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SES Conference – Report Seven Circles, Sept. 7-10, 2006 |
New SES Meeting Format is a Huge Success
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The SES gathering was a big and unexpected surprise. It was also a huge
success for all its participants. There were about 32 of us, off and
on, at this gathering. For us it was a fruitful and rewarding four
days, well worth the 1600-mile long drive round trip. Undoubtedly, the highlight of this gathering was our three trained (Subud) facilitators, who guided us through revealing and helpful exercises during the first half of each day, following the morning latihan. These exercises offered a remarkable process of self-discovery to assist with many aspects of our enterprises. There were a number of comments from attendees on what a fantastic and welcome change this was from the less pro-active approach used in recent SES meetings. People were delighted to return to a revitalizing and energizing atmosphere, where a deep feeling of trust and bonding resulted for most of us. We’ve been told by the facilitators that they will email us with the instructions for each of these various exercises, so that we can re-apply them in future if we want. One of the exercises resulted in each of us declaring to the group one to three actions (regarding our enterprise) that we promise to take by a committed date. The idea is to make concrete moves forward in our enterprises. This was such a step-change from any SES meeting we have attended – and for four years we ran SES N. America a few years back, so we have some idea of what it takes for a good meeting. We had some good meetings then, and these were followed in the past few years by a new generation of meetings titled ‘Spirit of Enterprise’. But none of these could begin to compare with this meeting, facilitated as it was by a triad of seasoned, experienced professional facilitators like Alicia Thom, Lael Belove, and Lawrence Pevec. It was interesting that I would usually rate a meeting like this as a success if I could register a 6 or 7. In completing the assessment form at the end of the meeting I found myself giving each aspect of the meeting a 9 or 10! The evenings were set aside for presentations from entrepreneurs. We heard presentations on the Seven Circles Center. Rifka Several talked about Reinhart Hesse’s development project (http://www.badgercreek.biz/). It was quite dramatic for us to see today the difference in the site from the last enterprise meeting over a year ago. It has really been cleaned up, including the airstrip area, which is now prepared for FAA certification. And several houses are now up and enjoy fabulous views. Sjarif Harris spoke about straw-bale housing and community and his being part of the community at Badger. Robert Mertens showed us many of his images and talked about his new licensing initiative for these initiatives. We saw many gorgeous, large prints as well as an image woven into a beautiful tapestry. Dainuri Rott gave a presentation on the new electric bike that he has developed. Better yet, he wheeled the bike in to show us the various features of this electric bike, which he had initially developed for his father. Now he’s planning to market it generally to seniors. Dainuri says it will enable them to pedal if they want to get some exercise, yet also will provide motor assistance when needed. Many of us tried the bike, riding up the hill at Badger! Susannah Rosenthal entertained us with a lively and amusing presentation of her joint efforts with SES International Chair Sachlan Fraval to produce websites that integrate the activity of the Wings and provide for many enhanced communications features that will be of great value to all of us. Sulfiati Harris gave us a fascinating description of her experience in her former enterprise, Rainbow Rock. Rachmat Martin told us about Chris LaDue’s new SymStream technology for wireless ATM transactions and wireless FPOS (Financial Point of Sale). This exciting new technology is currently being launched in Indonesia, India, North and South Africa, and elsewhere. It looks as though it will have an enormous impact on the world of wireless communications. And we presented our community cluster project. This is an energy-centered industrial cluster fuelled by municipal solid waste, sewage, and other wastes. It will also produce biodiesel, organic fruit and vegetables, fish, and electricity. The jobs created will enable the building of a whole community. One aspect of the meeting was that a number of attendees contributed to a book table the titles of books that had been particularly helpful to them in their work. We are hoping that a list of these books might be made available to a wider audience, as many of the books are extraordinarily useful in an enterprise context. During the afternoons, we networked, and/or enjoyed various recreational activities. Of course, the Seven Circles retreat in Badger, California is the perfect setting for this kind of meeting. For example, on the first afternoon we all drove up to Hume Lake in the Sequoia national park. There were plenty of swimmers in the group who got to enjoy the warm lake in the unbeatable pristine surroundings of the national park. The weather was perfect, the food was great, and the company -- well, it’s always a happy experience to see Subud family and old friends again! Hanafi and Levana Fraval |