May 24, 2010: Online Work Bee

<s>Brandon ... get email working on the solseed and spacewiki ... by Tuesday</s>
Brandon ... get caricaturist lined up for conference ... by Next Call (didn't do this because haven't committed to attending the conference yet)
<s>Brandon ... get back to Andrew and Walt and the space group about no Kindred 2010 at the Summer Solstice, but starting to plan for Kindred 2010 later in the year, or maybe even Kindred 2011 ... by Tuesday
Brandon ... children's book update ... by Next Call

Ben ... reply to Brandon's email to Disney (just being in touch, our group has next meeting on May XX, hoping to have a reply by then) ... by tonight
Ben ... email triad group ... by tonight</s>
Ben ... stub out articles for the 7 New Space companies and their CEOs (including portrait of each CEO) ... by Next Call (half of this is done)
<s>Ben ... make sure that we send out a book club reminder email ... by Tonight
Ben ... make sure that we send out a book club reminder email ... by Friday
Ben ... draft of newsletter ... by Next Call</s>

Shelley ... check airfare and hotel and registration for New Space conference ... by Next Call
Shelley ... look at concepts for Longest Day Party ... by Next Call

http://solseed.org/Newspace
Decision on wheether to go to the conference
Approx cost is $3400 plus meals, possibly as much as $4000 all told
Shelley thinks it's too expensive and conflicts with a road trip, and we should wait until next year and plan it better
Brandon thinks getting started on SpaceWiki is pretty important, and we might get sponsorships, which would be fine with Shelley if just Brandon and Ben went (which would lower costs somewhat)
New plan: just have SolSeed cover the non-personal costs (caricaturist, registration if we can't get it comped, promotional materials) while Brandon and Ben cover their own
Can base the final decision on getting the $700 worth of registration fees comped

First call was just Ben, Brandon, and David...
Newsletter: Just say it was a lively discussion and "here's how you can join the next call"
Invite Heather and John? (Maybe for the second book)
More personalized emails to the members of the list would be good

Shelley wants it to be on the day of the Solstice itself, Monday June 21
Pagan book suggests part of the celebration should be a giveaway of something people aren't using anymore
"Culmination of spring cleaning"
Canoes?
Need to nail down which park to use

Welcome to the new friends and members who've joined our newsletter list in the last month! We met most of you at one of our recent outreach events:

The Portland Earth Day was awesome! We set up two fun activities in our double-wide booth: a big Galaxy-shaped planter that people could fill in with organic soil and plant lettuce seeds in, and a huge canvas where anyone could pick up a paintbrush and contribute ideas for the SolSeed Eco-Village. Tons of cool people stopped by, to participate or chat with us, or occasionally just to get under our tents while it was raining or hailing. We even met a few ecology-minded space enthusiasts!

The online book club is getting started again, with a new bunch of people reading Parable of the Sower, the novel by Octavia Butler that originally inspired SolSeed, for the first time. We had a lively discussion at the first conference call on Sunday, and you can read the notes I took here. Check out the Google or Yahoo group to catch up, or just join right in with the next call. Ping me if you want to join the conference calls to discuss this or future books.

We've started the third round of our Peer Coaching Triads program, which is a structured way for three people to coach each other on whatever life issues they want to talk about. No actual coaching experience required, because Coaching Triads are based on the premise that each participant is creative, resourceful, and whole, and can come up with his/her own answers if guided by a little prompting from the coach. Some groups meet in person, others by phone. Contact Shelley if you think you'd like to try it out.

Upcoming events:

The third SolSeed Service, with the seed topic of meditation. This will include a five-minute guided meditation session, plus the usual blend of music, poetry, and discussion, fun activities for the kids, and a potluck afterward. Weather permitting (no hail please!), this will be held outdoors in Colonel Summers Park, near 20th and Belmont in East Portland, on Saturday, June 5th at 11 AM. Hope to see you there!

A Longest Day Party to celebrate the Summer Solstice, complementing the Longest Night Festival party from last year. Please join us at [a park], on the evening of Monday June 21st [start and end times?]

Other projects we're working on:

The SolSeed children's book, Happy in the Sun, about a "curious little rocket" learning about the relationship between being and doing, which has moved into a new phase. The artwork is done and we're working on how to lay out the book for publication. If you'd like to see the progress so far, visit http://solseed.org/HappyInTheSun

SpaceWiki.com, designed as a networking hub for people in the space industry. This is just getting started, and we're planning to get lots of content for it by talking to people at the New Space 2010 Conference in July and getting caricatures of them made (a strategy that worked quite well for Brandon during his time at ICANNWiki.org).

A big new event called Kindred 2010, where organizations ranging from space-enthusiast groups to intentional communities to environmental advocacy campaigns can meet, network, and find common ground. Date and location TBA.

Thanks for reading!

Ben Sibelman

P.S. To unsubscribe, just hit Reply and ask me to take you off our list.

<s>Ben ... Contact David ... by tonight</s>
<s>Ben ... Post notes to the groups and the wiki (and put a link in the newsletter) ... by tomorrow</s>
<s>Ben ... resend message to the band Sol Seed via MySpace or something ... by next call</s>
<s>Ben ... send out May newsletter ... before the end of May</s>
<s>Ben ... finish stubs on SpaceWiki for the 7 NewSpace companies and their leaders ... by next call</s>
Brandon ... reply to book group with the link to the video ... by tonight
Brandon ... Continue conversations w/ book club people ... by tonight
Brandon ... go visit Clackamette Park to see what we could do there for the Solstice Party ... by Tuesday
Brandon ... send email asking to get registrations for NewSpace 2010 comped ... by tonight
Brandon ... send out request for co-conveners for September Equinox time-frame ... by next call
Shelley ... send reminder email for the June 5 service ... by next call