Hi Again Stew. :¬)

Well... I suppose first off, if 50 ecc members answered your questions, you
would more than likely get 50 quite different answers.

If you read the "Principles and Intentions" (P's & I's) of ECC:
http://homepage.ntlworld.com/frank.sierowski/ecc/pi.htm
You will get the 'official' flavour of the incentives and motivations
underlying the Edward Carpenter Community.

So I think it's important that I prefix 'MY' answers by saying quite clearly
that these are MY perceptions as an individual, and therefore not a
consensually agreed list of defining answers on behalf of ECC.

Q) I am keen to understand what you get from the group?
A) Before I could answer that, I'd need to understand what you mean by 'the
group'. ECC has many groups and sub groups.
There is this email group, each individual ECC event has it's own group of
attendees. There are roughly 700 current members (not sure how accurate that
figure is) who communicate (to an extent) via a quarterly newsletter. There
is an email group of around 90 people who have all attended ECC events.
But I think you mean "from ECC as a whole" so that's the way I'll answer it.

I get:
Friends and acquaintances, and opportunities to further those
relationships.
A regular dose - at each event - of community building and the joys &
lessons that come with it.
Holidays in a safe space with other gay men where I can be playful,
serious, relax, recharge my batteries.
A sense of belonging.

to name but a few!

Q) Can anyone join or is it for a particular reason people attend?
A) As far as I know, any gay or bisexual man who identifies with the P's &
I's of ECC is welcome to attend an ECC event and so become a member.
As far as 'reason' goes, again the basic underlined reasons are outlined in
the P's & I's but within that, people have their own individual reasons for
attending events.
ECC accordingly attempts to provide a spectrum of events. Some events may be
quite structured and have a definite theme such as 'spirituality' where the
organisers may have a timetable of workshops and activities already planned
& people are aware of this and coming to the event because they want to be
involved in that subject or structure.
Other events may be more geared towards people using a venue as a base for a
weeks holiday, they may still have lots of things happening, but no one is
expected to arrive knowing what they will or won't be doing.
Some aspects of 'what happens on an event' are affected by weather, by venue
location and type. For example some venues are ideal for walking. Some are
youth hostels and some are residential communities, which have a different
ethos and feel to them.
But for me the most important thing of all is that *every* event, no matter
where it is or if it's themed or not, feels totally unique. That's why this
question or 'reasons people attend' feels so difficult to answer. Different
people come for different reasons and get different things out of the
events.

You said:
" I think I am looking for a spiritual opportunity to meet people similar to
myself as I don't seem to get it from friends (although they are all
brilliant)! Quite difficult to put into words what is missing, but I think I
am looking for more of a bonding experience!"

I would quite confidently answer that from my experience of ECC events,
*ANY* of their events could potentially provide you with all those things,
but you would probably experience them in a different way if you went to say
a 'spirituality' event.

For me the thing that I've found at the vast majority of ECC events has been
a sense of community and community building. That (again for me) is a very
spiritual thing.

Q) What is a typical day for the group at one of the events?
A) Again, so much depends on the Venue, the event structure, the people
attending, the weather. etc.
Having said that, at most events people tend to meet all together at the
beginning of the event, partly to get to meet each other and partly to pass
on domestic information and information regarding the venue and the event
structure.
Usually people will eat together, so most people would come together at
breakfast, lunch (if they haven't gone out for the day) and evening meal.
Also at most events, there can be between 30 and 60 people attending an
event, so if you are new and you don't know anyone you can feel a little
lost or nervous at times. To help people with these feelings and other
things that may come up for you during the event, there is usually a daily
'base group slot' which is a space (often before the evening meal) for
people to meet for a while in smaller groups (usually between 5 and 8
people) to check in with each other as to how the event is going and to get
to know a smaller group of people slightly better.

I hope you find these answers useful Stew.
Once again they are just some of my interpretations, and hopefully other ECC
members in this group here will also offer some of theirs too.

Regards...

Dave.


} -----Original Message-----
} From: Stewart Hastie [mailto:tastyhastie@...]
} Sent: Monday, July 21, 2003 2:21 PM
} To: ecc-public-discuss@...
} Subject: RE: [ecc-public-discuss] Information please!
}
}
} Hi & thanks for getting back to me!
}
} I am keen to understand what you get from the group?
}
} Can anyone join or is it for a particular reason
} peopel attend?
}
} I think I am looking for a spiritual opportunity to
} meet people similar to myself as I dont seem to get it
} from friends (although they are all brilliant)! Quite
} difficult to put into words what is missing, but I
} think I am looking for more of a bonding experience!
}
} If that makes any sense what so ever!
}
} What is a typical day for the group at one of the
} events?
}
} Stew