Tapping Into the Zeitgeist Movement

In Dec 2011 Radio France Internationale interviewed a member of The Zeitgeist Movement.  Ms. Benoite Burge gives a consice breakdown of what the Movement advocates and why the socieconomic system doesn't seem to be working on a global scale.  Click to Listen

Tickets for the Main Event in Vancouver

As one of the most pivotal awareness actions we conduct, ZDAY has historically been a great public awareness success with an average of 350 events occurring across 60 countries each year since 2009.  Each year, one location is set for a central focus and this event tends to be the largest and most noted in the Media. Free Live Webcasts occurring as well.

A group of High School students self-formed a Zeitgeist Movement Club at the El Camino Real Charter High School after seeing Zeitgeist Addendum and Moving Forward.  They found the LA Chapter through ZMCA.  They are now active with getting announcements out to the school's "morning address" for the entire school regarding our information.  This article was published in their local school paper, The King's Courier, on November 30th, 2011 as a result of their efforts to bring this information to the student body.

Click image to zoom & read full article

From RT.com:  "...with all of the problems in the world today, how do people begin to think about, let alone implement solutions that can improve their lives and those of others in society? Economists like Steve Keen support debt jubilees, others like Lew Rockwell and Ron Paul support sound money as the solution, but what about something more radical? What about getting grid of money, profit and competition all together? Well, Peter Joseph, author of the Zeitgeist series, believes that society can evolve to do just that. He joins us during the show to talk about the role of debt, the monetary system, and social norms that encourage what he views as inefficient and destructive behavior that does more harm for society than good."

I have science-related debates with fellow Zeitgeist supporters on a regular basis. Many of us are avid and knowledgeable advocates of science, as it should be. However, when you mix science and counter-culture activism working against the establishment, there almost necessarily will be a demographic of science denialists floating around as well. Sadly, this is an embarrassing self-contradiction for the Zeitgeist Movement as we promote science above everything else as the way to align ourselves with the natural world, so let's try to nip these individuals in the bud through our favorite form of social persuasion: education.

READ ARTICLE

Part I of the October Los Angeles Townhall at
the University of Southern California

After many months of design, layout, content research and platform tests, the new ZM Global website is online and active!

The new site has been re-designed to focus the visitor on the most relevant projects and news relating to The Zeitgeist Movement. Please visit www.thezeitgeistmovement.com to quickly familiarize yourself with the new interface and its difference from the old website.

The forums have been dropped for many reasons, one being that it was detracting from the necessary information of the knowledgebase, lectures, and other educational materials that contain most of the information that the Movement advocates.

Participation in the Movement can take many forms, from personal actions, or in an official chapter or on a project team. 

Peter Joseph, founder of the Zeitgeist Movement, spoke to a large crowd at the October 15th OccupyLA march.  Many listened intently as protesters & supporters gathered a few blocks away and marched up to the steps of City Hall were Peter was invited to speak around 1pm.   Hopefully more such engagements will happen as Occupy Wall Street evolves.

Ben McLeish Interview from UpStream Productions

Part 1 of San Diego's first Town Hall Meeting

This is part one of a series of videos recorded on September 23rd at the Joyce Beers Community Center as part of the ongoing Town Hall series of events happening monthly around the world.

The Monterey Chapter took on some street activism at their local farmers market this September.  Another great example of engaging people with thoughtful questions and introducing the public to the Movement!

Sept 9th - 11th Around The World!

Live Video Coming Soon

The Zeitgeist Media Festival Main Event will Occur at:

The Music Box
6126 Hollywood Blvd
Hollywood, CA 90028
Sept 11th 2011, 2pm
TICKETS:
Available at the door!

*ALL AGES*

CHARITY FOOD DRIVE:
The Zeitgeist Media Festival is partnering with the LA Foodbank to pair in a Food Drive to help the many homeless and suffering people in Los Angeles. 

Approx 2000lbs of food was donated at the LA Event!

As part of our min-video project about money and happiness, we interviewed over 20 people during the Sacramento 2nd Saturday event. Check out the complete video here. Be on the look out for our next production, and make plans to participate in next month‘s 2nd Saturday Street Activism event. See more photos here.

