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  • From: Wesley Roe and Santa Barbara Permaculture Network <lakinroe@silcom.com>
  • To: permaculture <permaculture@lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [permaculture] NAPC: Scarcity?
  • Date: Sun, 3 Aug 2014 14:32:34 -0700

hi
i agree with Toby i agree but what scale would be fair for each speaker that
presented , my understanding when NAPC was first organized/conceived that
they did not want taking heads , it would be a series of panels/circles that
you could or could not be part of if you attended, that has changed i think,

i love Permaculture Voices and supported Diego from the start with hand outs
are our events and also at many festivals. I felt with needed a professional
conference for PC. I knew he would be sweating it as PC community waits till
the last moment to register. John Roulac of Nutiva save the day by
subsidizing a low fee that drew the large numbers in the end. The end
result is that Diego was able to have a successful event and now is willing
to host this next year.
It could of failed and never happen again as many PC events get starved
because of lack of support. the International Permaculture Conference
/Convergence is always facing a lack of financial support for all the same
reasons Toby has mentioned.

I agree everyone need to be part of sharing economy and yes share resources
to create a economy that supports the change

more later thanks Toby
wes
ps at Santa Barbara Permaculture Network we have always paid PC teachers and
travel expenses since our first event in 1997 .




On Aug 3, 2014, at 12:09 PM, Toby Hemenway <toby@patternliteracy.com> wrote:

>
> On Aug 1, 2014, at 12:55 PM, Michael Pilarski via permaculture
> <permaculture@lists.ibiblio.org> wrote:
>
>> Can you imagine how much it would cost
>> if we had to pay each one of them what they currently get paid for giving a
>> workshop or keynote speech!? . . . We don’t want to set up a
>> hierarchy. Come because you are excited about participating ... not
>> because you
>> are getting paid.
>
> Since you mention it publicly, I gather that a number of presenters have
> asked if they can be compensated for their work. (Warning: rant ahead, and
> Skeeter, this isn't personal--since I've gotten, like, 8 copies of this
> notice, it's repeatedly hit one of my hot buttons.)
>
> What if a corporation or plantation boss had said, “Can you imagine how
> much our products would cost if we paid our workers fairly?” Permies don’t
> get a pass on that just because we’re doing good work; corporations think
> they are too. It’s also a guilt-tripping argument, which is kind of
> embarrassing.
>
> Here's the answer to the question: Given the expected 500 attendees,
> another $50 would generate $25,000. More than enough to pay everyone well,
> including the hard-working organizers. Since the fee structure of NAPC
> already has a set of $50 tiers, one more would have fit in fine.
>
> People aren't asking to be paid just to get money. It's hard work to put a
> talk together (takes me 40-80 hours for a 90-minute talk), and if our work
> yields no return, we've designed a bad system that burns us out. Remember
> "Get a yield?" Not to do so is unsustainable. We should be modeling
> abundance, not scarcity. "Here, come be a permaculturist, stay broke, live
> in scarcity, and get nothing for your hard work but good feelings!"
>
>
> The price of NAPC is ludicrously low. $150 for 3 days of presentations,
> workshops, awesome conversation, meals, and camping? That’s just nuts! For
> $50 more, NAPC could have compensated everyone well for their work and had
> broader appeal. And at a regular conference rate, we could have funded the
> projects we'll conceive there. I know a lot of people who aren’t attending
> because it’s just the usual folks, camping in a field, like every
> convergence.
>
> It feels like the guiding principle for NAPC is “let’s spend as little as
> possible so we can charge as little as possible.” That’s a brutally
> limiting design ethic. Imagine how much richer the event would be if the
> ethic was, “How do we make this as awesome as we can, pay everyone fairly
> for their work, and still find ways for everyone to afford it?”
>
> One of many ways is how Permaculture Voices did it: A block of very
> expensive, full-price tickets (which sold well because not every
> permaculturist is poor!), blocks at half and one-quarter price, and a large
> block of free tickets. They had 650 very diverse attendees, and a
> presenters budget of, I estimate, over $100,000 to pay 70 speakers very
> well. There are many ways to design it to be affordable for all, beyond “do
> it as cheap as we can.”
>
> When 500 people come together, they can generate a surplus that will
> provide enough for everyone. How did NAPC miss that resource? (I assume,
> since NAPC isn't paying others for working, that NAPC staff, too, are all
> doing this for free).
>
> It’s not that there is a “hierarchy,” as the letter puts it. There is true
> diversity in skills, experience, and income. To deny that reality, to not
> take advantage of it, is poor design.
>
> Please, let’s get over the idea that everyone in permaculture is poor, that
> there is no money out there, that this is a world of scarcity. What kind of
> a vision to hold is that? This is a huge limitation for permaculture that
> we have to break out of!
>
> Maybe we need a session at NAPC on how to break the scarcity mentality of
> permaculture.
>
> Toby
> http://patternliteracy.com
>
>
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