[Springboard] Applied Email Stripper to "Gathering Process Suggestions" (same content)

[John Cock]

> Dear David and Pat, 
> 
> I am chagrined to realize it has taken me over a month to carefully read
> your early September e-mail re: Gathering Process Suggestions.  Although I
> have not been an on-site participant in either the Denver or Abbey North
> gatherings, I think your recommendations are on target. 
> 
> I hope you both will be at the Junaluska meeting to offer your gifts and
> perspective. 
> 
> Marilyn 
> __________________________
> On Wed, 5 Sep 2007 10:30:45 -0400 <silencefoundation at cox.net> writes: 
> 
> Dear Friends, 
> 
> We both left the Abbey North gathering earger to go with Soringboard. Now
> we're wondering where's the follow up?  Maybe it was simply a golden
> moment which is all we need at this point.  In any case this offers some
> reflection on the processes we might follow in the future. 
> 
> We feel like we're preaching to the choir here but following the Denver
> and Abbey North gatherings we did want to send you all something about
> possible meeting methods for whoever plans the next gatherings to brood
> on.  We hope this will spark your thinking about how we can put them into
> our future Springboard events. 
> 
> We envision that our gatherings with one another can become a lab where we
> set the standard on creative meeting methods.   This is vital to the guild
> and every other thing we do.   It's important that we incorporate the best
> of the newest (and some older) methods and keep looking for and trying out
> methods as they emerge.  Here are 8 on my mind: 
> 
> 1) A Facilitation Team.  Name them and claim them.   These people have to
> be on hand and we have to plan meetings when they are available and help
> them get there.   I think it's Jack Gilles, Jim Wiegel, George Walters,
> and probably Jan Sanders.
>  
> 2) River Guides.  At least 3 of these and they need to be assigned prior
> to the meeting and given a context on their role.  River Guides hold
> energy, pray, listen, intervene only when the group is blocked, and speak
> the mind or location of the group (i.e., I think we are going in circles,
> I think we are ignoring., etc.)  Remember Year 2000?  Lovely people for
> this are David Scott, Richard Sims, Judy Wiegel, Thea, and John P.
>  
> 3) Group Building Tools to Open, Close and Refresh.  This includes group
> poems, silence exercises, ritual, songs, body movement, doodle/quick art,
> play, dance, chants.  We have a pretty good list of quick ones and I know
> others in the group have many such tools. 
> 
> 4) Pre-Work.  People these days are using technology to handle pre-meeting
> reports.   Create a template for a 1-page report and ask everyone to send
> it to the listserve group two days prior to the meeting.   Everyone reads
> everyone else's.  Then when you gather people can give much shorter
> symbolic reports and you can harvest the gold in an opening reflection
> (jump starting the where-we-are work). 
> 
> 5) Streamlined ways to get thinking.  We tried several of these this time.
> The Affinity Method, Groups of Three, Individual Writing Time before
> sharing, etc.   The goal here is less words in the air and less words on
> the walls.   This gets us to the heart of it easier. 
> 
> 6) Quaker Discussion Methods.  We love their discipline of putting pauses
> between each person who speaks, the rule that you do not speak if you
> agree and also that silent persons are given a special time to speak.   A
> bell or timekeeper for speakers can help, too, but this can be tricky if
> the timekeeper isn't really sensitive.  I like River Guides better.
>  
> 7) Reflective Process.  Noble Silence, writing poetry as a reflection,
> covenanting rituals (Like the What are you committed to? which was great
> at Abbey North), late evening solitary reflection but done together (alone
> in the presence of one another).
>  
> 8) Streamlined Task.  Reporting Templates, so we can get back to each
> other within 7-10 days of the meeting with our work assignment. 
> 
> Well, we hope this is helpful.   We have no illusion that our gatherings
> will be tidy or neat because we're on a historical edge just like
> everybody else. But ain't it grand? 
> 
> Blessings, 
> 
> Pat & David 
> __________________
> 
> Marilyn R. Crocker, Ed.D Crocker & Associates, Inc. 
> 123 Sanborn Road West Newfield, ME 04095 
> (207) 793-3711
> 
> This email was cleaned by emailStripper, available for free from
> http://www.papercut.biz/emailStripper.htm
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