Next protest idea - lets get creative!

[kevie]

There was a good writeup in the Manawatu Evening Standard tonight.Was also pleased after emailing Iain Lees-Galloway that he not only appeared at the protest .... but went there on the back of one of the BIKEOI bikes.

I emailed the reporter complimenting her on a good writeup and also to challenge her to follow up Professor Charles Lamb's topic and check some of the info that is being released and be a National hero (not a hero of National by the way) and tell the public what is really happening with ACC and National and save ACC.

One move between now and the next "bikeoi' is for all of us to badger the human rights commission, as many MPs as we can, the media and also tell all we encounter whats actually happening...... we have a lot of kiwis on our side.... lets use that and get the momentum to 'avalanche status' and snowball National and the ACC's changemakers plans

[FastBikeGear]

Because the box will cost you nothing, can be used in metered parking, gets the point across to many people quickly, and a whole street done with boxes in minites. The same would fast becaome a news item if it continued on a daily basis in differeing streets.
Eventually it could become an urbant myth type protest, as it is just a box with words.

Exactly

[Actually parking our cars in the parks instead of boxes] Wouldn't be as noticable as the weighted boxes... as it would be just another car... they wouldn't know its a protest

Exactly

An on going legal as protest action can be done daily.
When ever you go on a group ride on the open road, ensure you have a learner with you, just stick to 70kph. simple?
think about how slow SH1 could become with as few as 10 riders obeying the law. The Tail end charlie wears a banner stating
""beware motorcycle training group "
too simple?
ok

Can anyone find out when any national member, ACC manager of leading business man is due to take either a drive to an important meeting, or needs to travel to the airport to catch an international flight.
A rolling road block in front to these vehicles slow enough to make them late to the meeting, or the airport, possibly late enough to miss an international flight.
If this is done enough, members of pariment will know why, it stays in their face.


Lets disturb big business
Ellersley race course?
Time loud rides past the race course that co-incide with the running of horse racing, some horses are skittish to loud noises, and thus could shy at the sound. Those people betting could be out of pocket due to the horses not performing.
If this was done to each race on one night, it would not take long for the culprits, bikes, to come to the attention of the racing public at the meeting. Who are the people who make and spend the big money, and pay the big taxes and dont give a fuck about bikers.

Protests which annoy the rest of the public (whom we are getting support from) keep us in the public eye but not in the way we want! Remember our protests are designed to:

Keep our issue

1. in the public eye
2. Get the support of the wider public (And we have this so lets not blow it out the window).
3. If we can make our protests fun for us the media and the public so much the better. Imagine a street with a row of cardboard boxes in each car space?

[Clockwork]

Multiple mini protests...

Groups of 10-20 Noisy bikes with protest signs doing slow(ish) circuits of the CBD... sort of "Flash-mob" thing.

[NighthawkNZ:Me]

Blowing up parilment... oh wait guy fawkes has been and gone... next

[Big Dave]

At this stage my recommendation is that your protests should be targeted at the decision makers - and should have no adverse impact on the general public. None.
Public opinion is still on our side. It's a fragile thing.
If you piss anyone off from 'the public' you will be giving the sensation hungry media exactly the ammunition they want.
Target the MPs. Target ACC. Leave Joe Public alone - they are already as aware of the issue as the news grabs can make them.
All disruptive protest can achieve with them now is alienation.
That may change.

[Bald Eagle]

At this stage my recomendation is that your protests should be targeted at the decision makers - and should have no adverse impact on the general public. None.
Public opinion is still on our side. It's a fragile thing.
If you piss anyone off from 'the public' you will be giving the sensation hungry media exactly the ammunition they want.
Target the MPs. Target ACC. Leave Joe Public alone - they are already as aware of the issue as the news grabs can make them.
All disruptive protest can achieve with them now is alienation.
That may change.

Absolutely agree we need to inconvenience the people responsible, however we need to do it in a way that gets media attention to maintain the sound bite awareness.

[Drogen Omen]

how about card board car's weighted down with water bottles.... hahahaha

[Pinstripe]

I thought we'd just head into the CBD one working morning and park one bike in each pay and display car park, then sit in the cafes having a coffee while watching the chaos ensue.

This would be my pick, it's a classic. It could work fine on a saturday, plus more folks would be keen I'd say.

The box idea is a good'un too

[Ixion]

A couple of points to consider.

The people we have to influence are the government. Nick Smith is the guy that makes the decision.

The government do not really care at all if the public are inconvenienced. but the public do care. Nick Smith doesn't care how many people get pissed off at not being able to find a parking spot. Unless the disruption becomes so severe that the government is forced to take action, and there is no effective way to stop the protests.

That's not the case with us. Any disruptive action targeted at the general public can never be big enough to achieve more than annoyance value. And can easily be shut down by the police.

Nick MAY care what his caucus colleagues are saying - and that will be based on self interest "Nick, I only have a small margin , I'm worried that these bikers may influence enough voters that I lose my seat next time round".

We need to consider the audience we are wanting to engage. Protests have several rationales.

One is attention grabbing, to draw public attention tos omething they don't know about. That's what the truckers were trying to do - the public didn't realise what a raw deal they were getting, the disruptive protests made the public aware.

