crowdsourcing sitters, two centers of kidcare

[rcdrake]

I think we decided the following --

I. Have two kid spaces

1. one for sleeping away from the rest of the camp ("Family Camp")
a. so as to have quiet
b and so that one parent could stay with all the sleeping kids and the rest could wander.

2. one play space with toys and art supplies near the main body of activity ("Playstation Occupation"/"Baby Bloc")
a. to be a safe spot to put babies on the ground
b. so kids can be registered in the book
c. as a kind of anchor that naturally pulls kids in, so even though they are free to run around, they tend to be drawn back there at least once in a while by their own weird attraction to bright and pastel things, which allows parents to say, "have you seen my kid?" and probably get a yes answer
d. a place to keep toys, too, which we seem to be getting more donations of


I guess I tend towards paranoia about leaving my kids with total strangers, but crowdsourcing ("Mic check!" "MIC CHECK!" "We need a babysitter right now!" "WE NEED A BABYSITTER RIGHT NOW!" "Whoever can volunteer, go to the play station!" etc.) seemed to work pretty well yesterday and this morning. The benefit is that any parent can do it whenever there's an event they want to participate in without their kid, and no one gets burned out. Should we have regular hours for volunteers and fill in the rest with crowdsourcing? Should we always crowdsource? Should we crowdsource until we have regular hours? Should we not do it at all?

[Emma]

Did anyone volunteer for childcare for the rest of the GA yesterday? I was timekeeper so when Taina asked I couldn't jump back there, and I know Rose was on the facilitation team too. I wonder if we should do some more active recruiting. Either from the folks already there (maybe make a sign for the new-tomorrow information center, and maybe also approach individuals directly, maybe mic check an announcement a few times during the day) or possibly by way of hiring someone sympathetic with some of the funds Occupy Albany has collected so far. Parent access is a really important issue. For working groups it can usually be dealt with, but for GAs it's tougher. And if parents can't participate in GAs, that's kinda uncool. So, we need a rotating schedule of babysitting folks for GAs, and if we can't recruit enough volunteers (internally to this group and from the occupation in general), we need to pay some folks to fill in the holes.

Also, as a cross-over member in facilitation & logistics, I suggest we consider "babysitter" one of the crucial roles to fill for each GA. I'll bring that to facilitation tomorrow if folks here agree.

[rcdrake]

I agree. Also, I think we might do well to move this to FB like humane resources did. People remember to look at that, see it on their phones, get notification in their email, etc.