Open Collaboration book release party Dec 17th

We are  having a book release party for our book “Open Collaboration”. The Open Collaboration book is an encyclopedic look at a new type of way to organize your projects, and a new type of social system. It looks at projects which are run in a non-hierarchical, emergent, open, participatory, gift culture manner. Examples of [...]

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Can a project survive without its leaders?

Can a project run without leaders? How do you coordinate a project when there are not designated leaders? I’d like to try and answer these questions by looking at our pet project – the gift circle. My friend Matthew and I have played more of a leadership role in getting our gift circle going. Its [...]

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gift circle FAQ

original 2/15/10 version this version last updated 10/26/10 What is a gift circle? A gift circle is an open circle where people come to help each other, and share their needs and services. People share their services and help as a gift, without expectation of anything in return. What is the purpose of a gift [...]

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hierarchy or non-hierarchy?

What is the best way to run a gift circle? Is it for one person to be in  charge of facilitating the circles, organizing the space, and spreading the word about the circle? Or is better to have the whole circle organized in a more non-hierarchical, emergent, participatory manner? Advantages of hierarchy: When you have [...]

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Figuring out your needs

In our gifting circle sometimes people have a hard time figuring out what their needs are. I’ve been playing around with different ideas about how to help people become clearer on what their needs are. One would be to suggest different areas in their life to look at – work, home, play, hobbies, personal growth.. [...]

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Transition towns and gifting circles

Transition towns was an idea created in 2006 in Totnes, England and has since spread like wildfire to hundreds of towns and cities across the world. Its a plan to help the world become more sustainable by focusing on the local level and helping towns become more resilient, environmentally aware, and community oriented. This movement [...]

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Facilitation

Facilitation is the process by which it is made easier for a group to come into resonance with each other. Facilitation can guide a group into deeper states of consciousness. Facilitation has an effect on how well an economic system works. This is  because facilitation affects collective resonance which affects how well the groups acts [...]

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collective resonance

If the degree of collective resonance is important to how well an economic system works (see last blog post) then what are the ways to maximize collective resonance? Renee Levi has studied this phenomena and looked at various factors that could contribute to collective resonance : truth, sound/vibration, spirit, vulnerability, silence, story, place, container, shared [...]

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Collective consciousness and economics

Have you ever been in a room and felt that the atmosphere was chilly? Have you ever been in a room and felt that the atmosphere was sacred? There is a collective consciousness field that pervades a group of people. As people open their hearts to each other, as they open to their deeper selves [...]

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Logistical details on gift circles

Here are some logistical insights we have gotten from running these gift circles over the last 5 weeks. I am sharing these insights for those of you who want to run your own circles. – It is useful outside the circle to remind and encourage people use their services. Sometimes there may be a little [...]

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