Version 1.01
11/10/2009

Table of contents:

1. Introduction
2. Starting a Chapter
3. Member recruitment
4. Promotion
5. Organisation
6. Funds
7. Tier system
8. Support
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1.Introduction:

Welcome friend, if you are reading this guide then you probably have decided to join, start, or improve a zeitgeist chapter in your area. This guide is meant to help you start a Chapter, get it running, and improve where possible.

This Guide does not cover any technical aspect of adding a chapter to the Zeitgeistmovement website. For this information you can check Here

This guide will however cover the practical side of running a chapter and being as efficient possible in order to raise awareness through cooperation within your chapter.

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2. Starting a chapter

2.1: Startup requirements and advice

We welcome any individual who takes the initiative to start a local chapter. There are no requirements to meet before beginning your chapter, however we do have some advice for anyone wishing to take this step.

A clear understanding of The Zeitgeist Movement tenets is crucial to your success. If you have not done so, please download and read the Activist Orientation Guide, available as a PDF on the main page of thezeitgeistmovement.com. The information contained in this guide is essential to truly understanding what this movement entails.

As with any endeavor, a certain level of responsibility is involved. It is important that you take the time to educate yourself about this direction before starting a chapter. This website includes many helpful tools. Please familiarize yourself with our Understandings. You can find them on the navigation bar at the top of each web page. In addition, the main page of this site offers links to essays by Jacque Fresco and other information to assist you in educating yourself here.

Initiating and creating a chapter is one thing. Running a chapter will require a dedicated individual who has time to facilitate this effort. As your chapter progresses, it will grow. A very important aspect of a successful chapter includes a strong foundation. As the creator of a chapter, this is your responsibility to cultivate and maintain. We have many experienced members who can help guide you along the way.

Chapter duties range from simply maintaining a regionally specific website, updating information and answering emails, to full event coordination and social interaction. The activity depends on the level of interest in your area. For example, Chapter coordinators would be pivotal in the orchestration of "ZDAY" each year in their area.

2.2: The first steps

Still not backing out are you ? Welcome aboard then. The first thing you want to do when you start a chapter is create a website. Depending on what kind of chapter you run the following reccomendations are applicable.

National Chapter - Representing a country

When you are in a country that currently does not have a chapter the first thing you want to do is create a website. You are absolutely free to use whatever template you want, however to create a mirror of websites you could use the template that a big part of the websites use. Again this is personal preference and there are chapter websites that have a very nice custom design. Consider this before you make a choice .

Also if you are in a country that currently does have an established national chapter. Cooperation is essential and we advice you to cooperate with that national chapter instead of creating a seperate one. In case of conflict please contact the administration of the Zeitgeist movement.com so that we can work towards a solution.

After your site is created you want to make sure you have content that will represent the movement properly. Again you are free to structure your site in any way you want. There are a few reccomendations. Try having at least the understandings on your page, and if necesarry translated to your local/native language. Also a forum might be a good place to coomunicate with the local members. We are all part of the current system and since we have our obligations sometimes indirect communication is the only way to keep everyone involved.

After creating and setting up the website you want to make sure that it is listed on the main page of TZM.com. To accomplish this you can send an email to Media@thezeitgeistmovement.com , if that doesnt work you can email me at gilbert@thezeitgeistmovement.com and i will try to accomplish this through other channels.


State / Provincial chapter - representing a region

To create a state or provincial chapter you can basically follow the same steps as the national chapters. There are a few things that come to mind though. If you are in a continent country like america, seperating the chapter form a US chapter would be adviseable. That is because the chapter will have a larger target audience than a small country. For smaller countries provincial or state chapters are at this point perhaps a bit too spreading. This is not an official stance on the matter. In any case you would want to contact the national chapter to make sure that your national chapter refers to your state or provincial chapter.

City chapter - representing a city/town/township/village etc.

City chapters could take a few approaches. since they are very centralised they could set up a website for their city. A good consideration might however be the population. If you live in very densely populated area this could be beneficial. Is the area less dense then maybe a state or provincial chapgter might suffice. In extreme cases only a national chapter would be required to be effective. Whatever you do, allways consult the national and regional chapters to work out what will work best .


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3: Member recruitment & management

3.1 Finding members:

The reason this section is called member recuitment is not to give a wrong idea about the movement. However it is important to know that however you word it, your looking to expand your chapter. To do so often you will have to spread awareness. Which means you will have to approach people. How do you do that? There are certain methods.

Your own community:

Your own community will be the most important. If you have any friends or family that are open to the understandings of the zeitgeistmovement they may be willing to lend you a helping hand. Communicating with everyonme in your community can be a big help. Perhaps that grumpy neighbour is not so bad after all, just a victim of the system , therefore grumpy and perhaps willing to lend a hand.

Visiting events:

Another way to find people who might want to lend a hand is by visiting events that are either covering one or more of the understandings that the movement has. The persons attending may already have a good understanding about the world the monetary system and its consequences. Therefore they could be interested in helping out.

Online forums:

Another way to make people familiar with your chapter is participating in forums. Forums serve as a general platform for discussion on the internet. Find out where the people are who are aware or are willing to become aware or enter into a discussion witht hos ewho think the system is fine as it is. Perhaps through debate people will become aware and eventually might help out.