Recognizing the power of art and media to help change the world, "The Zeitgeist Media Festival" engages the artistic community and their power to changes values. It proposes that needed changes in the structural/economic workings of society can only manifest in tandem with a personal/social transformation of values in each of us. While intellectual knowledge serves its role of showing the path, many in the world follow their feelings- not the knowledge. The Zeitgeist Media Festival hopes to bridge those levels, while also illuminating a focus where changing and improving the world is no longer considered a fringe, suspect or ever dangerous pursuit.... but rather the highest and most honorable level of personal/social integrity we have. Many seem to forget that the world society as it exists was created by us... and we can change it anytime we want.

Participating in The Media Festival does not mean each event must meet some strict requirement of focus. However, participation does require that each act understand and agree with a general train of thought with respect to human and social sustainability and the self-evident factors that comprise a Global View of Earth as a single system and how that relates to our Human Family.

Charity Food Drive:
The Zeitgeist Media Festival is partnering with The Temple of Conscious Giving of LA and the LA Food Bank to pair in a Food Drive to help the many homeless and suffering people in Los Angeles. Likewise, the entire global event set is encouraged to conduct similar resource based drives for those in need across the world. More on this program and how you can help will be posted soon.

Date:
The Global Event period will take place on the weekend of Sept 9th to the 11th in 2011.
Los Angeles Main Event : Sept. 11th 2011, 2pm to 10pm
Location: The Music Box [www.themusicbox.la]

Tickets:
TICKETS NOW AVAILABLE
This is a Non-Profit/ At Cost Event, where the ticket cost reflects the expenditure of the event itself. As based on prior events, we expect a sold out LA event of roughly 1000 people. We feel this could be expanded to thousands more, but prefer to keep it small for this Main Event. Note: Apart from the Ticket, all attendees are required to bring a small canned/sealed food donation for the LA Food Drive.

Submissions:
A Submission form/process for events will be posted on this site very soon. A temp email is now available on the submit page.
[ Last Update: June 20, '11]

The Zeitgeist Movement's Townhall Meeting is a community forum for the public to engage the Movement's founder and coordinators about root-cause understandings to social problems, and the solutions we advocate culminating in what can be termed a 'global, resource-based economic model.' 

Our premier Townhall is hosted by the director of the Zeitgeist Film Series, Peter Joseph, along with Movement coordinators for the US and California.   July 19th from 7-9pm at the Electric Lodge in Venice, CA.  Webcasting worldwide on Ustream.tv - Free to the public. Seating is limited.

Live Ustream Webcast: http://www.ustream.tv/channel/tzm-town-hall

Video from the first Townhall meeting in June 2011 - Venice, CA

Video from the 2nd Townhall meeting in July 2011 - Venice, CA

Overview:

The Zeitgeist Movement's Townhall Meetings are live, public events conducted by Official Regional Chapters. These localized events are similar in function to our annual global "Zeitgeist Day" [ZDAY] events but ideally occur monthly, rather than annually. Modeled after patterns proven effective by civil right's movements historically, the goal is to inform the public of TZM's understandings and goals and hence grow awareness and membership.

While annual events such as "ZDAY" and TZM Media Festival are critical annual Chapter events for public awareness in a large scale context, these local, smaller monthly events serve to provide a more grassroots, personal engagement, working to create regional momentum and continued interest. As denoted in TZM materials, the power of our work is only as good as the techniques we utilize to inform others of our observations and intents. While internet based activism is indeed powerful, live human interaction is critical to Chapter development and hence the goal of global critical mass. This also opens the door for more press coverage as well, which is important.

Ideally, these events should be synchronized globally. As a general suggestion, the 3rd weekend of each month is the current period. As this process develops, a dynamic Global Map will posted on this website to show all monthly events.

Space & Format:

Keep it simple. TZM Townhalls do not need to be epic, expensive or complex. Each Regional Chapter should estimate their attendance and find an inexpensive space which fits. As your monthly events continue, you naturally adapt the environment based upon the ongoing response. A 20-50 person seated space for a 1-2 hour event is likely common for many. While in the big city centers, up to 200 people might be comfortable. A small video projection system for visual aids is also suggested for the clarity of your presentations.

