Tag Archive for 'San Francisco'

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San Francisco Meeting Notes: June 2008

Published on June 30, 2008 in San Francisco Events by Neal Gorenflo. 0 Comments Tags: , .

Big thanks to David Gross our speaker, our host the SOMA Creativity Center, all who contributed, those who brought yummy food, and all who helped clean up after a great event.

Details about the meeting are below, but first some housekeeping. We’re in need of a new meeting space starting in July, so please reply to this e-mail if you have an idea for a space or can host a meeting. We’re very grateful to have had the Creativity Center as a meeting space, but Revi of the center is going on sabbatical. She will not be booking events for at least three months. Thank you Revi and have a great time!

Our next meeting is Thursday July 17th and will feature Michael Vav. Michael will talk about lessons learned from his many social experiments, which are part group therapy, learning lab, and social art. Stay tuned for meeting details.
Learn more about Michael’s experiments here.

Below are member announcements. Please glance through them. They’re a chance to get help or give help. Feel free to reach out by e-mail.

–

MEETING NOTES

David Gross took us through his personal journey of becoming a war resister by lowering his income below the federal tax level. He legally pays no federal tax so that he avoids financially supporting the war in Iraq. There were many lessons from his life transforming act of conscience. Here are few:

-The big message was that lowering your income dramatically does not lead to a life of privation. When you put your energy on the side of your priorities, life becomes more rewarding.

-After quitting his well paid corporate job, going indy, cutting his salary by two thirds, and working less, he’s convinced that his time is worth far more than the money he was earning for it when he was an high paid employee.

-That when you economize, you do more for yourself and learn new skills like cooking. This way, you can satisfy yourself to a greater degree than paying for someone do a service for you.

-That about 40% of the US population live on income below federal tax levels. David was not doing anything strange by cutting his income. He was joining a large cohort of folks.

-That it does take some planning to get your income below federal tax levels. The key is to figure out the most you can make so that when all your deductions are taken, your gross taxable income is below the federal level.

More about David here:

http://sniggle.net/Experiment

–

MEMBER ANNOUNCEMENTS

Name:Lucci
Passion:Expanding the cohesiveness of my circles and society
Needs:research allies for developing network context and strategies for all social development endeavors
Gifts:strategic design and planning in public benefit efforts, strategic life mapping (mentoring), 501(c)3 sponsorship, development planning venue.
E-mail:lucci [at] well dot com

Name: Ray Tobey
Passion: Changing our model of leadership from Machiavelli to Gandhi & Martin Luther King
Needs: Advice from anyone who’s attended the “Writers for Change” workshop, PHP programming
Gifts: I speak HTML, PHP, C++, Asm. If you want to win a seat in local Govt, I can make that happen
E-mail: green [at] bionictoad dot com

Name: Andrew Gentile
Passion: Shifting paradigms toward consciousness around interconnectedness of all people and the connection between people and the planet (and cosmos). Helping people to live fearlessly and with unlimited vision. Connecting people to others and to resources. Creating deep heart-centered community.
Needs: An evolving planet, open minds and hearts.
Gifts: Hypnotherapy, spiritual perspective, massage, web design, writing.
E-mail: gentile.andrew [at] gmail dot com

Name:kim Connector
Passion: san francisco’s creative scene
Needs:new artists, designers, cafes, stores in your nieghborhood to include in my tours
Gifts:orginization, social networking, cooking
E-mail:thebrainpoolconnector [at] yahoo dot com

Name: Mary
Passion: food, wine, gardening, helping people get involved in things that make them happy and are good for other people/the planet, etc
Needs:
1) Please help spread the word about www.iowafloodreliefauction dot com It’s a volunteer effort to raise money to help rebuild an animal shelter destroyed in recent flooding in Cedar Rapids
2) Communications and PR volunteer energy to help spread the word and get people involved in Indy Arts & Media www.artsandmedia dot net
Gifts: Fundraising expertise, opportunity to publicize your art project, organization, band, etc at the Expo for Independent Arts… early bird registration ends soon: www.artsandmedia dot net
E-mail: mary [at] maustinfuller dot com

