We’re still taking workshop proposals for 2022! Fill out this form to offer a workshop for the Communities Conference. This schedule is an example of what we’ve organized in previous years, 2022’s formal schedule is still in development.
Friday Schedule
| ——Timing——- | |
| 12:00pm | Arrive anytime starting at noon. We won’t have anything scheduled at first, but you can set up your tent, get familiar with the space, and have first dibs on volunteer shifts. We’ll also have some board games and craft supplies in the main area. |
| 3 – 5pm | Optional icebreaker activities — we have some in mind but feel free to make suggestions to the organizers |
| 5:30 – 6pm | Greeting Circle: Announcements, logistics, a chance for people to share their intentions. |
| 6 – 7pm | Dinner |
| 7 – 8:30pm | Consent workshop with Julia Twin Oaks: NO! Giving and Receiving No with Comfort, Grace, and Glee. Consent is a foundational component of healthy community, and we’re hoping to create an enjoyable temporary community in the Virginia woods with you all. |
| 8:30pm – late | Open Mic! Bring instruments, juggling clubs, poems, karaoke songs, or anything that you’d like to share with the group. Lasts until people go to bed, or our MC gets sleepcranky. |
Saturday Schedule
| ——Timing——- | |
| 8 – 9am | Breakfast |
| 9 – 10am | Opening Circle: Setting our intentions for the gathering collectively |
| 10 – 11:30am | Meet The Communities: A chance for a representative from each community to stand up and give a 2-minute intro (location, members, history, mission, whether they’re looking for new members). |
| 11:30am – 12:30pm | Lunch. During Lunch, participants from Meet the Communities are invited to hang the name of their community on their table so that people can approach them. |
| 12:30 – 1pm | Open Space Organizing: Those who want to give input on late afternoon workshops meet in the Pavilion |
| 1:15 – 2:45pm | Scheduled workshops, to be announced |
| 3 – 6pm | Open Space workshops, two pre-scheduled panel discussions, and more |
| 6:15 – 6:30pm | Evening Announcements — any changes to the schedule or other logistics |
| 6:30 – 7:30pm | Dinner |
| 7:30pm – late | Social activities and dance party |
| 7:30pm – late | For the less socially minded among you, Commune Life (Maximus East Brook and Rejoice Mimosa) will screen some videos, answer questions, and talk about the complexities of representing communities |
Sunday Schedule
| ——Timing——- | |
| 8 – 9am | Breakfast |
| 9am – noon | Workshops and panels |
| noon – 1pm | Lunch |
| 1 – 2:30pm | Workshops and panels |
| 3 – 4pm | Closing Circle: Most people won’t head home directly from here, but the conference will disperse from this point. Closing Circle will give us a chance to give an endpoint to our experience |
| 4pm – late | Open House at Acorn Community, 7 miles away: Volleyball, tours, dinner, bonfire. There will be regular shuttles to get people to Acorn and back to your tents at the conference site. |
| 4pm – late | Open House at Living Energy Farm, 12 miles away: fossil-fuel free living is possible! There will be a shuttle leaving for LEF at 4pm, and returning to get you back to your tents at the conference site. |
| 6 – 7pm | Dinner for those who want to stick around at the Twin Oaks conference site |
Monday Schedule
| 8 – 9:30am | Breakfast |
| 9:30am | Encouragement for participants to leave (except for our beloved volunteers, who will stay behind to help Julia and Rain clean up the site). |
| 10am – 7pm | Monday Program |
In order to see how this compares to previous conferences, or to get an idea of what kind of programming we encourage, check out this Communities Conference Program 2018.