IVAW 2013 Convention
To help IVAW members attend the convention donate today to our Indiegogo campaign.
Iraq Veterans Against the War annual convention is this August 2-4, where members across the country will converge in one location to determine the future of our organization. We want your voice to be apart of this conversation!
Please join us this year for what is bound to be one of our best conventions yet. August 1-4 Chicago, IL
Members are encouraged to arrive Thursday, August 1st and leave in the evening of Sunday, August 4th so you don't miss out on anything.
Click through the above tabs to register and get more information about food, housing, child care and the agenda as that information becomes available. Come back to check or contact us at convention@ivaw.org for questions.
IVAW is at a real crossroads and the schedule for our upcoming convention reflects that. This August we will continue our two-year long strategic planning process by discussing strategic priorities, and where to focus of our work and resources for the next 3-5 years and continue a discussion on rebranding.
In addition to our strategic planning we will have a panel with leading thinkers Nick Turse and Christian Parenti on U.S. militarism (more info here), an opportunity to strategize with our allies on building stronger movements together and an entire day to prepare for an action destined for the Fall.
Register for Convention now!
Don't miss out on housing, register now!
NOTE: We have limited housing available this year and IVAW and CivSol members will receive it on a first come first serve basis, so make sure to register ASAP. The housing registration deadline is July 7th which is right around the corner.
The early registration deadline is July 7th. After that point, you can still register but will be responsible for your own housing.
Registration fees go toward covering the costs of the venue, food, printing materials and other related convention expenses.
PAYMENT OPTIONS
You have three options to make your registration payment:
1) Credit Card: Click the green registration button to the right This will take you to the registration and payment page where you can fill in your credit card information.
2) Check/Money Order: Email your responses to the registration form to convention@ivaw.org so we know you want to register and mail a check to:
IVAW
PO Box 3565
New York, NY 10008-3565
Attn: Convention
3) Pay at the door: Email your responses to the registration form to convention@ivaw.org so we know you want to register. Bring the registration fee of $75.00 for IVAW members and $150.00 for allies and supporters.
If you have questions about registration, email convention@ivaw.org with “Registration” in the subject line.
NOTE: We welcome our allies to attend the public programing listed below.
THURSDAY (August, 1 2013)
TIME & LOCATION: 15:00 - 20:00 at Peoples Church, 941 W. Lawrence Ave., Chicago, IL
16:00 - 20:00: REGISTRATION & CHECK-IN, MERCHANDISE, AND SHOW & TELL MEMBER BOOTHS OPEN
- Organizer: Bryan Reinholdt., Julia Currie, & Maggie Martin
16:00 - 17:30: INTERNAL WORKSHOP SESSION 1
- TITLE: Warrior Writers Workshop for Member Reflection - Warrior Writers
- Location: Auditorium main floor, Peoples Church, 941 W. Lawrence Ave., Chicago, IL
- Facilitator: Warrior Writers
- (All registered convention attendees are welcome.)
- TITLE: Volunteer Organizer Team Meeting
- Location: Second floor balcony, Peoples Church, 941 W. Lawrence Ave., Chicago, IL
- Facilitator: Maggie Martin
- (VOT members & potential VOT members are welcome)
17:30 - 18:30: DINNER
- Location: Cafeteria, Peoples Church, 941 W. Lawrence Ave., Chicago, IL
18:30 - 18:45: COFFEE BREAK
18:45 - 20:00: INTERNAL WORKSHOP SESSION 2
- TITLE: What is our history? What can we learn from our history? - Garett Reppenhagen
- Location: Auditorium main floor, Peoples Church, 941 W. Lawrence Ave., Chicago, IL
- Facilitator: Garett Reppenhagen, Matt Stys, & Robin Guthrie
- (All registered convention attendees are welcome.)
- TITLE: Member Orientation
- Location: Second floor balcony, Peoples Church, 941 W. Lawrence Ave., Chicago, IL
- Facilitator: Sara Beining, Jeremy Berggren, and Cassidy Regan
- (Geared to newer and new members.)