Name: Nicolay Kreidler
Passion: Photography, Intentional community
Needs: a cutting edge team of paradigm shifters
Gifts: sharing
E-mail: nicolay [at] avalonsprings dot org

Name:Diego Gonzalez
Passion:people, international development, world cultures
Needs:come up with a project of sustainable development for latin america
Gifts:financial modelling, excel, languages: French, Spanish
E-mail:postdiego [at] hotmail dot com

Name: Jim Herbst
Passion: friends, family, my career
Needs: to provide support to entrepreneurs who need help putting numbers to their business. If you are passionate about your idea, please contact me.
Gifts: Accounting, cost analysis, financing, project management, product management
E-mail: jherbst [at] gmail dot com

Name: Bonnie Scherek
Passion: Making friends, good food and wine
Needs: Money
Gifts: Massage, organizing, humor
E-mail: bonniescherek [at] gmail dot com

Name:Skye Worthington-Bunn
Passion:Industrial Design/Screen Printing/Asian Cooking/Wine
Needs:
Gifts: Concept development/Cad/ Engineering Drawing/Screenprinting Baking delicious stuff
E-mail: skye.wb [at] gmail dot com

Name: Rob Ford
Passion: The Peace Garden Project (www.thepeacegarden dot org) — creating a visual link of inspiring connections for peace, community, connection and service — in the “Garden of Humanity”
Needs: video-tech-savy advice — for camera and editing shopping; community grant-writing inspirations for filming individuals in urban pioneer settings and beyond — more immediately I have a big need for work in any fields of outreach, healing arts (I’m a massage therapist) or any non-profit working with enviromental causes that can help me anchor these other, long-term goals
Gifts: Connecting people…one to anothher, and within…to to hidden strengths and deep joys
E-mail: idolgossip [at] yahoo dot com

Name:Angela Privin
Passion: recycling, adventure, dogs,travveling and different cultures
Needs:find a career path
Gifts: writing, cooking, Spanish, Russian, Alternative medicine
E-mail: angelaprivin [at] yahoo dot com

Name:Dmenace
Passion:People
Needs:Help with my attitude toward money
Gifts:motive and inspire people
E-mail:dmenacesf [at] yahoo dot com

Name:Emily
Passion:improving the way people work together
Needs: paid employment
Gifts: written word, org dev
E-mail:egshurr [at] yahoo dot com

Name: Neal
Passion: creating a culture of generosity, collaboration, and civic engagement
Needs: consulting gigs in strategy, research, and social enterprise
Gifts: encouragement, different perspectives, an open mind
E-Mail: gorenflo [at] gmail dot com

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San Francisco, You’re Invited: Thu 6/19 6pm – David Gross + Legal Tax Resistance = Abundance

Published on June 17, 2008 in San Francisco Events by Neal Gorenflo. 0 Comments Tags: , , .

Dear Abundance Leaguers,

Please join us next Thursday, June 19th, as David Gross leads a discussion
about his experience in legal tax resistance and how it inadvertently
lead to a life of abundance.

In March, 2003, David Gross quit his $100,000/year job and has since
kept his income below the federal income tax line so that he would no
longer be paying for the Iraq War.

At first, he worried that this would mean a life of deprivation and
struggling to make ends meet. But he found that paradoxically, his life
became richer, fuller, and more fulfilling.

True abundance, it turns out, has more to do with being able to put 100%
of your energy on the side of your priorities and values than it has to
do with having a big salary.

Gross will discuss some of what he has learned along the way, the theory
behind tax resistance, and how you can live an abundant life on a
below-the-tax-line income (even — especially! — here in San Francisco).
Check out David’s blog here to learn more.

And as always, come ready to talk about your passions, needs, and gifts
(in under two minutes) during announcements so that we can help each other
create the lives and communities of our dreams – right here in reality.
Members Lucci and Emily will be facilitating.

