GARC - Why GARC?

- Move around to well researched locations in a variety of regions, so that everyone will at one point have the opportunity to have it in their own backyard.

- Pay attention to wildlife issues.

- Pick a conference site that has facilities for recycling and actively recycle.

- Have ample time for announcements.

- Focus heavily on "how-to" workshops and skill sharing.

- Provide housing in people's homes, in churches, in university dorms, or in school gymnasiums. For people who insist on the amenities of a hotel, we can ensure that there is one near the conference site.

- Have a participatory and open planning process

- Offer affordable vegan food of good quality and make good use of donated food

- Take place within a setting that will keep costs down to allow for a cheaper conference (e.g. a university campus),

- Instead of using work scholarships, the conference should encourage ALL attendees to volunteer some of their time, in addition to their money, towards the conference. This way we are not forcing those who do not have the economic privilege to pay full admission to serve those who can.

- Stress diversity among the presenters with limited focus on the old war-horses of the movement.

- Have feminist consciousness and organizers who know the connection between oppression of animals and women. Carol Adams or someone who can expound on her material should be included.

- Recognize the need to work against the market system itself, which is the source of animal and human suffering.

- Welcome speakers and discussion with the perspective that animal abuse must be abolished, and that reform is not a path to abolition.

- The conference should be kept from running to long, in deference to people's work schedules.

- Devote time to brainstorming and building connections with other movements.

- Maintain a flexible agenda to promote informal interaction between participants, spontaneous workshops, meetings, and gatherings in response to perceived needs at the conference.

- Be a platform for concrete organizing of regional events.

- Make public transportation access a priority.

- Include student speakers and choose a location, and culture that will be welcoming and appealing to students.

- Be inclusive of newcomers, and help them develop a focus for local campaigning in their areas, but also make sure that the conference is an effective use of time for veterans.

- Strongly represent advocates of underground direct action and include discussions of this subject.

- Include action planning to ensure concrete and empowering results from this gathering.

- Have a mass march o have group actions of all kinds (demos, leafletings, direct actions, mass march) planned out well beforehand, so that we can take advantage of the large numbers of activists available at these conferences.

- Not have a police-like security force to police attendees. the conference is kept affordable and a sliding scale is in place, there will be no need to guard the entrances to workshops to ensure that everyone entering is wearing a badge.

- Address environmental issues, with attention to understanding environmental laws and local/regional strategies for environmental campaigning.

- Give grassroots activists a voice and the opportunity to explain what has worked for them.

- Have hands on workshops concerning civil disobedience.

- Distribute a list with contact info for all conference attendees, unless they request to not be listed.

- Have smaller group sessions and workshops to stave off feelings of alienation and frustration that come from the largesessions where there is little chance for interaction. Greater intimacy would also mean more grassroots networking.

- Allow grassroots groups to share what they know and gain the confidence to try what other are willing to teach.

- Consider the host site's political views and associations. We should NOT be having it somewhere where the hotel/university would restrict free speech or assembly.

- Encourage sponsors could offer travel grants instead of product samples (though not the food samples - we rely on them!).