Call for workshop proposals: 2012 NOFA Summer Conference


Dear friend of the NOFA Summer Conference,

Would you like to offer a workshop conveying your knowledge and skill in organic food and farming? If so, please consider submitting a workshop proposal for the 2012 NOFA Summer Conference – the Northeast’s foremost conference for pioneers of organic agriculture and sustainable living. It will be held from August 10-12, 2012 at UMASS Amherst. The workshops are 90 minutes long. So far, we have confirmed Frank Morton and Representative Chellie Pingree as the two keynote speakers. Frank is an organic seed breeder in Oregon and a passionate advocate for seed self-reliance and safeguarding the genetic integrity of seed. Chellie is an organic farmer and congresswoman from Maine who is championing the Local Farm, Food and Jobs Act.

Download the 2012 NOFA Summer Conference WORKSHOP PROPOSAL FORM

It will be held from August 10-12, 2012 at UMASS Amherst. The workshops are 90 minutes long. So far, we have confirmed Frank Morton as one of the two keynote speakers. Frank is an organic seed breeder in Oregon and a passionate advocate for seed self-reliance and safeguarding the genetic integrity of seed.

The conference features workshops for adults on: alternative energy and the environment; animal husbandry; crop specific workshops; farm economics and management; farming and the community; tours of local farms; food and family; food preservation and cooking; fruits, nuts, and trees; garden and greenhouse; herbs and flowers; international agriculture; land care; marketing; nutrition and health; reflection and spirituality; politics and policy; practical skills; soil fertility; social justice; and urban agriculture. It is a pretty diverse line up as you can see.

Let me know if you think your workshop offering could fit into a workshop track, which is a group of workshops that are related to each other under a common theme, practice, or perspective. Workshops in a track are scheduled to avoid conflict during the conference, and presenters in the track are encouraged to coordinate with each other to avoid repetition of identical information, and to more effectively draw out and build upon each other‘s knowledge. Tracks in previous years have included: beginning farmer, CSA, nutrient density, organic land care, and permaculture.

I am also encouraging presenters this year to consider if they are able to propose a workshop that addresses the connection between global climate disruption and agriculture from the point of view of adaptation (helping us cope with changes underway and in the future); mitigation (lessening negative impacts on the climate from how we farm and live); and transformation (solving the underlying causes of climate disruption). While climate change has long been a concern at NOFA conferences, this year we would like to give some special emphasis to the creative ways in which NOFA members are attempting to deal with this crisis.

There will be a Children's Conference (ages 2-12) and a Teen Conference (ages 13-17), which explores many themes in common with the adult workshops in a manner that is appropriate for each age.

***If you want to submit a workshop proposal, fill out the attached form and follow its instructions. If it is a workshop for adults, send it to me at ben.grosscup@nofamass.org. If it is a workshop for teens or children, send it to Valerie Walton at aallspice@aol.com.

The sooner you submit your proposal, the better. I encourage you to submit your workshop proposal by the end of 2011, but the deadline is February 1, 2012. The majority of decisions on accepting workshops will be made by the end of January 2012.

Depending on where I'm at in the organizing process, I may need a bit of time to respond to your proposal. I'll do my best to confirm with you that I've received your proposal and let you know if I need extra information. I may ask to speak with you about the content of your workshop proposal(s) before accepting it (them).

Benefits of being a presenter at the NOFA Summer Conference:

  • Free conference registration. Presenters cover their own meal costs and housing costs. NOFA will not cover registration costs for family/friends/partners of presenters.
  • A $50 honorarium for teaching one workshop, and another $25 honorarium for teaching a second workshop. The honorarium is awarded per workshop and is divided to pay co-presenters.
  • Presenters who donate their stipend to the Farming Education Fund, which provides scholarships for farmers and young people in financial need, will be recognized in the program book.
  • NOFA reimburses costs for copying paper handouts and supplies for hands-on workshops up to $35.00 per workshop with a receipt. This does not cover transportation costs, with the exception of animal hauling costs, which are reimbursed.

