Northwest  Communities Gatherings A place to learn, to share your story, to have fun with folks from Intentional Communities

What are gatherings?

The Northwest Intentional Communities Gatherings sponsors at least two gatherings every year, one in the spring and one in the summer. The spring gathering is a single day event, the summer gathering is a weekend campout event. The purpose of these events is to gather communities of all kinds together to share our ideas, dreams, and operations and learn from each other. It is also a social event, with plenty of time to hang out over meals, around the campfire, etc.

Here are some pictures from a recent gathering

Gatherings are hosted by NW communities and so provide an intimate way to spend a day in a community. Many people who are seeking community find the events to be good opportunities to both visit a community and meet many people from different communities. Typically between 25-50 people attend. A tour of the host community is usually provided. The cost for gatherings is low, depending upon what we can negotiate from the host community.

The agenda of the gatherings is usually pretty loose. We use an open space process to brainstorm what the participants want to share or  learn about. Occasionally there is a speaker on a theme topic. The NICA board meets monthly and plans and promotes these events. If you have ideas about something you would like to see us try, let us know, NICA@ic.org

 We are very open to creating forums to meet community interests and needs.

Details about meals, overnighting:
Meals are usually potluck or provided by NICA. We expect help in setup, cooking and cleaning from the participants. The summer gathering overnight is almost always a camping setup, with primitive conditions depending upon the facilities of the host communities. Usually there are motels within a reasonable distance if camping is not your style but you still want to come for the whole event. Rarely are there any beds within the host community for gathering participants.

Cost
The costs of the gatherings pay for childcare, food costs, and reimbursement to our hosts for any costs incurred. The gatherings so far have seldom cost more than $2-5 for the spring gathering and $25 for the summer gatherings. We try to keep the costs as low as we can. 

What to bring to a gathering: 
Potluck dinner item, A story, illustration, plans etc about your community, your kids ,any sample documents or other papers that we can add to the web resource directory we are building, camping gear or sleeping bag and pad if you are overnighting, pictures/photos to donate for our scrapbook, sturdy shoes, warm clothing for campouts and hanging around the campfire, musical instruments.
Your Pets, weapons, and illegal drugs are not welcome in the host community so please leave them at home.
For information about future gatherings:
Email floriferous@msn.com