Inviting Us to Lead an Event in Your Community

Guidelines for YOU to organize an Ovaries! Open Mike in Yr Community
At the Event Itself
Female Genital Mutilation, Sex Trafficking, and Ovaries! Fundraisers
Register (to organize a "bigger, public" open mike)

Publicity Packet

International Handout

Information about the Play

GUIDELINES FOR YOU TO ORGANIZE AN OVARIES! OPEN MIKE IN YOUR COMMUNITY

PRE-NOTE: Summarized vs. Full Versions
In the back of the book, readers find summarized guidelines for how to lead their own open mikes.  Here on the website you can get both the summarized guidelines and also the full version of the guidelines.  For the summarized guidelines, just keep reading.  For the full version, see the box immediately below.

THAT TAKES OVARIES! OPEN MIKES
(How cool is that?)

The That Takes Ovaries! open mike strategy grew out of the main idea and primary goal behind this book: the empowerment of females.  So each Ovaries! Open Mike is about encouraging women and girls to organize and speak out for themselves.  Each individual event is linked to a larger grassroots movement of raising awareness and (hopefully) funds for girls' needs, concerns and human rights.  Go get 'em, grrrlz! ñ Rivka

This book is important because of the voices in itówomen and girls proudly shouting from the rooftops how they acted boldly in the world.  Their stories are celebrations of womanly brazenness.  But, surprise!, women and girls everywhere have triumphant stories to tell.  So wouldn't it be exciting for the vibrant, feisty female voices in your community to be heard, too? 

         Enter the That Takes Ovaries! Open Mike. 

         There are two ways to make this happen.  One is small, intimate, and held in your living room; suggestions for how to set this up are included below.  The other is bigger, public, and held anywhere larger than your living roomóa bookstore, coffee shop, university campus, poetry reading spot, auditorium.  The guidelines for how to organize this second, bigger, public-type of open mike are also below, but only in a summarized version. See the above box if you want the full version.  Either type of event, small & intimate or larger & public, will give women and girls in your area an exhilarating chance to inspire and be inspired.

         The topics can vary.  General theme open mikes might draw the biggest crowds.  Specific themesósports, traveling, fighting back against racism or violenceómight draw more dedicated, focused groups. 

         Whatever type of open mike you hold, it is modeled after this book.  If you organize one, please support the book and its goals, and encourage people to take the message of empowerment home with them by having the paperback available (translation: for sale) at your event.  Yes, this is a plug for the bookóand for spreading the word about the audacious, outrageous, and courageous way women and girls live their lives.

~*~ ~*~ ~*~

Ovaries in Your Living Room

It's easy.  Invite friends over, as you would for any other party, and tell them to bring their friends, tooónew blood makes things more fun.  If you want, use this e-mail invitation (below) that the book editor (that's me!) sent out when she held her own Living Room Open Mike. 

Before your Living Room Open Mike, please contact the book website at eventslivingroom@thattakesovaries.org simply to indicate you are hosting one.  This is encouraged, not required.  It just helps me to know where and how many living-room soirees are being held.  If you'd like to support the book and have it available to sell at your event you have options: One, buy a bunch of copies from a bookstore (go local, go independent! www.booksense.com), recoup costs when you sell them at your party, and return the ones you don't sell.  Check the store's return policy first, and save that sales receipt.  Another option is to have the book's publisher ship copies to your door.  Bookstores are the best way to go, but if you simply can't make arrangements with one, you can order books directly from Random House: Call Wanda Knight in New York: 800-200-3552, ext.  9686.  (Email info@thattakesovaries.org if you encounter difficulties.)  Again, you pay for them in advance; again, you can likely return unsold copies, this time to the publisher (ask Wanda if this will be true in your case).  Your event, Ms. Hostess, will rouse women and girls to raise their voices and will give them a chance to look at their own lives and identify their courage; taking the book home will keep them inspired long after the evening has ended. 

