Category: Fall Conference

2016 Fall Conference

Fall Conference, Past Event

Registration and Information about the 2017 Fall Conference should be available by mid June

The information below is from the 2016 Fall Conference

Superheroes

Unlocking your secret superpowers
to live whole-heartedly and change the world.

3 hearts

Greg Walloch, Keynote Speaker

September 22 – 25, 2016

At The Mountain Retreat and Learning Center, Highlands, NC

Three Nights: $398.90
Four Nights: $489.64

My Dear GSV Family,

It is with great excitement that I announce who our keynote speaker is for the Fall Conference.

Greg Walloch is an internationally renowned comedian, writer and storyteller whose live solo shows have toured in Moscow, Toronto, Vancouver, London, Ireland, Germany, Australia, Poland, Scotland, Tel Aviv and in various festivals across the United States. As an openly gay artist with a disability, he uses humor to expose cultural and social fault lines. Greg is best known for his comedic autobiographical stories which deal with events from his own life in a style characterized by sharp wit, poignancy, and sexuality.

Greg is passionate about bringing together community through storytelling. He strongly believes that sharing our personal narrative has the power to change not only our own lives, but the lives of those around us. He regularly teaches concepts from his master class The Alchemy of Storytelling. Some of Walloch’s engagements have included the American Repertory Theater at Harvard University, George Washington University, University of California at Berkeley, New York University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Loyola Marymount University, Newton High School of the Performing Arts in Sydney,Australia, Escuela Campo Alegre in Venezuela, and The Calhoun School in New York City, among others.

Greg hosts the popular monthly live meta-food storytelling show Eat Your Wordswhich can currently be seen every first Thursday of the month at The Standard, Hollywood, California. He currently resides and works in Los Angeles, California.

I’ve long followed Greg’s career and am so thrilled to have him joining us on The Mountain in September. I hope you all are as thrilled and excited as I am.

If you haven’t registered yet, please do so this week or next to ensure you have a spot. Additional details are forthcoming.

Much love to all of you,
Thunder (Mark),
Fall Conference Convener

Read More About the 2016 Fall Conference>>
Register for the 2016 Fall Conference>

2016 Fall Conference

Fall Conference, Past Event

Registration and Information about the 2017 Fall Conference should be available by mid June

The information below is from the 2016 Fall Conference

Superheroes

Unlocking your secret superpowers
to live whole-heartedly and change the world.

3 hearts

September 22 – 25, 2016

At The Mountain Retreat and Learning Center, Highlands, NC

Three Nights: $398.90
Four Nights: $489.64

My Dear GSV Family,

During the early morning hours of June 12, 2016, a gunman entered the Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Florida, killed 49 members of our LGBT community, and injured another 50. The media as well as politicians continue to debate what the Orlando incident means in regard to gun control, terrorism, and homeland security policy. But we in the LGBT community knew all too well that at the core of this horrible incident was another hate crime targeting our community. In the weeks following the Orlando incident, and after the vigils and the grieving, many of us are left questioning if we are ever safe. Many of us are wondering how to handle the anger we have at the ongoing racism and homophobia that spurs such terrible tragedy. Many of us are asking “how are men of spirit to respond to such a thing?”

After many months of planning, the focus of our 2016 Fall Conference has shifted and solidified in the wake of the Orlando tragedy.

Over the course of three days we will come together and work toward unlocking our secret superpowers. How will we be doing this? We’ll be doing this through skill building, storytelling, meditation, movement, love, and fellowship. Each and every one of us has at our core the heart of a superhero. We’ll be working to unlock our superhero gifts, remove blockages, and reconnect in ways we’ve never done so before.

Many of your brothers are already working hard to create the 2016 Fall Conference and they share a commitment to create a safe space that encourages personal growth, community connection, hard work, and a lot of fun. As we are finalizing workshops and activities, opportunities remain for additional offerings and input. If the theme of the conference speaks to you and you’d like to present something, or you just want to get involved in making it all happen, please drop me a line at [email protected]. And of course, there will be free time in the schedule should spirit move you to present something once you are at The Mountain.

Over the coming weeks we’ll be sharing more about the theme, activities, and our keynote speaker. We’ll elaborate on which of your favorite fall activities are returning (although with a new spin) and we’ll also have some surprises in store. Watch this page, your email, and/or the GSV Facebook page for announcements and updates!

In the meantime, registration for the GSV 2016 Fall Conference is now open. Please consider registering today! Early registration will assure your spot at this life-affirming and life-changing conference.

Yours in Spirit,
Mark “Thunder” Zumbach
Convener, 2016 Fall Conference

Read More About the 2016 Fall Conference>>
Register for the 2016 Fall Conference>>

2015 Fall Conference: Variety Show

Fall Conference, Past Event

Dear Brothers,

Thank you for registering for the upcoming 2015 GSV Fall Conference, positive anticipation is rising daily. Can you hear the drum roll? The rustle of yards of fabric?

We in the entertainment committee certainly can, and are inviting you to sign up for the 2015 talent show. Performance art is a form of healing, of growth, of sharing and bonding with brothers and as the conference theme suggests, this may well be the wildest show ever!

Cami Delgado
Cami Delgado

Some of you are visual artists, not performers. We’re looking for several visual artists to do signs announcing the different acts. Can we count on you? Let us know.

