About us
A range of evolving events to inspire, enliven, enlighten, and empower.
Because many heads are better than one (read more about that here)
From the creator of THOUGHT EXPERIMENTS IN PUBS and THE SUNRISE CLUB
Everyone is welcome.
Open for collaboration.
Upcoming events
9
CREATIVE COMMUNITY BUILDING: IRL SOCIAL • Theme: AUTHENTICITY
The Southbank Centre, Belvedere Rd, Lambeth, London SE1 8XX, London, GBFormerly 'THE HEARTH', this event has evolved... (you can read the story and rationale here)
CREATIVE COMMUNITY BUILDING is
A community for people interested in building community 😊HOW IT WORKS:
The IRL SOCIAL is a place to meet and exchange ideas with fellow community builders in person.(The other dimension to CREATIVE COMMUNITY BUILDING is a weekly online ‘VIRTUAL CAFE’, which is more focussed on workshopping ideas, challenges, and practices. You can find the first VIRTUAL CAFE here.)
The IRL SOCIAL is largely unstructured, but we will always have a theme or a prompt to get conversations going. This time the theme is: AUTHENTICITY.
I will share a few related questions in the comments on the day.My working model of community building includes 4 stages: STARTING, BUILDING, SUSTAINING, and EVOLVING. (These are not linear, but cyclical because when your community reaches the ‘evolving’ stage, it's also ‘starting’ a new chapter.)
Based on feedback from previous sessions, people sometimes find it useful to talk to others who are at the same stage as them, so I will give everyone the opportunity to organise in this way initially. (This is optional.)
I will invite the group to shuffle around a couple of times so we don’t miss out on meeting a range of people. The rest of the evening will be unstructured space to:
- Continue conversations
- Discuss collaborations
- Share tips
- Get to know each other
- Get to know about each others’ respective communities
NOTES ON THE GENERAL ATMOSPHERE:
- Laid back, light, fun
- Respectful of each other's time, views, ideas
- Generous listening and low pressure sharing
WHERE WE'LL MEET:
Due to unpredictable group sizes with free events, I’m going to start off with holding these socials in public spaces rather than booked rooms. This can comes with an element of unpredictable London chaos (i.e. background noise, weather, etc.), so please be up for that if you decide to come along.On this occasion, the plan is for us to meet at The Southbank Centre on Level 2, near the Festival Bar & Kitchen. If the weather is good, we might relocate outside. I will let you know the exact location in the comments below on the day.
WHO SHOULD COME:
Everyone with an interest in community. This group is not about being experts, it is about learning together. That is, bringing our various experiences and lenses on the world together to support, inspire, and uplift one another. The more perspectives, the richer the conversation.YOUR HOST:
I'm Bonny. I've created a couple of successful communities (e.g. THOUGHT EXPERIMENTS IN PUBS & THE SUNRISE CLUB) and have a lot of experience hosting groups in a range of places (from prison and hospitals, to private events). I'm always learning and my best ideas come out of conversations with others :-). You can read some of my thoughts on community building here.One of my inspirations for community building is the Ancient Greek Goddess, Hestia:
Hestia is the goddess of the hearth (hence the former name for this group). She is also the goddess of community, hospitality towards strangers, home, and warmth. Known for her inner strength, calm demeanour, and commitment to peace, I think Hestia embodies qualities that can be very helpful when cultivating community! 🔥 I’m curious to hear who/what your influences are 😊WHATSAPP GROUP - stay in the loop
SUBSTACK - sign up for the newsletterI'm looking forward to meeting you and hearing your ideas!
If you would like to further support these meetups, you can do so here: https://buymeacoffee.com/bonnyastor
Thank you!52 attendees
CREATIVE COMMUNITY BUILDING: VIRTUAL CAFE
·OnlineOnlineA community for people interested in building community 😊
(If you're interested in the story behind this meetup, you can read it here.)
