SHE goes MAD

SHE goes MAD is a proposed conference to take place in Berlin towards the end of November 2009. The aim of the conference is to connect people whose intention is to set up a network of nomadic spaces, spaces where nomads feel at home. It is essentially also a conference on our shared nomadic culture.

SHE
She stands for Sustainable Hospitality Exchange. SHE was also a conference that took place in Amsterdam, june 2008. SHE goes MAD is the proposed title for the conference in Berlin. MAD stands for nomadic but MAD in itself is just too cool to not use.

She is an approach and a framework of thinking to understand hospitality. In more specific terms she is a framework of thinking to understand how we can be hospitatible 'sustainably', for one on a personal level, secondly on a group level and thirdly on a network level. What are the things we need to make it possible for us to remain hospitable, ie to keep on 'hosting' without undermining our common and personal capacity?

Schedule

 * 20.11.2009 - 27.11.2009 Work meetings
 * 27.11.2009 - 30.11.2009 Main conference
 * Opening Session on the 27th late afternoon.

See also Proposed Schedule

Open Space
The format of the conference will be an open space format. There is no fixed agenda and participants themselves will set up topics once the conference starts. We will share our intentions of why we come together, and feed our common agenda based on the main questions we have. We will group these questions around specific categories of type of meetings we want to have. This is an ongoing process.

This also means that separate topics could be discussed in different spaces at the same time. At the same time, people could be discussing technical stuff, while other people meet to discuss the culture of a nomadbase. Participants vote with their feet: you go where you feel at place - where you feel/ think you can learn or contribute.

Basically, whenever two people are together discussing a related topic, a meeting has started. Topics can also change during the conference, depending on how things move along.

Spaces would for example include:
 * Meeting space A, B and C (need naming)
 * Social space (for 'off-topic')
 * Skill-share space A and B

Online Presence
We also intend to have interaction with people who are unable to attend the conference. During the conference, notes will be taken and put online on a wiki. We also will invite the non-attending participants to start discussions. We will try to stream specific meetings, and set up a tele/videoconference.

What it is needed in Berlin to make the connection possible: one laptop (possibly with webcam), speakers, and skype access.

Topics & Questions
A common way of starting a gathering like this is to first do an introduction rounds in a big group or even smaller groups, to share our intentions and questions.

It is important for people to feel comfortable with each other, so they feel free to exchange their knowledge and their thoughts without reservations. It is sometimes better to have multiple smaller meetings, than one big meeting for this. What also works well is to have a box where people can write down their main questions for what they want to learn/ get out of the meeting, before making some form of (dynamic) agenda. Or to have a huge board/ white sheet where people can add their topics and/or proposed meetings.

As a reference, we can already start sharing our ideas for topics or questions here below. Please add yours, or simply edit the existing ones.

Nomadbases

 * Current nomadbases, origins and culture
 * Shared practices & common mistakes
 * Cultures of living together
 * What values are promoted by nomadbases
 * How to set up more nomad-bases
 * Build/ draw your favorite house
 * Workshop with tools in nomad bases
 * Learning communities and self-education
 * Problems of project builder leaving & continuing the 'process'
 * Constructing 'nomad bases' in countries with little networks, contacts and philosophy of this process and then building from the ground up.
 * How can we make the bases 'sustainable'?

Real social networks, nomadbase.org

 * How to connect the nomads and bases online
 * Existing proposals and platforms we can use
 * Relation with existing hospitality exchange networks
 * Wished-for functionalities ('mad oriented')
 * Newsletters and updates on progress
 * Members Bill of Rights

Personal Social relations

 * Sustaining a family as a nomad
 * How to collaborate on long term projects as a nomad
 * How to build social recognition as a nomad
 * How to build up recognition of our role towards society
 * How to communicate with others who do not experience multiple shifting realities
 * Keeping presence when faced to other peoples fears
 * Experience of Representation Vs Experience of being
 * How to have stable intimate relationships as a nomad
 * How to create ( our own ) reference points as a nomad
 * Shared values, behaviours, challenges & yearnings
 * How to keep the underground close to the surface, to not withdraw ourselves from all other 'realities'
 * Nomad Base as Healing Spaces ? ( from wandering overdose ? or simply from punctual physical weakening ? )

Different funding models

 * Legal issues
 * Parallel currency systems Ripple
 * Permanent workshops in nomad bases
 * Bike repair shops
 * Urban farming
 * cooperation with farms / farming cooperatives
 * Product Production
 * Soap Production
 * Toothpaste production
 * Soup Kitchen
 * Fabrication labs in nomad bases with reprap and/or other production tools
 * Teach, Learn, Share
 * Nomad University
 * travelling school of life
 * Use personal skills where they are needed (ie. fix a bike for the one that can't, fix a meal for the one that can't, fix a computer, fix a roof, fix fears, fix television... wait... don't fix televisions!)
 * Consensus, decision-making & OpenSpace Technology
 * fundraising from
 * foundations
 * companies
 * recycling
 * dumpster diving
 * freecycle

Economics of a nomad

 * Actual economic needs for a nomad
 * Different ways for a nomad to sustain himself
 * Best countries to officially register your residence
 * Nomad base type economic projects
 * Hacking artificial scarcity
 * Building up peer production infrastructures
 * How to collaborate and receive support from mainstream institutions as a nomad

High/Low tech Nomadism

 * DIY Primitivists Vs Minimalist DIY Technologists ?
 * Hackable Nomad Gear ?

