PoliNation 2012
| PoliNation 2012 | |
|---|---|
| |
| Date | 14 July 2012 |
| Site | Chelsea, London, United Kingdom |
| URL | http://www.micronationconference.com/conference.html |
| Attendees | 32 |
| Previous summit | 2011 Intermicronational Summit |
| Next summit | 2013 Intermicronational Summit |
PoliNation 2012, officially PoliNation: 2nd International Conference on Micronations, was a micronational summit held on 14 July 2012 in London. Originally conceived as a second meeting of MicroWiki states after the success of the 2011 Intermicronational Summit, the idea expanded into a meeting of 24 micronations and 32 micronationalists from both within and outside of the MicroWiki community. It remains the largest intermicronational meeting ever convened in the MicroWiki community.
This was the second time that a large number of people from the MicroWiki Community met in person, following on from the 2011 Intermicronational Summit the previous year, although a large number of micronationalists from micronations outside of the MicroWiki sector, e.g. Molossia and Atlantium, also attended. Although the summit itself took place only on Saturday 14 July, due to the large number of micronationalists that travelled to London for the weekend several other meetings with varying degrees of formality also took place on Friday 13th and Sunday 15th.
Organization
The conference was organized by George Cruickshank of Atlantium, Dr. Judy Lattas of Macquarie University, and Alexander Reinhardt of St.Charlie. The former two had already successfully organised PoliNation 2010 in Sydney, and Reinhardt had been instrumental in organising the 2011 Intermicronational Summit.
Reinhardt sought to organise a second meeting of the MicroWiki nations after the success of the 2011 summit. Cruickshank and Lattas were then approached and it was decided that the conference would also be a follow-up to the 2010 Sydney meeting, and likewise referred to as "PoliNation" (establishing a "brand name" of sorts).
The Small Hall of Chelsea Old Town Hall was hired as a venue for PoliNation 2012. A website was set up for prospective attendees to register, and the date of the conference was set for 14 July.
Summit
Thirty-two leaders and citizens of twenty-four micronations attended PoliNation 2012, as well as several journalists and photographers. The conference mainly consisted of speakers from most of the attending micronations giving presentations on their micronations and on aspects of micronationalism. Several presentations of physical objects such as micronational currency and postage stamps were also set up around the hall.
Micronations on which presentations were given by their founders, leaders and/or citizens included Molossia, Aerica, Atlantium, Flandrensis, the Formori Community, Francisville, Erephisia, Juclandia, Ladonia, Landashir, Monovia, Reyla, Sandus, and the USLSSR.
Presentations were also given on the concept of micronationalism: "Pretender Politics" by Dr. Lattas, "Why micronations are powerless... or maybe they aren't" by Reinhardt, and a talk by King Petr Dvorak of Jirmania. The conference ended with a screening of Empire Me: New Worlds Are Happening, a film documenting Sealand, Hutt River, and some other less well-known micronations and autonomy movements. Beginning at 8:30 am, the conference lasted until 6:00 pm, with a break for lunch.
After the conference, photographs were taken in a larger adjoining hall and some delegations signed treaties with each other, after which most of the delegates left for a London restaurant at King's Cross for a post-conference dinner.
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The organisers of the summit: (l-r) Dr. Lattas, George II, and Alexander Reinhardt.
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Delegations gather at the start of the day.
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Listening to Ladonia's presentation.
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Several of the delegates together.
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President Kevin Baugh of Molossia (l) with Crown Prince Jonathan of Austenasia (r).
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Jacob Tierney of Renasia (l) with Will Soergel of Sandus (r).
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The St.Charlian delegation with Billy Neil of Erephisia (r).
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Niels I of Flandrensis (r) shakes hands with James von Puchow of Landashir (r) after signing a treaty.
Other meetings
With the conference taking up most of Saturday, those attendees who had travelled from abroad - and many of those who hadn't - had arrived in London on Friday, and departed on Sunday. This gave the opportunity for several smaller meetings to also take place on Friday and Saturday.
Friday 13th July
- Crown Prince Jonathan of Austenasia, Jacob Tierney of Renasia, Will Sörgel of Sandus, and Riley Small of St.Charlie met at Archway station. From there they walked to Highgate Cemetery, viewing the graves of Karl Marx and several other individuals, before travelling to South Kensington (see below).
- Dr. Lattas, Eric Lis of Aerica, George Cruickshank of Atlantium, Niels I and Hein Vermeersch of Flandrensis, Sogoln Yg Ysca of the Formori Community, Queen Carolyn and Minister Fredrik Axwik of Ladonia, Republic of Benny André Lund, Taeglan I Nihilus of Reyla, and President James Lunam and Alexander Reinhardt of St.Charlie all met at a restaurant in South Kensington in the evening for a pre-conference dinner. They were joined by the group travelling from Highgate (see above).
Sunday 15th July
- Eric Lis of Aerica, George Cruickshank of Atlantium, Sogoln Yg Ysca of the Formori Community, King Petr of Jirmania, Queen Carolyn and Minister Fredrik Axwik of Ladonia, and Republic of Benny André Lund met at Hyde Park. Axwik, Ladonian Minister for Art and Jump, performing a "HopArt" (contributing to an ongoing performance project) by jumping into the Serpentine lake, after which the rest of the group gave interviews for a documentary film crew while he dried off. The group then went to a nearby restaurant for dinner.
- James Stewart of Francisville, James von Puchow of Landashir, and Will Sörgel of Sandus met Crown Prince Jonathan of Austenasia at Carshalton station, after which the latter led them on a tour of the Carshalton Nations, seeing Orly and the site of Rushymia before finishing at Wrythe for refreshments. The group then travelled to central London (see below).
- The group travelling from Wrythe (see above) met with Jacob Tierney of Renasia and President James Lunam and Alexander Reinhardt of St.Charlie at Bank station. Walking west along the Thames, the group stopped for refreshments in a café at the Tate Modern, and held the only Quorum of the Grand Unified Micronational to ever be held in-person. The group then continued west along South Bank before departing.
Delegations