3.2 Keeping a stable member base

So you found yourself some helping hands? Wonderful . The next best thing you want to do is make sure that you have content to discuss and actions to undertake. People that reach a certain state of awareness are allmost allways very eager at first to help out out immediately. Make sure you facilitate certain events or discussion , eithe ronline or real life so you can get together and talk about prospective activism.

Also remember that you cannot force progress, but you can contribute towards a feeling of progress. Awareness is not forced onto one another and therefore some members might feel you are not getting anywhere. Learn to motivate your fellow chapter members. Explain why not everyone can liv ein a RBE right away and keep the morale up.

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4. Promotion:

If you reach this part of the guide, then i hope your chapter is coming along well. In this chapter we will talk about ways to spread awareness. Placed under a commercial term promotion. Not with any other intent to clarify .

Spreading awareness the most of the important task of a chapter. Therefore you should be as creative as possible. Call on your members if promotion requires a helping hand, and do not shy away from involving your members. Cooperation is the key to a lot of things in this world.

To help you get started here is a list of things you could do to start spreading awareness:

Spread flyers:

A very general and easy way to spread info indirectly is to print flyers. flyers can be small or larger papers that contain a short but powerfull message. Also you could describe your chapter or the movement briefly. Remember that flyer that is tact and well written and structured will be better recieved by an audience thst just a quote or generalisation. Not that a quote would be a bad thing for a flyer in general, but for your chapter a brief description of the movement could be favourable.

Host a face to face event:

Why wait for Z-day? the best way to get in touch with people is to meet them in person. You could host a fun or serious event with either fun activities that playfully introduce guests to the understandings we have today, or take a more serious stance and have lectures about relevant problems and solutions in society today. Whatever one you pick, make sure there is enough room for interaction with your guests.

Forum promotion:

As described earlier. Forums are a very handy medium. Use them.

Community websites:

Community websites like facebook and others offer a platform to discuss and attract attention to certain topics. Be there in your local facebook groups and spread our ideas and understandings.


Use the system:

You can use the system to your advantage as well. Look into certain promotional options in public transport, public areas or whatever you can come up with. A good example is the car in london with a TVP logo and website + image painted on. Tact and effective.

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5. Organisation

We now enter a crucial step in your chapter formation. Organisation is a hotly debated subject. I can tell you right away. If your only focus is on getting organised, your chapter will have a bumpy road ahead. Instead focus on the things you have to do and see what is relevant to the situation instead of creating a hierarchy. Nevertheless here are some options.

Create workgroups:

You could create workgroups in a chapter that cover different areas of the chapter. Like promotion, funds, lectures etc. Make sure that they all communicate properly and that you meet regularly to keep eachother up to date.

Work as a single group:

You could also work as one group. Meaning you deal with situation by situation and divide tasks accordingly. Do not take an autoritarian role in this case. Just ask who wants to help or not, everyone is helping based on their free will and they do not need a second boss to the one they possibly have at work.

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6. Funds

Donations and sales of anything must have a specific purpose. Simple regional shirt sales, for example, are acceptable to help finance your website, but if it can be avoided, that is best. Direct donations are generally forbidden unless there is a noted cause. For example, if you want to rent a theater to show a Film, you would relay the specifics of the rental on the website, and use a transparent system to show exactly what has been donated and how far the amount is from the goal. Once the goal is reached, donations stop. Even TZM.com does not take donations. General donations should go to The Venus Project directly. If you feel you require donations, email media@thezeitgeistmovement.com for approval.

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7. Tier system

7.1 General information

The chapters and their websites are classified in a tier system. There are several expectations for the different tier websites / chapters. Only websites / chapters classified as tier one can be declared official.Tier one websites / chapters will also be displayed on the gateway page.

Understood is that chapters are voluntary efforts. For beforementioned reason there are different expectations per tier.

7.2 Tier one websites / chapters

Tier one websites / chapters are 100% dedicated to the movement. Websites / chapters that aim to be tier one should meet the following criteria:

- The website must have a similar structure / graphic orientation as the main site

- Must include translations of all relevant articles

- Needs to be approved by the Chapters administration

- Must provide tools for community building ( forum, real world meetings etc.)

- Are expected to be responsible to their local members, not act as autority but as a group. Also willing to cooperate with chapters of different classification or of different spectrum ( nation, state/province and city )

- May be asked to file an activity report over a certain period of time to the chapters administration in the near future.

- A template of the international site can be requested through Media@thezeitgeistmovement.com

7.3 Tier two websites / chapters

Tier two websites are all other website and blogs or community pages which represent unofficial chapters and subchapters or are not all inclusive in regard to the material on the website, but are still supportive of the movement.

In all cases the chapters are asked to be respective and truthful when advocating the movement or The Venus Project.





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8. Support

All chapters can request support from the chapters administration. Questions will be handled as soon as possible. In case of conflict a mediation process will be initiated. You can contact the administration for support through.

- Media@thezeitgeistmovement.com

- Gilbert@thezeitgeistmovement.com