Leading up to spending lots of time laughing together, we’d like to encourage you to be careful about Covid. We are coming together from all over and all want to stay healthy. Some of the folks attending have a lower immune response or a different risk profile, and we ask that you level up your caution for the next few days to lower the overall risk to the community. Consider wearing a mask inside public buildings and stores, or skipping that crowded restaurant, or generally just being over-cautious a few days before.

When you arrive, head to the registration table and Covid testing station in the Art Barn (the barn that’s right in front of you when you come in the driveway). Please go to the Art Barn directly after you park your car to check in before you enter any other buildings. We’ll ask to see your vaccination card, and you can either show a photo of a negative rapid test result from earlier that day, or you can take a test there in the barn (we will have a few on hand, but if you can bring your own that would be awesome). 

After you’ve tested, we’ll get you signed in and give you your info packet. If you’re new, there’ll be someone on hand to show you around and answer any questions you may have.

If you arrive after 6:00 pm and no one is in the barn, please wear a mask when entering the building and ask someone to find April to check you in.

We also ask everyone to re-test daily at the conference. These precautions are in place so that we can have a maskless Spring the rest of the time. If you are more comfortable wearing a mask indoors, please do. The hope is that together, we’ll facilitate an environment where we all find it easy to do what we need to feel safe.

(Yes, it’s shorter than usual. Read on for more details.)

Spring has been struggling to break even financially for many years, due simply to attendance and the basic cost of the conference. Therefore, we will run a 6-day conference. (The usual 8-day conference is totally out of reach, financially.)

We don’t actually have quite enough money for a 6-day conference. If you want (and are able) to donate to Spring, you can do so here: https://www.springsummercamp.org/asp-products/donate-to-spring/

Our optimistic belief is that this shorter conference is a one-time stopgap. We’re committed to making it as dreamy as possible, and we’re so happy to be co-creating community with you this summer.

At Spring, we value a culture of purposeful inclusion and value the diversity of racial and cultural identity and background, nationality, sexual and affectional orientation, gender identity and its expression, religious background and belief, marital status, family structure, age, mental and physical health and ability, political perspective, and educational and class status.

Hello Spring,

We are so excited to see you all in just 6 days!

What’s happening on Friday night?

Arrival this year starts at 5pm on Friday (but please let us know if you’re interested in coming earlier to help with pre-site setup.)

When you get here at 5:00, head to the registration table to sign in and pick up your welcome packet. If you’re new, there will be someone to show you around and help you get settled. After you arrive, take some time to claim a bed, nest, make a mailbag, and catch up with friends.

We’ll be having dinner on Friday a little later than usual, at 7:00, and we encourage people to continue eating when Opening Circle/orientation starts at 7:30.

Please let us know if you will be arriving later than 7:30.

 If you still need help finding a ride to Spring, or if you have room in your vehicle to offer someone a ride, send Bryce an email (bryceltaylor@gmail.com) or add your info to our transportation spreadsheet.

What should I bring?

 Personal Essentials

 * Clothing for warm days, chilly nights, and possible rain

* Flashlight or headlamp

* Toiletries – whatever you need to get through a week

* Allergy medicine, if needed

* Bug repellent

* Sunblock

* Hat/sunglasses

* Towel

* Refillable water bottle

*Whatever you like to swim in

* Bedding (twin sized blankets, pillows, etc.) and/or a sleeping bag. Be aware that the mattresses are plentiful but plastic-coated and narrow – if this bums you out, pack extra bedding or bring an airbed! Or, pack a tent for a rustic retreat in Adventure Camp.

* A watch, or another way to tell the time that won’t accidentally suck you into the Internet

Community contributions

* Snacks and tea to share. Glen Brook provides meals for the week, but not snacks. Let’s bring the tasty!

* Books for the Spring Library – Anything you’ve been reading that you want to share for the week. What have you been reading that made you think hard, act differently, laugh, cry…?

* Clothes and other items for the Spring Swap. Bring what you no longer need, take whatever catches your fancy.

* Games (board, card, outdoor…) and other fun group activities.

* We are looking for some Yearbook photographers who can volunteer to bring a camera, and help make sure we get photos of everyone that wants to be included – let someone on staff know if you’re willing to help out!

*Nesting materials. Bring extra pillows, blankets, fairy lights, fabric, etc. to make some dreamy, cozy spaces.

 Workshop supplies

* Take a look at the weeklong workshops listed on the website and bring anything you need for the workshop you want to take. Any extra action figures, dolls, or figurines you have to donate to Zareiff’s workshop are appreciated.

*Your plans and materials for one-shot workshops. Contact Kat (katmclellan@gmail.com) with any questions or ideas.

* Some cereal-box type lightweight cardboard. It will become fancy masks for dance party!

 

For Specific Activities

*Clothes that you can move in and don’t mind getting a little dirty or wet, for a wacky version of elementary school Field Day. Bonus (made-up) points for team spirit!

* Costumes and decorations for Sunday night’s dance party. This year’s theme is “Garden of Earthly Delights.” Definitely weirder than your average garden party…

* Your talents, instruments, etc. for Coffee House on Thursday night (note: talents not actually necessary to perform)

* Art for the Community Art Gallery (during Coffee House) Bring something you’ve made during the past year, or display something you make at Spring.

