[GPSCC-chat] Fw: [GPCA Official Notice] August 20, 21, 2011 -- GPCA Strategy Ga thering in Ventura

[Valerie D. Face]

Hi Caroline,

At gatherings there are no delegates.  They're open to whoever shows up.  I attended one in Thousand Oaks (also Ventura County) nine years ago.  Throughout the weekend there were workshops on different topics of interest to Greens.  Some of these were led by different working groups of the state party and some were led by people with expertise on different issues.  There were also opportunities to relax and socialize, including entertainment (with a solar sound system!) on Saturday night.  All in all, I found it to be a very pleasant way to connect with other Greens and learn more about specific issues without the stress that can build up around plenary agendas.  My understanding is that the state party used to try to have at least one gathering per year, preferably alternating gatherings and plenaries, but lately that hasn't been happening.

The Campaigns and Candidates Working Group of the state party has been talking about having a strategy meeting this summer, and there are people who think it would be nice if we could get back to having more gatherings, so I believe that this is an attempt to try to meet both needs (perhaps others on this list know more).  I'm sure that there will be a lot of campaign strategy-related discussion, but from the announcements it sounds like all topics of interest to Greens are welcomed.

The open workshop format, allowing anyone to propose a topic for discussion and lead that discussion, should be interesting.  I've attended a couple of technical "unconferences" that were organized like that and they were very lively.

Perhaps others on this list have more information or background to share (if they haven't already done so off-list)...

Best wishes,
Valerie


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