Want a tactile way to spread the word about Austin’s time bank?
Just grab these jpegs on your computer, print out, copy 2-sided, and hand out as you see fit! The more members we have participating, the better. 🙂
Side one:
Side two:
Category: information
Spring into Action
Howdy Time Exchangers and prospective Time exchangers.
Are you a crafter/artisan/maker? Do you have a project you want to launch? Perhaps you’re starting a business and want to get the word out. There could be a cause you are passionate about. Maybe you have a skill to share.
The Austin Sustainable Swap for Micro-Farmers, Crafters, & generally Skilled Folks meets at Hot Mama’s Café 2407 E. 6th St. on the 3rd Saturday of each month. This is a great time and space to see and be seen.
ATEN has previously had Creating Commerce Circles where each person in attendance gets 5 minutes to promote themselves/their cause. Beginning in April we are combining the commerce circle with the Swap! The Swap is from Noon till 4pm giving you much more time to promote.
We would like to see folks sharing skills as well as promoting. You may bring wares that you made yourself to sell with no vendor fee in exchange for sharing your skill.
We also love to hear about nonprofits. Come educate the community about what you are involved in.
We set up general swap tables for clothes/shoes/house wares/etc. What’s left at the end of the day is donated to Safe Place and sometimes to Treasure City Thrift depending on the items.
This is an exciting opportunity to expand our “alternative currency” by sharing and swapping our resources. Learning something new or passing on something you have learned is priceless.
If you have questions about the Swap please visit our website at www.austinsustainableswap.net
Bring the family we have crafty things for the kids and Hot Mama’s has great food if you get hungry!
This event is open to everyone so please spread the word.
-Jennifer J.
Mapping the Movement of Sharing
(EVENTS of the recent and near Past / Present / Future + Lots of Links.)
The recent MAP Jam happened outdoors on one of the most beautiful fall days that we’ve had this year so far. ATEN participated along with people in over 50 cities world-wide — mapping the many “Sharing Resources” in our area – from credit unions, public parks, and community gardens, to co-ops, thrift shops and co-working spaces – onto an interactive Google map.
But it’s not done! You can help finish the map by adding resources that you know about and we missed, and/or editing the descriptions of the resources to explain what’s awesome about them. In addition to resources that have a physical address that can be mapped, we included online-only resources in the list. You can too by simply creating a point anywhere on the Austin map and linking to the resource. (click on the map image->)
During the course of the map jam, which was held at October’s Austin Sustainable Swap, ATEN got two new members and learned about some other exciting projects. From Ellen F. we learned about CommonSpark, a collective of commons activators who are working on a global atlas of different kinds of commons and threats, as well as keeping track of activism going on to reclaim the commons around the world. We also found out that Margarita, who hosts the Swaps each month, has a back-burner project called the Community Support Volunteers Network, which is a website created to help people come together to accomplish big volunteer projects together, no matter where they are. (Bookmark csvn.org.)
Last but not least in this barrage of commons- and sharing-themed links, you must check out the site of Shareable, the organization which initiated the MAP JAM. They have a vast library of accessible, helpful how-to articles for transforming our society. I found their article about how to reinvent the potluck very inspiring!
If you are eager to connect with people who are involved in the permaculture/Transition movement and alternative building practices, you might want to make plans to join a Work Day at Pumpkin’s Garden on one of these upcoming Saturdays (weather willing, through Dec. 7th). Pumpkin’s Garden is in the Decker Lake area (East Austin) and the work days run from 9 until 1:30. Projects include gardening, compost bin creation, trail creation, and carpentry. You can get Exchange Shares for your labor, and even get oriented to ATEN if you have not already done so! Contact Karen at 817-7two1-0249 if weather is dubious or you need directions.
The next fun and exciting thing that is going to happen is Cooperation Texas’s Co-op Fair, this Saturday, Oct. 26th: “In honor of Co-op Month, Cooperation Texas is hosting a Co-op Fair… at 5604 Manor” from noon to 5pm. There will be music, local co-op beer and a silent auction of goods and services offered by local co-ops such as Dahlia Green Cleaning Services, Red Rabbit Cooperative Bakery, and Wheatsville Food Co-op (among others).
ATEN orientations for new members are now every Sunday at MonkeyWrench Books at 2pm! If going East is easier for you, come catch us at the next Austin Sustainable Swap at 1:30.
Next Social/Networking Event: Creating Commerce Circle at the Terrazas Library – 1105 E Cesar Chavez St Austin, TX 78702 – on Friday Nov. 8th, 3:30-5:00.
Come if you are doing something that you want others to know about! Geared towards small business owners, but grassroots organizers, non-profit campaigners, artists and educators are all welcome. Be prepared to speak about your business/service/project for about 5 minutes, and to learn about other members of your community as well.
