Volunteer Teams

Dear all,

Thank you for coming to the audition evenings. I had a lot of fun! It was also really great to meet some of you for the first time and I am really looking forward to working with you this V-Season. Below I have included the list of tasks I put together which need to be worked on for our V-Day event/production. Please respond to this email to let me know what you are interested in working on and then I will create smaller teams and put you in touch with each other via email so you can plan to work together or independently. I would also like you to let me know how things are developing and plan to meet with at least one member of your team or keep in touch over the phone as things develop. I'm also interested in working on some of these areas as well, so for these I will let you know when I send out the email after creating groups.

In the mean time, please let me know what you would like to work on as well as any additional notes in regards to monologues. My goal is to let you know your monologue by mid-week next week so that you can begin to feel comfortable with your monologue. I am also looking at my calendar to try to organise some full rehearsal date suggestions. I haven't heard from anyone in regards to times that are off limits.

Press, publicity and promotional/marketing:
press releases
posters, fliers, brochures, postcards, etc.
create program outline, finalise and print programs
pursue press coverage
create keep in touch forms to have at event

Fundraising
sell advertisements in program to local stores and restaurants
set ticket prices: rolling price of 5-15gbp mentioned
design, create, and sell tickets
do we want to sell products at our event to make more money? Some examples include: items sold on v-day site, posters on mencanstoprape.org, making/baking items to sell, drinks, etc.

Treasurer
donations (tax free direct debits for large donations: possible?buckets for donations)
issue check to V-Day at end of season for 10% of profits
creating fund for women who have no recourse to public funds

Complimenting Events/Information
--getting to know our beneficiary: is there a group of women we can support whom will receive support from the funds? Ideas: make-overs, planning a movie night: We discussed this at both meetings, Noel mentioned the St. Mary Magdeline Centre as well as other possible groups he can approach at the Refugee Forum Meeting on 7th Feb.
–-any other ideas for events leading up to V-Day or including at our production: display of art by women who have been survivors of violence? Artwork to celebrate being a woman? I know that the DV week will be full of events, but there was also a mention of images/photographs being used during week can be used for V-Day event. I am also interested in whether you have other ideas. Putting a display up on refugees in the area as well as other information which connects the spotlight campaign and facts related to Islington mentioned at Monday's meeting.
–-an event to involve men (take a look at the v-spot section on men, other ideas?)
-- We need to compile facts about violence against women in Islington as well as other facts you feel would be relevant to weave through our show

Tech Crew
all meet together to discuss ideas as well as skills and resources
Stage Manager: who wants to help the director?
Costume/Makeup
Stage/Set Design
Technical Crew: Lights, sound
Setting Up Production/Ushers

Spotlight Campaign
Info posted on V-Day/vspot (let me know if you want access to this) as well as info posted on vdaystopviolenceagainstwomen.blogspot.com
How can we/will we educate the community through out v-day event on the spotlight subject?

V-Spot
Who would like to be invited to access more information via v-spot? Recommended to those leading smaller groups within the team and anyone interested in participating in the online forum/discussions.

Meetings/Rehearsals:
We have 52 days/7 weeks and 3 days. Please look at your calendar to let me know if there are dates you cannot meet for our full rehearsals as I would like to put those dates on the calendar in the coming week and create tentative dates to confirm as soon as possible.

Misc:do mailings, create decorations, copy fliers, put up posters, usher at production, sell products

Please let me know what you would like to do! I also have noted from our audition evenings for those of you that have already mentioned interest in some of these areas, but a specific confirmation would be helpful as well.

Thanks and looking forward to hearing from you all soon.

Enjoy the rest of your week,

Kara

Recap from Thursday Audition Evening

Thank you for coming to the audition evening on Thursday. I really enjoyed meeting all of you, and seeing some of you again! You all did an excellent job taking the risk to read for the auditions! Well done everyone! After the audition evening tomorrow I will be in touch with you in regards to the role I have in mind for you and hopefully by then you will all have read the script. Additionally, please send on any ideas or queries you have about a monologue you may be interested in performing. I will keep your preferences in mind and work to find the best monologue for each of you.

Campaign Needs and Rehearsals: I will also be posting the needs and other areas of the campaign you can get involved in on the vday blog as well as vdayislingtongroups in an email. I would also like to organise the two rehearsals we will have and the one dress rehearsal, so please check your calendars for any weekends or end of week times you will be out of town, as these may fall towards the end of the week and the dress rehearsal the night before or even the day of, we will need to decide this as well. Let me know dates you are absolutely unavailable.

Visiting a Women's Refugee Shelter: I am still interested in organising a weekday evening or weekend afternoon to visit a refugee shelter where we can have a makeover time or even a movie; ideas welcome. I will be contacting The Body Shop to find out about whether they would be interested in sending some volunteers/supplies to help with makeovers/pampering sessions. Ideas are welcome and even if only a few of you are available or interested in something like this, I think it would be a great experience for all involved. Additionally, I have no idea where to start in finding a group which would be interested/benefit in us visiting and putting on an event for them, so any information in regards to that would be excellent. Thank you in advance. Also, if you would be interested in participating in this event, then do let me know.

