North America Hitch Gathering

The North American Hitch Gathering

Introduction

The North American Hitch Gathering is a proposed project set to take place August 21st, 2010 in Boulder, Colorado (CO), with a pre-gathering in Denver, CO on August 20.

Our Goals

• To promote the concept of hitchhiking in North American society
• To stimulate the community of hitchhikers
• To have a good time doing the above, while travelling and meeting old and new friends.

Things to do

A short introductory list of tasks. Feel free to update and re-arrange as you wish!

Goal date for these tasks: June 1st

• Find location in both Denver and Boulder for the gatherings. (Jeremie speaking with contacts in Denver and Boulder, May 17th) (George looking up BLM land information and other camp sites, reporting here by June 3, looking for more CouchSurfing and DigiHitch contacts)
• Website (Your Name, Jeremie, George, Robin, ... content for north american hitch gathering website)
• E-mail list (Robin? [email protected]? na.hitch@...? Might as well set it up now, as long as that won't make it harder to integrate later?)
• Poster, web poster (your name) Amylin! :)
• Video media, ie. shorts, promotion stuff, etc (your name) Lily?
• Catch lines, phrases: The Road is Zen, The Road is True, etc. Possible idea is gather near Naropa university, the first buddhist accredited university in america, and place the Buddhist/Zen theme on the promotion.

Goal date for these tasks: June 4th

• Have promotional package ready
• Have flyer done
• Have a linked website, www.na.hitchgathering.org

Goal dates for these tasks: June 15th

• Find on site organizer for Denver Day gathering, then on site organizer for Boulder day and night gathering.
• Highlight good angles to approach Media, ie. Promotion packages with manifesto type work, at least some sort of written work on the event in our own words.
• Have set website team to deal with daily motion and postings. (George volunteers after June 15, but his drupal-fu is weak. other volunteers?)
• Start posting on digihitch.com, Couchsurfing.org (Your Name, George?)

In and above all these tasks, the active participation of everyone involved to Promote and Educate each other about both the event and the safety issues involved. Since this is going to take place in America, it's going to be different then what's been going on in Europe. Let it be considered.

Possible Locations

Any suggestions for Boulder or Denver? Add below. Also, is it between June 5 and June 12ish? Call George at +1 760 822 9880 because he may not have internet that week, but is on his way to investigate places (including your suggestion!) in Denver and Boulder.

Jeremie says I would recommend trying to locate a place where people could camp and be outside for a couple days. The Denver gathering could happen in a public park (and probably should be for media) and then the evenings could be CSed or hosted somewhere in the city, though I imagine Boulder to be somewhere we everyone could gather for a few days without too much worry. Close enough to services, yet still far enough from bother.

Boulder

I (Mike L. from Denver) recommend Boulder Central Park, where the bandshell is, at Broadway and Canyon. HOWEVER, an all-nighter in Boulder might be a problem. In fact there is ongoing civil disobedience occurring at this very moment in Boulder over their prohibitions of camping:

http://www.dailycamera.com/ci_15099272

I imagine that the definition of "camping" is probably a bit loose and at the discretion of the arresting officer :(

BLM Land? I (George) will look into this - how far away is it from town, how easy to find, practical use concerns, nearest facilities, etc.

Boulder resident

Denver

Civic Center Park in Denver. Alternately, Chatfield Reservoir (Aowin says chatfield is out of the way)

Aowin suggests Washington "Wash" Park (always lots of people, right in the middle, big park, lakes, playground). Also says there is also a good park next to the zoo, but likelihood of being bothered by police is higher?

BLM Land? Same as above.

Quotes

Possible quotes and phrases for the event to be used on web posters, hand-outs, websites and such. Add what you think would be good!! Don't be shy!

Poster Quotes

• The Road is True!
• The Road is Zen!

Notes

The active development of this project is open to anyone. Edit and update this page as you wish, link it to anyone you believe may be interested. Art-work, media, documents and such can be linked here or anywhere you think is proper. If you really have a question, email me: [email protected] and we'll learn to inspire and empower ourselves. Love and light!