In our case,we've already reached that point, there can be very few people who don't realise that bikers are angry about ACC levies, and that we consider the increases unjustified. Anyone who still doesn't know is living under a rock and won't take notice anyway.

There's a risk of going to far with such activity - you get to the point where people start saying "yeah yeah, enough already, we've heard you the first time".I think we have probably reached that point.

Or, second type protests can be to force action on someone. The bus drivers work to rule is a good example (it's a form of protest). They didn't do it to draw attention to their cause, they did it to inconvenience the employer, (the other affected party), in the hope that the employer would say "It's cheaper to pay them than to put up with this".

Or, third, a protest may be to draw other people into the battle - "See what they are doing to us, if you do not support us, they will do it to you to".

Or, fourth, to point out repercussions. "maybe you don't realise that if the government do this to us, it will affect you because ... "

So, I'd suggest that protests that just annoy the public (type one) will not pay dividends.

Protests that annoy MPs and National party officials (type two) may be of benefit. Ditto for protests that affect entities that have influence with the government (large corporations are obvious).

Protests that are targeted at other groups that may be affected may be good

And protests that show the public the flow on effects of bikers being forced off the road are good.

Protest organisers need to consider their target. Why should the National government care if that target is unhappy? No matter how many car drivers are pissed off at not getting a parking space, National won't care. The car drivers affected are not even very important people , from a National party perspective - important people have reserved places in the underground car parks.

But if those important people found that they couldn't get into or out of their reserved car parks, the government might take notice.

Action targeted at insurence companies in line to pick up rich rewards from privatisation of ACC, would not much annoy the general public (many people would be quite happy for insurance companies to be annoyed). But it would worry the government.

Think outside the square. there are other possibilities beyond the "take up all the parking spaces" and "ride slowly on the motorways" perennials.

For instance, if a group of motorcyclists arrived out of nowhere and slapped a chain and padlock on the roller grille of the ACC parking exit. Photo for the press, then disappear before anyone has a chance to ask questions. Oh dear the door won't go up to allow the ACC managers to enter . They'll have to park in the street.

It would be quite easy to disrupt rail services. Then rail patrons would take their cars instead, enabling us to point out the benefits of motorcycles .

[FastBikeGear]

Ixion you make good sense.

The general public now sympathises with us and we don't want to do anything that can jeopordise their support. Anything that gets them angry with us is totally counter productive!

However their passive sympathy won't help us unless they become motivated to express their concerns and joint us in more acitive support and denouncement of the levies. We need for non bikers to express their displeasure to the Government so that the government realises the voting public is becoming disenfranchised.

The cardboad box idea only marginally inconveniences motorists as it is intended that they can easily move the card board boxes before they park and hopefully if we paint/draw some wheels on the side of the large shoe box or whatever we use (the larger the better) they can have a chuckle while they are moving it.

We don't need or want to try and fill up every park, just some strategic ones that will catch attention. i.e. car parks at press offices, the Wellington and Auckland City council, ACC offices, MP electoral offices. What else can people think of?

The idea is to demonstrate the inconvenience without actually causing it and to keep us in the press as likeable fun guys and gals with a sense of humour - not threatening thugs or bullys.

[NighthawkNZ:Me]

The cardboad box idea only marginally inconveniences motorists as it is intended that they can easily move the card board boxes before they park and hopefully if we paint/draw some wheels on the side of the large shoe box or whatever we use (the larger the better) they can have a chuckle while they are moving it.

yes that is the idea, and that we understand if the levies go through next time they may not get that park....

[Bend-it]

and if there's a couple of minties and a note or something like that for the inconvenienced driver, that would be seen in a positive light

[Big Dave]

and if there's a couple of minties and a note or something like that for the inconvenienced driver, that would be seen in a positive light

I'm sorry - but It wouldn't.

Do you like having to get out of the car to remove spam from under the wiper blade. PITA - Same trip.

I tell you what most car drivers will say as they climb back into their vehicles: 'Bastards should just pay up and shut up.'

[Mystic13]

I'm with BD on this. And extending that to the protest at Mission Bay this Sunday. Motorists there will be inconvenienced because they have to walk further or drive on to somewhere else.

This fill the parking spaces thing looks good and it's effectively targeting people coming into Mission Bay for Brunch. It seems to me that one biker per park will potentially add to the ill will this creates. Depending on numbers that turn up and the % of parks that are lost.

Having said that breakfast at mission bay sounds good.

[Pedrostt500]

Do Not Bite the hand that Feeds, and as far as this goes for us it is the hand of Joe and Jane Public we must not bite.
My observations of the New Zealand public is that it is a fickel creature, and very easily bored of a subject.
There is alot that still can be done to shine the positive light in our corner, ie making sure that Motorcycle fund raising events get media attention, Country School Trail rides, HOG Toy Runs, Ulysses West Pac helicopter charity rides, WIMA pink ribbon rides, etc.
yes I know none of this is Storm the Fortress type stuff, but we need to maintain our position of being the GOOD GUYs in this Battle, if we PISS Joe and Jane Public off then we become the bad guys, and then we are fucked.