Youssef² - tuning crowds

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I really make my own youssef² without any preceding permission?
Yes, the youssef² is a chaordic instrument to promote the struggle for human rights and freedom, you can make as much youssefs as you deem necessary without any preceding permission. If you circulate them, please circulate them with the charter and respect the purpose.

I translated the charter into our local language what should I do now?
Post it as a comment and ask local people to check it. Once being visited a few times and provided with corrections (if acurate) i will add your language into the main suite.

Can I make my youssef² with a plastic kone and will it work as well?
Yes, try it, it will make more noise. We choose carton because the local company where we get the kones has a recyclingprogram for the plastic ones, the carton ones are now being recycled for the better purpose. Thats why the first original Youssef² accompagnied with a charter and distibuted on the 25 february 2006, has been made in carton.

Where do I find cones?
The kones we used, you find them at a spinning mill or weaving mill, often you can find them for free. The bigger the kone, the bigger his power to make noise. Carton has an absorbing effect, so plastic ones make more noise. Respect the local recycling programs by using the ones which or not subject to a recycling cycle.

Can I use balloons from a multinational to make my youssef²?
Yes please make your youssef² with recycled materials, so use the balloon you can get most easily, cut it into two equal parts and if there is a embarassing multinationals logo on it, go with the scissors through that field, then put the ballon on the kone with the logo on the inside so it becomes barely visible.

Can I sell youssef² 's at local sports manifestations?
Accompagnied with the charter and respecting the goal, promoting fundamental rights and freedom of mankind, the Youssef² can be sold everywhere, especially at sports manifestations. The Youssef² can be used to reinforce other right campaigns, such as the campaign against racism around the sportsarena. Everyone is free and has the right to make his own Youssef², to use the youssef² for pleasure or to make fun is part of the fundamental freedom. Read also the next Faq.

Can I personalise the Youssef² for a certain reason?
Yes, a personalised youssef² works better, give it a date (the manifestation or occasion you made it for), a color (black and white, a combination with the local supporters colors), make it a rainbow or give each one the name of a victim (of racism, discrimination, war, ...). For youth movements it can be an activity to do with children, and a usefull intrument when having group-activities outside. Also for carnival and prides a Youssef² can be a sounding symbol.

Is the Youssef² a standard model or can I make an own version?
Youssef² is an idea, all variations on the same instrument are welcome, don't modify the charter, only the instrument. Respect the idea of using recycled materials. If you want to add information about the purpose you have made it for, make recto-verso versions of the charter, including notes upon the purpose of that specific manifestation.

Is the youssef² a gadget?
No Youssef² is about tuning a crowd, it is made as a usefull instrument to make crowds reacting wisely. A crowd need symbols of dialogue and peace to react in a common-sense -directed-way, the spread of a critical number of instruments will help a crowd to express feelings and emotions effectively. The use of the symbol can amplify the solidarity for your purpose. People participating in it or watching it on television can feel comfortable even if the crowd is huge and rather upset.

Why the name Youssef²?
Youssef² is a product of Ahmad and Jan. Ahmad, being an unaccompagnied minor in Belgium knew the instrument since his childhood in Iran, the adults didn't support the noise at all, so they used it only very rare. One evening a friend on a visit, citizen without papers forced the three of us into creative thinking because of the contrast between the jokes he made about his efforts to integrate and his hopeless situation on the legal part, making his daily struggle for life harsh. Jan, has a history of struggling for fundamental rights and freedom and was reading a book about the wisdom of crowds, written by J. Surowiecki. It was an enjoyable evening, during a homly conversation in front of the television spreading the images of people protesting against the Danish cartoons, everything was present in that room, the instrument, the people, the questions, the theme and above all a creative spirit.
The idea got born to give something to the world, a present, an idea, a Youssef². It all happened in our cosy place, the JozefII-straat, translated into a more intercultural version the name of the instrument, it didn't have one before, became youssef².
Now the idea was present, we planned the first spread of the instrument for 25 february 2006 in Brussels, a manifestation for the rights of people without papers.

How do I spell Youssef² - youssefs ?
Youssef 2, the "2" written in superscript, as to raise the effect of the instrument to a square impact.
In plural you can write Youssefs with the "s" in superscript as to raise the effect of the total amount of spreaded insturments to a critical impact.
if you see youssefs written in different ways, know that it is often due to the server or the browser not supporting superscript, but if you spread it out yourself on paper, try to respect.
You can also use names as Joseph² or Jozef², following the specific language.

How many Youssefs should i provide to tune up a manifestation with the human rights idea?
The first manifestation in brussels counted an 8000 people and we distirbuted 150 insturments, 85% we gave away for free, some we sold to launch the idea of people without papers the to do the same. To spread out the idea and to show anyone can do something himself to make a better world, we handed out also 500 cones un-ready, as we got them the day before from the weaving mill.
A critical amount to tune a group is 3/100 or 25/1000 well spread out in teh crowd. The youssef itslef should not become the issue, the prupose of a manifestation should always be on the first place.
With the 150 Youssefs distibuted, the instrument appeared on none of the tv channels, but once back home, on all channels in the newsitem about the manifestation, we could here our instrument in the background, it sounded sweet in our tired ears. It also appeared discretely on different pictures in the press, people using it.
If you just want to be more visible with your group in a huge crowd, give out 1/3 or 1/5 to the group members, and if you want people to remeber the presence of your group, hand out a same amount to other represented groups.

How much time will it take me to make a hundred youssef² for the next manifestation?
We first made a 150 instruments to get an idea about how much time it takes, a single man, onces used to the procedure can easily produce a 30 instruments an hour. For hte procedure how to make, see the blog post: "How to make -guide".






Who put the price for selling a Youssef²?
There's not a fixed price. For the first manifestation we gave away for free a critical amount of instruments to promote the idea, and sold another part to provide some funds for the ongoing struggle for human rights and especially to help our friend, the third man in the room. The price we put was 3 euro, but anyone can put his own price, as sale-conditions can be so different. Making big money should never be a leading motive. Giving away the idea and a prototype to interested people all over the world will always be an essential way of communicating about the youssef², so please do the same. Funding human right actions or a personsn daily subsistence should always be the leading motive.

Should I report about the spreading of youssef² by myself or my orgaisation?
Please do so, it is not an obligationas acces to communication is not everywhere as evident, but reporting on the internet about the spread and use of the instrument can rasie solidarity with your purpose.

How can I easily make flyers of the charter?
In a word document, choose the setting landscape, then devide your paper into six columns, paste a charter of any language in every column. Print on A4 format paper (or Legal).

Where can I learn more about chaordics or the wisdom of crowds?
Three books that made the birth of this initiative possible:
Dee Hock- The birth of a Chaordic Age
James Surowiecki - The Wisdom of crowds
Harrison Owen - Open Space Technologies

FAQ's edited by Jan Beddeleem
No rights reserved, please credit the editor.