For the performers, the sign-up sheet will be posted on the bulletin board of the Commons Room (behind the dining room). Please sign up ASAP to assure a spot and please keep in mind the following:

  • Acts must be no longer than 6 minutes. After that, a swarm of stage faeries will make you disappear, it won’t be pretty…we promise.
  • Attending rehearsal is mandatory; no act can appear without rehearsal.
  • For piano accompaniment, please send your sheet music to David Berger in advance [email protected] and schedule one-on-one rehearsal time upon arrival.
  • If you’re using a musical track, please present it to the sound tech at rehearsal.
  • Acts work best when enhanced with costumes, props, music, and movement. Keep this in mind as you prepare your material.
  • Freedom of expression requires that both performers and audience keep an open mind and a sensitive heart; we ask that everyone be mindful of this.

See you at the Mountain!

Cami

2015 Fall Conference: Conversations About Discomfort and Safety

Fall Conference, Past Event

In addition to the two sessions by our Keynote Speaker, Buddy Wakefield, we have four conversations that will be moderated by members of our tribe. The topics are derived from conversations at conferences over the past few years and from online postings that generated significant interest. You’ll be able to attend two of the following conversations:

Scott Dillard
Scott Dillard

The Discomfort and Safety of Surviving
with host Scott Dillard

Since the advent of the HIV/AIDS pandemic, many of us have lost a good number of friends, family, and partners. Some of us have carried on our lives as we witnessed the passing of those we loved and also worried for our health at the same time. Still others have wondered, “Why them and not me?” It is a sort of survivor’s guilt that makes us wonder about our own mortality, the fairness of life, and how we continue to live with loss.

We will engage in a conversation that seeks to honor those we lost, those we carried for, and our own sense of self in these most trying of times. This is more than a chat. We will do some writing, some sketching, some storytelling that uncovers the emotions we each feel as survivors of the plague. Come prepared to share at our own level of comfort and to contemplate the shared sense of community that living through this has meant.

 

Joe Kiser
Joe Kiser & Friend

The Discomfort and Safety of Aging
with host Joe Kiser

As I move from one decade to another, I have experienced many changes on many fronts…and backs. How I experience life has evolved. Emotionally, physically and spiritually. From wild to mild and back to wild again. As my body, mind and spirituality evolve, I am presented with opportunities to embrace, deny or adapt. Additionally, questions have arisen for me. What responsibility, if any, do i have for the next generation? What, if anything, can I offer to future generations?

During this session, I will share some of my experiences and the impact of my decisions and reactions. I would also like to hear the experiences and expectations of others.

 

Greg Hummel
Greg Hummel

The Discomfort and Safety Around the Gender and Sexuality Continuum
with host Greg Hummel

Man, woman, straight, or gay. Do you remember when these were our only options? For some, these identifiers are enough. But for many of us, these labels are limiting and leave us left out of the conversation. At a time in history when women like Caitlyn Jenner and Laverne Cox are creating (much needed) ripples in our social fabric, we sometimes find ourselves struggling to keep up. Come join me in confronting our discomfort around gender identity and sexuality. Together we can create an even safer GSV environment and a safer world.

 

Hunter Flournoy
Hunter Flournoy

The Discomfort and Safety of Victimization and Oppression
with host Hunter Flournoy

Join us for a discussion of our experiences of victimization and oppression, and how we perpetuate these experiences even within our own community by oppressing each other, and projecting the role of oppressor onto each other. Explore how we can step off of the drama triangle and empower ourselves and each other.

2015 Fall Keynote: Buddy Wakefield

Fall Conference
Buddy Wakefield
Buddy Wakefield
2015 Fall Conference Keynote

I embraced an opportunity to experience the spoken-word artistry and storytelling of Buddy Wakefield at an event in Greensboro during his recent World Tour. I wrangled Thunder Zumbach into joining me. I was immediately enamored of Buddy’s authenticity, his openness in sharing his story, his passion for language, and his willingness to be comfortable in his discomfort. The World Tour stopped in Tampa where I encouraged Tim Flood to experience this delicious dance of words and emotion. When I checked my knowingness (in my own dance with Wild Mind, doubting myself plays its role), Tim said, “YES.” Thunder said, “Oh my, YES!” (I figured spirit was saying “YES.” Who has a world tour and stops in Greensboro?)

Most importantly, Buddy said, “YES!” I truly believe if you join us in September you will too! Click on the link below for more information about Buddy, our keynote speaker for 2015, and for highlights of the program for the GSV 2015 Fall Conference: Trusting the Wild Mind: Confronting Discomfort in Our Search for Safety.

 

About Buddy Wakefield

Buddy Wakefield“Buddy Wakefield aims to cause a disarming de-haunting of accidents. He is pursuing a career in judgment suspension but sometimes wants to blend in so badly he forgets his purpose and worries that everyone else is doing it right, or wrong. He once sat on top of the whole world and told it jokes about the ocean until everybody crumbled into tattoos of bakeries. It smelled good. Felt right. We laughed. So much. Sometimes, he studies propellers because they can make themselves invisible. Buddy has collected enough humongous titles to be crushed under their weight. There are no stunt doubles performing the accidents in his work, or the bursts of beast in his behavior. There is a recurring theme in his nightmares where he wakes up only to realize that whatever supposedly awful thing was stalking him was really just trying to help. His interests include cephalopods, chopping wood and untrembling, unless trembling is imperative to a successful dance move.”

Visit Buddy online at buddywakefield.com >>