20:00 - 20:15: EVENING CLOSING, RECOGNITIONS & APPRECIATIONS, AND ANNOUNCEMENTS
- Location: Auditorium main floor, Peoples Church, 941 W. Lawrence Ave., Chicago, IL
- Facilitator: Maggie Martin
- (All registered convention attendees are welcome.)
FRIDAY (August 2, 2013)
TIME & LOCATION: 8:00 - 18:00 Peoples Church, 941 W. Lawrence Ave., Chicago, IL
TIME & LOCATION: 18:30 - 21:30 Chicago Temple, 77 W. Washington St., Chicago, IL
8:00 - 18:00: REGISTRATION & CHECK-IN, MERCHANDISE, AND SHOW & TELL MEMBER BOOTHS OPEN
Location: 8:00 - 18:00 at Peoples Church, 941 W. Lawrence Ave., Chicago, IL
09:30 - 10:30: BREAKFAST
Location: Cafeteria, Peoples Church, 941 W. Lawrence Ave., Chicago, IL
10:30 - 12:00: OPENING WELCOME
- TITLE: 21st Century American Militarism: Occupation Abroad and Resistance at Home - Matt Howard
- Location: Auditorium main floor, Peoples Church, 941 W. Lawrence Ave., Chicago, IL
- Facilitator: Maggie Martin
- (All registered convention attendees are welcome.)
12:00 - 13:00: LUNCH
- Location: Cafeteria, Peoples Church, 941 W. Lawrence Ave., Chicago, IL
12:00 - 13:00: LUNCH MEETINGS
- TITLE: Fundraising
- Location: TBA
- Facilitator: Hannah Frisch
- TITLE: Radical Mental Health & Healing -
- Location: TBA
- Facilitator: Amanda Spitfire and Amanda Martin
13:00 - 14:30: INTERNAL WORKSHOP SESSION 3
- TITLE: IVAW Internal Structure & Learning from our History: Identifying organizational barriers to success and setting new learning goals.
- Location: Auditorium main floor, Peoples Church, 941 W. Lawrence Ave., Chicago, IL
- Facilitator: Chantelle Bateman & Drake Logan
- (All registered convention attendees are welcome.)
14:30 - 15:00: COFFEE BREAK
15:00 - 16:30: INTERNAL WORKSHOP SESSION 4
- TITLE: IVAW Internal Structure & Collective Liberation
- Location: Auditorium main floor, Peoples Church, 941 W. Lawrence Ave., Chicago, IL
- Facilitators: Graham Clumpner, Ramon Mejia, & LT Taylor
- (All registered convention attendees are welcome.)
16:30 - 17:00: EVENING CLOSING, RECOGNITIONS & APPRECIATIONS, AND ANNOUNCEMENTS
- Location: Auditorium main floor, Peoples Church, 941 W. Lawrence Ave., Chicago, IL
- Facilitation: Maggie Martin
17:00 - 18:00: DINNER BREAK & TRANSIT TO EVENT SPACE
- NOTE: Pizza Night!
FRIDAY AFTERNOON PUBLIC PROGRAMING
7:00 - 9:30: Public Plenary Panel, 21st Century American Militarism: Occupation Abroad and Resistance at Home, with guest speakers, writer & professor Christian Parenti, Iraqi-American artist & professor Michael Rakowitz, Afghans United for Justice member & organizer Suraia Sahar, historian & writer Nick Turse, and others.
Location: Chicago Temple, 77 W. Washington St. Chicago, IL
Click here for the IVAW Event Page
Click here for the Facebook Event Page
SATURDAY (August 3, 2013)
TIME & LOCATION: 8:00 - 18:00 at Peoples Church, 941 W. Lawrence Ave., Chicago, IL
TIME & LOCATION: 20:30 - 23:00 The Hideout, 1354 W. Wabansia, Chicago, IL
09:30 - 18:00PM: REGISTRATION & CHECK-IN, MERCHANDISE, AND SHOW & TELL MEMBER BOOTHS OPEN
09:00 - 10:00AM: BREAKFAST
- Location: Cafeteria, Peoples Church, 941 W. Lawrence Ave., Chicago, IL
10:00 - 10:30AM: GROUP PICTURE - WELCOME & ANNOUNCEMENTS - MAGGIE MARTIN
- Location: Auditorium main floor, Peoples Church, 941 W. Lawrence Ave., Chicago, IL
- Facilitator: Maggie Martin
- (All registered convention attendees are welcome.)
