Monthly Archive for September, 2008

San Francisco, You’re Invited: Thu 10/16 6pm – Clothing Swap Fundraiser

Published on September 25, 2008 in San Francisco Events by Neal Gorenflo. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , .

On Thursday October 16th from 6-10pm, Abundance League is hosting a clothing swap as a fundraiser for SoMa Creativity Center.

Bring a dish or drink, plus your favorite surplus hipster, vintage, or burning man fashion to swap. Music provided by whoever comes. Bring your laptop, iPod or CDs if you want to spin. Sound system provided.

Fashion Slave – which supports local designers, artists, and shop keepers – is sponsoring. Fashion Slave’s Kim Connector will be our fab hostess. She throws THE best clothing swaps and trunk shows swaps around.

Free your clothing…and clothe yourself for nearly free.  All the while supporting SoMa Creativity Center. $10 suggested donation, no one turned away for lack of funds.

WE”RE BACK AT SOMA CREATIVITY CENTER, YAY!

MEETING
What: The Abundance League
When: Thursday, Oct. 16th, 6:00-10:00pm
Where: The SOMA Creativity Center, 81 Langton Street, Suite 13, San Francisco, buzz yourself in

AGENDA                                                                                                                6:00 – 10:00 nonstop fashion swap, music, refreshments, and mingling.  Discuss you passion, needs and gifts while you mingle!  And you can type ‘em in the laptop.

Just in today (10/13), Swap Guidelines from Kim Connector.

What to bring:

  • Clothes, accessories or shoes and a bag to put your new goodies in
  • If you can’t remember the last time you wore it or it doesn’t fit, let it find a new happy home where it will be loved and used. Great chance to get rid of old Halloween Costumes.

What not to bring:

  • Stained, dirty, smelly, holey clothes or shoes
  • If you would not want your friend to be seen in it put it out on the street or cut it up for cleaning rags.
  • Sports Basement takes donations of old track shoes and crocs to send for recycling**

When you arrive:

  • Unpack your donations and sort into the piles with like articles (men’s shoes with men’s shoes, women’s shirts with women’s shirts… )
  • Let the searching begin, start going through all the stuff there and trying it on
  • Put articles that you are going to take in your take home bag and out of the main swap area, as not to be confused with available items.
  • Whatever is left over with be donated to Community Thrift.
  • The main thing to remember is that you take what you want and leave what you don’t.
  • Mingle and snack, have fun and encourage those around you. Sharing is nice! It is great to see and old favorite go to someone new who is excited to have it so enjoy, tell them a story about it.
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Join the Revolution?!

Published on September 24, 2008 in Abundance by Neal Gorenflo. 0 Comments Tags: , .

I reject limited ideas of self. My profile picture on Facebook is now a social graph. The social graph is me. Free yourself. Join the…revolution?!

The image is from the Abundance League social network survey done by Doris and Harald of FAS.research in 2006. If you took the survey and you want a picture to use for your profile, let me know. I’ll send you one.

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Friend-to-Friend Commerce (F2F)

Published on September 24, 2008 in Abundance by Neal Gorenflo. 2 Comments Tags: , , , , , .

I was talking with Taj of the Denver Abundance League on Saturday about how we can make the league more meaningful on a day-to-day basis. Imagine what it would be like to experience the mutually-supportive environment we create at monthly meetings, but on a daily basis.

This lead me to the concept of Friend-to-Friend commerce. Instead of putting your stuff on Craigslist or eBay and selling to a stranger, why not sell to a friend? I mean think about it, most people never even let their friends know they’re selling something on a C2C site. That’s weird. Why not let your friends know first? Why not give them first dibs. Or even better, just give the item to a friend, someone that you love, trust, and want to help. And what if all your friends did the same thing? And what if listings went beyond stuff and included all kinds of support? F2F commerce might be a way to experience extraordinary generosity every day.

This idea may represent a gigantic cultural lacuna. There’s only one result that comes back from a google search on the exact term “friend-to-friend commerce” or the same without dashes. And that result is in reference to marijuana sales networks in the law enforcement domain. In a way, that shows the power of the corporate controlled marketplace – we do not see our friends as sources of material sustenance. We search vertically to get our needs met, not horizontally. That’s radically undemocratic. Conversely, Friend-to-Friend Commerce is radically democratic.

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Denver Meeting Notes: September 2008

Published on September 23, 2008 in Denver Events by Taj Moore. 0 Comments Tags: , , , .