Considerations for Crafting an Excellent workshop for the NOFA Summer Conference:

NOFA stands for organic practices. Organizers of the NOFA Summer Conference seek out presenters who use agronomic practices related to the topic of the workshop they are teaching that are certifiably organic. For example, a workshop about how to raise wool and/or lamb would feature presenters who feed their sheep certifiably organic feed and exclusively use veterinary practices that are consistent with organic certification. By contrast, this is a less important criteria for a workshop on how to weave wool or how to cook lamb. The reason for this criterion in workshop selection is that we think adhering to it lends credence to the belief, which NOFA as an organization shares, that everything in agriculture can be done within an organic system. Whether a grower has gone through the process of certification to prove their practices as organic is not what we're assessing. We're simply seeking to feature presenters who know that they adhere to these practices for what they are teaching.

Conference goers appreciate handouts. For most of you, the information you present is often complex, and having printed reference materials relevant to your workshop helps the people coming to see you retain what you're teaching. Remember, we reimburse you for the cost of copies up to $35; use this if you can use it well. If there's reason to believe that your workshop will draw more people, you can request a waiver to increase this amount (I don't want you to run out of handouts).

Power Point can be your best friend or your worst enemy. If you have something to present that is visual in nature, having a power point is very helpful. But the words in a power point aren't there so much to to help you outline your thoughts; they are really there to help the workshop participants follow the outline of your presentation. If you don't need power point, don't use it, but it can also be a great teaching tool when used well. Consider seeking advice from people experienced with the tool if you are wanting to be more effective in using it. I may be able to help too.

The workshop description should accurately describe what you will present. Using a workshop description as a placeholder to do whatever you want to do when it's time for the conference is not advised, because the workshop description is the only means we have to match people with relevant interests in your specific area of expertise. You might give an excellent presentation on a topic different than what's printed in the program book and participants will be upset because they expected something else.

Conference goers are torn between getting their own particular questions answered and hearing you present your knowledge in a systematic way. Audience questions often push a presenter off track from where she or he wants to go. This can detract from the experience of the rest of the people in the workshop. Yet a presenter who can't respond to audience questions as they come up may also loose the attention of people needing a point to be clarified before they are ready to receive the next piece of information. It is a fine line to discern how to stay on track with what people came to see while also answering individuals who need to follow up with you. Your job as presenter is to remind people with questions that their questions should be asked on behalf of the interests of the whole group and not just themselves individually.

The organization of your presentation brings the audience from A to Z. Laying out what you'll say, saying it, and then telling people what you said may sound cliché, but it gets information across in a way that people know what to expect. If people came expecting something to be presented, but it doesn't get covered due to deviation from your outline, then people will be disappointed. If they know what you're planning to present at the outset, they may collaborate in helping you to get through your outline by suspending questions that prevent moving forward.

NOFA Conference Attendees want practical information. Every presenter has inspiring and interesting stories related to their own particular skill area. These are important, but what really draws people to a NOFA conference is their intense desire to learn practical things that they can take home. You are the expert in your area of knowledge; the trick is to convey what you know in a way that the people coming to you can leave with guidance on adapting what they've learned for their own situation. An excessive focus on your particular situation won't convey the general principles you use to achieve what you do in your work.

NOFA promotes a culture of intellectual generosity. One of the things that has been essential to the success of the NOFA Summer Conference, which has gone steady for 37 years, is the intellectual generosity of the presenters, helping other people less experienced than themselves figure out practical solutions for growing food in a better way and living more sustainably. For many presenters, their passion has driven them to start businesses in which they sell things relevant to the very topics that they teach. A NOFA Summer Conference workshop is not a platform from which to sell ones wares. It is a place to convey the insights that you've gained in all your life's work. The expectation at NOFA is that knowledge is shared fully and generously without necessarily being packaged with something that has a price tag.

Feel free to tell me know what you think of these considerations and to what extent they help you define what you think makes for an excellent workshop.

Thank you for considering submitting a workshop proposal. The important knowledge and the palpable passion of our presenters makes the NOFA Summer Conference a compelling and life-transforming event for participants.

Sincerely,
Ben Grosscup
NOFA Summer Conference Coordinator and Workshop Coordinator