10:30 - 11:30PM: MEMBERS MEETINGS
- TITLE: Strategic Planning & Rebranding 1
- Location: Auditorium main floor, Peoples Church, 941 W. Lawrence Ave., Chicago, IL
- Facilitators: Joyce Wagner & Jason Hurd
- (IVAW members)
- TITLE: Civilian-Soldier Alliance Members Meeting
- Location: Second floor balcony, Peoples Church, 941 W. Lawrence Ave., Chicago, IL
- (CSA members)
11:30 - 12:30PM: LUNCH
- Location: Cafeteria, Peoples Church, 941 W. Lawrence Ave., Chicago, IL
12:30 - 14:30PM: MEMBERS MEETING ON STRATEGIC PLANNING & REBRANDING
- TITLE: Strategic Planning & Rebranding 2
- Location: Auditorium main floor, Peoples Church, 941 W. Lawrence Ave., Chicago, IL
- Facilitators: Joyce Wagner, Jason Hurd (support from Abe and Megan)
- (IVAW members)
- TITLE: Civilian-Soldier Alliance Members Meeting
- Location: Second floor balcony, Peoples Church, 941 W. Lawrence Ave., Chicago, IL
- (CSA members)
14:30 - 15:00PM: COFFEE BREAK
SATURDAY AFTERNOON PUBLIC PROGRAMING
15:00 - 16:15: PUBLIC PANEL
- TITLE: Thoughts from our allies on the future of resistance and the veterans' movement.
- Location: Auditorium main floor, Peoples Church, 941 W. Lawrence Ave., Chicago, IL
- Facilitators: Aaron Hughes and Lisa Ling
- Allies;
- Warrior Writers
- Justseeds
- National Nurses United
- Courage to Resist
- Military Law Task Force
- Under the Hood
- Center for Constitutional Rights
- Civilian-soldier Alliance
(All registered convention attendees are welcome.)
16:15 - 17:30: PUBLIC WORKSHOP SESSION 1 - BREAKOUT GROUPS (DISCUSSIONS WITH IVAW ALLIES);
(All registered convention attendees are welcome.)
- TITLE: The Future of “Creative” Resistance and the Veterans' Movement - Warrior Writers and JustSeeds
- Location: Mollies Cafe, Peoples Church, 941 W. Lawrence Ave., Chicago, IL
- TITLE: The Future of “Active Duty” Resistance and the Veterans' Movement - Courage to Resist, Military Law Task Force, and Under the Hood
- Location: Second floor balcony, Peoples Church, 941 W. Lawrence Ave., Chicago, IL
- TITLE: Human Rights and the Future of Resistance and the Veterans’ Movement - Center for Constitutional Rights (Drake logan & Matt Howard)
- Location: East Side - Auditorium main floor, Peoples Church, 941 W. Lawrence Ave., Chicago, IL
- TITLE: The VA and the Future of Resistance and the Veterans’ Movement - STOP & National Nurses United (Aaron Hughes & Barry Romo)
- Location: West Side - Auditorium main floor, Peoples Church, 941 W. Lawrence Ave., Chicago, IL
17:30 - 18:00: PUBLIC WORKSHOP REPORT BACK
- Location: West Side - Auditorium main floor, Peoples Church, 941 W. Lawrence Ave., Chicago, IL
- (All registered convention attendees are welcome.)
18:00 - 20:30: DINNER OFF SITE & TRANSIT TO EVENT SPACE
20:30 - 23:00: Public Musical Event, From the Past to the Future of Creative Resistance at The Hideout, 1354 W. Wabansia, Chicago, IL. With special guests;
- Marvin Tate’s D-Settlement: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Marvin-Tates-D-Settlement/153253878167418?ref=stream
- Jacob George from The Ride Till the End: http://www.operationawareness.org/
- Warrior Writers: http://www.warriorwriters.org/
- DJ Naomi Walker
- & more
Click here for the event page.