Nomadic Projects

 * Lightfoot Sustainable Post
 * Wiki: hitchwiki, trashwiki, couchwiki, sharewiki, nomadwiki, healthywiki, etc.
 * Pastamadre: http://www.pastamadre.org/

Relation with non-nomadic world

 * How can 'we' (while living a nomadic life) still find ways to make a concrete contribution to the settled (non-nomadic) community, particularly disadvantaged groups? For example in terms of education, information about free living, language classes, women's and homeless shelters, focalising political activity, environmental education and arts and crafts.
 * What ways can we make educational resources nomadic
 * add yours

To be categorized

 * Beyond Collectivism ? Beyond Individualism ? Beyond Self-Actualization
 * Stigmergic Tools
 * Festivalism
 * Metaphysics of the Hitch Hiker
 * Usership of Private Spaces ?
 * Sustainable Non-Reciprocal Exchange and Units of Measurment ?
 * Hyperlocal Nomadism

Skillsharing-sessions that are likely to start whenever it starts

 * Poi/ play with fire
 * Bread-making
 * Meditation
 * Intuitive Traveling
 * Free Software
 * Drupal Basics
 * Go (Bring a game board)
 * add yours
 * Someone bring a chess board
 * Languages

Further ideas

 * add yours

Proposed Schedule
note latest updates are now going into http://nomadbase.org/ what you find below might be outdated.

The schedule is made as we go. There are two parts of the (un)conference; the actual conference takes place in the last weekend of November and takes an open space format. Hence there is no fixed agenda, just location and maybe a rough time-schedule Before and possibly even after the conference sponteneous meetings take place.

Please add suggestions for the agenda, we will add these also here: http://nomadbase.org/calendar where (if we would like to enable this) you can also sign up if you're coming.

It seemed logical to start with more defining nomad-oriented activities as they are preparatory to more NomadBase-oriented discussions.

note latest updates are now going into http://nomadbase.org/ what you find below might be outdated.

Friday 20th - 20.00h. Teahouse

 * Social meet up at location Tea-house. At 8pm opening of The Mobile Photo-exposition. Food and drinks provided (donation?).
 * add event

Saturday 21st

 * 13h - Sharing session - Welcome to NoMad's-Land - Teahouse
 * This sharing session aims at trying to find elements of culture (concepts, symbols, practices, values...) that are shared within the neo-nomad's sub-culture in order to understand better the challenges we face and the ways we can support each other in overcoming them (potentially by sharing resources, or through NomadBases, etc).
 * This session does not aim at defining what a nomad is and what it is not (and therefore exclude anyone).
 * 16h - Meetup to share ideas/ proposals/ technical matters - Teahouse
 * Dinner Time and Place?

Sunday 22nd

 * 14h-16h - Brunch - Scherer8
 * The biggest & tastiest brunch of Berlin for a 'suggested donation' of 2 Euro, should be active again. Currently Brunch every two weeks, next one Sunday 22 November at 14:00. Location is Schererstraße 8 in Wedding. (Actually the real location is just around the corner in Adolfstraße.) When the brunch is active it's definitely worthwhile to go there, at the same time it would be good to have an alternative plan in case the bruch 'happens' to be cancelled.
 * 17h - Sharing session - Nomads get personal
 * This is a moment to get deeper within neo-nomadic culture and discuss everything listed in the Personal/Social relations section of the Topics: Interaction between ourselves and more "fixed" people, intimate relationships and family, creating and maintaining stable reference points, our role in society, how we are perceived, social recognition, participation in long-term projects, etc. By understanding more our reality and its challenges, we are better able to name our needs and pool our resources in wider projects.

Monday 23rd

 * +/- 12h to 17h - Visiting nature
 * No organiser with route description, spontaneous walk instead?
 * Meeting Place: Ubahn Alt-Tegel, at the corner of Berliner Strasse and Gorkistrasse.
 * Beautiful forestwalk & spontaneous conversations: Proposed is a 7 km hike through the forest with a lunch brake at an ancient tree which has been around since the 11th century! Meeting place will be Metrostop Alt-Tegel (Last stop of U6). Actual meeting place&time might change depending on the amount of sunshine, please check back last minute for actual time!!
 * Host??
 * Meetup location?
 * All day: working and socialising in the Tea House - Join the fun (and bring your laptop or you will feel lonely).
 * +/- 18:00 Discussion about Lightfoot. See also http://nomadbase.org/lightfoot.
 * add event

Tuesday 24rd

 * 12h - Brainstorm session - Models of Nomadic Co-Living 
 * A brainstorm on mapping different models of different types of nomadbases. From collective housing where nomads can live, to single-households, squats, eco-villages and other forms of communities. All brainstorming goes directly on sharewiki.
 * Host: Robino
 * Location: Tea-house
 * 13h - 15h Lunch Preparation
 * Location: Teahouse
 * 16h Open Everything
 * Host: Alex
 * 18h Presentation about Project Volunteering
 * Hosts: Current PV members + all of those who ever felt part of PV
 * Location: Back of Tea house
 * add event

