Video clips from the Western Mass Social Forum held on April 14 and 15, 2007, will be used to highlight positive outcomes and potential obstacles we encountered in the process of joining together to organize the WMSF. This session will help participants identify concrete planning and implementation tasks necessary for organizing and running a regional social forum. Participants will explore potential problem areas, as well as potential benefits. Small group discussions will provide an opportunity for participants to ask questions and discuss together how to get started and follow through with their own regional forum. The biggest challenge we faced in Western Mass was getting organizations working in communities of color and poor communities involved in the organizing process. Many, but not all, of these communities are in “survival” mode and don’t have time to plan, even though people saw the potential benefits of building increased unity and collaboration. We found that generally organizations are in “solo” mode and have difficulty finding time and resources for joint efforts for change. In this session we want to strategize with others to find alternative ways of organizing for a forum that involve the communities most directly affected by current economic and political systems. The session will be in English and we will have the capability of whispering or simultaneous translation into Spanish. There will be handouts in English and Spanish. We will share copies of the schedule and program of the Western Mass Social Forum.