2 Labor Day Weekend, September 1st-4th, 2023
Twin Oaks Community Louisa, VA
work exchange and discounts available Register Now!

2023 COMMUNITIES CONFERENCE UPDATE #4

August 31, 2023 by Leave a Comment

If you missed them, you can read Update #1 and Update #2 and Update 3 on our blog. 

Online ticket sales are now closed, but you are welcome to purchase tickets at the conference between 1 PM and 8 PM on Friday and between 8 AM and 2 PM on Saturday. For additional details about on site ticket sales, please contact conference@twinoaks.org

It looks like we are going to have a larger event.  There are already over 100 sold tickets plus more than 20 invited presenters, and we are in discussions with many more folks about attending and rides.  If you’re still searching for a ride, or can offer a ride to someone else, please fill out the Ride Share form.

The 2023 Communities Conference Program and schedule are available now on our website.

Please complete this Participant Survey to help us understand your plans, schedule your volunteer shifts, and re-affirm covid protocols.  

Covid Protocols- As a reminder- all attendees must show proof of a negative covid test, with a sample taken less than 24 hours before arrival on site (at-home tests are fine). You can test in advance and send us your results via email. If your are not able to test in advance, tests will also be available at the gate for $5 each (cash preferred, but credit cards, Venmo, and PayPal are also options).

When packing for coming to the Communities Conference, don’t forget to bring items for the “FREE TABLE” – This is a place where folks can offer up their pre-loved items to become somebody else’s treasure. In the past, people have brought art, CDs, jewelry, toiletries, clothing, books, and anything else you can imagine. Take part in the radical act of sharing by bringing some items that might be useful or of interest to other attendees –no exchange of money involved.

Sunday Evening Program: The Communities Conference ends on Sunday afternoon.  Acorn has invited all of the participants to come over for dinner and evening activities (tours and celebration).  Acorn is 7 miles from Twin Oaks and we will organize a shuttle to dinner and back.  Conference participants are welcome to stay at the conference site Sunday and Monday nights.  There will be a morning tour on Monday of Twin Oaks for those who are interested. 

Monday Program: On Monday following the Communities Conference, Rustling Roots Ecological Education Center as a part of Cambia Community will host a series of workshops on topics ranging from permaculture and ecology to community building to music and dance. 

Tickets are $40, or $20 for those who only attend one session (morning or afternoon). Tickets include lunch and dinner. Food will be vegan and include local produce from our network of community farms. You can find more details about Monday’s program on our website  

If you have any questions about the Communities Conference please write to conference@twinoaks.org or call 541-505-0803

Filed Under: 2023, Updates

Communities Conference 2023, Update #2

August 7, 2023 by Leave a Comment

Headlines

  • Buy tickets
  • Work Exchange tickets
  • Deadline Today for Call for Presenters of Curated Workshops
  • Some selected Workshops
  • How big with this year’s conference be?
  • Rideshare
  • Promote the Conference on Social Media

If you missed it, you can read Update #1 on our blog. 

Tickets are on sale now on Eventbrite. They are $150 for adults and $50 for youth. It is also very helpful for our event planning when people buy tickets early. 

Work Exchange: If the standard ticket price is more than your budget can absorb, work exchange tickets are available for $50. All participants are expected to contribute 2 hours of work during the conference, our discounted work exchange ticket option requires an additional 4 hours (6 total). You can read more about work exchange tickets, and fill out a work exchange ticket request form, here.  We are committed to making the communities conference affordable/accessible to as many people as possible. Please get in touch to discuss additional discounts, scholarships, or barter options.

Call for Presenters– We are still in search of a few more curated workshops for the 2023 Communities Conference, and the deadline is today August 7th. If you would like to offer a curated workshop, please fill out this form. Please remember that curated workshops must be focused on intentional communities, and/or relate to one of our two major threads/themes- starting new communities, and building diversity, equity, accessibility, and inclusion in community. We are also interested in workshops about racial dynamics in community, restorative justice, economics of community living, and controversial topics within communities.  Depending on the number of participants at the conference, we will have between 16 and 20 of these workshops.  

New Workshops- We have a great collection of curated workshops which have already been accepted, especially in the thread of diversity, equity and inclusion.  Some of the offerings include:

  • How to Start a Community – by Sky Blue
  • Community Safety and Accountability – by Crystal Byrd Farmer
  • How to Build Trans Inclusivity into your Intentional Community –  by Jules Amanita
  • The Two Worlds of North America – by Macaco
  • Polyamory in Community – by Daniel Greenberg

How big will this conference be?  It is a bit hard to tell, as of August 7th we have 65 ticket holders and presenters currently confirmed, which puts us on track for a 120 to 150 total person event including members of Twin Oaks who attend.  We expect about 25 to 35 communities and networks to present at Meet the Communities.  

