Awareness raising presentation a rousing success!

There are lots more folks on the mailing list after our wonderfully attended awareness raising presentation last Sunday at the UU church.  After the publicity on the front page of the Hickory Daily Record, we hoped for a good turn out, and we were so happy with the result. Our thanks go out to the fifty folks who came to learn more about Transition and those who had seen it before; we are always updating our research and finding more entertaining ways to present difficult but inspiring material. The energy in the room was palpable and we really appreciate your support.  Lots of telling questions at the end allowed us to hear that you are well informed and love the idea of building resilience into our communities.  The groundswell in Hickory is rising.

As for the long emergency issues, Connie rightly pointed out that for some more conservative audiences, looking at Peak Oil and Climate Change would either turn them off or cause an unproductive argument, and we are in the process of creating a different way to present the Transition ideas to that type of audience.  Economic instability will be the initial way in, as everyone is feeling rocked by the debt ridden, depressed economy and volatile stock market.  Of course the ideals of Transition (communities rich in connectedness and resilient in many aspects of life) stand up for themselves.

After the talk, six folks followed us back to The Sustainable Living Project on 11th St NW and took a tour.  Spirited talk of strategy, sustainability and resilience resounded over blueberry cheesecake and cups of tea until 6pm!

As a result of the meeting on Sunday, we have two more presentations in the works.  We are also arranging two Neighborhood Association presentations.  If you know of other arenas where we might offer our talk, please let us know.  Our aim is to spend the winter raising awareness and laying the foundations by connecting with groups, clubs, businesses and other parties who are already working towards the goals of Transition.

Another goal for the winter is to hold some Open Space meetings to start generating ideas for working groups. We need a venue with lots of tables and chairs for this. If you have any suggestions please let us know.