Tag Archive for 'burning man'

Denver Meeting Notes: October 2008

Published on October 17, 2008 in Denver Events by Taj Moore. 1 Comment Tags: , , , , , , .

Notes from the October confluence of the Abundance League in Denver, Colorado

We had our largest meeting this month with 16 people attending; we completely took over the back section of Leela Café!

For the second half of our gathering, Dan Brazelton (aka Ranger Bunny) spoke about his personal experience with the Black Rock City Rangers, a non-confrontational mediation group that forms the backbone of the Burning Man arts festival.

Here’s what we wrote about Dan and the Rangers earlier »

And here’s another short piece we wrote about Dan Brazelton »

One thing that really struck me about the Rangers is that while community policing principles among regular law enforcement have been on the rise, many officers from various jurisdictions covering the Burning Man event specifically cite the Rangers as a direct influence on positive changes in their approach to police work. This perfectly exemplifies Gandhi’s principle “You must be the change you wish to see in the world.”  Talk about changing the establishment!

Something Susan pointed out in the first part of our meeting was that we had three men present and eleven women. Interesting!

Member Passions, Needs & Gifts (PiNGs) 

Taj Moore
Passions—social networking in general, the Abundance League specifically
Needs—members to bring new friends to the next tAL meeting
Gifts—experience + advice on social media principles, i.e. social networking & creative marketing for even the smallest of projects 

Jaymee Castillo
Passions—education, financial literacy, entrepreneurial, real estate investing
Needs—to get in front of motivated and open-minded individuals
Gifts—mentoring—personal development + education, business, running numbers, FUN

Chelsea Trinka
Passions—career change into renewable energy (love to translate “techi-speak” to sales); dance … “love to dance & move my body in all forms;” investing in my first house (a duplex or triplex so I can get experience in property management too)
Needs—resources/schools/network/info on renewable engery. I’m new to the field, but love/get the science side + want to learn by “doing;” looking for a class to learn aerial fabric dance; supportive people to “cheer lead” my house purchase, specifically someone who can advise/bounce ideas about property management … someone who’s done it before
Gifts—I work with the arts non-profit Apogaea; we provide funding for artists & create events for artists. Anyone who wants to get involved in working with an arts org, we are always looking to fund, feature, and involve new people.  

Suzy Rosen
Passions—helping facilitate renewable energy projects with a particular interest in creating sustainable economies w/ tribal communities; writing a novel
Needs—to meet people with experience/ties to renewable energy projects/American Indian communities
Gifts—can help with legal issues/writing

Jennifer Hampton
Passions—singing, dance, live events planning, healing
Needs—finding work
Gifts—(see passions) 

Susan Coates
Passions—personal dynamics, group dynamics, dance; Living Laundromat Project, a public space for laundry, arts, and living
Needs—business start-up consultation, financial management, website development
Gifts—retreat facilitation, cooking/baking, life|work coaching 

Cassandra Cole
Passions—politics & painting (Obama right now, global warming series in the future)
Needs—help with living + working as an artist, supporting myself w/ my passion + gifts
Gifts—good writer, MS in environmental sustainability; can present/speak on small scale systems

John Shapiro
Passions—doing work of the non-us-vs-them social justice variety, working to truly solve problems via systemic change and/or creating alternatives, all done in a respectful way.
Currently working on: CooperativeAction.org is a nonprofit organization that uses an interactive website to allow people to participate in petitions, boycotts, and actions regarding a broad range of commonly agreed upon issues, such as health care costs, global warming, etc. When enough people participate, a “critical mass” or “tipping point” will be reached that will create enough pressure on politicians and corporations to act to address and solve these issues. This process does not advocate for exactly how these issues should or should not be solved, but rather it compels politicians and corporations to work together to find complete solutions to these commonly agreed upon issues. This process happens in a cooperative, respectful, objective, secular, non-partisan way that is geared towards raising the quality of communication, facilitating inclusion of participants that hold diverse views, and educating in an unbiased, straight forward way.
Needs—Looking for people interested in contributing to CooperativeAction.org with any relevant gifts/passions they might have.
Gifts—problem solving; technology consulting including web design/development for “greater good” projects

 
» Mark your calendars: Tuesday, November 18 is the next meeting! «

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Denver Reminder: We meet Tuesday (10/14 6:30pm at Leela European Café)

Published on October 13, 2008 in Denver Events by Taj Moore. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , .

This is your reminder that the Abundance League meets tomorrow evening (Tuesday, October 14) at Leela European Café. 

Dan Brazelton will present the Black Rock City Rangers and their unique brand of non-confrontational mediation in the Burning Man community. 

