At last night’s General Meeting we talked through three proposed “side-quests” we want to launch this spring: recurring game nights, a monthly After Hours (Kitchen Table) discussion night, and tabling at the Stockton Farm Market. We had good discussion, but we did not have quorum to take an official vote in the meeting, so we’re bringing these for an online approval vote.
Voting threshold reminder: Quorum is 5, so we need 6 YES votes to approve a side-quest, with a maximum of 3 YES votes coming from Steering Committee members.
Please vote on all three items below by replying with:
Game Night: YES / NO / ABSTAIN - Board game night on the last Friday of every month.
After Hours with WCU: YES / NO / ABSTAIN - open to the public discussion about relevant issues (this time popular/united fronts and general strike / protests)
Stockton Farm Market tabling: YES / NO / ABSTAIN - every first sunday starting in March
Monthly Game Night
Purpose: Low barrier entry point that helps convert newcomers into dues-paying members and puts them in the proximity of our other work. The hope is people join just for our lower barrier tasks (tabling) to support the org, they are excited about our other projects and join those, or even if they do not, they now know our Tenant Union activity and could potentially organize their building.
Scope and cadence: Monthly game night starting February 27th (pending finalization of date) and then repeating every last Friday of the month.
Location: At OF Hall
Roles:
- Event lead: Roby has volunteered for this role, to run the in-person logistics the day of.
- Welcomer: Greets newcomers, captures contact information, and makes the dues ask (especially people coming for a second+ time).
Basic Norms:
- Follow our Code of Conduct
- Keep the tone light; things do not have to be political. If they start tending in that direction, keep things grounded in material conditions and real life (not online posturing or repeating talking head rhetoric).
Deliverables and tracking:
- As we hold these events, develop a guide to make the running of the event more repeatable (arrival, asks, games, breaks, closing asks).
- Attendance (new vs returning)
- Conversion rate (attendees who become members)
- Transition into labor/tenant union work or other WCU work
- Referrals (“who told you about this?”) + for links, we will do a better job of adding referral tracking in solidarity.tech as well as different shortlinks for different social shares to see which outreach methods work best
After Hours with WCU
Purpose: After Hours will be a monthly offline political discussion space (modeled after ATUN’s Kitchen Table events) focused on building our collective ability to do political analysis. The point is not necessarily to “plug into WCU” or even to produce concrete next steps that night. It is to practice thinking together beyond party politics arguments, social media hot takes, and podcast/msm talking points.
Topic for February: The differences between a United Front and a Popular Front. A short introduction that includes what we mean by that, what the results were in the past, and how that impacts how folks should think through working alongside, with, and/or subordinate to the Democratic Party today.
Scope and cadence:
- Monthly on the second Thursday of every month from 8PM-9PM, starting in February. For the first one, to give us time, it will be on the last Thursday of February.
- Format: 10-15 minute framing, moderated roundtable discussion, try to have 2-3 synthesized takeaways, and have a few discussion topics prepared ahead of time in case the conversation dies. Depending on how large it gets, we can have 2-3 breakout groups.
Location: OF Hall.
Roles:
- Facilitator(s): keeps discussion grounded; prevents party-politics point-scoring; makes space for quieter voices.
- Timekeeper/notetaker: tracks stack/time; captures the takeaways and any proposed future topics/questions. We could do very short post-event write ups and post them online.
- Welcomer: Greets newcomers, captures contact information, hands out WCU material
Deliverables and tracking:
- A running “question bank” + lightweight reading list (if available) to support deeper analysis between sessions
- A short post-session write-up (takeaways)
- Attendance and repeat attendance
Tabling at Stockton Farm Market
Purpose: This one is pretty straight forward. We need a recurring public presence that generates new contacts for us, distributes our materials, and also gives members an ask that is less time-consuming than others. It will also allow us to continue growing our contact list. Voting for this also means that we will reach out to the Stockton Farm Market vendor sign up process and schedule tabling next month.
Scope and cadence:
- Monthly, first Sundays, starting in March
Location: 4994 Claremont Ave. Stockton, CA 95207
Roles:
- Minimum staffing: at least 2 people per table shift
- Tabling must have: a shared script, a contact capture method, and assigned follow-up ownership
Deliverables and tracking:
- Vendor application completed and accepted
- Tabling kit: table cover, banner/signage, clipboards, QR codes, flyers, and a short tabling script
- Materials mix ready for the table:
- “Who we are” flyer + how to reach us
- Upcoming events flyer
- Focus campaign flyers (Tenant Union)
- Printouts of recent articles (as available)
- Email list signup option (even if someone is not ready to join as a member)
- Short tabling training (20–30 minutes) covering: approaching people, quick pitch, handling common questions, contact capture, and the script
- Follow-up process for contacts and volunteers
- 24–48 hours: first follow-up through solidarity.tech
- ~2 weeks: second follow-up / invitation to next event
- Simple monthly reporting: contacts captured → follow-ups completed → volunteers scheduled (and membership conversions when they occur)
Why these matter
In 2026, we have to build a more durable organization that can not only win material outcomes, but also have a stronger focus on converting people from participants/observers into dues-paying members and into organizers. Social events are key to this because they support:
- Retention: real belonging and relationships that survive between the big issues of the day
- Low-barrier entry: Events that are not just research or canvassing can be seen as lower barrier, although I would say tabling has a lot of cross over skill needed!
- Organizing skill-building: practice having grounded conversations without drifting into Democrat/Republican/pundit debates
- Conversion + discipline: events feed the membership pipeline (contact capture → follow-up → second touch → dues), while staying enjoyable and low-pressure in the room
- Leadership development: welcomers, hosts/facilitators, and event leads are real responsibilities that build capacity and follow-through
Voting
Voting threshold reminder: Quorum is 5, so we need 6 YES votes to approve a side-quest, with a maximum of 3 YES votes coming from Steering Committee members.
Please vote on all three items below by replying with:
Game Night: YES / NO / ABSTAIN
After Hours with WCU: YES / NO / ABSTAIN
Stockton Farm Market tabling: YES / NO / ABSTAIN