Rideshare-  If you are coming from more than an hour away, please contact us about rideshares, either if you can offer one or if you need one, via our Ride Share form or at conference@twinoaks.org.  We can help you coordinate getting to the conference site from Charlottesville and Richmond, as well, if you are arriving by public transport, train, bus, or airplane.  

Promote the Communities Conference on Social media.  If you are willing to help promote this event on social media, please email us at conference@twinoaks.org with “promote” or anything vaguely like that, and we will get back to you with easy use posts that will bring more of your friends to this important event.

If you’d like to be added to our update mailing list, email us at to.communities.conference@gmail.com with the subject line “subscribe”.

Filed Under: 2023, Updates

Call for Presenters

June 6, 2023 by Leave a Comment

The Twin Oaks Communities Conference is looking for presenters for this year’s gathering which will take place Sept 1 through 4th in Louisa Virginia.  If you are confident you should be presenting, here is the form to become a presenter.  [Deadline Aug 1, 2023]

If you are unsure, the following article introduces the culture of the event and background to help you decide. Please note this is the Call for Presenters of curated workshops on intentional communities. There are also Open Space workshops where anyone can present on any topic without asking in advance.

We are especially looking for workshops on the two 2023 topic threads/themes:

  • Diversity, Equity, Accessibility, and Inclusion
  • How to found or find an intentional community

Should you offer a workshop at the Twin Oaks Communities Conference?

Twin Oaks Communities Conference (TOCC) is looking for some compelling workshop presenters on the topic of intentional community.  Perhaps you are asking yourself “Am I a talented workshop presenter?”  Here are some ways you can tell:

“Are you on topic?”:  Let’s say you are an expert in sustainable building design, every community needs these types of structures, you have done dozens of workshops and seminars on how to design and build sustainable structures of many types.  Certainly, it would seem you are an appropriate presenter for this event, but not necessarily.

The focus of this event is Intentional Communities (self-selecting, place-based, residential communities who share material and cultural things).  The only way a workshop on sustainable design fits our program is if it demonstrates how this technology serves the needs of ICs specifically.  The intentional community focus needs to be baked into the content of the workshop, 

“The truth is in the room”: What we’re looking for are interactive workshops that draw from the participants and the collective truth from the room. If your plan is to give a lecture, this is the wrong event for you to present at.  We’re hoping for workshops that introduce participants to ideas that they perhaps have never considered before or advance beliefs which are challenging or engage everyone in the space, including the presenter. We’ve found that open-ended questions and role plays are methods that work well with our participants.

The room has no walls, but the truth is still in there

Flexible:  We’re looking for workshop facilitators that can sense the energy level of the participants. Does it look like a playful group? Perhaps games and simulations will be helpful.  Is this a serious (perhaps intense) group or topic? A Q&A or a hotseat format could be more appropriate.. Conversely,  perhaps the opposite prescription will work – the serious and intense folks could lighten up with games. 

The point is that you as the workshop presenter want to build a good connection with your participants and tailor your presentation to the group you have before you. You could do a go round (if there are less than 20 people) and ask everyone for a single sentence about why they are in the workshop. Their answers will guide you to adjust your presentation for their level of expertise and their areas of excitement.

Flexible is key [Image by Bing/Dalle]

Reflect on Impact: Is it possible that you are going to share an exercise that will engage your participants beliefs or behavior? Is it likely they will be amused and entertained?  We’re looking for workshops that will lead participants towards a greater understanding of themselves and how they present in community.  How can we have more healthy and transparent relationships with fellow communitarians? How can libraries of shared material goods be created so we are living more sustainably and cooperatively? Can we be in romantic relationships with more than one person, in the same place? What are the details we can learn and share to live together more cooperatively?  

Not a fancy event:  The conference will provide chairs, rain protection, white boards, and, with advance notice, some sound system, but we’re in quite a rustic environment. Your powerpoint presentation, for example, might dictate which workshop space you need to be in.

It’s important to us to maintain the low cost and low overhead for this conference, so we cannot afford to pay you to present, although we can provide presenters with a free or reduced cost ticket.  We can also help coordinate transportation for presenters from many places.

If you are convinced, here is the Call for Presenters form to complete, and the deadline for submission is Aug 1st.  If you just want to buy a ticket and come to the event here is the link, if cost is a concern you can request a discounted work exchange ticket here.  If you want to read about how to get the most out of this conference check out this article.  If you would like to receive email updates about this event you can sign up for our newsletter with the form on the right hand column of this page, RSVP on the event facebook page, or simply read them on the communities conference blog (Here is Update 1).

The Communities Conference has two types of workshops, these IC specific curated workshops which are selected in advance and Open Space workshops on any topic.  The Open Space technique self selects for each workshop’s audience, so all are welcome to present on Sunday of the event.  So if you hate filling out forms, or don’t want to be constrained by having your workshop in part on intentional communities, the Open Space section of workshops is likely best for you.