MEETING
What: The Abundance League
When: Thursday, June 19th, 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
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, your friends!
-Healthy stuff for the potluck, there is an Urban Harvest Market nearby at 191 8th Street (between Howard St & Natoma St)
-Shares: books, CDs, DVDs or anything that you’d like to loan or gift at the meeting.

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San Francisco Meeting Notes: May 2008

Published on May 16, 2008 in San Francisco Events by Neal Gorenflo. 0 Comments Tags: , .

Thanks to everyone who made it happen, including our featured
facilitator dmenace, our host the SOMA Creativity Center, and everyone
who attended. It was an fun and uplifting time, as usual.

Dmenace gave a short motivational talk about the power of words and of
listening. The experience he shared came out of his years of training counselors who help folks with cognitive challenges, addictions, or both.

He followed up the talk with a group exercised where we broke into groups
of two and took turns talking about our passions and reflecting back what
was said. Then we took turns inspiring one another! The talk and exercise
was a perfect example of less is more. There were many powerful insights
that came out this simple listening and motivating exercise, and the great
discussion that followed.

Here are just a few of the things we learned:

-That listening well is a healing force, a powerful way to honor people, and
a great way to connect.

-It’s simple, but it can be hard! There can be lots of distractions including
“mind chatter.” Trusting yourself that you can listen well is foundational.
It helps to acknowledge the distractions without letting them overcome you.

-There are many ways to listen – with your rational mind, with your intuition,
with your emotions. Be conscious of your power to listen in different ways,
even during the same conversation. It will heighten you ability to understand the person and situation.

-Sometimes all that is required is to let what the person say wash over you.

-Talk about your talk. If you see an opportunity to improve the dialog, reflect back what is going on in the conversation and suggest to take it in another direction.
Or synthesize what is being said to raise understanding to a new level. Great ideas emerge from great dialogs.

-We have the power to help shape our conversational partners in a way that
they what, and beyond, if we listen, check for understanding, then take it
to the next level by inspiring them.

-The gift of your attention is one of the most valuable gifts you can give.
The ability to be present, to listen well is an important part of being a leader.

NEXT MEETING
Our next meeting is Thursday, June 19th. Emily and Lucci will be
facilitating the meeting. And we’re featuring David Gross.
Here’s a bit on David, in his words:

“In March, 2003, David Gross quit his $100,000/year job and has since
kept his income below the federal income tax line so that he would no
longer be paying for the Iraq War.

At first, he worried that this would mean a life of deprivation and
struggling to make ends meet. But he found that paradoxically, his life
became richer, fuller, and more fulfilling. True abundance, it turns out, has
more to do with being able to put 100% of your energy on the side of your
priorities and values than it has to do with having a big salary.

Gross will discuss some of what he has learned along the way, the theory
behind tax resistance, and how you can live an abundant life on a
below-the-tax-line income (even — especially! — here in San Francisco).”

We hope to see you then to continue creating culture and connection that
support us in our quests for fun, friendship, meaningful work, intellectual
stimulation, authentic connection, health, and happiness.

Also, please check out the cool goings on at the SOMA Creativity Center,
who host our meetings in their awesome space: http://www.somacreativitycenter.org

–

MEMBER ANNOUNCEMENTS – there’s some goodies below, so see if there is
anything you need that’s being offered, or that’s needed that you can offer.
Hint, someone is offering free massage.

Name:Kachina Katrina Zavalney*
Passion: Connecting people and organizations together to lead a more fullfilling life!
Needs:Creative theater outlets, where I can incorporate sustainability lessons.
Gifts:I just got into Grad School for Organizational Development & Psychology @ Sonoma
State University!Event Production, from coordinating to decorating, you name it I am there!!

