The 2014 CCO will take place June 20-22, 2014
Register for the Conference on Creative Organizing.
Contact our office if you are interested in having a CCO program in your area
Program Details
The Conference on Creative Organizing Program is a leadership-training program for union staff, organizers, activists, and rank-and-filers. Participants learn how to think outside the box and approach organizing challenges creatively from a different point of view. They will also develop new skills including how to involve others in songs, chants, skits, game shows, costume, theater, and other creative strategies. Learn to use cultural tools to combat fear, get members involved, attract media attention, integrate contemporary or “pop” culture into organizing strategies, and inject “excitement” into union and political campaigns.
Participants will:
- Meet other unionists from all over the country and abroad;
- Network with other progressive activists and cultural workers;
- Exchange experiences and ideas for artistic expression;
- Collaborate or engage with other artists, performers, and activists;
- Share resources with organizers and artists from the Conference on Creative Organizing;
- Return home rejuvenated, energized and inspired with a battery of new ideas and tools that will make your artistry more engaging and infused.
Program highlights:
- Gain tools for tapping into the creative resources that members of your organization or union local possess;
- Hands-on techniques for making props, puppets, banners and posters;
- Creative, rhythmic picket line techniques;
- Fresh ideas for local campaigns-“think tank” ideas generated from a wide variety of artists and performers;
- Learn ways to utilize the Internet to tell workers’ stories and struggles.
Previous CCO participants said:
- “The Conference on Creative Organizing has given us a whole new range of tools and strategies.”
- “Union members … hunger for the kinds of edifying experience [the conference] offers. Songs that tell the stories of workers, martyrs, labor struggles, history, and offer hope, motivation and solidarity are like summer rain on a parched desert. Art depicting the evils of discrimination, privatization, and worker safety sacrificed to corporate greed are so welcome. It is commonplace at AFL-CIO headquarters, but it does not exist where my associates live and work. They need to know that their struggles are universal, and timeless.”
- “It’s a wonderful experience. We learned some comprehensive hands-on tactics to use in our specific organizing situation that we could fine-tune to any drive.”
- “Any activist attending this conference will come back with countless creative ideas for their campaigns.”
- “We will be back.”