A few weeks ago, we told you that we were working on some new initiatives as we ramped up our efforts ahead of the 2018 municipal elections here in Toronto.

We’ve already told you about our participation in the DemocracyXchange campaigning conference and our partnership with WillowWood school to use ranked ballots for their student elections. And you’ve surely signed our petition right?

Now we want to provide you with a new opportunity to get directly involved in our work. 

On Monday, December 4 we’re going to be holding the first of a series of monthly RaBIT meetups. The meetup will take place in a suite of offices at 439 University Ave (right by St Patrick Station on the east side of University Ave). We’ll be meeting in the lobby of the building at 6.20pm. (If you can’t make 6.20pm but still want to come, just let us know by emailing info@rabit.ca and we’ll work something out.)

These new meetups (we’re still working on a name for them – maybe you’ve got an idea?) are designed to be a time and place for RaBIT supporters and volunteers to meet and get to know each other and a chance to do some work on RaBIT projects at the same time. So please RSVP at info@rabit.ca right now if you are able to come! Also, if you are going to come, please bring a laptop with you if you are able. Oh, and there will also be pizza :)

How will these meetups work?

Our plan is to run these meetups on the first Monday of every month. Coming to one does not commit anyone to come to any future meetups and missing one (or two or three…) doesn’t mean you can’t come back when you get a little less busy. We really want to make it as easy as possible for people who want to volunteer for RaBIT to do so, without having to take on any more commitment than they are able to.

We’ll start off each meetup with some RaBIT board members and volunteers pitching some projects they are either already working on or keen to launch. Attendees will have the opportunity to pick whichever project interests them the most and work with the team that comes together around that project for the next couple of hours. It’s that simple.

Counting down to the election

As we mentioned a few weeks ago, the municipal election is now less than a year away. RaBIT is committed to raising the profile of ranked ballots over the course of this election year so that no candidate in the upcoming mayor or city council elections will be able to ignore it.

But we can’t do it without you. So, if you can, please come to this kick-off meetup on Monday, December 4, at 6.20pm, at 439 University Ave. Again, if you’re going to come please send us an RSVP at info@rabit.ca so we have a sense of who's all coming. Please also share this post with anyone you feel might like to be involved.