Name: Revi Schlesinger
Passion: Leveraging myself for meaningful positive impact
Needs: Inspiration & Collaboration, Support spreading the word about Sustainability Emersion Experiences
Gifts: Creativity & Analytical Collaboration

Name: bosco
Passion:making things, recording of xxx,
Needs: pretty content with life at the moment
Gifts: technical advice, comp science

Name:martin
Passion:family, connection,
Needs:to have ideas on how to be more creative in life, to fulfill the need
Gifts:tech background, enterprise apps, spanish

Name: ray
Passion: chg model of leadership, switch to MLK model of leadership
Needs:writing a book about politics, going to writers conference, need to know how publishing world works
Gifts:knows tech things, programming languages, if you want to be on the city council i can arrange that

Name:lucci
Passion:following my purpose: expanding the cohesiveness of my society and environments in ways that align with my
personal nature; studying the genius that each of us represents in interpreting wisdom; how all these have a role in
cohesiveness
Needs:identify the alignement between this strategy and your interests and projects; formulating collaboration with a
significant design and conceptual aspects of projects
Gifts:east bay chapter of AL – and offshoot as a development tank where we start making direct connections aligned
with our temperaments and natures.

Name:kim
Passion:my work life balance – married and just launched business;
Needs/gifts:my personal connections; fashion concierge – Fashion Save – tours of the real SF design scene

Name:Mary
Passion: Helping people get excited and engaged in social change
Needs:People to collaborate to support independent artists and journalists. Need interns and volunteers
Gifts: Fundraising and non-profit management experience

Name: Sam
Passion: Constantly changing – my close friends and the environment this week
Needs: connections in SE Asia of any form, though I’m specifically looking for names of people and organizations
that I can volunteer or work with doing any form of work.
Gifts: going to SE Asia for 3 months and hoping to contribute to a community or an organization there

Name:Kim Connector
Passion: my new marriage and business
Needs: copywriting, help with the beginning stages of setting up a business,high end photographer
Gifts: fashion style consulting, social butterfly- lots going on, connections

Name: Flo Jayme
Passion:Connecting people to their bodies through massage therapy, fitness training & snowboard instruction
Needs: To build massage endurance after taking a five year break
Gifts: Offer massage/fitness consultation/snowboard instruction for free/donation (cover laundering & cost of oils lotion)

Name:Maritza
Passion:Changing western culture
Needs:database expertise – any level of knowledge is probably higer than mine!
Gifts:native spanish speaker – will spell check and edit your spanish document.

Name: Emily Shurr
Passion: Arts, Education, Psychology, Enlightened Team Dynamics
Needs: Job leads in nonprofit management; Book editing gigs
Gifts: Editing books, writing & editing, communications. Advising & working with nonprofit Boards to create positive
change in collaborative method.

Name:Pierre Riche
Passion: Artistic expression
Needs: Art sales management
Gifts: Artistic inspiration

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San Francisco, You’re Invited: Thu 5/15 6pm – Dmenace + Motivation

Published on May 11, 2008 in San Francisco Events by Neal Gorenflo. 0 Comments Tags: , , .

Motivation: 1 a: the act or process of motivating b: the condition of being motivated 2: a motivating force, stimulus, or influence : incentive, drive (from Websters on line dictionary)

Please join us next Thursday, May 15, as Dmenace leads a discussion about how to listen to ourselves -and others – for motivation to pursue our dreams.

In Dmenace’s words:

One of my gifts is that I have the ability to motivate and inspire . I also have the gift of gab. I LOVE to talk. Over the past few years I have been paying close attention to how I talk. Not to talk for the sake of talking, but to focus on my message and how I want to say it. Because of this I have found that people are now listening to me when I talk. Because they listen I find the words that come out of me are helping motivate and inspire them.

At the Abundance League my intention is to encourage all of the attendees to start listening to themselves talk. To see what happens when they pay attention to how they talk. We each have the potential to full fill our dreams. Each of us should learn how to talk to each other so we can inspire and motivate one another. Rather then bore each other.

As for me … I am in the process of developing my skills so I can venture off into the world of being a professional motivational speaker. This is my initial step into this world.