What a great meeting! I am always impressed with fruitful even a small gathering proves to be. This month’s meeting of the Abundance League took place last Wednesday at Leela European Café and focused on personal connections as we each discussed our passions & projects. Meeting notes follow…

Our next meeting is Tuesday, October 14th. Yes, Tuesday! We’re changing it up for October. Mark your calendars. We haven’t settled on a featured speaker, artist, or activity yet. Got an idea? Just reply and let us know.

I want to point out that abundance doesn’t just happen once a month when we get together. It’s something we practice every day through the connections we make and the extraordinary generosity we practice with each other. A lot of us continue the conversations between meetings and have real impact on each other’s lives. Let’s bring some of those stories back next month!

Taj (+Susan)

MEMBER ANNOUNCEMENTS

Taj
Passion: social networking. Working on the tAL website with Neal in San Francisco to create a richer environment that fosters community between meetings.
Gifts: marketing & social networking brainstorming, recent knowledge of messenger bags (if you’re in the market for one)

Leah
Passion: Project Greenleaf … learning + teaching about alternatives to industrial food economy & agriculture. Creating social change through urban agriculture w/ youth … wants to launch in two years. Buying a house soon, where she can pilot the agriculture practices in the back yard. Also starting a 2 yr master’s in sustainable business at Goddard.
Needs: consulting/advice to learn about the existing org landscape in Denver related to project … help creating an advisory board as well as members for the board (youth & adults). Urban homesteading knowledge. Also needs a power drill.
[Susan gave Leah some excellent contacts during the mingling … abundance in action!]
Gifts: knowledge and help making farmer’s cheese and preserves; community organizing help … helping people identify their strengths and use them; also can help stretch a canvas

Susan
Passion: Facilitating group dynamics/community building; the Living Laundromat project—bring people together in a public space … cultural events, meetings, holistic health, performances, café. Also passionate about organizing & facilitating retreats as a private practice … urban retreats that are more accessible in terms of time and travel … vacation retreats outside the country. Also loves gardening & dance.
Needs: to work smaller projects that approximate the Living Laundromat. Needs co-conspirators for retreats … board members for Living Laundromat, and experienced people to help plan logistics … and a space for the Laundromat.
Gifts: facilitating retreats (individual & group). Celery & collard greens from the garden. Introductory instruction in contact improvisation (dance).

Raul
Passion: to create a space for organizers to go to create leaders. Also, wants to create a film out of a trip to north Africa, the Middle East, the Silk Road, documenting the travels as well as “vision workshops” he holds with locals along the way.
Needs: good place/teachers to learn Arabic & Farsi; money for film project … fellowship, sponsors; to know more NGOs in the geographical areas of focus; three cameras for film … one a super 8.
Gifts: can teach Spanish; organization knowledge & experience to share; film editing; vision workshops

Leah & Raul
Have a joint vision for making a zombie movie! (It sounds profound, actually, so ask them about it.) They need to find people for makeup, costuming, set building, and miniature building.

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San Francisco Meeting Notes: September 2008

Published on September 20, 2008 in San Francisco Events by Neal Gorenflo. 0 Comments Tags: , , .

We had a pretty good turn out for an often unsettling topic like race. For something folks don’t often talk about, especially in mixed-race groups, leaguers handled it with ease and openness. Perhaps this is example of how the league tells a new story about people that sees them as generous, understanding, and helpful, and how people easily live into that story. Or maybe it’s because many of us are good friends by now. Whatever the case, it’s inspiring. Here’s a few of the lessons learned in discussion:

-Everyone’s experience with race is different and that can be about life history or it can be a thing that changes moment-to-moment.

-Our ideas about race are often subconscious. Sometimes we can do things that are embarrassing and harmful, even if we’re well intentioned.

-We should not become paralyzed by guild when this happens, but rather understand that we’re conditioned or trained by society and therefore can untrain ourselves.

-With increased awareness, we can avoid doing things that are harmful.

Big thanks goes out to Caren and Janet at UNtraining for facilitating a difficult topic and to SoMa Creativity Center for hosting us at their wonderful space. Thank you Pearl and Pam. You did a wonderful job of facilitating the overall meeting.

Our next meeting is Thursday, October 16th. Mark your calendars. We haven’t settled on a featured speaker, artist, or activity yet. Got an idea? Just let gorenflo [at] gmail dot com know.

We hope to see you then.