         When at last your living room is brimming with people, here's what I suggest: Bring out the chips and dip, read aloud some excerpt from the book's introduction, like the section called "What Is the Main Point of This Book," or from the book's preface, called "Rivka's Note to All Readers" (which sets the tone), plus a couple of stories (which model the storytelling style: p.s. pick short and playful, not heavy and deep ones), then go around the room and have everyone share her (or his) own true stories.  It is a homey, sofa-pillows type of comfortable, and it's entertaining and inspirationalóall rolled into one.  Feel free to use any activities from the At the Event Itself section found below.  Make sure everyone who wants to speak gets a chance.  Tell folks in advance to keep their stories short: maybe one to five minutes?  You don't want any one person hogging the floor (oink, oink).  If someone does, don't be shy: Interrupt and announce their allotted time is about up.  Then make sure it is.  Being a Benign Dictator is easier than you might think.  Or use an oven timer, the Instrument of Neutral Democracy.

         It's a girl thing, so likely not a lot of guys will come.  If some do, make them feel welcome (we can always use good men in the revolution, and at parties) and remind them that they can tell stories about the ovaries in their livesófemale friends and family members.  Some actually might, and then you are in for a treat; it is a treasure to hear men appreciate women's boldness.

         Before anyone leaves, tell your girl-guests that if they want their stories considered for any subsequent Ovaries! books they should check the website for submission info.

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Organizing a (Bigger, Public) That Takes Ovaries! Open Mike

         Luckily for everyone, the book's control-freaky editor cannot be involved with most events.  So instead, there are guidelines for open mike organizers, like you, to use.  As mentioned, the guidelines are summarized below, with the full version found on the website.

         What?  You say you have never organized a public event before? 

         Well, hey, now's your chance.  You never know, this might start your new career in organizing for women's empowerment.  Or it could just be a lot of funóonce. 

         You can work as an individual, or under the auspices of an established organization.  You can hold a stand-alone event, or include the open mike as a fun, audience participatory component to an already-scheduled larger conference (big advantages: comes with a site and pre-made audience).  Or you can hold it in a bookstore.  Options galore!  Be creative.

         Unlike a smaller Living Room Open Mike, where I have suggestions but no requirements, if you want to organize a bigger, public open mike you will have to do Certain Things.  I list them below. But first, a definition of what exactly a "bigger, public" That Takes Ovaries! Open Mike is.  It is any gathering that uses "That Takes Ovaries" or any like-wording in its promotion and: (1) is open to the public or local communityósuch as your city, neighborhood, or school; (2) includes more than just your friends and your friends' friends; (3) is publicized, perhaps with a publicly posted flyer or listing in a newspaper, school, or community events calendar; and/or (4) may be covered by the media.  Lastly, if you expect more than thirty people, whoever they are, consider your open mike "bigger, public."

Fund-raiser, Too!

In keeping with the philosophy that it is important to give back to our communities, I encourage each (bigger, public) open mike organizer to make her event a fund-raiser, and to split the proceeds between two causes: one local, one international.  We females are scattered far and wide; by dividing up our resources locally and internationally, we cover all bases.  

         Some of the money collected can go to covering costs (though it is hoped that sponsors or in-kind donations will take care of that), and, if necessary, to paying the organizer something.  But regardless of costs, most of the proceeds should go to the beneficiaries of the fund-raiser.

         It is my suggestion and hope that a portion of the money raised go to a local girls' programówhichever one you like in your community.  (If you need an idea, consider your nearest chapter of Girls Inc. (www.girlsinc.org), one of the nation's preeminent girls' organizations.  They help girls with everything from self-defense to economic empowerment to preventing adolescent pregnancy.)  If you search high and low but cannot find a local girls' group that seems right for an Ovaries! fund-raiser, pick a women's group. 

