WAM!2007 Call for Proposals

Download a printable pdf of this Call for Proposals here.

Women, Action & the Media:
Making Noise, Making Change

MIT’s Stata Center, Cambridge, MA
March 30 - April 1, 2007

The WAM conference inspires, invigorates, provokes and reminds us of the power of women, both individually and collectively. It is that rare place in which women can talk, laugh, disagree, commiserate, strategize and, most importantly, build community. I do not intend to miss one!
— Jill Nelson, journalist and author (Volunteer Slavery, Finding Martha’s Vineyard)

It’s time to put women back in the story. That’s why the Center for New Words is hosting the fourth annual Women, Action & the Media (WAM!) conference. Our past three conferences have featured such speakers as Amy Goodman, Caryl Rivers, Daisy Hernandez, E.J. Graff, Farai Chideya, Jessica Valenti, Jill Nelson, Judith Stadtman Tucker, Julianne Malveaux, Katha Pollitt, Lisa Jervis, Maria Hinojosa, Marie Wilson, Medea Benjamin, Noy Thrupkaew, Rita Henley-Jensen, Shelley Lewis, and many more. This year’s conference will bring together more than 400 participants for a weekend of exchanging our observations, ideas, experiences, opinions, and tools for change—and planning together for action.

[WAM!] was absolutely essential for me to continue to expand my resources and skill sets. It was an amazing weekend, finding myself in the middle of hundreds of a community of women who shared experiences similar to mine, yet whose voices were so distinct and diverse. Especially as a freelance person living the independent-contractor lifestyle, WAM! has become a crucial support and resource structure for me, and I’m recommending the conference to numerous colleagues and clients. (On a lighter note: I like to the think of the WAM! Conference and listserv as the “I’m Not Crazy” Conference and listserv. ;-) )
—Deanna Zandt, Contributing Editor, AlterNet.org

We invite you to submit a proposal for a workshop, panel, strategy meeting, multimedia presentation, or other conference session. We want to hear your ideas whether you’re a media producer or a PR strategist, a journalist, an activist, an academic, a community organizer, a funder or philanthropist, a “citizen” media watchdog, a media policy advocate, an alternative-network-builder, a blogger, writer, teacher, artist, technology trainer, deejay, (etc!) — we welcome any progressive concerned about women’s voices and power in the media. We especially encourage proposals from women of color, women under 25 and over 65, low-income women, professionals/producers working in broadcast and online media, and students.

The connections we made at WAM weren’t limited to that weekend. Conversations that began during keynotes were fleshed out in break-out sessions, continued informally in small groups that talked well past midnight, and, most important, kept going on the listserv and in professional, academic, and personal projects and alliances, weeks and months later.
—Jennifer Pozner, Founder/Director, Women In Media & News (WIMN)

At WAM!2007, we’ll share facts and ideas and develop skills and action plans to transform the media environment and amplify progressive women’s public voices—as analysts, opinion-makers, community members , and influential participants in civil society. But to do that, we need you. What questions, issues, and concerns do you want to hear debated? What thinking, strategizing, planning or skill-sharing work should happen at WAM as a step forward in building the movement to “make noise and make change”? What should we know, what should we be doing, and what should we be preparing for?

Please send us your session proposals. We encourage you to be creative not only with your proposed topic and content but in your means of presentation - we’re seeking interactive, provocative, dialogue-rich sessions that might as easily involve multimedia, collaborative projects, skills training or live performance as a panel or standard speaker.

To get you started, we’ve listed some titles of past WAM! sessions. Please don’t be limited by this list. What do you want to talk about, work on together—or hear others discuss?