“To burn always with this hard, gemlike flame, to maintain this ecstasy, is success in life”

-Walter Pater

Once again, we’re holding this month’s meeting at the SOMA Creativity Center (SOMACC), see location info below. SOMACC brings together creative individuals, organizations and businesses aligned around a shared commitment to heal the earth, promote social justice, achieve spiritual fulfillment and maintain economic sufficiency. A perfect site for the Abundance League!

Please join us Thursday May 15th for our meeting. Please come ready to talk about your passions, needs, and gifts (in under two minutes) during announcements so that we can help each other create the communities of our dreams – right here in reality.

–

MEETING
What: The Abundance League
When: Thursday, May 15th, 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
Learn more about the SOMA Creativity Center here:

http://www.somacreativitycenter.org

Call 415.867.0429 if you need help finding the meeting while in transit.

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 – Dmenace, 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, your 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 recent posts at the league blog:

http://www.theabundanceleague.org

And upcoming events at the SOMA Creativity Center:

http://www.somacreativitycenter.org

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San Francisco Meeting Notes: April 2008

Published on April 29, 2008 in San Francisco Events by Neal Gorenflo. 0 Comments Tags: , .

Thanks to everyone who made the meeting happen, including our featured facilitator Seth Lepore, our host the SOMA Creativity Center, and everyone who attended.

Seth created a series of experiences for the group centered around understanding how we can use our voice – combined with our intuition – to connect better with ourselves, others, and to the immediate environment. It was an eye opening experience for many, as voice is a resource that is often taken for granted with its powers not fully explored. The open floor plan and positive environment of the creativity center was perfect for this evening of experimentation and experiential learning.

If you’d like to learn more about Seth’s work as a voice coach, please go here:

http://www.linkedin.com/pub/4/803/02A

Our next meeting is Thursday, May 15th. We’re featuring Dmenace, who will give a short motivational speech then facilitate a discussion about public speaking, a communication skill, along with many others, that enable citizens to better inform and support each other.

We hope to see you then to create culture and connection that support us in our quests for fun, friendship, meaningful work, intellectual stimulation, authentic connection, health, and happiness.

Please mark you calendar for upcoming events at the SOMA Creativity Center:
May 11: Party for Progress (Community Gathering)
May 17: Women Leaders in Sustainability

More information about the center here:

http://www.somacreativitycenter.org

–

MEMBER ANNOUNCEMENTS

Name: Neal
Passion: bring people or organizations together to help each other
Needs: some sleep, stress relief
Gifts: book recommendations in social sciences, strategy, business plan review

Name: Bruce
Passion: To be healthy
Needs: none today, very content thank-you
Gifts: knowledge of health

Name: Maritza
Passion: changing western culture
Needs: new music, please recommend your favorites!
Gifts: communications and marketing strategies, knowledge of nonprofits

Name: Jen Burke Anderson
Passion: Writing thoughtful yet politcally charged commentary, Rock n’ roll, expressing myself politically, learning more about the world, travel, transcendent live music experiences
Needs: Clients! I will make your web site text and structure rock!
Gifts: I’ll read a story at your party for free!

Name: Dmenace
Passion:People!
Needs:Someone to help me take the leap of faith to fullfill my dreams. An inexpensive life coach??
Gifts:Can motivate, inspire, encourage. Willing to provide you or your organization with a motivational speech.

Name: Josh
Passion: Narrative of all sorts
Needs: funding, patience, strength
Gifts: writing, editing, banjo

Name: Bosco
Passion: Ideas
Needs: Ideas
Gifts: Ideas

Name: Pearl
Passion: People
Needs: Marketing ideas about a new biz venture – drill bits
Gifts: good listener

Name: Revi
Passion: Connecting and Creating
Needs: Interest and Intention to Co-Create
Gifts: SOMA Creativity Center Space and Project Achievements that can be leveraged

Name: Mary
Passion: Art, music, food, ideas, people’s stories
Needs: beach where I can have a bon fire for my birthday party, invitations to things around town, because I’m new to town.
Gifts: non-profit management skills, fundraising, etc. invitations…

Name: lucci
Passion:the concept of universality and how the interrelatedness of things unfolds within it, and design planning to align human endeavor with social cohesiveness.
Needs:think tank oriented personalities interested in exploring asset and capacity-building design aspects of social development. real estate and land stewarding consultants to advise on land trust planning.
Gifts:design and logic oriented planning. 501(3)c sponsorship of social development projects that expand social cohesiveness.