         It is my further hope that another portion of the money your event raises will be dedicated to stopping two of the most appalling international human rights abuses perpetrated  against women and girlsósexual enslavement and, separately, female genital mutilation (FGM) (for info on these two horrific violations of girls' rights and sexual freedom see below).  To this end, That Takes Ovaries! established a relationship with Equality Now (www.equalitynow.org), a New York-based international women's organization that, among other things, works with grassroots groups around the globe to eradicate FGM as well as the sex trafficking of girls.  Some of the writers in this book have already generously donated their contributor's honorarium to Equality Now.  Imagine if every open mike distributed information and made a donation, too.  We could make a real difference in the crucial goal of educating the public and ending both sexual slavery and FGM.  And we would be sending a strong message that women in the so-called First World, a world of privilege, care about all women around the globe.  (Note: If there is another international women's cause you'd prefer to donate to, that is also an option.  Donating to Equality Now is strongly encouraged but not required.) 

         For those of you who have never organized for a cause or never before seen yourselves as social change activistsóWelcome!  Please use this event to get your feet (and knees and tush) wet.  There is nothing like the high that comes from making a difference.

Pre-Event Organizing Checklist

 Register your intention to organize a (bigger, public) That Takes Ovaries! Open Mike.  Wait until you hear back before proceeding further.

  Prepare yourself for a bunch of fun and a good bit of work: Depending on how big you  want it to be, the event could take two weeks to three months to pull off. 

  Find a co-organizer or loyal servants, umm, assistants, who will help. 

  Find a free/absurdly cheap, wheelchair accessible, close-to-public-transit site.  Try a bookstore, coffee shop, university campus, poetry reading spot, club, auditorium, beauty parlor waiting room, bowling alley parking lot, someone's big house, whatever.  (Or piggyback onto another organization's already scheduled conference.  Its organizers might love an audience participatory activity.  And this way your site and crowd are already secured.  Yippee!)

  Invite local girls' and women's organizations to join the fun by having them co-organize, sponsor, publicize, and/or attend the event. 

  If possible, find local businesses to sponsor the event or make a donation.  That way all costs won't end up on you.  Some businesses, like a photocopying store, may donate services in exchange for including their name as a sponsor on the publicity flyer.

  Consider inviting local celebrities, leaders or bands.  They will bring their fans, and can read from the book, tell their own personal stories, or MC.  Which gets us toÖ 

  Secure a Mistress of Ceremonies (MC).  She should be vibrant and bold (like the book!), and, most important, able to make crowds comfortable enough to share personal stories aloud.  Maybe she is you?

  If you are not already holding the open mike at a bookstore, invite one to attend your event to sell the book.  This helps promote the paperbackóthank you!óand further legitimizes your open mike by linking it to the book.  (P.S. Don't forget to support your local independent bookstores. Find one in your area here: www.booksense.com.

  Schedule an up-to-two hour agenda.  Choose activities from the At the Event Itself section found below. Find a few audience plants: 3-5 people who are prepared to jump up and share their stories at the open mike as soon as you say, "Okay, so now who in the audience has a story they want to tell?"

Pre-Event Publicity Checklist

Get a nifty Ovaries! publicity packet off the website's homepage.

Make an eye-catching (hot pink?) hardcopy flyer about the event, and an e-mail flyer, too. Find samples of both in the publicity packet.

E-mail and snailmail flyers to all potentially interested individuals and groups, like local women's centers, YWCA, N.O.W., Girls Inc., and Girl Scouts chapters.

Pass out flyers at poetry slams, clubs, knitting conventions, pro-choice demos, and any public gathering of one or more people.  Post on windows and community bulletin boards in libraries, bookstores, coffee shops, beauty salons, gynecologists' officesóanywhere you'd find women chillin'.

Get the open mike listed in the calendar section of local publications.

If you want more publicity, like your fifteen seconds of fame, contact local TV stations and city newspapers' entertainment/around town/style reporters and book reviewers. Their interests will be piqued by a That Takes Ovaries! Open Mike.  It's playful and depthful, and it has just enough "edge" to draw them in. 

Now see below for things you can do At the Event Itself.