Click here for the Facebook page.
SUNDAY (August 4, 2013)
TIME & LOCATION: 09:30 - 16:00 Chicago Park Shelter off Lawrence Ave., Lincoln Park, Chicago, IL
09:30 - 10:30: BREAKFAST IN THE PARK
- Location: Lincoln Park (Chicago Park Area at the end of Lawrence Ave.), Chicago, IL
10:30 - 12:30: INTERNAL WORKSHOP SESSION 5
- TITLE: Story Based Strategy for Countering Militarism
- Location: Lincoln Park (Chicago Park Area at the end of Lawrence Ave.), Chicago, IL
- Facilitator: Matt Howard and Joshua Shepherd
- (All registered convention attendees are welcome.)
- TITLE: Warrior Writers Workshop
- Location: Lincoln Park (Chicago Park Area at the end of Lawrence Ave.), Chicago, IL
- Facilitator: Warrior Writers Lovella Callica, Jenny Pac, Kevin Basl
- (All registered convention attendees are welcome.)
TITLES: Radical Mental Health & Healing
- Location: Lincoln Park (Chicago Park Area at the end of Lawrence Ave.), Chicago, IL
- Facilitator: Amanda Spitfire and Amanda Martin
- (All registered convention attendees are welcome.)
12:30 - 13:00: CONVENTION CLOSING
(All registered convention attendees are welcome.)
AFTERNOON PUBLIC PROGRAMING
13:00 - 16:00: Public Event: Enemy Kitchen BBQ, with artist Michael Rakowitz
Location: Lincoln Park (at the end of Lawrence Ave.), Chicago, IL
This year we have some really great workshops scheduled and we are also bringing a new way for members to network, share work with eachother, and show off all the great things are members are doing on a local level. Thursday from 4pm-8pm is our member table time. Please bring any ideas, materials, and skills you have to share and be ready to learn about other member's great work across the country.
Members and allies egister to table during the convention here.
HOUSING
The convention committee has prioritized creating a safe space for everyone at convention and will make every effort to accommodate for disabilities and any special housing needs.
House stays: We have worked with the local activist community to secure housing for IVAW and CivSol members near the convention site.
Guests and Allies: With limited volunteer housing and budget limitations we will not be able to offer housing to friends and allies. If you are playing a role in this convention and cannot arrange your own housing please contact us with the below information.
Hotels: Our convention is happening simultaniously with a huge Chicago music festival, we recomend booking your hotel as soon as possible.
If you require alternative housing arrangements or have any special needs please email convention@ivaw.org with "Housing" in the subject line.
TRAVEL INFORMATION
At the time of registering you must include your intended arrival and departure date. This information is necessary for us to plan adequate housing and food needs. You do not need to have your itinerary or ticket in hand at the time of registering, but we do encourage you to make travel arrangements ASAP. Please share with us the intended time of your arrival and departure as soon as your plans solidify so we can plan airport pick ups, etc.
BY CAR: We encourage members to carpool to convention. It is cost efficient, green, and an excellent way to strategize with members and supporters en route to convention.
BY BUS: Greyhound bus tickets can be booked online or by calling 1-800-231-2222.
BY AMTRAK: Amtrak train tickets can be booked here or by calling 1-800-USA-RAIL (1-800-872-7245). The brevity code for Chicago is “CHI”
BY PLANE: The cost for a flight to can be greatly reduced the sooner you book your flight. We recommend checking out Kayak.com and budget airlines like JetBlue or SouthWest. The airport code is “ORD” for O’hare or “MDW” for Midway.
We will coordinate your pickup at the airport but you need to let us know you need a ride and when you arrive/depart. Private shuttle services or public transportation is available at the airport terminal.
For additional travel questions or for help lining up a carpool contact Michael Applegate <michael.applegate@yahoo.com>.
CHILDCARE
Childcare is being organized locally for parents bringing their children to convention.
If you need childcare or would like to volunteer as a childcare provider please email convention@ivaw.org with "Childcare" in the subject line.