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San Francisco, You’re Invited: Thu 4/17 6pm – Seth Lepore + Voice

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

This month Seth Lepore, a voice coach and musician, will be facilitating a discussion about using your voice to authentically connect to yourself, others, and your surroundings. This will be a fascinating and unique exploration of the relationship between voice – an amazing gift that we all possess – and personal and social health. We’ll explore such questions as:

-What is your true voice and where does it come from?

-How do you speak from the heart with integrity and without sounding woo-woo?

-Do you notice yourself clamming up and overwhelmed with certain people and talking forever, completely engaged with others?

In addition, we’ll discuss and do exercises to explore the unlimited possibilities of the voice in relation to yourself and others. The energetics of space and where different aspects of our voice reside in the body will be opened. We will look at how projection has everything to do with intention and spatial awareness. We will also examine the sociological and psychological effects of not speaking your truth. This will be experiential and participatory but nothing is required of you other than to be present. Learn more about Seth’s work here and here.

VENUE CHANGE: we’re holding this month’s meeting at the SOMA Creativity Center (SOMACC), see location info below. SOMACC brings together creative individuals, organizations and businesses aligned around a shared commitment to heal the earth, promote social justice, achieve spiritual fulfillment and maintain economic sufficiency. What a great place for a league meeting!

Thank you Revi, Sam, and the team at the center for hosting us.

Please join us Thursday April 17th for our meeting. And as always, come prepared to tell us about your passions, needs, and gifts (in two minutes tops!) during announcements so that we can help each other lead lives aligned with our passions.

–

MEETING
What: The Abundance League
When: Thursday, April 17th, 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
Learn more about the SOMA Creativity Center here.

Call 415.867.0429 if you need help finding the meeting while in transit.

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 – Seth Lepore, presentation & discussion
8:30 – 10:00 Nosh, mingle, exchange support, clean up

Learn more about our meetings here.

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

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San Francisco: Facilitators Welcome

Published on April 1, 2008 in San Francisco Events by Neal Gorenflo. 0 Comments Tags: , , .

Most months Abundance League welcomes a guest facilitator to lead discussion about their project or passion. Topics vary, but the thread that ties it all together is how working together for the common good leads to abundance. For instance, we’ve had talks about compassionate communication and storytelling, which help people work together, and talks about public projects, like clothing swaps and cooperatives, that allow people build common wealth together.

Sometimes we have a guest artist whose work inspires a culture of generosity. The format for performances is similar to discussions, though performances may be longer than 15 minutes.

If you’d like to facilitate a discussion or perform at Abundance League, please e-mail gorenflo at gmail dot com. Check here to learn about the meeting format. Basically, facilitators get 15 minutes to present their topic and 30 minutes to guide discussion.

Below are some tips for facilitators based on what has worked well in the past. Feel free to add to these ideas in the comments.

  • 15 minutes isn’t much time to set up the discussion, so come prepared with a focused message. Find one or two things to focus on that you can convey in a memorable way.
  • The presentation is set up for the discussion. We embrace the ethos of participation, so the discussion is important. Plus, at this point in the day, most people can’t sit and listen for more than about 20 minutes!
  • Talk about your topic in the context of your personal story. How did you come to the work? What does it mean to you? What impact has it had on your life and on others?
  • Connect your topic to how your ideas can be used by members today to make their life better. Abundance League is about putting ideas into action.
  • Have a short list of good questions to get the discussion going. One way to get discussion going is to ask how people feel about some aspect of your topic.
  • Listen carefully to member announcements that precede discussion. Find ways to personalize your talk based on what members say in announcements about their passions, needs, and gifts. Connect your story to members’ stories.
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San Francisco: Carrot Mob – Activist Flash Mob Experiment This Saturday 3/29/08

Published on March 28, 2008 in San Francisco Events by Neal Gorenflo. 0 Comments Tags: , , , .

