Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: retreats

[Kristin Wells (cbuilderdd]

We did an annual retreat at Daybreak prior to move-in that was off-site and
completely FUN oriented as well. We missed last year with the move-in
craziness, but are returning to an off-site weekend retreat this year. Our
plan for this year is also FUN with a little bit of visioning 'work' - but
done in a fun, dreamy type way. It's coming up soon and will be our first
off-site since move-in.

The issue of all the empty units came up a couple weeks ago and some of us
are getting friends to stay at our homes so the property isn't vacant during
that time. I believe all but one person is coming and that person would be
there except that she has a work conference she didn't know about when we
set the date.

We set the date about 6 months ago by having everyone mark on a calendar
when would NOT work and then selected a weekend when everyone at that time
at least was available.

Our cost is 135 per person and includes all meals during the weekend. We
don't have any smallish kids except really small yet, so I'm not sure what
we'd charge for kiddos. We didn't have a budget allocated for the retreat
this year, so its all out of pocket. It is a stretch for some of us, but the
planning ahead and knowing it was coming was helpful.


2010/11/11 Eris Weaver <eris [at] erisweaver.info>

>
> I've had the opportunity to participate in many retreats, both with my own
> community and others.
>
> BEFORE MOVE-IN: My community, FrogSong (SF Bay area), had an annual retreat
> during our five year development phase. We went to a local camp and our
> agenda was FUN (AKA community building). We explicitly did NO business at
> these weekend-long events. Our annual Un-Talent Show had its beginnings
> here. We ate, drank, sang, did crafts, hiked, swam, ate, drank, sang, did
> yoga, played games, did I mention ate & drank?
>
> My sense is that most communities having retreats before move-in do so for
> similar purposes - community building, fun, getting to know each other in a
> context different than meetings.
>
> AFTER MOVE-IN: I've seen groups approach the retreat idea in different
> ways.
> Some have more formal goals & agendas, while some are more like the fun
> retreats I mention above.
>
> FrogSong's women have an annual retreat (just got back Monday!). We rent a
> house on the coast and leave the kids behind. Our agenda: FUN. Eat, drink,
> sleep, read, talk, drink, laugh, walk on the beach, sleep, eat, drink,
> maybe
> watch a movie, eat, drink, hot tub, did I mention eat & drink?  The men had
> a retreat one year, which included boy children and perhaps more of an
> agenda than ours (and possibly less drinking) but never repeated it. I
> don't
> really know details, maybe one of our guys will pipe in here.
>
> We no longer do an off-site whole-group retreat. We do, most years, have
> some kind of all-day, on-site training, which leads into the OTHER kind of
> retreat many groups have: more formal community- and skill- building, and
> perhaps problem-solving.
>
> I have worked as a facilitator/trainer with several groups' retreats (and I
> am hoping that the most recent one pipes in here - client confidentiality
> prevents me from naming them or going into details). These can be a day or
> even a whole weekend, combining fun stuff like crafts, movies, meals with
> more intense work on community issues than can typically be done in a
> business meeting.
>
> ------------------------------
> Eris Weaver, Facilitator & Group Process Consultant
> eris [at] erisweaver.info
> 707-338-8589
> http://www.erisweaver.info
> http://erisweaver.blogspot.com
>
>
> fa cil' i tāt: to make easier
>
>
>
>
>
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-- 
Kristin Wells
Daybreak Cohousing, LLC
503.754.6776
Kristin [at] daybreakcohousing.org
www.daybreakcohousing.org