Wrapup: Second #OccupyBoston General Assembly

BOSTON/Boston Common - The #OccupyBoston General Assembly held its second meeting last night at the Parkman Bandstand on the Boston Common. Over 200 people attended and immediately went into meetings of the working groups they had formed at the first meeting. After deliberating on specific tasks for over an hour each group reported back to the assembly. Still lacking a sound system speakers sometimes used the People's Microphone technique and had their words repeated in unison by several people as they spoke. At the conclusion of those reports the assembly finished debate over the start time of the planned occupation encampment in Dewey Square near Boston's Financial District. They ultimately agreed that the occupation would begin this Friday Sept. 30 at 6 p.m. And that today's third General Assembly meeting would be held at the encuentro 5 movement space in nearby Chinatown in the likely event of rain. The medical working group reported that it would be giving a sanitation and hygiene training for long-term protest conditions today Friday and regularly during the Dewey Square occupation. The legal working group is still in talks with the American Civil Liberties Union and the National Lawyers Guild to send lawyers to observe at the occupation. They also asked participants not to bring drugs or alcohol to any #OccupyBoston events or to engage in violence. The media working group asked for agreement that any #OccupyBoston activist be empowered to talk to the media but that each person must agree to state that they are not representatives of the movement at large and to direct media to the media team to get statements from designated spokespeople. The food working group said that they were planning to offer one meal to occupation activists every day at 3 p.m. They also said that they will have water available 24/7 asked participants to bring their own dishes and water bottles. The tactical working group discussed the particulars of the planned occupation - and also spent some time debating about renaming Dewey Square to something else - as some activists thought the existing name was "lame." The event was peaceful. There were no incidents and no arrests. Photos and more to come. Follow all the up-to-the-minute info on our OMB Special Events Unit's Storyful.com page. Bookmark/Search this post with: Delicious Digg StumbleUpon Reddit Newsvine Facebook Google Yahoo Technorati