My friend Kim Connector clued me in on this activist flash mob experiment. This is social creativity at it’s best! Y’all should check it out. I might, but if I don’t I’m going to invite Brent, the instigator, to the league to share the results of his brilliant idea.

Here’s the e-mail Kim forwarded me from Carrotmob:

Carrotmob organizes consumers to make purchases, rewarding companies who make environmentally friendly choices. This is our first campaign ever.

On Saturday, March 29th at 1pm, everyone is going to showing up at K & D Market, on 16th St at Guerrero in San Francisco. We’re going to try to buy everything they have. Everything. You’ve got a liquor cabinet…you might as well stock it up on Saturday.

You eat peanut butter, so stock up. Why? Because after a thrilling bidding war, Carrotmob has negotiated with this store that we will be tracking all the purchases, and then calculating the total revenue we bring to the store while we are there. They have committed to spending 22% (more than any competing store) of the revenue we bring in on energy-efficiency improvements to their store in order to fight global warming.

It’s an easy way to solve a difficult challenge. It’s a small campaign, but a big chance for a big idea. Snoop around the website and you’ll begin to see the potential for a much-needed paradigm shift in terms of whose voices (hint: ours) should be defining the values and priorities of our economy (for more info about why this is needed, see the front-page news).

It’s going to be hilarious. The afterparty is at Dolores Park. An amazing band (Blue Turtle Seduction) and an amazing rapper will be performing for the Carrotmob crew.

Everything you need to know is here.

I’m sending this email to people I know all over place because I need you to forward it to YOUR friends in SF, and because there’s more that you can help with here.

Thank you,

Brent

–

http://www.carrotmob.org

http://www.brentschulkin.com

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San Francisco Meeting Notes: March 2008

Published on March 22, 2008 in San Francisco Events by Neal Gorenflo. 0 Comments Tags: , , .

Gayle Roberts lead a great discussion about fund raising that explored our relationship to money and how to connect to donors through their passions. Big thanks to Gayle, Kim Connector who hosted the meeting in her home and served some very tasty roasted potatoes, and to all who participated.
A few ideas from the discussion stood out:

  • That fund raising is a great opportunity for transformation for the fund raiser and those who want to realize their dreams by supporting a cause
  • When you truly connect to a donor through their passions and how you canhelp them make a dream come true, there’s no need to be shy about asking for money or other help
  • That giving is good for your health, and that you enlarge your soul and better connect to others by increasing your generosity
  • That giving and getting are connected, that you make room for receiving when you give
  • The learning how to give and receive are equally important to creating a culture of generosity. Reward those that give by accepting their gift fully
  • That to be an effective fund raiser, all the rules that apply to building personal relationships apply to donor relations

We were also happy to see a great turn out of nonprofit folks from the below organizations, which I encourage you to check out and get involved in, especially if they’re aligned with your passions:

NEXT MEETING
Our next meeting is Thursday April 17th. Seth Lepore, a voice teacher, will facilitate a discussion about how to increase the quality of connection to yourself and others through voice and may lead some voice exercises too. Learn more about Seth here.

We hope to see you then to continue our experiment in creating a social life that manifests fun, meaningful work, intellectual stimulation, health, and happiness. The social world is ours to create. This is not only an opportunity for fun, but a power we’re given we can exercise daily.

Please see the member announcements below, and feel free to reach out to get or give help. There are lots of wonderful needs and gifts listed. Helping others is like eating organic food – it’s good for you.

