<div dir="ltr"><span id="gmail-docs-internal-guid-3c10d55d-7fff-48c0-d35e-7114cfa8f688"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><font face="arial, sans-serif"><font color="#000000"><span style="background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">Dear Fellow Maintainers,</span><span style="background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap"><br></span><span style="background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap"><br></span><span style="background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">Please join us </span><span style="background-color:transparent;font-weight:700;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">next Wednesday, May 27</span><span style="background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">, for a discussion about the “gig economy” and the ways that maintenance Gig workers (shoppers, drivers, etc) sustain daily life, and as such have been recognized as “essential workers.” This dependence on gig workers raises an important question: </span></font><span style="background-color:transparent;color:rgb(0,0,0);white-space:pre-wrap">what steps do companies, governments, and individuals take to maintain gig workers--or, in other words, to ensure that this form of labor is sustainable? </span></font></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="background-color:transparent;color:rgb(0,0,0);white-space:pre-wrap"><font face="arial, sans-serif"><br></font></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="background-color:transparent;color:rgb(0,0,0);white-space:pre-wrap"><font face="arial, sans-serif">This discussion will feature two experts on gig economies in the United States and Europe: </font></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><font color="#000000" face="arial, sans-serif"><a href="https://www.katiejwells.net/" style="text-decoration-line:none"><span style="background-color:transparent;font-weight:700;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;text-decoration-line:underline;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">Katie J. Wells</span></a><span style="background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap"> is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at Georgetown University’s Kalmanovitz Initiative for Labor and the Working Poor. She writes about the changing relationship between cities, technology, and work. She has published</span><a href="https://katiejwells.net/research" style="text-decoration-line:none"><span style="background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap"> </span><span style="background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;text-decoration-line:underline;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">findings</span></a><span style="background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap"> on smart cities, housing policy, and Washington, D.C. history in academic journals such as </span><span style="background-color:transparent;font-style:italic;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">Environment and Planning D: Society and Space</span><span style="background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap"> and </span><span style="background-color:transparent;font-style:italic;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">Urban Geography</span><span style="background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">, and has discussed the real-time impacts of my research in</span><a href="https://katiejwells.net/media" style="text-decoration-line:none"><span style="background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap"> </span><span style="background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;text-decoration-line:underline;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">media</span></a><span style="background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap"> stories in </span><span style="background-color:transparent;font-style:italic;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">The Washington Post</span><span style="background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">, National Public Radio, ABC National News, CityLab, and </span><span style="background-color:transparent;font-style:italic;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">The San Francisco Chronicle</span><span style="background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">, among others.</span></font></p><font color="#000000" face="arial, sans-serif"><br></font><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><font color="#000000" face="arial, sans-serif"><a href="https://www.uva.nl/profiel/d/o/n.a.j.m.vandoorn/n.a.j.m.vandoorn.html" style="text-decoration-line:none"><span style="background-color:transparent;font-weight:700;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;text-decoration-line:underline;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">Niels van Doorn</span></a><span style="background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap"> is an Assistant Professor in New Media and Digital Culture at the University of Amsterdam. He is also the Principal Investigator  of the </span><span style="background-color:transparent;font-style:italic;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap"><a href="https://platformlabor.net/">Platform Labor</a></span><span style="background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap"> research project (2018-2023), funded by the European Research Council. His research examines how digital platforms are transforming labor, social reproduction and urban governance in post-welfare societies.</span></font></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap"><font color="#000000" face="arial, sans-serif"><br></font></span></p><p style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap"><b><font color="#000000" face="arial, sans-serif">Call-in information: </font></b></span></p><p style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap"><font color="#000000" face="arial, sans-serif">Zoom Link: <a href="https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87597003640">https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87597003640</a><b><br></b></font></span></p><p style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap"><font color="#000000" face="arial, sans-serif">Password: maintain</font></span></p><font color="#000000" face="arial, sans-serif"><br></font><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><font color="#000000" face="arial, sans-serif"><span style="background-color:transparent;font-weight:700;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">This roundtable will be recorded</span><span style="background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap"> and made available on the Maintainers website after the event. The webinar series is free to attend and open to all. </span></font></p><font color="#000000" face="arial, sans-serif"><br></font><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><font color="#000000" face="arial, sans-serif"><span style="background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">We ask that all attendees review the </span><a href="https://festivalofmaintenance.org.uk/code-of-conduct/" style="text-decoration-line:none"><span style="background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;text-decoration-line:underline;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">Festival of Maintenance Code of Conduct</span></a><span style="background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap"> and the </span><a href="http://themaintainers.org/miii-code-of-conduct" style="text-decoration-line:none"><span style="background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;text-decoration-line:underline;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">Maintainers Code of Conduct</span></a><span style="background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap"> prior to joining the Zoom.</span></font></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><font color="#000000" face="arial, sans-serif"><span style="background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">Thank you for your time and consideration.</span><span style="background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap"><br></span><span style="background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">We look forward to talking to you soon.</span><span style="background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap"><br></span><span style="background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap"><br></span><span style="background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">On behalf of Festival of Maintenance and The Maintainers,</span><span style="background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap"><br></span><span style="background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">Laura James</span></font></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap"><font color="#000000" face="arial, sans-serif">Naomi Turner</font></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap"><font color="#000000" face="arial, sans-serif">Jackie Pease</font></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap"><font color="#000000" face="arial, sans-serif">Andrew Russell</font></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap"><font color="#000000" face="arial, sans-serif">Lee Vinsel</font></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap"><font color="#000000" style="" face="arial, sans-serif">Jessica Meyerson</font></span></p></span><div><br></div>-- <br><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_signature" data-smartmail="gmail_signature"><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div><span style="background-color:rgb(255,255,255)"><font size="2" color="#444444" face="arial, sans-serif"><b>Jessica Meyerson</b></font></span></div><div><span style="background-color:rgb(255,255,255)"><font color="#212121" face="arial, sans-serif"></font></span><div><font face="arial, sans-serif"><span style="background-color:rgb(255,255,255)"><font color="#999999">Director for Research &amp; Strategy</font><font color="#212121"> | </font></span><a href="http://educopia.org/" target="_blank"><font color="#444444">Educopia Institute</font></a></font></div><div><font color="#999999" face="arial, sans-serif">Pronouns: she/her/hers</font></div><div><font face="arial, sans-serif"><br></font></div><div><font face="arial, sans-serif"><font color="#999999">Working from Austin, TX</font><br></font></div><div><span style="background-color:rgb(255,255,255)"><font face="arial, sans-serif"><font color="#444444"><span name="searchHitInReadingPane">jessica[at]</span>educopia[dot]org</font><font color="#444444"> </font><font color="#999999">|</font><font color="#444444"> <font>512-864-4575</font></font></font></span></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div>