2016 Florida Secular Leadership Summit
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This event couldn't have happened without our sponsors. For more information, click on the images below and please consider letting them know how much we appreciate their help.
A very special thanks to Tee Rogers, founder of Be Orlando. The Summit was a success in great part due to her efforts.
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Freethought Group Map
www.tinyurl.com/flfreethought (Please share)
Attendee Map
www.tinyurl.com/FLSummit2016 (Do not share)
Below is a link to the entire playlist (all 4 videos) from the Florida Secular Leadership Summit. Please share with other secular leaders, but not on public sites or social media. The videos are edited only to remove the breaks, and they include no titles or credits.
2016 Florida Secular Leadership Summit YouTube Playlist
Thanks so much to those who volunteered to speak at the event. Their names and organizations are below along with other relevant links provided for your benefit. Get in touch with them directly if you have questions about their presentations.
Segment 1
Jocelyn - freethought at cfl.rr dot com
Keith - kjb2356 at gmail dot com
Larry - larry at secular dot org
Tee - beorlando at live dot com
Jocelyn Williamson, CFFC co-founder, welcomed everyone to the event.
Keith Becher, CFFC Director and founder of the Humanist Community of the Space Coast, offered a secular reflection, more commonly referred to by religious people as an invocation. They are used to begin government meetings and other non-religious events. Unfortunately, they have been allowed by the Supreme Court; but atheists are allowed to participate as equal members of the community. To see all of the invocations CFFC has done, go to our own Invocations page.
Larry Decker, Executive Director of the Secular Coalition for America, talked about the need to work together with other groups in the movement as well as outside organizations to promote secular values. Be sure you sign your group up
Secular Coalition for Florida
Tee Rogers, founder of BE Orlando, spoke about how to have effective volunteer events. She provided all of the resources discussed in her talk at the site she built just for the event at:
https://beorlando.wordpress.com/leadership-summit
The password is volunteer
Segment 2
Ken - kloukinen at atheists dot org
David - david at cflfreethought dot org
Jennifer - jen at jen-hancock dot com
Ken Loukinen , Director of State & Regional Operations for American Atheists, spoke about their advocacy in Florida. Find out more by contacting Ken or by going to www.atheists.org
David Williamson, CFFC Co-founder, discussed several ways secular organizations can be found online and how to get involved with the Secular Coalition for America.
1. Please sign up to ensure your group is part of the list of advocates for secular values in Washington and Tallahassee at:
http://states.secular.org/node/add/supporting-group
2. Be sure we have the right information for you as an attendee so others can be in touch. Remember, don't share this link:
Google Map of Summit Attendees
3. Do we have the right information for your local organization here?
Florida Freethought Organizations Map
4. Sign up at Secular Directory:
http://www.seculardirectory.org/group-management
5. Sign your group up at Secular Connect:
http://www.secularconnect.org/users/new
Jennifer Hancock of the Humanist Families of Greater Tampa Bay discussed how your group can raise funds and offered several fantastic resources on her website.
Here is the very helpful list we generated as a group: whiteboard list
Segment 3
Joseph - joseph at cflfreethought dot org
Joe - joebeck at humtc dot com
David W. - david at cflfreethought dot org
Jocelyn - freethought at cfl.rr dot com
Dave N. - dave at suncoastskeptics dot com
Joseph Richardson of the CFFC talked about the Freedom From Religion Foundation from the perspective of a local activist in Central Florida.
Joe Beck, President of the Humanists of the Treasure Coast, discussed his experiences as a Humanist Chaplain, as a secular hospital patient, and as a member of a family with a loved one in Hospice care.
David Williamson of the CFFC described how every organization can and should get involved in keeping State and Church separate. Here are some resources to use for educating yourselves and your members. These same sites can receive reports of violations. The CFFC is glad to assist. Email info at cflfreethought dot org:
Freedom From Religion Foundation FAQs
Americans United Issues
Jocelyn Williamson, founder of the Science League for Kids (no public URL), talked about what it takes to host successful events for families and kids.
Dave Nichols, organizer of the Suncoast Skeptics and host of Florida's only secular podcast Positively Doubtful, explained how easy it is to create your own audio podcast.
Segment 4
Rachael - rberman at americanhumanist dot org
Larry - larry at secular dot org
Rachael Berman, Grassroots and Celebrant Program Coordinator for the American Humanist Association and the Humanist Society, talked about Practical Techniques for Effectively Growing Your Group. With audience participation and lots of Q&A, this was a very useful dialogue for the summit.
Larry Decker closed the event with a call to action. He inspired us to get organized and to fight back against the enemies of reason.
Thanks to everyone who participated. No matter how far you traveled or how long you were able to stay, we hope you enjoyed the event and will find the resources provided to be useful.
Again, please don't forget to complete the survey so we know what you thought of the event. CLICK HERE