Dear friends and colleagues in Southern California,

I wanted to let you know I'll be a presenter at three communities events in the Bay Area, on November 16, 17, and 18, in case you know anyone in the greater Bay Area region who might be interested.
Or even if you know anyone in Southern California who might like to attend. I understand Megabus sometimes offers fares as low as $18 one way (megabus.com) and Southwest and Virgin America out of LA airport, and Jet Blue out of Long Beach airport, can offer fares as low as $45 one way.
The sponsoring organization is Northern California Cohousing Association. Norcalcoho.org.

Friday, Nov. 16:"Finding Community Community-Seeker's Fair," 7:30 – 9:30pm
Berkeley Green Space, near Shattuck & University, Berkeley.
Designed for community seekers, the presentation will offer an overview of how to research thoroughly, visit enjoyably, evaluate intelligently, and join gracefully an ecovillage or another kind of intentional community (the subject of my new book, Finding Community.) The event will include exhibit tables by Northern California communities seeking new members. For more information: norcalcoho.org. rainesc@gmail.com.

Nov. 17:"Northern California Communities Convergence: Ecovillages, Cohousing Neighborhoods, and Intentional Communities."
9:00 am - 5:00 pm, Berkeley Green Space, naer Shattuck & University, Berkeley.
I'll be presenting a slide show, "Ecovillages: Where They Are, What They're Doing, Why They're Important," and a breakout workshop, "Antidotes to Four Common Kinds of Community Conflict." Other speakers will include Cecile Andrews, author of  Slow is Beautiful, and Raines Cohen, Betsy Morris, and other Northern California communities activists. norcalcoho.org. rainesc@gmail.com.

Sunday,Nov. 18: one-day workshop: "Starting and Sustaining Healthy Ecovillages and Intentional Communities"
9:00 am – 5:30 pm. Berkeley Coworking, behind Berkeley Bowl at Shattuck and Ashby.norcalcoho.org. rainesc@gmail.com.
Workshop topics will include “Structural conflict” and eight ways to prevent it; steps for starting communities, typical time-frames and costs; community mission and purpose; decision-making and power; the membership process; the crucial relationship between mission & purpose, membership process, and decision-making method; antidotes for four common sources of community conflict
: communication agreements, helping people stay accountable to agreements, creating "community glue," and dealing creatively with "the challenging group member." norcalcoho.org. rainesc@gmail.com.

In case you'd like to forward this to people you know who might be interested, here's some bio info on me, below. Thanks very much for any help you can give in getting the word out.

Diana Leafe Christian

Diana Leafe Christian is author of Creating a Life Together: Practical Tools to Grow Ecovillages and Intentional Communities and Finding Community: How to Join an Ecovillage or Intentional Community" Editor of Communities magazine from 1994 through 2007, she has written about communities for publications ranging from Mother Earth News to the Encyclopedia of Community,and has been interviewed by media ranging from The New York Times and Time Magazine to NPR and the BBC. She is the keynote speaker at the Urban Ecovillage Conference in Chicago, November 9th, (urban.ecovillage.org) and a keynote speaker at the Japanese Ecovillage Conference in Tokyo, also in November. Diana lives at Earthaven Ecovillage in North Carolina. www.DianaLeafeChristian.org


NEW EMAIL ADDRESS: diana@ic.org.
To contact the new editor of Communities magazine, Alyson Ewald: editor@ic.org.

To subcribe to a free e-newsletter on ecovillages and sustainable communities: diana@ic.org.
My Website  www.DianaLeafeChristian.org