MEMBER ANNOUNCEMENTS

Name:Jeremy Strickland
Passion:Healing Arts
Needs:Connecting w/ people looking for “bodywork” / healing arts.
Gifts:human touch

Name:kim connector
Passion:people, art, music, fashion, parties
Needs:connect with new people
Gifts:social “skilz”, fashion consulting, social networking, great listener

Name:Jesse Townley
Passion: Music, egalitarianism, Art, Sustainability of Art/Creative efforts
Needs: sustaining alternative/underground art/music/culture
Gifts:music, organization, budgets, work flows, political action/networking (esp. Berkeley)

Name:Scarlett Shepard
Passion:SF Women’s Film Festival (April 9-13), human rights, music, creative arts/film, youth service projects, creative consultant, cheerleader
Needs:Need help with grantwriting to help generate more money for professional development for underserved women filmmakers
Gifts:To get people to realize their full potential in the arts, if you ever need help with getting a film or creative project off the ground, you have an idea and need to know what to do next.

Name: Kasper Koczab
Passion: working towards creating local economies that don’t neccessairly depend on cash. Worker coops and farming are also two things I get a bit happy about.
Needs: A free or very cheap office space for the Network of Bay Area Worker Cooperatives staff person.
Gifts: Great at strategizing around PR and events for progressive grass-roots organizations and other cool projects.

Name: Hung Chang
Passion: music and arts
Needs: fundraising and sponsorship strategy
Gifts: legal

Name: Melissa Yang
Passion: community building
Needs: fundraising and sponsorship strategy
Gifts: strategic planning / data analysis

Name: Mary Fuller
Passion: art, music, gardening, bikes, sustainable urban planning, working with awesome people. And food.
Needs: A job at the intersection of my passion and gifts
Gifts: Fundraising, communications, strategic planning, 50-50 right-brain/left-brain split particularly good for working in small organizations.

Name:Maritza Schafer
Passion: Changing western culture
Needs: Someone knowledgeable about webite content management systems
Gifts: Communications and marketing, especially for nonprofits. Reiki Sessions

Name: JoAnn Saccato
Passion:Creating a food co-op that brings the producers and consumers together in Lake County to help create sustainable living patterns and foster a sense of community. Completing my Masters program for the project.
Needs:Funding and guidance for co-op and funding for Masters
Gifts: communication, community organizing, public speaking, vipassana meditation

Name: Dennis “Dmenace” Gallegos
Passion:People! Meaning I really enjoy connecting with people. Understanding that everyone wants the same thing. To be loved and appreciated. I specialize in helping people who are challenged with disabilities, mental and physical.
Needs: Help changing the way I look at money. Not being afraid of it. Learning to be smart about it. Someone to help me step off the cliff to fullfill my goals.
Gifts: Able to inspire and motivate people. Ability to understand why people are the way they are and accept that. Public speaking and a vast knowledge of the health care systems in the United States.

Name: Ray Tobey
Passion: Changing our expectations and model of leadership from Machiavelli to Gandhi and Martin Luther King
Needs: PHP expertise
Gifts: C++, html & technology knowledge, and if you’d like to serve in a local elected office, I can arrange that!

Name: Neal Gorenflo
Passion: bringing people together
Needs: any ideas about improving communications skills
Gifts: car pooling to and from abundance league

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Abundance League Chapters

Published on March 20, 2008 in Abundance by Neal Gorenflo. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , .

There are Abundance League chapters in San Francisco (founded in 2005) Harbin Hot Springs (2007) and Denver (2008). If you’d like to attend a meeting, please contact the following folks:

San Francisco, California – Neal Gorenflo (gorenflo at gmail dot com) or check this blog for meeting announcements. We usually hold meetings third Thursdays. Meeting announcements are posted the week prior.

Harbin Hot Springs, California – Russell Gonzaga (events at harbin dot org) or check their site.

Denver, Colorado – Taj Moore, e-mail tajomoore at gmail dot com or check their site.

If you’d like to start a chapter, just hold a meeting each month following the format in this post and contact me (Neal, see above) to let me know you’ve started holding meetings. I’ll list your chapter on this site. And feel free to contact me for more information about starting your own chapter. I highly recommend holding meetings. It’s fun and an amazing learning experience.

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