AT THE EVENT ITSELF

Activities you can use at your event are summarized here. (For more details on each activity, see the full version of these guidelines). Pick the activities you think would work best with the community you are inviting.  A bare-bones open mike consists of only three components: : 1) the Introduction, when the Mistress of Ceremonies reads aloud some excerpt from the book's preface (aka Rivka's Note to All Readers; find it in Appendix B below or in the website's About the Book section) or perhaps an excerpt from the book's introduction, like the section called "What Is the Main Point of This Book"—both discuss the importance of women and girls publicly sharing their brazen, outrageous, audacious, courageous acts; 2) Modeling the Storytelling Style, when someone role-models the types of stories we hope to hear at the event (i.e. true, short, and, of course, gutsy), perhaps by reading aloud stories from the book. Choose mostly light, fun, playful stories for this. We don't want the event to start out with more than one "heavy" story because then everyone will only tell heavy stories during the open mike—and they'll all leave depressed; 3) last, the actual Open Mike Time, when women and girls who came with a story already prepared (including your audience plants) share them with the whole room, thereby motivating others to spontaneously share stories, too.  With just those three components, you will have a great event!

         However, other activities can also be found on the full version of these guidelines, such as Celebrity Readings, when well-known, crowd-drawing locals tell stories from their own lives or read from the book; the Golden Ovaries Award Ceremony, when community-based women and girls who have acted boldly are honored and then tell their specific act of brazenness to the audience; the Greater Audience Involvement exercise, when all who attend have a chance to share their stories in a small group setting, and then later, if they want, with the whole room.  The exercise is a fun way to help bring shy people out and build their self-esteem.      

         No matter how you proceed with your open mike, the clapping, cheering, supportive yelps and congratulatory pats on the back at the end of every story will encourage each woman and girl to keep being gutsy, keep taking risks in her day-to-day life.  And when the electrified crowd finally dances its way out the door, you can be sure they'll know that being Women With Ovaries enhances their own lives and serves as a fine example to others of what a woman can be.

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Rivka-the-book-editor sez:  It is my hope that the That Takes Ovaries! Open Mikes that you organize (especially the "bigger, public" ones) will be both consciousness-raisers and fund-raisers, with a percentage of the money raised going to local girls' groups and a percentage going to the organization Equality Now (www.equalitynow.org) for their work to stop female genital mutilation (FGM) and the equally horrible but separate atrocity of sexual enslavement.  (For general info on Ovaries! fund-raising see the Fund-raising section above.)

FGM is one of the most atrocious human rights abuses perpetrated against girls around the globe.  To date, 130 million females from Africa to Europe and the United States. have been mutilated and suffer permanent disabilities from the barbaric act.  An unknown number die each year during and after the procedure.  Equality Now works with community-based leaders and grassroots groups worldwide to promote a better understanding of FGM and effective strategies for its eradication

         Click here if you want to read how Fauziya Kassindja, who managed to escape FGM, describes it in her story in That Takes Ovaries!

         Fauziya left her home, her family, her country to escape the brutality of FGM.  Today, in part because of her work publicizing the horrors of FGM, Fauziya's homeland of Togo, West Africa, has outlawed the practice.  But it still goes on legally and illegally around the world.  Equality Now is one of the leading organizations working to stop it. 

         They also work to end global sex trafficking of girls and women.  Ruchira Gupta describes sexual slavery in India in her story in That Takes Ovaries! Click here to read it.

         Both Ruchira's and Fauziya's descriptions help to explain why That Takes Ovaries! established a relationship with Equality Now and why I strongly suggest you send them a percentage of the money raised at any Ovaries! Open Mikes.

Equality Now
P.O. Box 20646
Columbus Circle Station
New York, NY 10023
Phone: (212) 586-0906 // Fax: (212) 586-1611
E-mail:info@equalitynow.org
Website: www.equalitynow.org

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REGISTER (to organize a "bigger, public" open mike)

PUBLICITY PACKET

For your own That Takes Ovaries! publicity packet, click here. This is a readable, printable PDF document. (To access it you need Acrobat Reader, which can be downloaded for free at: www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep2.html.) 

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