[IFF] IFF Update & Message of Solidarity

[IFF Team]

Dear IFF Family,

It was difficult to find the words to write to you all. What we are
experiencing globally is unchartered territory. We know that many of you
are experiencing different challenges based on where you are and your
context. Some are completely alone; others are trying to balance work
with childcare; others are facing the sickness of loved ones; and the
list continues.

We know that challenging times still lay ahead but we are here to tell
you that anything can be overcome with solidarity, love and support. In
times like these, I think of our ancestors to draw inspiration and
courage. I (having grown up in the US) imagine what it must have been
like to be a young person involved in the civil rights movement in the
60s and how scary that work must have been. Yet, their courage and
solidarity created changes in the world that we still benefit from
today. They are my inspiration in the same way that we will be
inspiration for future generations.

You are not alone. You have a beautiful community behind you that wants
to support you. And how lucky are we to have people that love and
support us from all corners of the world, who share the same fighting
and compassionate spirit.

We want you all to keep and continue strengthening that solidarity, and
begin re-imagining what we want the world to look like. Change is often
painful but also brings great opportunities. Let's focus our energy on
those opportunities. We have seen the magic that happens when you all
join forces, and it's breathtaking.

To help you stay connected together, we have been working on new virtual
gatherings, which we list below. If there are activities, workshops,
conversations you want to see from us, let us know.  Now, more than
ever, we want to make sure you all feel supported.


***Virtual Check-ins, Workshops, Karaoke & MORE ***

IFF Team is increasing its virtual activities ranging from daily, social
coffee breaks to virtual, collaborative workshops, and yes, even
karaoke. As we develop them, we are posting them on our Virtual Calendar
of Events, which we will be updating regularly.
https://internetfreedomfestival.org/wiki/index.php/Calendar_of_Events

So far, some of the recurring events we have created so far:

* Daily Weekday Community Check-ins at 10am EST/UTC-4 on the IFF Mattermost.

* Community Knowledge Share webinars capped at 25 people, hosted at
least once a week.

* Glitter Meetup, that functions like a community town hall, every
Thursday at 9am EST/UTC-4 on the IFF Mattermost

We will be scheduling more virtual gatherings as we get more feedback
from the community.
https://internetfreedomfestival.org/wiki/index.php/Calendar_of_Events


***Glitter Pub***

We are creating a virtual pub where people can congregate socially, and
send silly interwebz stuffz, away from our laptops. We will be hosting
karaoke nights, as well as social art nights. ALSO, we are currently
looking for any musicians or djs in the community that may want to be a
featured act as well!!

Glitter Pub on Wire. Add us: @internetff
Sign up for an account: https://app.wire.com/


***IFF Mattermost***

The IFF Mattermost serves as a great tool to stay connected with
community members throughout the day. It works like Slack but is hosted
entirely by the IFF. We have several rooms, and you can almost always
find community members lurking around at almost all hours of the day. To
request an invite, email team at internetfreedomfestival.org


***Resources During COVID-19***

Several community-lead initiatives and projects have popped up to help
folks adjust to changes or meet needs. We have started to collect
resources on our wiki. Please ping us if there is a resource you think
is missing. We will now be updating this as folks share more diverse
resources with us, including even virtual games.

https://internetfreedomfestival.org/wiki/index.php/Community_Resources_for_COVID19


*** Newsletter ****

Our newsletter will continue as usual so please send us articles,
readings, job offerings, opportunities and anything else you want to
share with the community.


We’re in this together. Let's take this time to strengthen our networks
and brainstorm on the new world we want to see following this crisis. As
the old slogan goes, “the community united is never defeated.” This is
true no matter what we are facing.

((((Lots of glitter and love))))

Sandy on behalf of the IFF Team
PGP 0x6FF97A2F
Wire @internetff
team at internetfreedomfestival.org