn=D5t be used on things like=20 sending Practical Anarchy zine out to more people or other such=20 projects. All in all, a pretty good gathering, but the next one I go to I want to=20 be a visitor!