Tin Can Comms Collective out of Pittsburgh...

Who We Are:

Tin Can Comms Collective is a collection of communication rebels seeking to provide useful free tools for activists fighting the State and Capitalism. We are an anarchist group that has come together to help with the communication infrastructure for the the Anti-G-20 protests this September in Pittsburgh, because: People and Information want to be Free!

How Do I Participate:

Tin Can Comms invites anyone that wants to be part of providing up-to-date and relevant information to people on the streets to get involved. It’s very easy. All you need is a cell-phone (we strongly suggest a pre-paid that can get text/sms messages) and opposable thumbs.

How Do I Send Information to Tin Can? TXT or call 412-567-1420

Our system is only as good as the information we receive so it is crucial people on the streets (whether they are following a Tin Can group or not) send in timely and relevant information to be disseminated. You can do that by texting the twitter groups at 40404 (see below about how to sign-up) or calling a dispatch operator by any phone at 412-567-1420.

How Will It Work:

Tin Can will collect information from web-sites, media, scouts and participants on the street. These communications will be filtered and then sent to those who are subscribed to one of our lists. You will receive texts.

Getting Started with a cell-phone:

First you need to have a twitter account. If you do not have one, you can get one through your cell-phone by texting to the phone number: 40404 the message should be: follow NameofGroup

The names of the groups are:

* g20pgh General info
* g20pghlegal Legal and related updates
* g20pghmedic Medics and medical emergencies
* g20pghlite1 Only the most important highlights
* g20pghfood1 Feeding times and locations

If you do not have an account, you will receive a text back asking you for a user name. You can pick any name you wish and text it back to 40404.

That’s it! You should start receiving messages in no time. If you want to sign up to more than one group, just follow the same procedure, but be selective because the more groups you sign-up for the more messages you will receive and you risk being flooded with too many messages.

Getting Started by computer:

If you do not have an account you can go to twitter.com and click “sign up now”. Follow instructions and do not forget to “attach” a mobile device to receive messages or you will only get them when logged on a computer.

Which Group should I follow?

That is a good question. It is important you think through what kind (and how much) of information you want. G20pgh is the basic or general group that will have the most information and will include everything from meetings to events on the street. G20pgh will have much more limited texts, only the obviously important information, related to the streets mostly. G20pghlegal will have information about the legal situation and arrests. G20pghmedic will have information about any injuries or other medical concerns. G20pghfood will only have information related to meals and food preparation during the days of action. Obviously the more groups you follow the more information you will receive and some duplication. If you signed up for G20pgh there is absolutely no reason to sign up for G20pghlite since you will just get duplicated messages. Since you can follow and unfollow at any time it might be better to sign up for as few lists as possible to start.

How Useful and Timely is the Information and What about Rumors?

We did an analysis of the system used at the RNC and found that messages were usually received within 20 seconds of being reported. Though a few rumors slipped past our filtering system, all were retracted in no more than 5 minutes and the number of rumors were much smaller than in other mobilizations. Overall the system worked quite well at rumor control. There is no way to analyze the usefulness of the communications and since we are not organizing any action, just providing information, it is up to the participants to decide how they will use the information.

How Much Does It Cost:

Information of course wants to be free. There may be some associated costs if you buy a pre-paid phone (which we strongly recommend) or your phone charges for each text. If you have to pay for each text we strongly encourage you to sign up for g20pghlite and/or as fewer groups as possible and only subscribe prior to protesting and then unsubscribe when you are done.

You Guys Rock! How Can I Help?

That’s sweet. You can help most by sending in information during the protests and encouraging others to do so. The more information for us the better. You can also come to one of the trainings to see how you can plug into the communications project.