Compassion In Action Invitation
You are enthusiastically invited to attend a 3 day residential gathering of NVC supporters (trainers, teachers and organizers) June 30 - July 2, 2006 at Mills College in Oakland, California. The focus of this gathering is to support the spread of NVC communities throughout the United States by enhancing community-building skills and connection among diverse people and values. We welcome NVC enthusiasts from anywhere to attend especially if you want to help support this focus.
The gathering will be facilitated by certified trainer Gina Lawrie using Open Space Technology. (see below for info on Open Space) We expect a variety of topics and offerings to arise from this gathering including but not limited to:
- using technology for community building,
- enhancing connection within your NVC community,
- supporting NVC communities when conflicts occur,
- how to use consensus efficiently
We are also inviting people who are focused on various applications of NVC (education, parenting, prison work, peer mediation and others) to come and share their experience.
Who should come? Anyone who would like to enhance or expand their NVC community/network. Come if your area has well-established community(ies) or networks, is in the early stages of such development, or if you're alone and just getting started. No matter what spectrum of community you are currently involved in, this gathering will help you network with others who share your values, learn how to enhance and strengthen your community ties, and provide concrete tips for helping you meet needs for connection, understanding and trust within your NVC community.
Where possible, we suggest that you recruit someone from your community to join you as we believe this will enhance ease and learning at the conference and create support when you return home. We also suggest that people fundraise their expenses from their community to foster a sense of support, community and interdependence.
To meet our needs for connection, contribution, learning, impact and our great hope for cross pollination, we envision people joining us from all parts of the country and from a broad spectrum of age, class, race, and political inclinations. Please help us make this vision a reality.
During this event a Playback Theatre troupe (www.playbacknet.org) will offer a playful and thought-provoking experiential workshop in some of the skills of PLAYBACK THEATRE, a unique form of improv theatre practiced in 50 countries to help communities share honestly from the heart.
To register for this residential conference (room and board included), go to http://www.baynvc.org/calendar/view_entry.php?id=CD1004&date=20060629
Please forward this invitation to your NVC network, and join us for this exciting weekend gathering. Together we will celebrate successes, mourn setbacks and difficulties, give and receive support, and learn concrete ways to enhance our NVC communities.
With excitement, USA Project Planning Team
About Open Space Technology - Open Space Technology is one way to enable all kinds of people to co-create inspired meetings and events. In Open Space meetings, participants create and manage their own agenda of parallel working sessions around a central theme of strategic importance, such as enhancing NVC communities in the USA. The common result is a powerful, effective connecting and strengthening of what's already happening within an organization or group; panning and action, learning and doing, passion and responsibility, participation and performance. Gina Lawrie is a certified NVC trainer who is experienced in facilitating Open Space Technology conferences.
Jane: important to clarify that the intention/purpose of this event is to spread nvc, not on teaching nvc skills. [although of course we will connect, and learn some]
John: to spread nvc, to have an impact at the larger scales, and to connect/learn.
Rick: to lower the barriers to connection, both through creative application of NVC and through education and support of many ways to communicate (such as this wiki).
here's more info on open space and playback theater from Kit: Gina trained in Open Space Technology (OST) with Harrison Owen, its originator, and has been using it in her work for many years. For more on OST go to _http://www. www.openspaceworld.org
You will be given forms you can take away that may bring a fresh perspective, playfulness, and spontaneity to your work.
Performance: Learn more about other NVC leaders and share about yourself...through a performance of Playback Theatre. Members of the community volunteer personal experiences (including challenges, victories, and dreams) and five actors bring them dramatically to life in the moment. Often moving, funny, deep. Go to (for info about the wider playback network).
Read through Naming The NVC USA Conference for more elements we'd like included in the invitation.
