Pico Gathering Fire Starter

Playbook for creating a community Gathering in Pico

This is an internal resource or our congregation, intended to help kick-start the process of our future gatherings by compiling the necessary areas to consider.

Note, that It's more of a rough guideline, rather than something to stick to religiously.

You can find notes from our Previous Gatherings here:

• Pico Winter Gathering, December 2020

• Pico Summer Gathering, June 2021 –> our first "proper" gathering

• Pico Autumn Gathering, October 2021

Note: it's recommended to read through the retrospective sections of the previous gatherings to get more context on how we arrived at the following guideline.

Hosting Team

Core Hosting Team

Key team of the Gathering, consisted of four people, each with their own area of responsibility: program, food, site. The team also includes the Joker 🃏 – a person who might not have the confidence to take a role in the core costing team, but is keen on learning the ropes.

Ideally, the team should include 2 people with previous hosting expertise and 2 new people. In order to ensure long-lasting Gatherings, we need to build up a pool of hosts, and there's no other way to learn than by doing.

Hosting Team

People involved in creating the Gathering before and/or during the Gathering, usually coordinated by one of the Core Hosts.

Helpers

People helping out during the Gathering

Timeline

Note that the steps don't need to happen in that order.

1. The possible dates are identified during the retrospective of the previous Gathering.

2. One of the core hosts takes the responsibility of calling the new hosting team 3 months before the first date.

3. The Core Hosting Team assembles and decides on the date. A "save the date" message is sent to the participants of the previous gathering.

4. The Core Team picks the venue.

5. The Core Team creates the invitee list. An invite is sent 1,5 months before the gathering, with a cut-off registration time 1 month before the gathering. This will allow the core host responsible for site to ensure the necessary help is sourced.

6. Preparation process. Core hosting team meets whenever necessary.

   • Cooking team assembles. Menu is decided. Ingredients are sourced

   • Program is designed. Involve more people in hosting activities.

   • Site is prepared

7. A participation kit is sent to all the participants

8. Gathering

9. Feedback form is sent to participants

10. Core team meets for a Retrospective. Possible dates for the future gathering are identified, one person takes the responsibility of calling the core hosting team for the next gathering 3 months before the earliest date.

The Invitation

Invitation Checklist

• dates

• venue

• theme

• overview of what's going to happen

• participation form

• core hosting team + contact details

Previous invitations:

• add link to Pico Summer Community Gathering 2021

• add link to Pico Autumn Community Gathering 2021

Participation Form

• name

• phone

• kids / dogs

• area of volunteering (site / food / program / children)

• food allergies / health conditions core team needs to know about

• anything else

ideas:

• would you like to host an activity? If so, what would it be?

Participation Kit Checklist

• dates, venue, theme

• what to bring

• pitch your tent before the gathering if you want, the campsite is open

• food info

• substances policy

Retrospective

Feedback Form Checklist

• What was good?

• How could we improve?

• What would you like to see at the next Gathering?

Ideally, the feedback should be submitted before the retrospective meeting of the Core team.

Retrospective Meeting

Core hosting team concludes the gathering by having a debriefing session, and suggests ideas for improvement. The possible dates for the next gathering are identified. One person steps in to call the next Core Hosting team 3 months before the earliest date. The money is counted and reimbursed.

Documentation

Documentation of the gathering is created and published.