Wednesday 25th

 * 13-15h Art of hosting workshop
 * Please contact robin if you want to attend.
 * Read e-mail for more info
 * Location: somewhere in Kreuzberg
 * 1800-2000 Traveling school of life
 * Location: At the back of the Teahouse
 * Host: Anja/ Turtle
 * add event

Thursday 26th

 * 10:00-2400 Ad-hoc meetings will take place according to what people want to do, including at least: trust-models we can use, writing letters, building a new lightfoot website and designing the open space format for Friday. And maybe we will even finally have the session on "open and free everything" that got postponed twice times already. Be there, bring initiative, bring a laptop if you can and let "it" flow !
 * 15:00 Work on the Lightfoot website! (in the teahouse (if it's open then?))

Open Space
Proposals for structuring Open Space: To create different types of sessions. Each event needs someone to host the event. When you are the host, you make sure it happens when it happens.


 * I talk, you listen (talk) (half an hour +)
 * This would be sessions of 5 to 15 minutes where one person talks, followed by questions. You pick your topic, and talk about something to give other people insight in what you're doing/ or what you bring to the project/ fill in the dots/ quick presentations...
 * Brainstorm Session/ Sharing Session (common talk)
 * These are longer sessions (one hour +)

Friday 27th

 * 10 Hang out, help with preparations of Lunch, making coffee, talk, etc.
 * 13 Lunch
 * 14 Opening session
 * 20 Dinner
 * add event

Saturday 28th

 * add event

Sunday 29th

 * add event

Monday 30th

 * add event

Work and learn
The intention of the conference is not only to share ideas, but also to get things done, build networks and extend our community. A proposal is to come together in the weeks before and after the conference to implement and work on things such as coding, website and communication.

Things to accomplish
Results that you would like to achieve
 * Exchange of experiences, empowering ourselves;
 * Call for bases;
 * Manifesto (nomadology?);
 * add another

Projects that you would like to see going:
 * Formalise a network;
 * Establish Framework;
 * Interaction Guidelines;
 * Lightfoot promotion;
 * add another

Participants
Please sign up through crabgrass.


 * Please enable OpenID on crabgrass :)

Invitation
An invitation is made and can be send through the familiar networks. Please send to the right people:
 * Nomadic travelers and nomadic workers
 * Full-time Hospitality Hosts
 * People interested in long term hospitality
 * People interested in nomad culture
 * People interested in Open Space
 * People interested setting up Real Social Networks
 * People who live in larger shared houses

Locations
Teahouse Rigaer105
 * A teahouse with a food-kitchen every day at 20.00
 * Adress: Rigaerstr 105, Friedrichshain
 * Meetings, vokü (food) every day at 20.00, WLAN,
 * Could be used as central point for the conference
 * Rooms: two rooms. One main room divided in two spaces with bar, chill-out space. Second room is around 25sq meters
 * Location on Map

Schenkladen Systemfehler
 * (front room of freeshop)
 * Scharnweberstr 29, Friedrichshain
 * Meetings, internet (need a switch), kitchen,
 * We need a contact person to keep a key and pay 100 euros deposit
 * The space we can use is around 25sq meters
 * Timetable when we can use this space.
 * Location on Map

0xb5 / Brueckenschlaeger Bureau
 * Schieritzstr 41, Prenzlauer Berg
 * Some working space and internet,
 * Not to be used as chill-out space
 * See e-mail for more information
 * Location on Map

Food

 * Trashwiki

Berlin Berlin

Accommodation
If you are unable to find a place by yourself, find below some people who are willing to share their place with you.


 * please contact Ben (atopia) through telepathy / email / BeWelcome / riseup / this wiki
 * Other resource - Anick-Marie can help you find hosts in Berlin. Just email/shout louder. Below is the list of people that responded. Please remove them from the list if they confirm you that they won't host more people.

Still available (please update!)

 * Ben's flatshare: infinite with sleeping bag + ground mat
 * Anja's flatshare: please ask in the mailinglist if you need accomodation in my place, i will host mainly friends who are coming for the conference, but it is possible that i have some space left
 * Daphnee can host up to 3 people 26-30 Nov (have to leave at 9am on the 30th), near S-Zehlendorf, 20 min walk from or 6 stops by bus.
 * Jurjen's flatshare: near infinite space with sleeping bag + ground mat. Near Hermanstr. S+U. (+31 (six)(three)0484264), if you're lucky my phone is on ;)

Needs
There is a bunch of things we need:
 * Shared laptops
 * Switch (Robin) & wireless router?
 * Large sheets of paper & pens (colors!)
 * Add an item

Minutes/ Reports
Reports on the conference can be followed on http://nomadbase.org To upload minutes you can use this wiki or also http://nomadbase.org/wiki

Stay connected
To stay connected, please watch this wiki-space, check nomadbase.org or please sign up through grabgrass