Hello, Occupy Atlanta!

I work with C.T. Lawrence Butler, co-founder of Food Not Bombs, and author of several books on consensus, facilitation, grassroots organizing, etc. I have been in touch before, about offering workshops in

consensus
facilitation
mediation
Food Not Bombs
de-escalation
nonviolence
agenda planning
minutes taking
intentional community
etc.

We’ve taught at Occupys in Baltimore, Boston, Philadelphia, OWS, Chico, CA, Oakland, San Francisco, Berkeley, Louisville, Lexington, KY, York, PA. And we’ve consulted with Occupy members in Harrisburg, Boise, ID, Orlando, Los Angeles, Washington, DC, etc. Several of our former students are available to talk about their workshop experiences.

Recently, we had been connecting with our printer in Atlanta, Barry Weinstock, who worked on organizing a 2 day consensus workshop for Occupy and other activist groups in Atlanta. That didn’t pan out at the time, but C.T. and I will be traveling to Atlanta soon and would like to organize a workshop around the time of March 31-April 1, 2012. We could also set up shorter talks and consultations while we’re in the area.

I’m writing to ask if there are local activist who are interested in helping us (Fiopa Consensus Collective) organize an Atlanta workshop, and/or series of events. We need local folks to help find space, recruit and register people and promote the event(s). What trainings would be most relevant to people on the ground there? We’ve found that Occupy groups have had lots of problems with the “Madrid Model” of consensus. And we focus on clarifying what consensus is and it not. How are things in Atlanta?

Rather than asking your Occupy to endorse our workshop, we’re really simply inviting individual activists to attend. Some Occupys have approved scholarship funding or funds to rent a space. We are in the process of seeking grant funding that would cover part of our cost (travel, materials, living, etc.).

I’m also sending this email to some working groups, to reach interested people. Please write or call if you can help!
Wren Tuatha
Fiopa Consensus Collective
fiopa@consensus.net
410-458-2310