FF Meetup No. 4: The Week Before FFFF

We’re back where we started.
The Filipino Freethinkers (FF) began the fourth week of their fellowship where they were born.

Starbucks Shangri-la remains a heavenly haven for heathens — comfy couches to lounge on, lots of space to speak ala-Carl (with gusto), and a mass held right after, just to remind us of where we all came from.

And this journey from unreason to reason we all share. And just like the first meetup, new members sat on the hotseat to share their stories.

Some simple, some funny, some sad — but each in its own way special and interesting and engrossing. Which is why we almost forgot what we met up for — to prepare for the First Filipino Freethinkers’ Forum (FFFF).

Yes, we’re back where we started.

But we’ve come a long way.

The FFFF has evolved from a unicellular acronym to a fully fledged forum with appendages. These arms and legs, AKA committee members and leaders, have been working overtime.

Registration is ongoing, fast and easy — if you’re even hassled just a little the registration committee leader, Danny Boy, will pay you a visit with his portable registration machine, AKA laptop.

Donation is similarly simple, with our recently setup Pay Pal link (see sidebar). And again, if you’re hassled, Wella and the other fundraising committee members will pay you a visit with their purple velvet donation bags, complete with wooden oak handles.

Which brings us to some really good news. Thanks to our recent donors, both local and overseas, we’ve just about met our target to pay for venue rental. (Which by the way is not too shabby.)

Still, we need to raise more money to completely pay for the venue, food, and souvenirs (Don’t worry Tony, we’ll get you a Tshirt for sure! 😉 ) So like the churches say, give like you’re guilty! (Ok, they don’t say that,but you get the point.)

Speaking of souvenirs, Boo Frank couldn’t make it, but Tin printed a few sample T-shirt designs. We’re still working on whether to get the shirts or just give away iron-on transfers.

Some other good news. Thanks to our PR leader, Benj, Dr. Claudio, a prominent advocate of the RH bill is speaking at the forum. You may recognize her from her recent posts on the mailing list, each of which foreshadows a very interesting talk, indeed.

Another potentially interesting talk will be given (potentially) by a prominent science writer, Maria Isabel Garcia, the probability of which depending on Margot’s powers of persuasion. Good luck Margot!

The rest of the speaker slots will be filled by our very own members: Benj on Practical Freethinking via New Media, John on Grassroots Freethinking, and Geri on Freethought and Secular Humanism.

The speakers, like the forum program, is still not final. So stay tuned to the About FFFF page and to this space for updates.

In case you haven’t read Benj’s post below, the event will be streamed live via our Justin TV channel. But for those who can’t watch live, the A/V committee, headed by John and Igme, will cover the invent via voice recorder, cameras, and camcorders (we have two now 🙂 ), and a team lead by Geraldson will edit the coverage before uploading to our gallery.

Whew. We’ve really come a long way.

But there’s still a long way to go.
Presentations need preparing, funds need raising, food needs cooking, tshirts need printing, and most importantly, FF needs evolving — we need extra sets of arms and legs. If you’d like to help by donating yours, please show your support.

We promise you a very rewarding journey.
Our members have access to the most awesome books and movies (all legal, of course), and the most delicious food (thanks to Danny, Tania, and Ed for sponsoring our snacks so far). So join us. We promise you a fun and friendly journey. Best of all, like our thinking, it’s free.