I went to the “Talk Back NYU!” forum last night, and it was definitely a worthwhile event.

The proceedings were confidential, so I won’t go into any detail, but I don’t think I’ll be violating any trusts if I pass along a few general impressions:

The TBNYU folks are engaged in a thoughtful conversation about what went wrong in the occupation, and how to apply what they’ve learned to the future. They’re searching for ways to get word out more effectively, and to bring more NYU students on board. That last seems to already be happening — a solid chunk of the people present at last nights’ meeting were new to the group. 

The dominant impression I was left with was of a group with more on the ball than their public persona suggests. Why they weren’t better able to articulate their message, and to what extent they’ll be able to do so going forward, remain open questions, I think, but they’re engaged with those questions in a serious way.