January Evolver Spore: Give It Up!

Presented by Evolver.net and Burners Without Borders:

We invite fellow Evolvers to bring their precious gifts – whether it be witticisms or wood-carved totems to the Spore and spread them around.... but most important, bring yourself, your passion, your vision and a blessing to bestow on one another.

7:00-7:30pm Doors open, meet & greet
7:30 Introduction to Give it UP and Opening Meditation
7:45-8:15 “Burn on the Bayou” film screening and presentation by Carmen Mauk, Executive Director of Burner Without Borders (See Synopsis Below)
8:15-9:00 Small group interactive discussion:gifting to yourself, your local & global community
9:00-9-30 Group report out/ discussion / project sign-up
9:30-10:30 Hang out & experience the amazing vibrating floor

$11 Donation and Snacks to Share

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Debt-based currencies controlled by closed syndicates of private banks are
not the only way that humans can make an economy. Many tribal cultures have
organized themselves around an entirely different way of exchanging value:
The gift. Where our financial system expertly moves resources from the many
to the few, gift-based cultures like to share what they have – as writer
Lewis Hyde noted, “The gift moves toward the empty place.” At a time when
billions are enslaved by passionless work while inequity reaches new
historic heights, we are seeing a postmodern revival of sharing and gifting,
with examples ranging from the open source movement to the annual Burning
Man festival.

In this Spore, we explore the abstract theory and practical dynamics of
gifting, the challenges of implementing this innovative, yet archaic, way of
getting what you want and wanting what you get. We will screen “Burn on the
Bayou,” a mini-documentary chronicling Burners without Borders gifting
efforts during seven months of relief work in the Katrina-battered Gulf
Coast towns of Biloxi and Pearlington, MS. Since that time, BWB has grown
into an international, grassroots organization whose projects are based on
the principle of gifting.

Film synopsis:
At the end of August 2005, Hurricane Katrina slammed into the Louisiana and Mississippi coasts, devastating over 90,000 square miles. Mississippi officials calculated that 90% of the structures within one half mile of the coastline were completely destroyed. Two thousand miles away, a group of volunteers emerged from an event in the Nevada desert: Burning Man. The unlikely group that converged in Biloxi and Pearlington, Mississippi had in common the shared experience of collaborating and building in harsh environments and the strongly held belief that when people need help, you help them. The film documents the group of volunteers over seven months of work following the storm, and it features interviews with both volunteers and residents.

** Want to speak or perform music at another Evolver event? Contact reginagelfo (at) gmail.com if you are interested!