GAME OVER: Occupy the Corporate Investors, Shut Down GAIM USA 2012

UPDATE: More details and a schedule for the GAIM conference events are now posted here: http://occupypalmbeachcounty.org/gaim-schedule-and-details/

[Message from the General Assembly of Occupy Palm Beach, in solidarity with Occupy Wall Street.]

A massive conference of banksters, billionaires and buzzards is taking place in south Florida this winter. GAIM [Gathering of Investors and Managers] will be at the Boca Raton Resort & Club, January 22-25. In their own words, “GAIM USA has a track record of delivering 3,000 of  the industry’s leading practitioners, hedge funds and asset allocators from across the globe.”

Occupy Palm Beach is calling for a festival of resistance to converge at the GAIM conference site (or as close as we can get to it.) We want to make our presence loud, bright and beautiful, so we’re asking you to bring banners, puppets, horns, drums and, of course, a tent.

While there is little information available on this conference, Hedgeweek, a news source for investors, said this about GAIM USA in 2008: “…the global hedge fund industry event attracting the largest number of asset allocators, could well be compared to the Bilderberg Group. It is probably the most high-profile global assembly anywhere of investors and asset managers…”

Some of the most egregious aspects of hedge funds, vulture investments, are known for their record of preying on vulnerable economic situations, making investments intended to profit from economic crises, picking over the remains of rapidly weakening companies or entire countries. These multi-billionaire corporate investors are cashing in on debts specifically intended to exploit desperate situations: labor conflicts, land struggles, famine, war, climate change and ecological collapse around the world.

Since details of GAIM 2012 have not been made public and media access to the event is very limited, here is a list of past participants in the conference, to give an idea who may be showing up:

• Bank of America
• BP
• Cargill
• Corrections Corporation of America
• Citibank
• Fidelity Investments
• Carlyle Group
• Nasdaq Stock Market Inc
• Goldman Sachs
• US Futures Exchange
• US Securities & Exchange Commission
• International Monetary Fund (IMF)
• Weyerhaeuser Company
• JP Morgan
• Wachovia
• World Bank Group
• Koch Industries
• Lehman Brothers

These names sum up the caliber of the people attending this event—this is truly a meeting of “the 1%” and their agents.

There are an additional  200 banks, corporations, investment groups, universities, municipalities, consultants, financial institutions, government bodies and agencies who are listed as past participants on the GAIM 2012 website.

The GAIM USA conference is an event coordinated by The Institute for International Research (IIR), the largest conference company in the world. They also host regular conferences for investors in the energy industry, pharmaceuticals and agri-business giants. For example, IIR is hosting a Marcellus Shale gas investors’ conference in New York City on Dec. 6 to push for more hydrofracking in the Northeast region of the US.

While we work to change the course of our society and defend the ecosystems we live in, these investors are placing their bets on the status quo that has put us where we are today. Worse, they’re hedging those bets to ensure they won’t lose.

Converging against this conference is another important step towards our localized revolution against a globalized dictatorship of the market. We hope you’ll join with us in taking this step.

Help make it happen

We are looking for individuals and affinity groups from near and far to come early to help with preparations for the convergence and a series of actions surrounding the GAIM USA conference.

Come to the General Assembly Of Occupy Palm Beach on Jan 21, 4pm, downtown West Palm (at the occupied City Hall on Olive and Banyon) for an action spokescouncil to coordinate our efforts.

Some other things to know

At this time, there are several established occupation camps in south Florida where people can live in the time surrounding the convergence. There is also a public transit system between Miami and Palm Beach, the TriRail, which also stops in Boca Raton.

There are many other grassroots community projects to get involved with while you are in the area, including: local organizing around immigrant rights, ecological and environmental justice, prisoner solidarity, animal liberation, food security, neighborhood gardens and farms, DIY bicycle repair, independent media production, and more.

Oh, and the weather in south Florida is very nice this time of the year…

For details and updates, OccupyPalmBeachCounty.org

To download a printable formatted PDF flyer for this convergence, click here.