How does this fit your life? Well, the Abundance League is part social-laboratory, and what better place than a temporary city of 50,000 people to experiment with new ways of relating? Dan will tell us about the Rangers, and how their community extends the ethos of extraordinary generosity & community that Burning Man creates. 

I strongly suggest bringing a friend to this next Abundance League meeting: you can learn a lot about somebody you thought you already knew by hearing them tell stories to new people. When we talk about our passionate interests, we tell stories.

You can find the Rangers on the Web at http://rangers.burningman.com/who.shtml

And as always, please come prepared to spend a couple minutes briefly telling everyone about a couple of your passions/projects, what you need to pursue them, and  any gifts you offer to support each other in leading inspired lives.

We start at 6:30 pm, and end around 9:30 pm, but you are always welcome to come and go at any time.

BTW, we’re restructuring our Web presence. You can now find the Abundance League social network at

http://social.abundanceleague.org

WHERE 
Leela European Café
820 15th St
Denver, CO 80202
(303) 534-2255
www.myspace.com/leelaeuropeancafe

AGENDA
6:30–7:00 pm — Mingle
7:00–7:45 pm — Member Announcements: Your Passions, Needs & Gifts
7:45–8:00 pm — Break, Eat, Mingle, Exchange Support
8:00–8:45 pm — Presentation & Discussion
8:45–9:30 pm — Eat, Mingle, Exchange Support, Clean Up, Clear Out

BRING 
– Yourself, friends! 
– Business cards, handouts, flyers 
– Share: books, CDs, DVDs or anything that you’d like to loan or gift at the meeting.

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Denver, You’re Invited: Tue 10/14 6:30pm – Dan Brazelton + non-confrontational mediation

Published on October 9, 2008 in Denver Events by Taj Moore. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , .

DENVER—The Abundance League meets this coming Tuesday, October 14 at Leela European Café again (this time no hammer drilling!). I’m very excited to bring everyone together again, especially because this month…

…we have a special guest speaker joining us the wilds of Seattle, the Bering Sea, and San Francisco: Dan Brazelton has been a volunteer community mediator for over ten years with the Burning Man organization as a Black Rock City Ranger. If you have ever been inspired by examples of people and communities living out their vision and principles, the Rangers are a sterling example.

Dan will tell us about the Rangers, and how their community extends the ethos of extraordinary generosity and community that Burning Man creates into our everyday life. Hearing Dan’s stories about the Rangers has been an inspiration for me over the years and one of the things that led me to bringing the Abundance League here in Colorado. Below is a little background on the Rangers; you won’t want to miss this event!

BTW, I strongly suggest bringing a friend to your next Abundance League meeting, and here’s why: how many times have you found out something new about a close friend by hearing them tell a story to someone else? What do you suppose your friends could learn about you? Bring them this Tuesday and find out!

Each year Burning Man attracts nearly 50,000 in the temporary community of Black Rock City, Nevada. During it’s one week peak, it’s the fifth most populous city in the state. “Black Rock City stands at the intersection of several legal jurisdictions represented on the playa by the Pershing County Sheriffs Department, the Washoe County Sheriffs Department, Bureau of Land Management Law enforcement, Nevada State Highway Patrol, and other Nevada state agencies.”

“As a non-confrontational mediating agency, the Rangers help to resolve disputes within [the] community, but they also bridge the gap between the ethos and the culture of our citizens and the needs and responsibilities of law enforcement. As first responders, [they] are often able to effectively mediate disputes and interpret [the] city’s rules in ways that avoid larger and sometimes negative results which might ordinarily result in more negative consequences for the individuals or groups involved.”  —Rangers website

You can find the Rangers on the Web at http://rangers.burningman.com/who.shtml

Dan is also a mariner and filmmaker. You can learn more about Dan Brazelton here.

And as always, please come prepared to spend a couple minutes briefly telling everyone about a couple of your passions/projects, what you need to pursue them, and  any gifts you offer to support each other in leading inspired lives.

We start at 6:30 pm, and end around 9:30 pm, but you are always welcome to come and go at any time.

WHERE 
Leela European Café
820 15th St
Denver, CO 80202
(303) 534-2255
www.myspace.com/leelaeuropeancafe

AGENDA
6:30–7:00 pm — Mingle
7:00–7:45 pm — Member Announcements: Your Passions, Needs & Gifts
7:45–8:00 pm — Break, Eat, Mingle, Exchange Support
8:00–8:45 pm — Presentation & Discussion
8:45–9:30 pm — Eat, Mingle, Exchange Support, Clean Up, Clear Out

BRING 
– Yourself, friends! 
– Business cards, handouts, flyers 
– Share: books, CDs, DVDs or anything that you’d like to loan or gift at the meeting.

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