Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: Online course for community seekers, "Finding Your Community Home, " and Sociocracy Course

[Fred-List manager (fholson]

Christopher Herndon <cherndon85 [at] gmail.com>
is the author of the message below.  It was posted by
Fred, the Cohousing-L list manager <fholson [at] cohousing.org>
after restoring subject line.

Chris, your post was well edited but you forgot to restore the
subject line so I decided to repost it with the restored subject line.

I regret that replying to digests is a hassle.  I have not come up with a
better procedure tho I encourage Gmail users to consider 'auto
folders' -- a better alternative to digest mode especially in Gmail,
Outlook.   See http://justcomm.org/jc-faq.htm#Q6.5

Digest subscribers, please delete most of quoted digest and
restore subject line when replying.

Regarding Diana's posts to which Chris is replying:
Subject:Online course for community seekers, "Finding Your Community Home,
" and Sociocracy Course

The second post was mistakenly sent to the list rather than to me which
accounts for the wording.  The brief answer to her questions about URLs in
cohousing-L posts can be at: http://justcomm.org/jc-faq.htm#Q10
I sent a long reply to Diana, if you'd like more detail, send me a note.

Fred, the Cohousing-L list manager <fholson [at] cohousing.org>

--------------------  FORWARDED MESSAGE FOLLOWS --------------------

Hello Everyone ~

This is my first time posting so I hope it goes through okay!

I was excited to see Diana Leafe Christian's invitation to her online
course on Sociocracy for Intentional Communities. I lived in an intentional
community in Oakland, CA and am starting a village-style intentional
community in the Pacific Northwest (USA) with 9 others. Two of us from this
new group took the course. Based on our lived experience and research on
governance and decision making methods, we decided to move forward with
learning Sociocracy. Our group has decided to try Sociocracy for the next 2
years which came out of the proposal forming process we learned from Diana.
It's likely the remaining folks in our group attend the upcoming course in
February! Very excited!

I highly recommend it for multiple reasons, but mainly it addresses
power/control dynamics that can exist when someone blocks a proposal
through the consensus method. Sociocracy is about getting things done in an
effective manner whilst maintaining good vibes amongst the community. The
other reason is because of how thoughtful Diana's approach to teaching is -
she tends to the various learning styles, shares many stories and the group
had the opportunity to practice real-time. All of this resulting in what I
would consider a highly effective training.

I'll be participating again in the upcoming course to continue to deepen my
knowledge base and understanding of Sociocracy. Hope to see you in February!

--
Diana's recent post:

If you have friends or colleagues seeking a cohousing community or any kind
of intentional community to join, would you let them know about my online
course? "Finding Your Community Home" is a seven-week course on Thursday
evenings, February 11 through March 25.

The course is a practical guide to help people not only avoid common
pitfalls of the community-search process, but enjoy the search as they
assess each potential community in terms of their own social, spiritual,
financial, and legal well-being. The course will help participants: (1)
Research communities thoroughly (including what to learn first!). (2) Plan
enjoyable, illuminating visits. (3) Be a "Great Guest" in communities they
visit. (4) Intelligently evaluate the places they saw. (5) Join their
chosen community gracefully.

Includes watch-ahead videos and graphic-rich handouts, an optional weekly
"Buddy Program" to explore what participants just learned with another
course participant in a Zoom call, and weekly live sessions for Q&A and for
people to share information about the community-seeking journey.  Cost:
$225. To register: https://tinyurl.com/FindingCommHomeFeb2021

Sponsored by the nonprofit SOIL educational organization at Earthaven
Ecovillage, partial scholarships are available for Black, indigenous and
people of color (BIPOC) who might otherwise not be able to afford to
participate.

As I noted in a previous post, I'm doing a 10-week online course on
sociocracy, an effective governance and decision-making method I especially
recommend for communities. The Sociocracy Course is Monday evenings, Feb.
8-April 12. I've also found that when all or most people from a forming or
existing community take this course they are able to use each part of
sociocracy successfully in their group as soon as they learn it. The course
also helps people start a Sociocracy Study Group so they can interest other
community members in sociocracy. Here's what some course participants have
said: https://tinyurl.com/SocCoursewebpage

The cost is $245-$445 sliding scale. Early Bird Discount at $225 until
January 11. To register: https://tinyurl.com/SociocracyFeb2021

For more information, email me at diana [at] ic.org and I'll send you two
handouts, "Four Benefits: Why People Like Using Sociocracy," and
"Sociocracy: 'Effective, Efficient, and Fun'."

Diana Leafe Christian

Best,

--
*Chris Herndon*
253-332-5108