V-spot: For those of you interested in accessing information and taking part in the forums on the V-spot I need your phone number as well. I know that you each said you would be interested, but can you confirm that it's ok to give them your email and phone details before I do so. I believe I have all that information on your volunteer application forms.

I will be in touch after the second Audition evening. Have a great week everyone!

All the best,

Kara

Spotlight Campaign: Women in Conflict Zones

Each year V-Day creates a Spotlight around a particular group of women who are experiencing violence and resisting it with courage and vision. The goal of the spotlight is to put a worldwide media spotlight on the issue, and to raise funds and awareness to aid groups who are working on it.

V- Day Spotlight 2007: Women in Conflict Zones
In 2007 the V-Day Spotlight addresses Women in Conflict Zones because war exponentially increases the crimes of violence against women and girls. In equal measure the strength and resilience of women in rebuilding their communities and leading governments to peaceful solutions needs to be celebrated.

For women, not just during war but for decades to come, armed conflict means escalated military, sexual, and domestic violence, lack of security as a displaced person or refugee, and vulnerability to sex traffickers and coerced prostitution even by the peacekeepers themselves. Given the 21st century's escalating armed conflicts, impunity for wartime sexual violence cannot be tolerated. As patterns of wartime rape and sexual violence continue today in places such as Sudan, Congo, and Iraq, it is paramount to expose and condemn these crimes through international media coverage and public outcry and efforts in our communities themselves.

V-Day first took aim at wartime sexual violence with the 2002 Spotlight: Afghanistan Is Everywhere, followed by the 2005 Spotlight: Women of Iraq: Under Siege, and the 2006 Spotlight: The Global V-Day Campaign for Justice to 'Comfort Women.' Our 2007 Spotlight will continue to ensure that wartime sexual violence remains in the media and public eye. [source]

10% of the proceeds from each V-Day production to our 2007 Spotlight campaign.

For more information on Women in Conflict Zones, please read through some of the articles and reports linked below, provided on the vday/vspot for Campaign Organisers.

International Symposium on Sexual Violence in Conflict and Beyond
In June 2006, more than 250 participants from 30 countries met at the Palais d'Egmont in Brussels for the International Symposium on Sexual Violence in Conflict and Beyond. This historic three-day conference -- convened by the Government of Belgium, the European Commission and UNFPA -- brought together heads of UN agencies and NGOs, human activists and researchers, government ministers, doctors and other field-based humanitarian workers, parliamentarians, representatives from the International Criminal Court, military and police officers, and members of the media to share experiences, strategies and a renewed commitment to end the scourge of sexual violence in countries torn apart by war.

European Parliament Resolution on Women and War: Women In Armed Conflicts And Their Role In Post-Conflict Reconstruction
This is the European Parliament resolution on the situation of women in armed conflicts and their role in the reconstruction and democratic process in post-conflict countries, based on a report by Belgian European Parliament member Veronique De Keyser.

Profile of the Humanitarian Situation in DRC
This two-page document profiles some of the root causes of the humanitarian situation in the DRC.

"The Hidden Consequence of War"
A feature story on traumatic fistula.

If you are interested in reading more about The Democratic Republic of Congo or Traumatic Gynecologic Fistula, leave a comment and I can post more pdf/word documents to v-day islington googlegroups.

Confirmation of Upcoming Meetings/Auditions

Hello Everyone,

Thank you for your feedback in regards to the times that were best for you to meet. I tried to accommodate everyone.

The two meetings will be held on Thursday, January 25th and Monday, January 29th. Both meetings will be at the Islington Town Hall from 6-8pm. You do not need to come to both meetings, but rather chose the best one for you. I will email a meeting agenda prior to the meeting night. It is an open meeting for those interested in working on the V-Day Islington event and the benefit production of The Vagina Monologues. Please feel free to bring those interested with you.

Auditions: Please come prepared to read one of the three monologue excerpts included with the volunteer application. Additionally, feel free to read another piece of The Vagina Monologues if you have it at your disposal. I would also appreciate feedback from you at the time of your reading: the type and length of piece you would like to be considered for as well as if you prefer to do a monologue on your own or with other actresses. I will have scripts available at the meeting for you to take away with you and will contact you within a week as to what part you will perform. This will not be based solely on your reading. The auditions will not be private, as we will be doing them within the group.

Volunteers: This meeting will also be a chance for us to create smaller groups within the larger group to begin setting goals and working towards those goals for other areas of the event as mentioned on the volunteer application.

This will be an open meeting but I hope that those attending will have a little bit of a background knowledge of our event, so if you would like me to pass more information on to anyone, please put them in touch with me. I have tried to respond in a timely manner to all queries.

