One way the news business is trying to survive in the get-it-free-online age is by creating "hyperlocal" news sites with low operating costs and, often, volunteer writers. Who could be you.
AOL is in this game with Patch.com. AOL says it will expand the Patch network to more than 500 localities by the end of 2010 and hire 500 journalists as local editors to supervise the writers. "Patch will be the largest hirer of full-time journalists in the United States this year," AOL claims.
The editor of the Patch for Santa Cruz, California, wrote an article herself about a Poly 101 workshop given by longtime poly educators Dawn Davidson and Akien MacIain:
Duo works with growing Santa Cruz poly community to conquer issues like time management and jealousy
By Ruth Schneider
Polyamory is not for the faint of heart, nor is it for those with lousy communication skills.
That was the message conveyed Wednesday night by the instructors of "Simultaneous Lovin': Intro to Polyamory," held at Pure Pleasure downtown boutique.
"You have to be up for complexity to handle polyamory," said Akien MacIain, an Bay Area native and former partner of fellow class instructor Dawn Davidson.
..."Polyamory is like a crucible in which your relationships get concentrated," [Davidson] said.
The more than a dozen participants who filled Pure Pleasure on Wednesday evening were seeking more than the basics. Participants brainstormed topics that ran the gamut from time management to partner criteria selection to the most persistently discussed issue in polyamory workshops: jealousy. (In fact, they teach an entire workshop on that subject alone.)
...MacIain is clear on what he sees as his goals for the class.
"Relationships don't have to look a static way," he said. "They can change over time. We're trying to make this available to people who are interested so they don't have to stumble around in the dark like we did."
Read the whole article (Oct. 15, 2010).
BTW, Dawn is giving a workshop at Loving More's Poly Living West conference outside Seattle this weekend. I'm about to head off there! (And yes, there's still room to sign up for the conference. Day passes also available.)
Dawn and Akien were married for many years, but ended their bond with a "hand-parting" ceremony that was attended by family and friends. They still work together on public education projects.
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Hi Alan: Thanks for the kind words! It's interesting, I was just reading about "hyperlocal" news yesterday, on the plane up to Seattle. And here I've already been part of the phenomenon!
ReplyDeleteI also wanted to let folks know that in addition to presenting at the Poly Living West conference, I'll also be presenting here in Seattle on 10/26/10, at the Sharma Center. So if folks can't make it to the conference--or just can't get enough of me!--there's another opportunity. Here's the link to the event on the Sharma Center Website:
http://www.sharmacenter.org/main/index.php?option=com_jevents&task=icalrepeat.detail&evid=10896&Itemid=2&year=2010&month=10&day=26&uid=4b4f99920e8f89c78d47a343ffac4808&catids=2
FYI, I'll be co-presenting with my lover Gary on Saturday at the conference, on "Wandering Hearts: Long Distance Poly Relationships." And then on Tuesday at the Sharma Center, I'll be presenting "Creating Empowering Relationship Agreements."
Thanks also for the note about Akien's and my handparting. It was quite an experience to write and participate in that ceremony, and I think it has gone a long way toward helping me, our friends, and our community adjust to this transition. It's been so powerful, and I'm so convinced that our culture needs more thoughtfulness around transitions, that I'm brainstorming with another woman about doing a workshop on conscious relationship endings. I'll probably promote it on my Facebook Page: http://www.facebook.com/LoveOTB, and possibly on the new webside she and I bought, http://www.heartfulcommunications.com/. Watch this space! ;^)