PCN New York

PCN just started outreach for our New York chapter in late 2012, and our focus is on supporting communicators who are working on civic engagement, especially working with communities of color and working class communities. Here’s the latest information about our chapter.

April 27, 2013: Women of Color Be the Media! in NYC

Posted by kathleen on April 10, 2013 3 Responses »

Apr 102013

We’re pleased to announce our first-ever Be the Media! event outside Boston. PCN’s New York City chapter is co-hosting a special Women of Color Be the Media! on Saturday, April 27, from 9 AM to 5 PM at Hostos Community College in the Bronx. We’re partnering with our sister network, Standing in Our Power, for an exciting day of skill-building and networking.

Here’s a glimpse of the day’s schedule:

9:00 AM Checkin Opens (Light breakfast)

10:00 AM Welcome and Opening Conversation

10:45 AM to 12:30 PM Morning Workshops:

12:30 PM to 1:45 PM Lunch and networking time

2 PM to 3:45 PM Afternoon Workshops:

3:45 PM to 5 PM Networking Time/Refreshments/Closing

You can register here or see complete workshop descriptions and all event details at www.bethemediaevent.org.

“Becoming a More Effective Media Spokesperson” at Organizing NY

Posted by kathleen on March 28, 2013 No Responses »

Mar 282013

PCNers Janvieve Williams Comrie and Kathleen Pequeño led a workshop on “Becoming a More Effective Media Spokesperson” at Organizing NY on Saturday, March 23rd.

Over 40 participants were in a highly interactive workshop session which focused on basic techniques for staying on message while answering reporters questions. Of course, one of the most important tips is: practice, practice, practice. After a brief discussion of tips and technique (including bridging), we spent most of the workshop with practice time for participants to do role-plays with each other on issues they were working on, getting feedback on style and messaging from PCNers and the other workshop participants.

Here’s where one of the strengths of Organizing New York came through: the wide array of issues that people were working on. Participants practiced media interviews on:

A proposed NYS law that would eliminate credit checks for employment applicants.
The campaign to divest Hunter College from fossil fuels.
A campaign to get the state of NY to be less reliant on sweatshop labor for clothing contracts.
A campaign to increase federal funding for the eradication of polio.

Here’s the Powerpoint that we used to open the session. Big thanks to the Community Media Workshop for all their great work on how to work with legacy media.

Download (PPT, 156KB)

PCN Partners with Standing in Our Power on Be the Media

Posted by kathleen on March 19, 2013 No Responses »

Mar 192013

The Progressive Communicators Network and Standing in Our Power (SiOP), two networks organized by Spirit in Action, are teaming up to bring a dynamic one-day skill-building event to women of color leaders in New York City. Women of Color Be the Media! will allow leaders to share information, connect across issues, and learn the latest tools and skills for communicating social justice issues and of course, for creating our own media.

For seven years, the Boston/New England chapter of PCN has organized successful Be the Media! conferences for social justice organizers and leaders. In 2013, PCN and SiOP will bring leaders who are on the frontlines working for racial justice, gender justice, economic justice, and more for a day of community building and communications skill-building modeled on the Boston success.

More information at www.bethemediaevent.org.

NYC Chapter Talks “Battle of the Story”

Posted by Silky on October 17, 2012 No Responses »

Oct 172012

Six progressive communicators gathered on Thursday, September 27 for a NYC Chapter Meet-up to network, get an update on PCN activities and to work through the “Battle the Story” when it comes to language access and voting.

Participants shared recent highlights from their work including:

getting a story placed in the NY Times
the need for more diverse voices at press events related to civic engagement
a recent increase in funding for communications on immigration (even as we deal with the difficulties of navigating the current immigration narrative)

Janvieve Williams Comrie led the participants in a Battle of the Story exercise (pictured above, thank you to longtime partner smartMeme for lending us their facilitator guidelines for this great exercise they’ve developed).

Maurice Mitchell suggested we tackle the issue of language access at poll sites, which bridged our shared interest in civic engagement and immigrant rights. One thing we realized fairly quickly was that it was much easier to articulate our opposition’s narrative than to uncover our own narrative!

While time was limited and we didn’t get to finish the whole exercise, it was a useful exercise in strategic and creative thinking. Participants also expressed a desire to continue NYC Chapter Meet-ups in the future in order to support each others’ communications work.

Thanks to the NYC Immigration Coalition for hosting us. We’ll keep rotating the location to better welcome groups from around the city. Stay tuned for our next meetup this fall! If you want to know more about the emerging NYC chapter, get in touch with Kathleen Pequeño, the NYC chapter organizer.