2011.02.15 Working Group Meeting

Proposed Agenda

1) Email discussions, convergences

 2) Art as Being Self

3) SL Retreat

4) Possible topic... from the Feb 13th guardian meeting -

Lucinda Lavender: I get the feeling that pab is thriving...

5) Trolls and other disturbing beasts 

Guardian Meeting Minutes February 15, 2011

Attending : Eos, Aphrodite, Bruce, Storm, Calvino and Hana

1. Email discussions, convergences

Fund raising:

We're doing reasonably well on donations, thanks to Aph for initiative. We will come in at around $550 (for the quarter.) Aphrodite Macbain: there were some suggestions by the Guardians to demonstrate how we are doing in fund raising by using a thermometer or hourglass. Calvino suggested something that is an interesting graphic, artfully showing the donation status in some way: eg. an hourglass that gets turned upside down every 3 months, tapping a data feed about the current figures to make it seem "real time" or an artistic sculpture with no words avoiding mental chatter. it was suggested putting this image in the pub and dome as well.

Action: Storm kindly agreed to work on creating interesting graphic to demonstrate time remaining and amount donated for the Pavilion.
 

Guardian meeting: Feb 13

Meeting was fun and creative. Kit was able to attend. Everyone went to the pub.  See chat log at http://wiki.playasbeing.org/Guardian_Pages/Working_Group/2011_Working_Group/2011.02.15_Working_Group_Meeting
 

2. Art of being Self

It was agreed that the 2-month project was powerful for a lot of people although Aph was confused about the protocol for the opening event: i.e is there always a presentation by each contributor? She will ask Bleu.
 

3. Should there be more faciliatation in PaB activities?

This subject came up regarding some of PaBs events such as....

4. The recent SL Retreat

Bruce Mowbray reported that there was INDEED a retreat, that ten of them attended every session, that there was no facilitator and that it was self organized, (Cal thinks "self organizing" takes a certain amount of brain power for everyone there) and that there were various experiences had. It was suggested that some opportunity should be taken to review and collect the learning from it. Each of the six sessions had a flavor of its own and there was also a certain amount of surrendering of "self".  They worked together  like a "group dance" and there was "some uncomfortable blend of together and separate."

Retreat theme session

Action: Eos suggested we organize a theme session on the retreat. Aphrodite said she learned very little at the last theme session on the retreat and found it rather vague but this might simply be a characteristic of reports on retreats.
 

Time zone issues

In the future, folks might want to have two retreats -- for those in time zones on opposite sides of the planet..perhaps occidental, oriental dual retreats. Eos mentioned that for short retreats you can actually do them around the clock, while  longer ones require us to make lifestyle changes such as unplugging all rl phones. It is part of the "container" for the retreat, making an environment that is *different. It is one of the advantages of the retreat. It's not a retreat if it is dominated by everyday habits. However, the down side of specialness is that it creates "re-entry artifact."  .

Re-entry or transition back to RL or "Please do not kill the villagers."
This needs to be further considered and discussed. Storm believes re-entry is fairly easy to address. The main problem is that the same techniques don't always work for everyone. Advice about transitions would be good to provide.

Action: We need to find out more from Storm about how this can happen. (see bottom of this document). What happens when the boundaries are removed? It was recommended that this should be discussed at the beginning of each retreat. Calvino Rabeni: "if you were there for the end of the last session, you'd see the "real" retreat starting to happen just as the scheduled retreat ended." Perhaps the retreats need to be longer in that case. It was suggested that 3 days is much more effective than 2.
 

Importance of a balance of retreats and RL activity in one's life: Could we say this is the purpose of retreats?

"Regularly disconnecting from the world of work and the mind of productivity and going into spirit and community." (Cal)

Importance of well communicated retreat guidelines

Bruce reported that Sun made it to every session and stayed through all of them. Somehow Sunshine was invited to the retreat, even though not a guardian, contradicting one expectation (and it worked out ok) However she invited a lonely straggler to drop in, which to Cal indicated she didn't "get" the notion of a retreat. The fact that Sun did not know the guidelines for SL retreats made us realize that we need to communicate more effectively regarding retreats and perhaps not discuss them at the pavilion where there are non guardians present. 

It was agreed that it might be helpful for Guardians to know patterns and best practices in order to create an awareness of the practice.  Some form of initiation process might work for new Guardians. It should be communicated in the guardian emails only and not at the Pavilion.

Action: Aphrodite Macbain volunteered to gather via email from the Guardians, the guidelines for an SL retreat including its purpose, and publish it in the wiki page for SL retreats. (Retreat guidelines already exist there, along with an SL-specific page. )The retreat section of the wiki is a fully open public space.
 

