The 2014 International Holistic Centers’ Gathering at The Haven on Gabriola Island is now less than two months away. If you have not registered yet, please do so soon!
You can register by contacting The Haven’s registration office by phone (1 800 222 91-211 x 1) or by email (register@haven.ca). There is a member of staff (Morag, Tina, Cindy or Naomi) in our registration office from 9am to 6pm Pacific Time seven days a week.
I am now in the process of putting the agenda for the Gathering together, and I would love your input. My experience of the Gatherings has taught me that there are three great benefits to attending:
The opportunity to meet representatives from other centres and find out more about them and their centre.
- The sharing of best practices in centre management and organization.
- The chance to see and experience the work of the host centre and the place where it is located.
The 2014 agenda will weave all of the elements above together, and will be even better with your input.
Every year there are a number of general centre issues that get covered at the Gathering, which include the following:
- Mission/vision/values
- Future of centres
- Sustainability
- Residential students/volunteers
- Staffing
- Marketing and media
- Fundraising, capital campaigns, board development
- Successes, struggles, general ‘feel’
- Growth – who wants it, needs it and how to get it
- Best practices in guest services
- Conscious Community/Conscious Centre – definitions, delights, difficulties
- Human resources – best practices
- Education and programming
- Governance and decision making
- Holistic leadership
I would like to hear from you if you think there is something important missing from this list. Or if there are issues on this list that are more important than others. I would also love to hear from anyone with experience and passion for a particular topic who might like to facilitate a session. Please contact me by email (rachel@haven.ca) if there is anything that you would like to contribute to the agenda of the 2014 Gathering or a wish that you hope we can fulfil while you are here.
And just as a reminder, if you are not a centre representative and you want to know more about how holistic centres work, join us for A Peek Behind the Scenes: discussions on starting, running and growing a holistic centre. Don’t miss out on the opportunity of learning from six representatives (with over 100 years combined experience) from 5 centres which have been in existence for more than 200 years! This workshop will run from April 11-14 and you can find out more by following this link to The Haven web site (http://www.haven.ca/programs/a-peek-behind-the-scenes.html)
Rachel Davey
Executive Director
The Haven
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