Guidelines
For Organizing Area Workshops
Authorization
Any
RC teacher in good standing may authorize a workshop, for her or his own
students only, without other authorization.
Area,
local, and neighborhood RC workshops which involve students from more than one
teacher must be authorized by the Area Reference Person or, if such does not
exist, by the Regional Reference Person. Set the date in consultation with the
Leader of the workshop and the appropriate Reference Person.
Support
All
the Co-Counselors and Communities in the Area or locality where the workshop is
held are welcome to assist in the success of the workshop in every way
possible.
Responsibility
The
responsibility for being in charge of organizing the workshop will be given to
one person who will be designated as the Organizer by the Area Reference Person
or the Leader of the workshop. It will help if the Organizer appoints other
Co-Counselors to recruit from various population groups. The Organizer may
delegate other tasks as well, such as the coordinating of rides.
Applicants
Applicants
must be approved by their RC teacher or the Area Reference Person, or, if they
live outside of an organized Area, by their RC teacher, Regional Reference
Person, or International Reference Person.
Outreach
Outreach
should not be mentioned in any advance publicity. In general we should seek out
outreach recipients rather than have them seek us out.
Outreach
to RC workshops are not given on the basis of worthiness or need, but only to
reach new populations and train leaders.
Outreach
may only be approved by the Area Reference Person or the designated custodian
of the local Outreach Fund. Organizers may recommend Co-Counselors for
outreach. Outreach may not be furnished from the workshop income itself or from
any Area Maintenance Funds.
Publicity
Advance
publicity should include full information about the workshop and the
requirements for attending. That the approval of a Reference Person is required
to attend should be made completely clear in advance publicity. Information on
wheelchair-accessibility should also be included, with
"wheelchair-accessible" or "not wheelchair-accessible" as
the minimum information given. If the site is only partially accessible, the
conditions should be described or a contact person's name, address, and phone
number given for seeking further information.
The
acceptance letter should include clear information about arriving at the site
or how to rendezvous for transportation to the site, the cost of any
transportation, what clothing will be needed, what kind of weather is expected,
whether swimming is possible, and that workshops permit no use of alcohol,
tobacco, or drugs that affect the central nervous system by participants. All
this should be in a letter sent after the Organizer receives the registrant's
application form. Include the site's phone number and address.
Schedule
and Workbook
For
a large workshop, the Organizer of the workshop should propose a tentative
schedule for the workshop to the Leader, and after discussion and agreement,
the Organizer should have workbooks prepared (unless otherwise arranged with
the workshop Leader). The workbook should contain the schedule, a full roster
of participants with addresses (including e-mail) and phone numbers, room assignments,
any scheduled Co-Counseling pairings, and note paper, as well as selected
articles, songs, etc. Individual names of participants should be lettered on
the covers.
Site
The
site should be comfortable, isolated if possible, yet accessible to the transportation
available.
A
thorough attempt should be made to find a site that is wheelchair-accessible.
To
keep workshops inexpensive and available to the majority of the population,
homes should be considered as workshop sites and full use made of churches,
neighborhood centers, public library meeting rooms, meeting rooms made
available to the public by bank branches, etc.
Food
For
short workshops, half-day, day-long, etc., bringing one's own meal or meals or
arranging a potluck dinner can work well. Simple foods can be provided for
those who forgot to bring their lunch.
For
longer workshops, food and menus should be written out in advance with the site
organization, or, if the Organizer is arranging to provide the food, with the
committee which will be doing the cooking and serving. Meals should be
nutritious. There should be no garlic or onions, no highly spiced foods. There
should be salads and nonfat milk at every meal if possible. There should be
fresh fruits for snacks, if possible, rather than sweets.
Site
Staff
For
longer workshops, the personnel on the site should be informed of what will be
going on during the workshop, and told that occasionally Co-Counseling becomes
noisy and that the sounds of crying and of fear or even anger are to be expected.
They should be given literature and made welcome to the class sessions and in
general the warmest relationship possible should be maintained with them. (Many
site staff members have joined RC.) The possibility of a beauty and order
session, in which a large number of workshop attendees help the site staff with
improvements or routine work that they are likely to get behind on, should be
considered and discussed with them ahead of time, and included in the schedule
if possible.
Housing
For
longer workshops, housing may be dormitory type (smaller rooms are helpful for
Co-Counseling space). Housing for men and women should be separate. The rooms
should be clean and comfortable, and there should be hot and cold water,
showers, and adequate toilet facilities available. The sleeping rooms should be
screened if insects are a problem. If possible there should be a telephone
available for outgoing calls. (A pay phone is satisfactory.)
In
addition, there should be meeting space available for as many groups of eight
to ten people as the workshop attendance will divide into. This space may be
dormitory rooms. Similarly, there should be some kind of semi-privacy available
for each Co-Counseling pair.
Supplies
A
supply of baking soda (for tooth brushing and breath sweetening) and kleenex
tissues should be purchased in advance.
