Thanks, Lisa.

I am at this moment putting together a presentation, actually, because have been invited by a Professor of History at USM to give a short talk next semester.

So I could use this group as my laboratory, if you all wouldn't mind?

Part of it would entail trying to keep the time to a minimum.

Mike - I think that's a great idea. John/others, OK with you? Since O'Naturals sorta wants us out by 8:30, maybe we could start at 6:30 instead of 7pm this time....

[ok, back to stacking wood now....it's gorgeous outside]

I'll probably be there. I'm not sure if I'll film though. I've been thinking about the filmed group discussion, and I know it simply can't work outside of a studio.

Mike talking on the 11th is good, but is there any chance that we could save the discussion for december and have it take place in the SMCC studio? It'll have lots of pretty lighting. So much as 4 people would be great! Obviously more would be better.

Hi, all!

Sorry I've been absent lately. I've been deeply involved in the Maine Won't Discriminate campaign to prevent the repeal of the anti-discrimination law (yea for us!!), so I've been doing hardly anything else lately and now this month's meeting has kind of snuck up on me!

I just confirmed with O'Natural's, and she agreed that 8:30 is okay. I like the idea of listening and giving feedback to Mike's presentation, maybe also giving feedback to Ian about his script, as well as meeting at SMCC for Ian's filming in December. Meeting at 6:30 this time would be okay with me, but I'm a little concerned about moving up the time at this late date. (Entirely my fault.) However, what if we discussed Ian's script first, from 6:30 to 7, then started Mike's presentation at 7? I'm assuming it doesn't matter so much if not everyone's there for the script discussion, and that it doesn't need to have as much time dedicated to it.

I'll update the meeting details tomorrow morning to reflect all this, so hopefully if you have any better suggestions, you'll see this and reply to it tonight. Thanks for carrying the discussion forward, y'all!

As I indicated in my last message, I like the idea of doing Ian's filming at SMCC for December's meeting. But I also want to be sensitive to people who don't want to be filmed. So I'd like to offer the following suggestions.

Ian: Can you use the camera such that only a certain half or so of the room is visible to it? That way if people don't want to appear on film, they can sit in the "dark" half of the room, camera-wise. Also, would you be willing to shut off recording altogether, temporarily, if people request that?

People: Are you comfortable having an option to sit out of view of the camera, keeping in mind that your off-camera voice would still be recorded? Would you be willing to use some kind of "shut off recording" signal if you want to say something that you don't want recorded even audio-only?

We can discuss this at the November meeting if we have time, for the benefit of those not online.

- John

I'm OK with the schedule you present. I'm slapping together the draft of my talk now.

Secondly, I've been to functions that have been filmed, and it's usually pretty easy to adjust seating arrangements so those that don't want to be filmed can be out of the frame. I'd hate to see anyone miss next month's meeting out of discomfort with a camera in the room.

I would like to discuss coal sometime. Since it is the most plentiful of fuels for which we already have a well-developed infrastructure in place, it would seem an okay direction if not for that pesky CO2/climate change issue (and some other pollutants). Dubya and his ilk claim that it can now be burned "cleanly", or could be with slightly more research, but I need to hear more details before either confirming or overcoming my natural inclination to dismiss it. I need to be more knowledgable about it in case I get in a discussion with a proponent of it sometime.

ALL: Let's try to generate some more specific meeting ideas. We have 29 people signed up on this group, and I suspect it would be more attractive to them to see actual topics being planned, even if not all topics will appeal to everyone. It doesn't have to take up the whole meeting.

If we can get a speaker on a topic, great! If not, we can at least decide on a topic and come prepared to share any research we've done about it.

Some ideas:

* Feasibility of various alternative energies (that's at least a year's worth of topics right there, discussing each at a single meeting)

* Green building

Yes, content drives attendance.

Also, I heard a rumor that the new film from The Community Solution is now available regarding Cuba's [albeit different] experience with energy descent. Screening that for our June meet up would get some good attendance, I think. Haven't heard any reviews of it yet....

I've been thinking about this.

Something that is really gaining steam and is worth a discussion is the concept of Energy Descent. When I was in Europe last year, groups who had really taken on the Peak Oil issue were moving into organizing plans (personal? community? larger entity?) for a period of using less energy but still maintaining the best parts of the world we live in.

Doesn't Maine need an Energy Descent Plan?

Anyway, it is a good topic for discussion. Here are some links:
http://www.energybull...
http://www.energybull...
http://eatthestate.or...
http://www.planputnam...