PAST SESSIONS HAVE INCLUDED:

Media Critique sessions such as:
-What the Left Can Learn from Queer Success
- Hip Hop Feminists Battle Sexism, Harassment & Violence
-Declining to Decline: How the Media Present Women, Menopause, and Midlife Aging
-Women, Work, and Wages: Covering Poverty, Discrimination, and Women’s Work
-Start the “Opt Out” Revolution Without Me: Media Coverage of Work-Life & Family Issues
-Housewives, Bitches, and Swans: Where’s the Feminism in Pop Culture?
-(Web)sites of Resistance: Why Our Blogs Matter
-Global Women’s Issues and the American Media

Skill-Building Sessions such as:
-The Art of the Press Release
-Interviewing: An Essential Skill for Journalists
- -Start Your Own Blog in 90 Minutes
-Your Best Pitch: One-on-One Consultations to Help Your Stories Succeed
-Radio Journalism: A Quick and Dirty Guide
-Getting Your Story Told: PR for Groups and Enterprises
-Big Coverage and Big Cash: Get National News Media Exposure and Turn it into Big Funding

Action Planning sessions such as:
-Building a Better Noise Machine: Amplifying Women’s Voices in the Emerging Progressive Media Infrastructure
-Talking to Each Other: The Future of Feminist and Indie Media
-Covering Poor and Low-Income Women in a Corporate Media Era
-Using Community Media to Promote Feminist Voices
-Finding the Change to Make Change
-Nothing Sacred: Muslim Women and the “War on Terror”
-Root Causes, Our Cures: Women’s Activism for Media Justice and Reform

Genre-defying sessions such as:
-Establishing the Voice and Story of Young Women of Color in Film
-Transgender Activist Radio, Social Change, and the Continuing Gender Revolution
-Films and Discussion: The Grrly Show and Left on Pearl: Women Take Over 888 Memorial Drive, Cambridge

To Submit a Proposal

Please submit a proposal (not more than 500 words) including:

- Presenters’ first and last names (please only propose presenters whose availability to attend has been confirmed)
- Relevant biographical information for each presenter (please be sure to include any information which will help us ensure equitable representation of speakers on the basis of race/ethnicity, class, sexual orientation, gender identity, degree of physical ability, and age)
- Goal of the session: What are the presenter/organizers goals for producing this session and what do you hope will happen?
- Format of presentation, plus unique features, e.g., equipment needs
- What type of audience your presentation is geared toward. Please be specific as to what you assume people attending your session will already know, what skills or experience they should have, etc.
- Email address
- Mailing address
- Telephone number(s)
- Title of the presentation

Incomplete proposals may not be considered. Formats for presentations may include:

- multimedia/performance - e.g., video, guerrilla theater, etc.
- lecture (must include significant time for q&a)
- workshop (hands-on skill-building)
- strategic planning, collaboration or action/organizing meeting
- panel discussion with moderator
- combinations of these formats, or other formats entirely!

Preference will be given to sessions that:

- involve at least 50 percent women of color as presenters or session leaders
- involve low-income women as presenters or session leaders
- involve women under 25 and/or women over 65 as presenters or session leaders
- have a goal of fostering post-conference action or activism by the participants

All sessions should run for 90 minutes.

Please feel free to call us with questions as you prepare your proposals: 617-876-5310. Submissions will be reviewed and evaluated by the steering committee. Please send your submission to cfp@centerfornewwords.org with the subject line WAM!2007 Session Proposal, or mail it to Center for New Words/7 Temple Street/Cambridge,MA 02139/Attn: WAM!2007 Session Proposals. You will receive a confirmation of our receiving your submission within 3 working days.

Submission deadline is 10/13/2006.

Length: 250 to 500 words

Timeline and Important Dates:
Proposal submission deadline: 10/13/2006
Notification of acceptance or rejection: 11/10/2006

Presenter Policies

In order to keep conference registration fees at the lowest possible rate, we ask presenters to volunteer your time, expertise, and services at the conference. In consideration of your service as a presenter, you (and up to three co-presenters) will receive free registration to the entire conference. If you need assistance funding travel and accommodations, you’ll be invited to request those funds once your proposal is accepted. While we regret that we cannot guarantee that everyone who needs travel assistance will receive it, we are making every effort to ensure that we can fund as many requests as possible.

If you submit a proposal, you will become the “session contact.” Session contacts are expected to serve as the communication link between the conference organizing staff and the other presenters on your session. Session contacts must provide complete contact information for each presenter and advise conference staff of any changes in presenter line-up. The Center for New Words expects that all scheduled sessions will be presented as described in your proposal and listed in the program book.

Thank you. We look forward to receiving your proposal.