Hi there everyone,
I'm not sure if there's some policy on this forum about reposting things from elsewhere, but I haven't come across any, so I present to you an email I received with the instructions to 'Forward Widely!'
I went to the first ever Radical Mycology Convergence, and it was a totally amazing, inspiring, educational, empowering event. People traveled from as far away as south america and australia to come to our little gathering in Northwest Washington. Events included workshops and talks on mycoremediation, wild fungi forays, dye-making using
mushrooms and lichens, sterile and non-sterile techniques for mushroom propagation, dialogues about culture, stories and jams around the fire, and plenty of good food. All volunteer-run, by amazingly dedicated people.
Anyway, without further ado here's the callout that I received, and hopefully some of you will take interest in it.
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Hello friends, fellow mycophiles, and fungal enthusiasts!
The Mycelial Network Collective is excited to officially announce plans for the 2nd ever Radical Mycology Convergence (RMC) and we want you to come! If you haven´t heard of the RMC before, you can read about first one (in 2011) at the link at the bottom of this email. Following up on the success of last year´s RMC we have hopes to expand the event this year to include even more events and we want you to participate!
What: As with the first RMC, we envision this unique event to be a volunteer-run gathering of mycologists, fungal enthusiasts, and Earth healers coming together to share skills and information related to the benefits of the fungal kingdom in terms of remediative properties as well as human uses. This weekend-long event will culminate in a remediation
project (putting theory to practice) and will also be a unique chance to build community with like-minded mycophiles (aka mushroom lovers) from around North America. We are hoping to hold this years´s RMC in October or November somewhere along the West Coast. We are currently on the search for a location. If you have ideas or leads, please read the “Help Us Find A Location” section below.
Why: Because these skills need to get shared! We want to make information on fungi and their helaing powers accessible and tangible for as many people as possible without making it overly-heady or technical. By creating an encouraging space we hope to “bemushroom” all who attend.
Who: The Mycelial Network Collective, organizers of the RMC, would like to cordially invite anyone interested in participating in this event to come and learn, help out, or teach!
We are also asking for as much feedback from people to help us build upon the success of the first RMC. If you can, please take the time to fill out the short interest survey linked below. It will greatly help guide our planning process and to make this year´s RMC as successful as the last.
Survey address:
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/C52D9JN
Lastly, we are seeking help with our current top priority: securing a location for some time in October or November of this year. As you can see in the survey, we are looking for suggestions and leads for free or cheap locations somewhere between San Franciso and the Seattle area. The ideal site would be able to host several hundred people, have good foraging sites in the area as well as potential areas for mycological remediation work.
As a fruiting body of all of our mycelial efforts, it will be through our combined efforts that we envision, organize and co-create this year's RMC, and we would love to have your input and involvement! We are especially in need of people to help organize and promote this year's event, lead workshops, and create promotional materials. If you interested in helping in any way or if you have ideas or leads on locations, please contact us at
radmycology@gmail.com.
For more information and to stay in touch follow the links below.
The official website for the 2012 RMC is here:
http://radicalmycology.wordpress.com/radical-mycology-convergence-2012/
You can also join our (low traffic) email list to stay up to date on the RMC here:
http://lists.actforclimatejustice.org/listinfo.cgi/radmycology-announce-actforclimatejustice.org
Of follow us on
Facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/mycology.convergence
Please consider donating to the RMC via Paypal to help make this event possible:
http://tinyurl.com/78czqs7
To read about the 2011 RMC, see our reportback here:
http://radicalmycology.wordpress.com/2011/09/15/reportback-on-the-first-ever-radical-mycolgoy-convergence/
In sporidarity via ourcelium,
the Mycelial Network Collective, organizers of the Radical Mycology Convergence
www.radicalmycology.com