HOW IT WORKS:
This event is the VIRTUAL CAFE: a weekly, online opportunity to think creatively about community building with other interested individuals. It is a space to share learning, workshop challenges, and develop new practices.
(The other dimension to CREATIVE COMMUNITY BUILDING is THE SOCIAL. This is an in person opportunity to meet and exchange ideas with fellow community builders. You can find the April social here and the June social here.)
During the VIRTUAL CAFE, we will:
- Introduce ourselves and our communities
- Brainstorm a few key issues for the day
- Split into breakout rooms to discuss these issues (one breakout room will be for free flowing conversations if none of the issues feel relevant to you)
- Halfway through, shuffle breakout rooms to change conversations up
- Come back together for final thoughts.
NOTES ON THE GENERAL ATMOSPHERE:
- Laid back, creative, thoughtful
- Respectful of each other's time, views, ideas
- Generous listening and low pressure sharing
WHERE WE'LL MEET:
Online! (Having sworn to avoid online meetings at all costs post-pandemic, I can now see advantages to an online version of this event:- I’d love to meet community builders from around the world.
- My IRL events have had long waiting lists due to space constraints, but with an online meeting, no such constraints exist.
- When you're meeting first thing in the morning, its easier to do it online, than in person (unless you're a member of THE SUNRISE CLUB)
The link to join will be posted via private comment the day before the event, so you’ll need to RSVP in order to see it.
If you hate online more than I do, check out our IRL meeting: CREATIVE COMMUNITY BUILDING: THE SOCIAL
WHO SHOULD COME:
Everyone with an interest in community. This group is not about being experts, it is about learning together. That is, bringing our various experiences and lenses on the world together to support, inspire, and uplift one another. The more perspectives, the richer the conversation.YOUR HOST:
I'm Bonny. I've created a couple of successful communities (e.g. THOUGHT EXPERIMENTS IN PUBS & THE SUNRISE CLUB) and have a lot of experience hosting groups in a range of places (from prison and hospitals, to private events). I'm always learning and my best ideas come out of conversations with others :-). You can read some of my thoughts on community building here.One of my role models for community building is the Ancient Greek Goddess, Hestia:
Hestia is the goddess of the hearth (hence the former name for this group). She is also the goddess of community, hospitality towards strangers, home, and warmth. Known for her inner strength, calm demeanour, and commitment to peace, I think Hestia embodies qualities that can be very helpful when cultivating community! 🔥 I’m curious to hear who/what your influences are 😊WHATSAPP GROUP - stay in the loop
SUBSTACK - sign up for the newsletterI'm looking forward to meeting you and hearing your ideas!
7 attendeesCREATIVE COMMUNITY BUILDING: VIRTUAL CAFE
·OnlineOnlineA community for people interested in building community 😊
(If you're interested in the story behind this meetup, you can read it here.)
HOW IT WORKS:
This event is the VIRTUAL CAFE: a weekly, online opportunity to think creatively about community building with other interested individuals. It is a space to share learning, workshop challenges, and develop new practices.
(The other dimension to CREATIVE COMMUNITY BUILDING is THE SOCIAL. This is an in person opportunity to meet and exchange ideas with fellow community builders. You can find the April social here and the June social here.)
During the VIRTUAL CAFE, we will:
- Introduce ourselves and our communities
- Brainstorm a few key issues for the day
- Split into breakout rooms to discuss these issues (one breakout room will be for free flowing conversations if none of the issues feel relevant to you)
- Halfway through, shuffle breakout rooms to change conversations up
- Come back together for final thoughts.
NOTES ON THE GENERAL ATMOSPHERE:
- Laid back, creative, thoughtful
- Respectful of each other's time, views, ideas
- Generous listening and low pressure sharing
WHERE WE'LL MEET:
Online! (Having sworn to avoid online meetings at all costs post-pandemic, I can now see advantages to an online version of this event:- I’d love to meet community builders from around the world.
- My IRL events have had long waiting lists due to space constraints, but with an online meeting, no such constraints exist.
