Money Workshop - Brighton November 25, 2007

last time round:
we ran a couple of workshops in June - one in London, one in Brighton. topics covered included:
- whether tweaking the money system would help us tackle the environmental crisis
- how banks create money out of nothing and why we let them
- why money works like a mirror (but you see what's going on in your head not on your face)
- how to stop money from getting in the way of what you want to do

you should come if:
you're trying to figure out how to align your work set-up with your money set-up. particularly if you are thinking of starting up a business, or have started up a business.
particularly if your priorities include any of these sorts of things:
* get paid for doing really creative work that feels satisfying.
* feel like 'the money bit' is the easiest part of the work you do
* tackle social and/or environmental problems, without feeling like 'the money' is pulling in a different direction
* work out how to incorporate money into a new style of working (because you're working in an emerging area or because you're switching careers)

or, if you have a particular burning question about money that you would like to tackle.

what we'd be doing in the workshop:
talking about how and why money works
peter'll introduce the fundamentals of the work he's been doing for the last 20-odd years (you can dig around his site to get the idea).
i'll talk a bit about what i've been working on over the last year (about how money, stories, nature, work and community relate to each other - and why that might be useful)

money set-up problem solving.
it's possible to get endlessly caught up in theories of money. harvard economist joseph schumpeter apparently spent 40 years working on one book about money...and then gave up.
so, we'll try to keep things practical and work through specific questions to do with money. in previous workshops, this has ranged from "why are meetings to talk about money more daunting than normal meetings" to "how do i incorporate money into my artistic practice without it corrupting it". if you have a specific question around money and work, this would be the time to bring it up.

eating lunch.
near the workshop venue. together or separately.

money exercises
there are a few specific money exercises that we may or may not do as part of the workshop. there's a great one based on 'the findhorn money game' (something like this: http://depts.washington.edu/eqhlth/pages/money_game.pdf )
another is working through a set of questions to compile a 'money biography'. this can be a lot more helpful than talking in the abstract (and you don't have to tell anyone else your answer).

probably going to the pub afterwards.

what you might get out of the workshop:
* next time someone says "we have to do this because of the money" or "we need to get the money so we can...", you might be able to say "that's not necessarily the case". and then come up with a great way of designing around seemingly insurmountable problems.
* you'll enjoy opening bills / filing tax returns / sending invoices / negotiating fees.
* you'll have some tools for designing creative/social/environmental/professional projects that incorporate money in inventive ways.

what people said after the last workshop:

"The workshop was great. it has been on my mind a lot since then, and do really think it was of benefit...The price was right, and it was a good day."

"I feel it's given me more confidence to continue or do more of the things I was doing already, which is good."

"It was immensely beneficial to partake in this workshop...for a
one-day format I think it covered a lot of ground and was a perfect seed
planting."

They also said they wanted to have some written documentation to take away, more practical exercises and a shorter introduction at the beginning of the day. So, it'll be more like that this time....

what it costs:

whatever you would like to pay.
(if you'd be more comfortable with a set fee, email me on [email protected] and I'll make one up.)