CLOWN GAGGLES
Everyone in CIRCA is asked to form or join a Clown Gaggle (a group of clowns which you can name Battalion/Contingent/Brigade/Division/Regiment or any other suitably stupid title). Gaggles can be based around your locality, a pre existing affinity group or group of friends, or around a common interest or identity (like doing a similar style of clowning, a specific clown action or having a focus like "no borders"). A suggested size is between 5-20 clowns. These Clown Gaggles will function in a similar way to affinity groups, and will form the basic planning and decision making bodies for CIRCA operations. Several Clown Gaggles can work together in a Clown Cluster.
Gaggles are the best way to provide emotional and physical support during and after actions, make people on actions feel less isolated and part of a powerful collective. They can act autonomously, initiate proposals and actions (through the Clown Councils - which will be occurring regularly during the G8 - see Schedule below) that others can join and join or support other groups actions.
Clown Gaggles should plan to be self reliant including providing for their own logistics, needs and support before, during and after actions. Each group should try to have people within them who take responsibility for:
- Communications (e.g own a mobile phone),
- Scouting (maps etc.)
- Legal Support (have a list of every ones personal information, friends and family contact information and keep track of anyone arrested etc)
- First Aid (bring a first aid kit and ideally have some one in your gaggle with some basic first aid experience/training).
Gaggles should arrange how they will stay in touch (eg. mobile phone list) and when and where they will meet up. They should also consider a buddy system during actions (working in a pair that stay together and watch out for each other during the action) so no one gets isolated.
Clown Gaggles should choose one or more people that they are comfortable with to be spokespeople to participate in the Clown Councils where all the clowns will coordinate, and share information. This reduces the need for everyone to sit through meetings and allows other clowns to participate in action preparations, other trainings and events. Spokespeople are responsible to bring their gaggles ideas, proposals, concerns and opinions to the clown council and to report back info, decisions etc to their group.
Here's a suggestion of what to discuss in your gaggle to prepare for Clown Councils:
- Report back from the last Clown Council: decisions, proposals, invitations, info/updates, needs.
- What does our group want to do today/tomorrow? What is our opinion of the proposals? Do we want to join other gaggles invitations?
- Do we have any invitations (an invitation is an action we are doing that we want to invite other gaggles to) or proposals (proposals involve the whole of CIRCA) Can we circulate them soon to other groups-through written copies, verbally or over the listserve?
- Who will our spokes people be for the next council meeting?
I haven't got a Gaggle to Join?
If you are a clown that has already trained but have not formed or joined a gaggle, you can come to one of the Clown Councils and plug into appropriate groups or you might find some friendly clowns to join up with by participating in the brush up trainings that will be held during the G8.
I've never done Basic Rebel Clown Training?
You cannot take part in CIRCA actions unless you have some experience of Rebel Clown Trainings.
We will be running a 2 day intensive Rebel Clown Training 30th June - 1st July and some taster sessions during the G8. (see schedule)
For more info see the CIRCA G8 field manual available in PDF format as either A5 booklet (1.82mb) or A4 version (1.79mb).
To open PDF files you’ll need Acrobat Reader which is pre-installed on most computers or can be downloaded for free from here.