- When you're meeting first thing in the morning, its easier to do it online, than in person (unless you're a member of THE SUNRISE CLUB)
The link to join will be posted via private comment the day before the event, so you’ll need to RSVP in order to see it.
If you hate online more than I do, check out our IRL meeting: CREATIVE COMMUNITY BUILDING: THE SOCIAL
WHO SHOULD COME:
Everyone with an interest in community. This group is not about being experts, it is about learning together. That is, bringing our various experiences and lenses on the world together to support, inspire, and uplift one another. The more perspectives, the richer the conversation.YOUR HOST:
I'm Bonny. I've created a couple of successful communities (e.g. THOUGHT EXPERIMENTS IN PUBS & THE SUNRISE CLUB) and have a lot of experience hosting groups in a range of places (from prison and hospitals, to private events). I'm always learning and my best ideas come out of conversations with others :-). You can read some of my thoughts on community building here.One of my role models for community building is the Ancient Greek Goddess, Hestia:
Hestia is the goddess of the hearth (hence the former name for this group). She is also the goddess of community, hospitality towards strangers, home, and warmth. Known for her inner strength, calm demeanour, and commitment to peace, I think Hestia embodies qualities that can be very helpful when cultivating community! 🔥 I’m curious to hear who/what your influences are 😊WHATSAPP GROUP - stay in the loop
SUBSTACK - sign up for the newsletterI'm looking forward to meeting you and hearing your ideas!
1 attendee
REGISTER INTEREST: ZINE MAKING with LESS STRESS PRESS: cultivate creativity
Central London TBC, London, GBA special event to share the creative practice of zine making 💭✍️✂️🎨📖
N.B. We are gauging interest for this workshop before confirming final details. Please RSVP 'Attending' if you are interested!
IN A NUTSHELL, zine making creates opportunities to:
- spend time exploring ideas
- hone in on something you love or care about: a cause, a message, a skill, a place (the possibilities are endless)
- get creative with collage, drawing, writing, printmaking (etc.)
- produce compelling and unique booklets that you can print cheaply and share with friends and strangers offline
After lots of creative brainstorming of their own, Bonny and Ellie have landed on zine making as the perfect way to both open up space for playful, low stakes creativity, and focus their minds on bite sized projects. You will soon be able to see some of their zines here.
They’re excited to share with you!IN THIS WORKSHOP, we will:
- Introduce the practice
- Share some examples: brief history of zine making, LessStressPress examples
- Get to know each other’s interests
- Brainstorm using collage and scribbles: get into a low stakes, creative headspace
- Use a template to plot our zines: 2 covers and 6 pages of content
- Design our first zines (everything is possible with analogue materials, but if you love digital design, bring a laptop)
- Sharing circles
- Optional finale:
- Visit the print shop visit together
- Print copies of our new zines
- LESS STRESS PRESS Pop Up Shop: hand out copies of our new zines to strangers :-)
BY THE END OF THE DAY, we'll have
- learned a new practice to spark creativity and clarify thinking
- met a new group of people and learned about the things they care enough to make a zine about
- had some thought provoking conversations
- produced our own original zines, ready to share :-)
NOTES ON THE GENERAL ATMOSPHERE:
Although we’ll be learning a new practice we'll also be aiming to have an enjoyable day, with good humour and fun. This will be less like school and more like a relaxed hang out in a café with an additional creative twist.WHO SHOULD COME:
Everyone! We believe that the more perspectives, the richer the experience. This group is not about being experts, it is about thinking creatively together and learning new ways to develop and communicate ideas.N.B. We are gauging interest for this workshop before confirming final details. Please RSVP 'Attending' if you’re interested!
SUBSTACK - newsletter and reflections
WHATSAPP GROUP - stay in the loop
INSTAGRAM - see what we look like
WEBSITE - everything else
#creativity #inclusivity #openmindedness #creativepractices #community #newskills #zinemaking10 attendees
Past events
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