On April 1st, 2006 the activists at the founding conference of the Illinois Coalition of Peace & Justice voted unanimously to accept the web application called the Actions Options Tool (AOT) as the content management system at the center of the coalition. The software was designed specifically for ICPJ and includes an actions grid that provides an opportunity for member organizations to note their degree of support for each other's actions. Additional features have now been programmed into the application including forums, calendar, resources center, message center, petition and boycott functions.

The programmers working with ICPJ continue to refine the application and give it free to statewide coalitions. The Minnesota Alliance of Peacemakers and the Michigan Peace Network now both rely on the AOT to enhance member organization communication and cooperation.

In states where there is no coalition the creators of the AOT have offered the AOT to local activists and three networks have emerged where no network or coalition existed in the past. Florida (flaction.org), Pennsylvania (paactionnetwork.org) and Ohio (ohiopeacenetwork.org) are all AOT using networks.

Over 300 peace and justice organizations in six states rely on the AOT to communicate with each other and coordinate actions. These six states, sharing the same programming, now share actions across state lines propagating actions such as the 'Iran Emergency Response' from one state to another. This new tech application is encouraging relationships that are resulting in the spontaneous grass roots propagation of actions across state lines with no hierarchy or national organization.

Several additional statewide peace & justice organizations (both coalitions and networks) are considering the AOT. CodePINK central now uses the AOT to help local chapters communicate with one another.

This session will explore how individuals and organizations can organize actions within states and across state lines using the AOT. We will also be focusing on how to create a regional or statewide network using the application. Last, it will be explained how non-profit coalitions that are not specifically peace & justice can benefit from the communication/coordination features of the Actions Options Tool.

`````````````
Answers to 'Questions'

1. Illinois Coalition for Peace & Justice. See ilcpj.org.
2. Peace & Justice Statewide Network Building Software
3. 54 year old white guy
4. Strategizing
5. Presentation with hand-outs. (Talk followed by Q & A)
6. 25-50 (About 15 came to the Midwest Social Forum when I presented)
7. We are looking for activists interested in using the tool for their p & j coalitions, activists interested in organizing multi-state actions throught the tool, and for non-profits interested in using the tool. This is strategy enhancing software and fits well into the third day. There will be English handouts encouraging a deeper understanding of what will be presented. The presentation will be in English. I can not interpret of speak other languages. The creators of the AOT are seeking non-profit status to be able to request funds to grow the project. Our growth is limited by programming costs and networking labor hours.