If you have not accepted the invitation to the google groups that I have sent you, please do so to enable that we communicate on a regular basis as well as with one another. I am happy to send information via email, but there will be times that the postings on the google groups page will warrant feedback and ideas and I think it is important for all of us to be involved. You can certainly create your preferences so that you are not receiving too many emails and can check in periodically. This is also a good place to post attachments as well as information in regards to the V-Day movement and spotlight campaign. Part of being involved in the benefit production of TVM is also being knowledgeable about V-Day.

See you soon,

Kara

Planning Our Next Meeting

Dear all,

Thank you for your interest and support in V-Day. I am looking forward to working with all of you as well as any others interested in joining the team to produce the benefit performance of The Vagina Monologues in Islington, March 2007.

I am attaching a copy of the volunteer application which includes the page of audition pieces taken from The Vagina Monologues as well as the flyer which was available at my presentation in order for you to forward on to any and all who are interested.

I have looked over the times available for those of you who have already filled out the forms. I have to make sure that we have a space to meet before making any permanent plans, but I wanted to ask you which dates would be best for you and then take it from there. I have also created a googlegroups page and sent an invite as well for that in order for us to communicate over the forum. If I haven't included you the list for the googlegroup, please send me an email and I will do so.

So far, I believe evenings are best for most initially for meetings. I am happy that some of you have days and other times available and this will help in working independently or in small groups on other aspects of our V-Day event. For now, I would like to organise the audition and interviews evening. This is also a relaxed evening where others who are interested in working on the campaign can come and listen as well as share feedback/ideas. I would like to see our actresses as well as find out what monologue you are interested in performing, if you have a preference or if you are happy to be cast wherever. I would also like to create a list of V-Team members at this meeting which would allow members access to the V-Spot which has up to date information in regards to the campaign.

Here are some suggestions for meeting times, it's also possible that we can have more than one initial meeting in order for everyone to be able to attend/audition.

Evening: 6pm, Thursday 25 January,
6pm, Monday 29 January,
6pm, Thursday 2 February

Again, I need to confirm the availability of rooms at the Islington Town Hall, but I'd like to see when you can attend. Also feel free to email me your interests for acting prior so that I can think about that as well. Once we have the actresses, I will have scripts for each of you.

Please feel free to contact me: I am available after 5.30pm weeknights and throughout the weekend. If you would also like to meet me outside of a group meeting, I am happy to find time to do so.

Thank you again,

Kara

V-Day Islington

What is V-Day?

Mission
V-Day is an organized response against violence toward women.

V-Day is a vision: We see a world where women live safely and freely.

V-Day is a demand: Rape, incest, battery, genital mutilation and sexual slavery must end now.

V-Day is a spirit: We believe women should spend their lives creating and thriving rather than surviving or recovering from terrible atrocities.

V-Day is a catalyst: By raising money and consciousness, it will unify and strengthen existing anti-violence efforts. Triggering far-reaching awareness, it will lay the groundwork for new educational, protective, and legislative endeavors throughout the world.

V-Day is a process: We will work as long as it takes. We will not stop until the violence stops.

V-Day is a day. We proclaim Valentine's Day as V-Day, to celebrate women and end the violence.

V-Day is a fierce, wild, unstoppable movement and community.

Join us on Tuesday, 9th January at 6:00pm for an information evening to organise a benefit performance of Eve Ensler’s, ‘The Vagina Monologues.’

A second information meeting will be held on Friday, 12th January at 12:00pm for those unable to attend the initial meeting.

Coffee, tea and light snacks will be provided at the Islington Town Hall. Highlights will be shown of Eve Ensler’s performance in the ‘Vagina Monologues.’

We are looking for women to join us for a benefit performance of Eve Ensler’s ‘The Vagina Monologues.’ Support and volunteers from all backgrounds are welcome.

All proceeds will support women in the Islington area seeking asylum who have no recourse to public funds but are in need of food, shelter, and support.

Needed:
Full production team
Actresses
Event Organising committee/team
Fundraising/sponsorship search

The information evening will be lead by Kara Melissa Sharp, World Wide Campaign Organiser for V-Day 2007 Islington, with the support of Harriet Wilkins, Domestic Violence Co-ordinator, Islington.

V-Day is a global movement to end violence against women and girls that raises funds and awareness through benefit productions of Playwright/Founder Eve Ensler's award-winning play The Vagina Monologues. In 2005, more than 2500 V-Day events took place in the U.S. and around the world. To date, V-Day has raised over $30 million and educated millions about the issue of violence against women and the efforts to end it; crafted international educational, media and PSA campaigns; reopened shelters; funded safe houses in Kenya, South Dakota, Egypt and Iraq , and over 5000 community-based anti-violence programs. The 'V' in V-Day stands for Victory, Valentine and Vagina. www.vday.org, http://www.vdayuk.org/, http://www.vdayeurope.org/index.htm