* Some fancy clothing for a soiree dinner…with a side of murder!!! (Happening on Tuesday)

As one final note, we discourage the use of electronic devices in the common areas at Spring. Take this as an opportunity to unplug and leave your laptops/tablets/etc. behind.

Spring is in the air!

Samantha, Kat, Martha, and Dave

Custom Painting GI Joes (and other figures) with Zareiff

(weekend-long workshop)

I’ll hope to be able to share skills and techniques I’ve learned from customizing and painting GI Joes— skills which can be applied to figures/figurines in general— and de-sexualizing Bratz dolls, etc. Bring your action figures, dolls, and figurines, and we’ll have some here, too.  I will have my own paints, which can be shared sparingly, but if you have your own ACRYLIC model paints, bring them. If you have fine tip paint brushes, bring those too! (Enamel paint will not cure on rubbery plastics; cheap crafting acrylics do not adhere well, and flake off, but can be mixed with higher quality acrylic paints.)

 

Electronic Space Noise Machines with Joshua and Dave

Hey, you want to make some weird, skronky, digital machines that make space noises? We’ll be building instruments with Arduinos that we can argue might be musical instruments, and that the noiz coming out of them might be considered music! I’m bringing basic parts, but if you have electronic noise-making toys, we can also see if we can coax interesting sounds out of them for your instruments. I’m sure that Furby has been wanting to say something other than what it’s been saying!

 

Please bring corded headphones!

 

Radical Community-Building with Lydia & Kat

We’ve been reading some exciting books! One is Emergent Strategy: “a lyrical, explorative, non-linear journey of … a concept [brown] defines as ‘how we intentionally change in ways that grow our capacity to embody the just and liberated worlds we long for’” (Colorlines). Another is Joyful Militancy: “Anger and rage rightly, inevitably drive militants, the authors argue, but we must also discover joy and friendship in struggle, which are our highest rewards” (Michael Hardt). We want to talk about what it would mean to put these ideas into action – and then, to put these ideas into action. No pre-knowledge of either book required!

 

Springer Space Program with Will

Ever want to play with explosives*? Think you’ve got what it takes to help Spring achieve new heights? Really love the sound: FWWWSSSSSSHHHHHHHHhhhhhh…..? And/or are you at all feeling crafty? Well COME ON DOWN to the Springer Space Program (SSP)! We’re gonna be located in the state-of-the-art** VAB*** except on days when we roll prototypes out to the launchpad****. This is the opportunity to be part of history. (Seriously, last time we launched part of a Volvo; now Elon Musk is putting a roadster in orbit around Mars. You’re welcome for that idea, buddy.)  Come lend your technical knowhow, artistic savoir faire, or passion for zoom and pushing buttons to our talented rocket team!

 

Motors and most materials provided.  Brief education on the aerodynamics of rockets to be provided (I swear this worked in Kerbal Space Program).

 

* All explosive material is properly labeled and safely handled.

** “art” see what I did there?

*** Vehicle Assembly Barn (see above)

**** Launches require relatively low wind, clear skies and no low cloud cover. There is the possibility of zero launch days. If the first day is a good launch day we’ll bring prebuilt rockets so that we can put stuff in the air.

 

Walking around and Drawing Things with April

What it says on the tin. We’ll walk in the woods, or around Glen Brook, or inside the house if the weather’s bad, and stop periodically for timed drawing. We’ll decide where we want to walk and how much time for each of the drawings together.

(v1.0 4/18/17)

This document is intended to illustrate and explain the envisioned conflict resolution pathway for general attendees during the Spring conference.  The essence of the envisioned system involves establishing a corps of volunteer mediators who are identified ahead of time as people who may be approached by attendees for assistance with interpersonal conflicts that may arise during the normal course of the conference.  This document will outline the envisioned processes, explaining each in detail, and then address the design constraints given to the Conflict Resolution Working Group by Staff as of December 2016.

Because of its attention to detail, this document will make the process feel more bureaucratic than it will feel in execution.  The vast majority of the working pieces of this process will be seamless parts of a natural conversation.  What rules and breaking points that do exist are important to protect the participants in the process from obvious failure modes.

Figure 1 – Conflict Resolution Pathway (see pdf for graphic)

The Conflict Resolution Pathway

It is an unquestionable fact of life that people can come into disagreement.  Many of these disagreement, no doubt, resolve immediately or as a result of the interpersonal skills of the parties involved.  Not all disagreements that occur, however, fall within this scope.

In the event that individuals at Spring find themselves in a conflict that damages their ability to enjoy the conference and that they are unable to resolve on their own, a group of volunteers shall have been selected and identified at the start of the conference to be available for counseling, coaching, and mediation.  For the purposes of this document, this group shall be referred to as the Spring Conflict Team or ‘CT;’ members of this group as Conflict Team Members or ‘CTM’s.

For the remainder of the discussion of this pathway, a hypothetical disagreement is assumed to have occurred between two people: A and B.  A is the individual seeking assistance/intervention.  The details of the disagreement are unimportant, and if both parties seek mediation together, the process is the same regardless of which is considered A and which B.

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