Hoedown in the Heartland

And if a name like that wasn't enough to catch your attention, try...

Correction: Cake, Gomez, and Robbers on High Street will be a ticketed show restricted to Grinnell students. However, during the day there will be an outdoor festival that everyone can partake in, including a stage with up-and-coming bands.
FREE outdoor day-long festival of music
--including the bands Cake, Gomez, Robbers on High Street, and various others to kick off the conference.

The concert will be throughout the day on the 29th with Cake playing around 6 pm. You know you want to come the distance to see 'em, and that means extra incentive to make it to Grinnell, Iowa, in the midst of the Corn Belt on Friday, the 29th.

Hoedown in the Heartland will bring student organizers of all issues and levels of experience together to creat the sweetest conference ever. And, we mean it. You may be thinking, "What? A happenin' conference in the middle of Iowa?" And the answer is yes, yes, YES. Hoedown in the Heartland has become a cornfield oasis where organizers come to share their skills and their visions about how we Midwesterners can challenge the powers that be.

We've had two years of practice at planning this awesome weekend so there's no doubt that this year will be the best yet. Here's why:

• Stellar trainers and speakers from renowned activist organizations, including Rainforest Action Network, Global Exchange, ForestEthics, and MoveOn.org...
• Really hot trainings ranging from nonviolent direct action, how to plan a winning campaign and anti-oppression workshops to conscientious fashion and radical cheerleading... (see attached schedule for details)
• Issue briefings on the National Paper campaign, Ford, Coca-cola, Environmental Racism, Moveon.org, and Alternative Media.
• A keynote address on "Corporate Accountability and the Alternative Economy" by Kevin Danaher, co-founder of Global Exchange...

BUT the most important part of all of this is YOU. Not only is Hoedown about picking up some new skills and learning about new issues, but Hoedown is about networking and creating a community with your fellow Midwestern activists. And we need YOU, here in Grinnell, Iowa to do that.

We've got a bonfire planned of Friday night to kick off our social scene with Jen Krill from Rainforest Action Network giving a kick-off speech, and a barbeque on Saturday night. No doubt both will be followed by raging parties full of big-name organizers mingling with burgeoning activists.

We can't wait to meet you, or get reaquainted. Please, don't keep us waiting in anticipation any longer, we only ask for $5, if you register soon. And think about everything that will be packed into that $5, a lot of hot organizing. Scholarships available.

For more info contact:
Linda Wells
wellslin@grinnell.edu
(563) 210-2848

Registration

Keynote Speaker

Co-founder of Global Exchange, described by the New York Times as "the Paul Revere of globalization's woes"
His full bio can be found at Global Exchange's website.

His speech will be on Corporate Accountability and the Alternative Economy:
This talk discusses how corporate globalization is driven by the need to turn nature into money and find the cheapest labor. As an alternative, grassroots globalization is being built by community-based organizations linking across their boundaries.

Directions

The Bucksbaum Center for the Arts is at the intersection of 6th Avenue and Park Street, on the Grinnell College Campus.

From I-80 E:

1. Take the IA-146 exit- EXIT 182- toward GRINNELL/NEW SHARON. 0.3 miles
2. If you're coming from the WEST, Turn LEFT onto IA-146 N. If you're coming from the EAST, turn right onto IA-146 N, or West Street. Go 3.5 miles, to downtown Grinnell.
3. Turn RIGHT onto US-6/6TH AVE.
4. Go through 2 stoplights.
5. End at Bucksbaum Center for the Arts, 6th Ave & Park St