The following is a sample script that may be used by Spring members when facilitating meetings on Zoom or otherwise online. Please feel free to edit, adapt, or update as needed.
(1) Welcome and brief introduction
Welcome, everyone, to this meeting hosted by Spring Magazine and the Spring Socialist Network.
My name is ____________________ and my pronouns are __________.
I am a member of Spring and I will be the facilitator of today’s meeting.
The title of today’s meeting is ________________________________________.
[Optional: We will be recording today’s meeting and posting it afterwards on the Spring website and social media.]
(2) Indigenous land acknowledgment (for Toronto-based broadcasts*)
We will begin today’s meeting with a land acknowledgment.
We acknowledge that the land where we are broadcasting is, and has been for thousands of years, the traditional land of the Haudenosaunee, Anishinaabek, the Huron-Wendat, the Seneca, and most recently, the Mississaugas of the Credit River.
This territory is the subject of the Dish With One Spoon Wampum Belt Covenant, an agreement between the Iroquois Confederacy and Confederacy of the Ojibwe and allied nations to peaceably share and care for the resources around the Great Lakes.
The word “Toronto” itself, originates from the Kanienke’haka word “Tkaronto” which translates to, “the place in the water where the trees are standing”. The reference is said to come from Haudenosaunee and Huron-Wendat fishers posting stakes for fishing weirs in the narrows of the river systems, many of which are now mostly paved over with concrete.
Today, this meeting place is still the home to many Indigenous people from across Turtle Island and we are grateful to have the opportunity to work on this land.
As we organize during this pandemic, we continue to seek to build awareness and active solidarity with Indigenous peoples.
(3) What is Spring! (optional)
Next, I would like to tell you a little bit about Spring.
Spring is a magazine of socialist ideas in action. It is produced by the Spring Socialist Network. We are a group of socialists based in towns and cities across Canada and are active in many struggles and campaigns in the decent work and health, climate justice, labour, student, and social justice movements.
We are trying to build an organization of socialists across the country based on the principles of:
- Indigenous sovereignty;
- Equity and anti-oppression;
- Workers’ power and self-activity;
- Climate justice, economic, and racial justice; and
- Socialism from below.
We invite you to write for Spring Magazine about struggles and campaigns in your community, and to use our publication to build deeper relationships of solidarity across Turtle Island and around the world.
Check us out at springmag.ca. Email us at info@springmag.ca.
(4) How to participate in the meeting
Before I introduce the speakers, I would like to explain how today’s meeting will work.
First, if you cannot see the Zoom menu bar, move your cursor to the bottom of the screen where the menu should pop up. If the menu disappears, hover your cursor again.
When the menu appears, you should see a “Mute” button and a “Video” button on the bottom left. More buttons appear in the middle of the bar.
Second, as facilitator, I will make sure that all participants remain on mute throughout the meeting, until it’s your turn to speak. Please stay on mute to help minimize background noise, such as typing and talking.
Participants in this meeting have the option of using their video cameras, but you don’t have to. You can stop your video at any time by clicking the “Stop Camera” button on the bottom left of the Zoom menu bar or the video camera icon in the participants list.
Third, to see the list of participants in the meeting, click on the “Participants” button near the middle of the Zoom menu bar and a list of participants will appear on the right-hand side of your screen.
Now click the “Chat” button and a chat screen will appear in the same column. Please feel free to participate in the chat, sharing information with each other and asking questions. While debate is welcomed and encouraged, we ask you to be respectful of one another.
Fourth, when the speakers have finished their remarks, there will be plenty of time for discussion. If you would like to speak, please indicate by clicking on the “Raise Hand” button in the participants list on the right-hand side of your screen. I will generally call on speakers in the sequence they raise their hands, but I will also use an equity speakers’ list, which gives priority to members of equity-seeking groups and first-time speakers.
When it’s your turn to speak, I will call on you and ask you to unmute yourself. Please mute yourself again after you have finished speaking.
Fifth, please keep in mind these best practices during the discussion:
- I would like to invite those participants who speak less often to “move up” into speaking when they can, and a reminder for participants who are comfortable speaking to “move back” from regularly having their voices heard.
- I would also like to encourage all of us to be careful to avoid potentially violent and/or offensive terms and expressions when we speak.
Finally, if you have any questions, please feel free to post them in the chat or to message me privately. In the chat section, click on the drop-down menu to choose which participant to message. Please note that the default position is to message everyone in the chat.
(5) Introduction of speakers
For today’s meeting, there will be _____ speaker(s). Each speaker will speak for _____ minutes.
When the speakers have finished their remarks, there will be plenty of time for discussion.
The first speaker will be ____________________. [Include short bio.]
The second speaker will be ____________________. [Include short bio.]
[Add more speakers as needed.]
(6) Discussion
Thank you to all the speakers for their remarks. I will now facilitate the discussion.
Again, if you would like to speak, please indicate by clicking on the “Raise Hand” button in the participants list on the right-hand side of your screen. I will generally call on speakers in the sequence they raise their hands, but I will also use an equity speakers’ list, which gives priority to members of equity-seeking groups and first-time speakers.
[Take speakers’ list and begin discussion.]
(7) Announcements
Thank you, everyone, for that excellent discussion. I apologize if I missed any of you or if I had to close the speakers’ list before you got the chance to speak.
Before I give the speakers a chance to wrap up, I will make the following announcements:
The next Spring meeting will be ________________________________________. We hope you will join us.
To learn more about Spring, please visit springmag.ca. To join our email list, please leave your email address in the “Subscribe” section at the bottom of the Spring homepage.
[Add more announcements as needed.]
(8) Speakers’ wrap-up
Please take a few minutes, speakers, to make your concluding remarks and to respond to the discussion.
[Speakers wrap up.]
(9) Thank you
Thank you again, speakers, for your remarks, and thank you, everyone, for your contributions.
We hope you’ll join us at the next Spring meeting and look forward to seeing you soon.
I will now end the meeting. See you next time!
* We should probably develop a more generic, country-wide or Turtle Island-wide land acknowledgment that covers all of regions in which a participant might be located. Alternatively, local land acknowledgments should be used if the host is based outside of Toronto.