Glossary of Terms for Occupy Seattle

At Occupy Seattle (and I assume at the other Occupy locations) the decision making is decided in a group manner, mostly with consensus. It’s chaotic and while there are good things and bad things about it, this post is just my attempt to collect some terms for quick reference. At this point it’s pretty inadequate, but I’ll update it with other people’s suggestions and corrections.

• Facilitator – In the general assembly and in the work groups, the person who leads the group. Since they are striving to remain leaderless, the facilitator tries to remain neutral and to give everyone a voice.
• General Assembly – The way the entire group makes decisions. Everyone has a say in them. So people can speak for a determined amount of time people make proposals and vote on them and then there are announcements. General Assembly is at 6:30 PM in Seattle.
• Mic Check/People’s Mic – Since there isn’t a proper microphone (permitting issues, I think), the crowd will repeat back whatever was said. So it’ll be mostly short phrases and then everyone will repeat it. It’s still often tough to hear if you’re not in the front, but more people can hear it than otherwise would. People often begin saying “Mic Check” to keep focus.
• Work Groups – The smaller groups where specific issues are dealt with. Most work groups at Occupy Seattle start at 4:00. You can tell members of the various work groups by the colored tape on their arms. At Occupy Seattle some of the work groups are the:
  • Tactical Work Group
  • Internet Communications Work Group
  • Media Work Group
  • Peace & Safety Work Group
  • Facilitation & Process Work Group

If you have more, please email me, Carl.Ballard01@gmail.com or add a comment. This thread is going to be pretty heavily moderated.