Bed
linen, towels, wash cloths, and soap should be provided either by the site
staff, the workshop Organizer through other sources, or by warning workshop
attendees in advance to bring their own. The Organizer may wish to bring extra
cushions for sitting on the floor and a couple of extra sleeping bags.
There
should be some facilities or space for outdoor exercise (a basketball or
volleyball court, places for walks, a foursquare pavement, ping pong tables,
swimming pool, etc.).
First
aid equipment and phone numbers of physicians and hospitals should be provided.
Materials
A
supply of RC scrolls should be arranged for in advance for the walls of the
workshop. Arrangements for an ample supply of RC literature for sale should be
made in advance.
There
should be registration personnel and tables ready to register people when they
arrive. A welcoming committee of experienced Co-Counselors should be provided
in order to greet the newcomers as they come in and show them around. There
should be a supply of notebook paper, pencils, and eraser and chalk with the
blackboard.
Setting
Fees For Workshop Participants
The
fee for a workshop shall be set by the Organizer in consultation with the
workshop Leader. The fee should be calculated on a minimum expected attendance.
The cost of the workshop to each participant shall be determined to cover all
expenses, including 10% of the gross income to the Re-evaluation Counseling Community Resources Incorporated's
Community Service Fund, and Leader's and Organizer's basic fees. Sliding scales
may be offered, ranging roughly from not less than seventy percent of the
minimum needed to cover all costs, to at least five times the minimum. The
Regional Reference Person must approve any sliding scale for workshops held in
his or her region. (For more information see Guideline H.9..)
Young
People
There
will be one free place provided for young people for every twenty fee-paying
adults. It may be divided among two or more young people each paying a partial
fee.
Payments
As
a rule, payment of tuitions in full should be necessary to reserve a place at
the workshop. Exceptions can be made from the rule by the Organizer, but it's
important that the basic rule be established first. Advance publicity should
make it plain that cancellations after a specified cut-off date may receive
half of their tuitions as a refund only if replacements can be found for them.
Leader's
Fee
The
basic fee for the workshop Leader may be negotiated to be lower, but shall not
exceed the standard fee as stated in Guideline H.8.: International Reference
Person and Alternate International Reference Person, $750/day; Regional
Reference Person or International Liberation Reference Person, $350/day; Area
Reference Person, $250/day; RC Teacher, $150/day; each of at most two family
workshop leaders, $350/day, regardless of the position they hold within the RC
Communities; former International Liberation Reference Person, $250 USD/day
with the approval of the International Reference Person. If travel is involved,
the Leader's fare to and from the workshop shall be paid. A Friday evening to
Sunday afternoon workshop counts as two days.
Workshops
shall be led by one Leader and leadership fees shall be paid to one Leader.
Assistants may be unpaid volunteers or paid out of the fee of the Leader at his
or her choice.
Organizer's
Fee
The
Organizer will receive a basic fee for organizing each particular workshop as
negotiated in advance with the workshop Leader. The ceiling on the Organizer's
basic fee is one-fourth of one Leader's basic fee. Workshops shall be organized
by one Organizer and an Organizer's fee shall be paid only to one Organizer.
Assistants may be unpaid volunteers or paid out of the fee of the Organizer at
his or her choice.
Income
From The Workshop
If
the workshop is large or successful financially, the Leader shall receive, in
addition, one-fourth of the net from the workshop. The remaining three-fourths
of the net shall go to the Area Outreach Fund (Re-evaluation Counseling Community Resources Incorporated's Community
Service Fund).
Accounts
It
is convenient to open a workshop account to deposit the fees into and pay the
bills from.
Clear
financial accounts should be kept of the workshop (separate from Outreach or
any other funds of the Community), and prompt settlement made with all parties.
A financial accounting form is found at the RC web site at www.rc.org (click here to go to forms page).
This form should accompany funds remitted to the International office.
Support
Groups
Large
workshops will be organized in support groups as a kind of smaller
"workshops within the workshop." Leaders of the support groups will
be chosen by the workshop Leader from those presently, or expected to become in
the near future, RC leaders.
The
support groups will meet as the workshop begins and daily during the workshop.
Support
Group Leaders' Meetings
Support
group leaders and assistants will meet with the workshop Leader and Organizer
daily during the workshop. (Breakfast is a favorite time.)
Jobs
For Workshop Participants at the Workshop
Participants
may volunteer or be asked to do particular organizational jobs at the workshop.
In general, the more participation in this, the more enjoyable the workshop.
Some
common organizational tasks are: registration and welcoming, collection of
workshop fees, literature table, announcements, meal counts, setting up
meal-time appointments with the Leader (if applicable), scribes, snack set-up,
wake-up, songs, literature commercials, exercise breaks, greeting evening
guests and latecomers, beauty and order, collecting reports for Present Time,
audiotaping, videotaping, rides home, complaint person, committees to think
about different groups.
Canceling
Workshops
If
registration is too low to justify holding a workshop (and registrations do not
occur without organizing work), it should be cancelled in agreement with the
Leader, and written notices or telephone calls made promptly to all
registrants.
Revised 5/06