Arch's observations on the retreat that he made by email were praised.

5. Trolls in PaB Activities

Trolls .. people who come to a group, and basically operate to disturb and upset people ... passive aggressive behavior typically. Cal said it has come up as an issue a few times. It's more obvious with pure aggression, but passive aggression often slips under the defenses of a group like PaB. As a host guardian, is there a responsibilty to keep an agressive visitor from attacking another member? It is unclear when it is appropriate. There's trouble both from ejecting or managing it, and trouble from NOT doing either.

Storm observed that before discussing this, we need to be very clear on what the purposes are for the PaB sessions otherwise you won't be clear on what disrupting them is.
 

Observations were made that I did not edit:

Bruce Mowbray: but perhaps one of the things we offer is a "space" for change to happen -- and a better example of how to interact.
Eos Amaterasu: offering such a space is very much within "play as being"
Calvino Rabeni: well what's "better" is the question .. if you mean, acting on principle
Bruce Mowbray agrees.
Eos Amaterasu: but also responding when what is aggessively attacked is also within PaB
Calvino Rabeni: however, this troll was plainly much more interested in trolling and baiting
Calvino Rabeni: to the point one visitor left swearing never to come back ... lots of drama
Aphrodite Macbain: the challege is to know when to ignore and when to take issue
Eos Amaterasu: can you summarize in 1 minute, Storm (as to purpose of PaB 's sessions)? It might be helpful
Calvino Rabeni: I just think, there are boundary limits to watch
Bruce Mowbray: Some people simply have no experience of mutual respect in a virtual reality world. . . We can show them that.
Calvino Rabeni: True Bruce, but, some have no interest in learning it .. and little indication that they would, so they aren't there for instruction
Storm Nordwind: I'm not defining or dictating purpose. We need to decide and agree before going on to see how to deal with what goes against that purpose.
Calvino Rabeni: and its questionable whether PaB has the job to "teach" them
  

Action: This can be pursued further at guardian meetings, and maybe put on our next agenda to continue.

Meeting Adjourned at 15:00SL

These are Storm's recommendations for PaBers to prepare for a retreat SL or RL

Firstly, there's a little bit of planning required on the part of the attendee. This is in two parts:

1(a) They need to allow themselves "space" - physically, mentally and time-wise - in which to "come down" after the retreat. The amount varies according to the person and the retreat. Half a day might be typical, but it can't be predicted in duration or intensity, Nevertheless space needs to be allowed.

1(b) They need to get prior agreement about the cooperation of others in their immediate RL/home vicinity. Those people may have allowed them time to attend but may not realize the importance this additional post-retreat safety-zone.

If the space cannot be guaranteed or the extended cooperation of other people cannot be assured, the attendee should think twice about attending the retreat at all.

Secondly, there's something that can be offered by the retreat organizers. Whereas the first point above addresses the immediate effects - for example, perhaps the sense of euphoria experienced by some people - this second point addresses the possible sense of anti-climax from coming down too far and feeling rudderless. It can also keep a sense of momentum or a sense of meaning, for those for whom those things are important.

What is suggested by the organizers is that attendees embark on a small series of mini-projects on their return to RL/home. These can be divided into categories - say, immediate/short-term, medium-term and longer-term - and suggestions are offered for each category. Attendees then decide, *while still at the retreat*, which they will do, choosing one suggestion from each time category according to their personal preference.

For example:
* A reflective person might react well to the idea of noting down briefly in a personal journal their immediate reactions to the retreat, letting it grow into a daily record, and culminating with creating something that expresses their feelings.
* A different type of person may set themselves the short-term goal of explaining to someone outside the retreat just what happened and they had learned (within the bounds of confidentiality).
* Someone else might want to write an article about how what they experienced at the retreat fitted into what they already knew, how it extended it, or how they had to reassess their mental model of life, the universe and everything as a result.
* Another type of person might be more interested in looking forward, saying "What next?" and planning their next experiences.
* And yet another might prefer to take up a suggestion where they apply their retreat insights and experiences to their normal daily lives.
These are just some of a selection of ideas for different types of people and different time-scales. There are of course many more, and these should be listed and briefly discussed at the end of a retreat so that choices can be made then.

Thirdly, attendees are urged to attend a *private* follow-up meeting of say a couple of hours duration, perhaps a month after the retreat, where they share with each other the outcomes of their chosen individual projects (as far as they wish to).

These techniques can work for both SL and RL retreats. Any follow-up, for attendees only, can be in SL.

Storm



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