—

MEMBER ANNOUNCEMENTS
Name:Pamela
Passions: arcane literature, politics, social process
Needs: good for now
Gifts: webstuff, research, connections
E-mail: palexb [at] stanford dot edu

Name: Michael Beutler
Passions: Sustainability, solving problems
Needs: funding for bio-tech start-up
Gifts: Business advice
E-mail: michael dot beutler [at] comcast dot net

Name: Kim Connector
Passions: san francisco culture, art, fashion and people
Needs: new local talent
Gifts: Great listener, brainstorming, organizing, cooking collaboration
Email: thebrainpoolconnector [at] gmail dot com

Name: ruth davis fyer
Passions: dreamwork, expressive arts
Needs: raise money to keep somacc open!
Gifts: artist, healer
E-mail: buddhamuse [at] gmail dot com

Name: Janet Carter
Passions: writing, sharing stories, anti-racism work, history
Needs: Check out our Untraining Racism work, publishing connections
Gifts: Communicating, (Listening, teaching, researching, writing, editing)
Email: info [at] untraining dot org; janetecarter [at] yahoo dot com

Name: Neal
Passions: people working together
Needs: inspiration, consulting gigs in research, strategy, business development, and project management for social enterprises
Gifts: hypermiling, google it on the web, way to drive that saves gas, that’s all I have today
E-mail: gorenflo [at] gmail dot com

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San Francisco, You’re Invited: Thu 9/18 6pm – Janet Carter from UNtraining + Abundance League Host Talk About Race

Published on September 12, 2008 in San Francisco Events by Neal Gorenflo. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , .

A discussion about race? As Pam, a fellow leaguer said, “how unsettling.” She later added this is why we should have the discussion. So let’s get unsettled out of patterns that may be keeping us from helping each other.

There’s arguably no better facilitator for this in the Bay Area than Janet Carter from UNtraining, an organization that works to undo white rascism. Here’s what to expect in Janet’s words:

“This year’s presidential election has brought the complex issue of race to the forefront of our collective awareness. Simplistic labels like “racist” and “non-racist” obscure the fact that all children who grow up in the United States are subject to cultural conditioning around race. This “training” is deeply personal, often unconscious, and subtly shapes the way we feel about ourselves and others.

Despite our basic goodness as human beings, we learn early our position in the social, political, and economic hierarchies we live in. If we are white, we can usually fit into the mainstream racial “norm.” Most of the time, whites don’t have to think about race. This invisible privilege can be an obstacle to connecting with others to create the social justice we all want to see. If we’re a person of color, we may bear the brunt of unconscious racism, even from well-meaning white friends and co-workers.

The UNtraining program is a compassionate and provocative approach to help white people investigate their racial conditioning in a white-normed culture. The principles and practices can be applied to any of the “isms” that separate us. This evening will be an opportunity for people of all colors to look at racism from a personal point of view and discuss how it affects our daily lives.”

As always, great care will be taken to create a safe and supportive place for discussion.

We hope to see you there for a great exchange. And come ready to talk about your passions, needs, and gifts during announcements so that we can help each other create the lives and communities of our dreams – right here in reality.

If you would like to be a volunteer facilitator of this meeting, just respond to this e-mail or volunteer at the meeting. Instructions for facilitating will be provided.

MEETING
What: The Abundance League
When: Thursday, Sept. 18th, 6:00-10:00pm (you can come and go anytime during the meeting)
Where: The SOMA Creativity Center, 81 Langton Street, Suite 13, San Francisco
Call 415.867.0429 if you have trouble finding the meeting. Learn more about the SOMA Creativity Center here: http://www.somacreativitycenter.org

AGENDA
6:00 – 6:30 – Mingle
6:30 – 7:15 – Member announcements (your passions, needs and gifts)
7:15 – 7:30 – Break – nosh, mingle, exchange support
7:30 – 8:30 – Presentation & discussion
8:30 – 10:00 Nosh, mingle, exchange support, clean up

Learn more about our meetings here:
http://www.theabundanceleague.org/2007/08/about- abundance-league-meetings.html

BRING
-Yourself, friends
-Healthy stuff for the potluck
-Shares: books, CDs, DVDs or anything that you’d like to loan or gift at the meeting

SITES
Check out a recent post at the league blog:

http://www.theabundanceleague.org/2008/08/ridesharing-website-under-fire-from-bus.html

And learn about our host, SOMA Creativity Center here:

http://www.somacreativitycenter.org

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