How are hundreds of independent journalists from around the country going to work together to cover the Democratic and Republican National Conventions? From networks to working groups, from distributed communications such as text message networks and leaflets, and from ftp video transfers to people hawking newspapers on street corners, this session will examine all the tools of organization and distribution that will make these large scale collaborations possible. Find out how IMCs everywhere have challenged the monopolies of mass media and how this summer in particular will be one of the most active ever for independent media.