The format for the Event itself is left to the creativity of the Chapter Event Coordinators and presenters but here are a number of suggestions:

1) Intro Orientation: A 10-15 introduction to the history of The Movement, its basic observations with respect to the current economic model and supporting values, along the trains of thought that arrive at the need for a new social model (Resource-Based Economy) is a good way to begin.
2) TZM News: Announcements of new data or programs emerging globally or regionally.
3) Societal Breakdown Update: As many are seeing across the world, our system continue to shows severe signs of deterioration from the loss of labor, to increasing homelessness, to mass starvation, to ecological collapse, etc. Sharing recent news about current problems both regionally and globally, providing the correct context for these problems with respect to the foundational flaws of the current socio-economic system, is critical.
4) Problem Solving Update: Just as new data about ecological and social problems is important to identify in the proper causal context, it is also critical to show the state of solutions. Scientific advancements are emerging at a exponential rate, while the social application of these advancements are often hindered by the economic system itself. Discussions of such advancements which can improve Public Health and hence Social Sustainability is the backbone of what TZM represents.
5) Guest Speakers: There are numerous small and large, 3rd party organizations which have ideas about sustainability and progress. Inviting such figures to give their research is a great way to bridge connections and expand.
6) Q&A: The traditional definition of "TownHall" is the open engagement of the public via questions and answers. A 20 min period for such is suggested.

Here are some lecture format/content examples:

-Ben Mcleish Lectures:
Common Objections
Tech and Culture Lag
The Innovation War
Future of Economics

-Peter Joseph Lectures:
Where are we now?
Where are we going?
Social Pathology

Documentation:
At each event, an Email List Sign in Book is suggested. This can be kept near the exit. Those in attendance can write down their emails for your Chapter to insert into your website's database for your Newsletters/Updates.

As far as the event itself - live, free streaming (Ustream) [ if you have internal access in the space.] and direct recording/upload is highly recommended. They should be posted on your local chapters Youtube/Networking sites. This is important as it continues to inform the internet audience as well and show the momentum, generating more interest.

Promotion:
Apart from your Chapter's mailing lists and word of mouth, posting flyers and ads in local papers is a common practice for promotion. Using Social Networks such as Facebook and the like is also effective and suggested.

Access and Security:
Ideally, admission to these events are free and open. However, often that is not possible financially considering the rental of the space and equipment.
It is up to the Chapters to find balance in this regard. Having suggested donations at the door is better than a fixed ticket price, gesturally. In the event the budget to begin with is not available, transparent Chipin like donations are allowed but any abuse of this will not be tolerated. TZM is not a donation or monetarily driven movement. It is about time and resources, not money.

Sadly, as with any advancement for true social change, tension and dispute is possible. Larger events might need to have some form of security. It is at the discretion of each Chapter to gauge such a need. This might incur a budget requirement as well. Overall, the approach to these meetings should be calm, objective and non-inflammatory. Any person attending with hostility should be treated with respect to avoid disputes. it is important that those chapter members creating these events be prepared to handle, in a civil, respectful way, anyone who might cause problems. Unfortunately, there are no hard and fast rules for this but generally speaking if respect is shown, respect is reciprocated.

Event Posting:
While a more automated system is a being developed for Event Submissions, for now please simply send the event info to:

This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

To avoid confusion and possible abuse, only Official Chapter Coordinators can submit these events. Please join/contact your Local Chapter if you would like to host such an event in your area.

March 12th & 13th 2011

Los Angeles | San Fransisco | Longbeach/Orange County |  San Diego |  Sacramento |  Apple Valley

“Zeitgeist Day”, or ZDAY for short, is an annual, global event day which occurs in the middle of March, each year. The goal is to increase public awareness of The Zeitgeist Movement and the necessity of the direction of a global, resource-based economy.  If you are not familiar with the tenets and goals of The Zeitgeist Movement please see the following information:

What is the Zeitgeist Movement?

For events worldwide see: Zdayglobal.org

The Zeitgeist Movement's "Why I Advocate"

Media Testimonial Campaign

View Submissions

Step #1:
Create a 1-5 minute, concise expression of why you
support the need for a "Resource-Based Economy".
Feel free to include your life experience and how
you came to realize the need.

Step #2:
Upload it to a video host [i.e. YouTube.com] and
then post that upload on the "Media Project site."

Step #3:
Through forum interaction and team creation, the goal
is not only to have the individual videos, but to create
an hour-long "film" showing the faces of the movement
so the world can see the growing effect. More on the
film concept as the campaign unfolds.

Please see all videos on the TZM Media Project

Welcome to the official state chapter page for The Zeitgeist Movement