We are very proud to have Avi Kruley and Sky Blue doing the keynote address: Doing the Impossible: Generating what we need to manifest the potential of Intentional Community

Avi & Sky
Filed Under: 2023

Communities Conference 2023, Update #1

May 22, 2023 by Leave a Comment

Headlines:

  • Communities Conference 2023 themes
  • 2023 Keynote Address
  • New Covid-19 policies for 2023
  • Call for presenters
  • Tickets are on sale now
  • Work Exchange Tickets are available
  • Interns wanted

We hope to see you at the Communities Conference this fall, September 1-4, 2023. The 2023 Communities Conference will have 2 main threads/themes. One thread will explore starting new communities, the other focuses on the ways communities (old and new) can embrace and improve their Diversity, Equity, Accessibility, and Inclusion practices (DEAI).  

Our 2023 Keynote speakers are Sky and Avi, presenting “Doing the Impossible: Generating what we need to manifest the potential of Intentional Community”. The experience of living in Intentional Communities (ICs) changes us. It expands our understanding of what’s possible, and cultivates a sense of belonging and accountability, which inspires us to act from a deep understanding of our interdependence. The world needs this now more than ever.

But the world is an increasingly unfriendly place to do this work. Thoughtful attention and intention are needed to generate the inner and outer resources we need to start new ICs and take established ICs to the next level. How do we stay balanced and maintain our ability to rechoose to do this work everyday in the face of so much stress and uncertainty? Join us for this keynote session where we’ll explore the challenges and opportunities of IC movement building, how to stay personally resourced for the long-haul, and what’s needed to bring what ICs are learning to the world. You can learn more about Avi & Sky, and read the full description of their keynote address, here..

New Covid policies in 2023– As the impact and prevalence of Covid-19 shifts with time, so do our policies and precautions. All attendees must provide proof of a negative Covid-19 test with a sample taken 24 hours or less before arrival, but there is no vaccination requirement this year. We strongly encourage testing at home before traveling to the conference and sending us a selfie of your test result via email or text. Tests will also be available at our registration desk at cost (estimated cost $5). 

Call for Presenters- We are still in search of a few more curated workshops for the 2023 Communities Conference. If you would like to offer a curated workshop, please fill out this form. Please remember that curated workshops must be focused on intentional communities, and/or relate to one of our two major threads/themes- starting new communities, and building diversity, equity, accessibility, and inclusion in community. We are also interested in workshops about racial dynamics in community, restorative justice, economics of community living, and controversial topics within communities.  Depending on the number of participants at the conference, we will have between 16 and 20 of these workshops.  

What is a “curated workshop”? At the Communities Conference, workshops come in two types – curated and open space. Curated workshops are ones selected by the organizers to be part of the early program and are on topics of general concerns to existing communities or people seeking community or starting one. 

Open space organizing allows the conference content to grow organically. Open Space workshops are held on Sunday, can be offered by anyone on almost any topic (not necessarily focused on intentional communities), and go through the open space selection program. This process involves everyone at the conference and selects workshops that are the most popular and enthusiastically supported. This gives conference attendees a greater say in how the conference looks and feels, and offers you a taste of what organizing in community is like. So, you can send us any workshop ideas you have in advance, or bring your workshop pitch to the conference and we’ll organize it in real time!  [Here is more info on curated workshops and open space technology from the 2018 Communities Conference.]

Early Bird tickets are available now at https://tocc2023.eventbrite.com/. Buy your ticket before July 15 and pay $120 for adults, $40 for youth, and free for kids 5 and under (a 20% discount on our general admission prices). After July 15th, tickets are $150 for adults (plus taxes and fees), $50 for youth aged 6-17, and free for kids 5 and under.

Bring your Comrades:  Conferences are better with known partners and allies.  If you are representing a place-based intentional community, the second person you bring from that community comes at 50% off the ticket price. They retain their full work obligations to the event.

Work Exchange: If the standard ticket price is more than your budget can absorb, work exchange tickets are available for $50. All participants are expected to contribute 2 hours of work during the conference, our discounted work exchange ticket option requires an additional 4 hours (6 total). You can read more about work exchange tickets, and fill out a work exchange ticket request form,here.  We are committed to making the communities conference affordable/accessible to as many people as possible. Please get in touch to discuss additional discounts, scholarships, or barter options.

Interns Wanted – Organizing conferences and gatherings is complex work. Twin Oaks is looking for conference interns to help with events this summer, the Communities Conference being the last. Come live at one of the communes in Louisa County, work on these conferences and gatherings, and see what it is like to live this lifestyle. More details about our conference internships are available here. If you’re interested, please fill out our intern info form and we’ll be in touch.

If you’d like to be added to our update mailing list, email us at to.communities.conference@gmail.com with the subject line “subscribe”.

 

Filed Under: 2023, Updates