Where to find ATEN this summer
Second Sundays at Soma Vida are back for July and August! We meet for new member orientation at 4pm on those two Sundays (7/14 & 8/11), plus work parties will be ongoing from 11am-4pm on those days to freshen up the paint in two of Soma Vida’s rooms. They are offering Hours to helpers who commit to a 1/2 (2.5 hours) or full (5 hours) shift. (r.s.v.p. to amanda@austintimeexchange.org)
In August, we will add on a new South Austin venue for monthly orientations, AND a monthly Creating Commerce gathering that will meet at alternating North, Central and South venues. Creating Commerce circles are fun networking events for new AND current members to get together and share what they do and are passionate about… 5 minutes each around the circle (kind of like Show and Tell, but for grown-ups). And, get your recipes handy, because August is also time for our Quarterly Potluck.
And here are some picture from our last, the May Musical Potluck:
Yum.
It’s Only a Matter of Time…
THIS MONTH’S ORIENTATIONS:
- Tomorrow, Sunday the 13th from 4-5pm. Location: Soma Vida – 1210 Rosewood Ave. 78702
- Saturday, January 19th from 1:30 to 2ish. Location: Hot Mama’s Cafe – 2401 E. 6th St. #1004 78702.
This is part of the Austin Sustainable Swap (see below!)
Have you heard of the Austin Sustainable Swap? Going on 3 months now, it has existed on Third Saturdays at Hot Mama’s Cafe and is a great addition to Austin’s alternative-commerce landscape. From their website, Austin Sustainable Swap is:
- a meeting space where folks can gather and exchange home-grown produce, home-made crafts, as well as skills and services.
- an educational space, for individuals or groups to provide free workshops and classes to those interested in learning.
- a space for raising awareness; for local non-profit organizations to educate us on how they contribute to our local community, and how we may help them to succeed.
- a place for folk to gather and exchange ideas, plan projects, plant seeds, and gather each other–as resources. Because when we work together, we can accomplish so much.
- a place to let go of the tools or objects you no longer need: clothes,shoes,toys,books,excess supplies…and trade them out for ones that are new, to you, and may serve you better, now.
- a space to play, and dance, and hoop, and spin.
ATEN is grateful to Austin Sustainable Swap for creating this space and the opportunity to reach out to potential new members. Come participate!
And looking into the Future…
- Want to get together for a potluck in February? Okay! In an effort to be more present in areas of town other than East, we would love to find a place (a home, or other free-to-use space) willing to host that is South or North. Please get in touch if you want to host or have a suggestion.
- This year we will be working on a new version of the ATEN web site. It will also be open source and available for other time banks to implement. We might have fewer features at the beginning but hope to scale it up over time and continue to add features according to what the ATEN community needs. More info to come later, so stay tuned!
“I really appreciate how versatile ATEN is! I’ve used it for everything from tutoring to building design and know I will continue to rely on it more for all the interesting things i want to know more about/be able to do, but am just not ready for DIY quite yet. Thanks for being here!” –Leta
Do you have a story about what ATEN has done for you? Please share with us at info@ austintimeexchange.org
Leading others to a newfound sense of Community
Next Orientation ~ Sunday, Dec. 9th 4pm – Soma Vida: 1210 Rosewood Ave.
Request an orientation in your area of town or on a different day/time: Write to info@austintimeexchange.org
———————————————————————————————————————————-
The Austin Time Exchange Network is seeking energetic and focused individuals to join our leadership team! Whether your strengths lie in one-on-one communication, speaking to groups, writing promotional materials, video editing, code-writing, event-organizing, project brainstorming, grant-researching, or something else, you have FOUND an organization that will gratefully use your talents!
All of the people-powered initiatives that we hope to see growing in the coming year will be pushing ATEN in the direction of higher trading volume and broader reach, ultimately creating a thriving community of people who are using complementary currency to make their lives easier and more connected, as well as helping their neighbors.
Still Looking for Leaders…
Next Orientation ~ Saturday, Nov. 17th @ 1:00pm ~ 2608 B Rogers Ave. (outside)
Request an orientation in your area of town or on a different day/time: Write to info@austintimeexchange.org
———————————————————————————————————————————-
The Austin Time Exchange Network is seeking energetic and focused individuals to join our leadership team! Whether your strengths lie in one-on-one communication, speaking to groups, writing promotional materials, video editing, code-writing, event-organizing, project brainstorming, grant-researching, or something else, you have FOUND an organization that will gratefully use your talents!
All of the people-powered initiatives that we hope to see growing in the coming year will be pushing ATEN in the direction of higher trading volume and broader reach, ultimately creating a thriving community of people who are using complementary currency to make their lives easier and more connected, as well as helping their neighbors.
Still Looking for Leaders
Next Orientation ~ Sunday, October 14th 4pm – Soma Vida: 1210 Rosewood Ave.
Request an orientation in your area of town or on a different day/time: Write to info@austintimeexchange.org
———————————————————————————————————————————-
The Austin Time Exchange Network is seeking energetic and focused individuals to join our leadership team! Whether your strengths lie in one-on-one communication, speaking to groups, writing promotional materials, video editing, code-writing, event-organizing, project brainstorming, grant-researching, or something else, you have FOUND an organization that will gratefully use your talents!
All of the people-powered initiatives that we hope to see growing in the coming year will be pushing ATEN in the direction of higher trading volume and broader reach, ultimately creating a thriving community of people who are using complementary currency to make their lives easier and more connected, as well as helping their neighbors.
Another Season, Another Reason to Connect with the Time Exchange Community
*** NEXT NEW MEMBER ORIENTATION: SUNDAY, June 10th, 2012***
4PM (sharp) – 5pm at SOMA VIDA – 1210 Rosewood Ave. 78702
Summertime is a JUST the time to give TIME EXCHANGE a try. Think of what you could do with some extra help! Think of what you could learn by helping someone else…
ATEN also has plenty of room for passionate people who want to take charge of making things go well. Check out this cool resource for leadership, and consider the following roles:
- Recruiting – Talk up ATEN to your friends and associates, neighborhood or activity groups, to other organizations you’re a part of, to service providers you go to, etc. This could also involve disseminating literature (a.k.a. “fliers”).
- Outreach/Organizational Liaising – To function at our top capacity, ATEN needs to have regular opportunities for many people to earn hours at once. This can be achieved through partnerships with organizations and projects which need lots of volunteers. Liaisons would help make those connections with the organizations needing help and organizing the opportunities to earn hours, as well as working with the org to plan how they can even out their ATEN balance.
- Technology — Our web-based exchange system needs dedicated techies for maintenance, hosting, and improvements.
- Orientations – Learning to lead an orientation is pretty simple, and very needed! Just show up to an orientation to observe, then become empowered to activate new members. You could start a regular orientation in your part of town, or within another group you are a part of, etc.
- Event organizing – Think up ways of rallying community spirit, or even just getting people together socially, all in the interest of encouraging exchanges… the sky’s the limit!
- Content – Writing, researching and documenting are all skills that we are need of for blog and newsletter content. Let’s be a team!
Our membership is in the hundreds, but our organization is teeny-tiny… let’s work together to support ATEN’s growth. Contact the board members at info@austintimeexchange.org to get involved.
Celebrating All of Our Un-Taxable Exchanges…
*** NEXT NEW MEMBER ORIENTATION: SUNDAY, APRIL 15TH, 2012***
4PM- 5PM (please be on time…) at SOMA VIDA – 1210 Rosewood Ave. 78702
followed by our 6th-year Celebration, a Tax-Free! Potluck + Soiree from 5-7pm!
This year holds some exciting opportunities for the Austin Time Exchange Network to grow and flourish, and it may be the right time for you to get involved. Running and growing this organization requires help, which can roughly be divided up into these categories, or committees:
- Recruiting – Talk up ATEN to your friends and associates, neighborhood or activity groups, to other organizations you’re a part of, to service providers you go to, etc. This could also involve disseminating literature (a.k.a. “fliers”).
- Outreach/Organizational Liaising – To function at our top capacity, ATEN needs to have regular opportunities for many people to earn hours at once. This can be achieved through partnerships with organizations and projects which need lots of volunteers. Liaisons would help make those connections with the organizations needing help and organizing the opportunities to earn hours, as well as working with the org to plan how they can even out their ATEN balance.
- Orientations – Learning to lead an orientation is pretty simple, and very needed! Just show up to an orientation to observe, then become empowered to activate new members. You could start a regular orientation in your part of town, or within another group you are a part of, etc.
- Event organizing – Think up ways of rallying community spirit, or even just getting people together socially, all in the interest of encouraging exchanges… the sky’s the limit!
- Content – Writing, researching and documenting are all skills that we are need of for blog and newsletter content. Let’s be a team!
Leadership
Within the next 4 months, we would like to fill at least one seat on the Board of Directors. The Board of Directors is a consensus-based group and it’s purpose is to keep the organization focused on its mission, which is to “[provide] a complementary currency that enables members to build community through the exchange of services.” In addition, Board members are actively engaged in the various tasks of running the organization. Ideal candidates for the board will be active in the network and/or exquisitely suited to ATEN’s purpose, and have skills in one or more of these areas: public relations, event coordination, outreach, technology, grant-writing, or their own unique contribution.
austin time exchange network 