Fundraising Auction in Montreal This Saturday Night

If you're in Montreal this weekend, don't forget to drop by the fundraising auction for Gaia Gathering happening this Saturday night at the Atwater Library Auditorium.

Gaia Gathering Fundraising Auction
Saturday February 4^th, 8pm – 10:30 pm
Doors open at 7:30 for viewing the items
Atwater Library Auditorium
1200 Ave. Atwater
Montreal, QC
(metro Atwater)

The auditorium is conveniently located down the street from Le Mélange Magique and across the street from Burgers and Benedicts where the Yule Fair Dinner with their invited authours will be taking place. We have some great products and services donated by talented folks from our community that will make fabulous Yule gifts. There will also be light refreshments.

So why are we raising funds and what will you find at the auction…?

Putting on a conference like this costs a lot of money andinvolves a lot of volunteers to make sure it runs smoothly. To keep registration costs low, everyone attending the conference must pay the registration fee ($80-100), even those who are volunteering. The money raised from the fundraising auction will be going directly to subsidize the registration fees of volunteers who are donating their time and talents to make Gaia Gathering in Montreal a success. The discounts will be retroactive discounts based on the time and effort put in by volunteers. If any funds are leftover, they will go to thetravel scholarship fund created to help out-of-towners attend the event.

The auction items have been donated by the talented members of the Montreal community, and include:

• Crystal bowl ($200 value)
• Have your portrait drawn
• Storytelling concert
• CDs and books (signed by the authours)
• Reiki, massage and other holistic healing sessions
• Original artwork, sculpture, photography
• Jewelery
  
• Henna session
• Gaelic courses
• And much more…

Some of the items will be available for viewing at the Yule Fair. We will also have a table where you can register for Gaia Gathering ($80,cash or cheque) or ask questions about the event.

The auctioneers for the evening will be Taras Stasiuk and François Champagne.The auction will be bilingual. Doors open at 7:30pm and the auction kicks off at 8pm.

So come on out and pick up some great gifts for Yule, while supporting the volunteers helping to make Gaia Gathering in Montreal a success!

Hope to see you at the fair and at the auction!

Amanda,Alex N, Hobbes, Melanie, Scarlet
The GG 2011 Montreal Local Host Committee

Help Spread the GG Word During Yule

With the start of the Yuletide season upon us, many communities are throwing Yule fairs, Yule rituals or Yule-focused social gatherings. Also witchy and Pagan shops see increased traffic during the Yule season. This is a perfect opportunity to spread the word about Gaia Gathering to many people, so we'd like to ask for your help.

We've uploaded some basic Gaia Gathering posters and flyers that can be put up, handed out, or left out at these Yule gatherings. They can also be put up in shops and venues that are likely to have a Pagan clientele. We'd be grateful if you could print out and distribute some of the posters and fliers in your communities.

To download the full page poster, click here. This poster is best put up at events, in shops and on large community bulletin boards. It's currently in English only.

To download the 1/4 page fliers, click here. These will print out four per page and will need to be cut following printing. If you live in a bilingual community we recommend printing English on one side and French on the other. These fliers are best left on event tables, pinned to bulletin boards in small stacks (so folks can take one home), left near the cash registers in stores, or handed out at events.

To download the registration brochure, click here for English or here for French. These are designed to print recto-verso and be folded. These are best left on event tables.

If you own a shop, we'd love it if you would put up a poster on your community bulletin boards and keep some small fliers near your cash. If you do, let us know so we can include you on our list of supporter on our web site (coming soon!).

Thank you so much for your help. Montreal promises to be a great conference. We look forward to seeing you there!

November Open Planning Meeting

The next open meeting for Gaia Gathering 2011 willl take place:

Tuesday, November 23 · 7:00pm - 9:00pm
Concordia University Multifaith Chaplaincy, downstairs

2090 Mackay

Montreal, QC

We will be downstairs newly renovated spiritual/meditation activity room.

Please join us to find out how the planning is going, and to provide your input into the planning process. And, of course, if you want to help, we'd be delighted!

Topics for discussion include the upcoming slave/product auction to be held on December 4th at Atwater Library Auditorium; and programming for the conference in May.

For more information please visit our FB event page or e-mail us.

Registration for Montreal 2011 is open!

Online and mail-in registration is now open!
Vous pouvez vous inscrire en ligne ou par la poste!

Registration rates for Gaia Gathering have remained the same since our first conference in 2005. The full conference registration is $100 but if you register by December 31st, it'll only cost you $80. All activities, including the Saturday night entertainment, are included in the full conference fee. It's a steal, really.

We also have single-day registration available on Saturday or Sunday for $55, but it does not include any of the evening activities. Part-day passes for Friday or Monday are $25.

Our traditional Sunday banquet is $35 this year, which includes a three or four course meal, tax and tip. Special dietary needs can be accommodated, please indicate this when you purchase your banquet tickets.

To register online, click here.
To download the registration form and send it by snail mail with a cheque, click here.

********************
Les frais d’inscription à Gaia Gathering sont les mêmes que lors de notre toute première conférence en 2005. L’inscription totale est de 100 $, mais si vous vous inscrivez d’ici le 31 décembre, vous ne paierez que 80 $. Ce montant comprend toutes les activités, dont le spectacle de divertissement du samedi soir. C’est une occasion en or à un prix minime!

Nous vous offrons également la possibilité de vous inscrire uniquement pour la journée de samedi ou dimanche, pour 55 $. Cela n’inclut toutefois aucune des activités en soirée. Enfin, vous pouvez aussi vous procurer une passe partielle pour vendredi ou lundi, pour 25 $.

Le traditionnel banquet du dimanche coûte 35 $ et cela comprend un repas de trois ou quatre services, les taxes et le pourboire. Si vous avez un régime alimentaire spécial, veuillez le mentionner lors de l’achat de votre billet pour le banquet et nous tenterons de vous accommoder.

Pour vous inscrire en ligne, cliquez ici.
Pour télécharger le formulaire d’inscription et nous le faire parvenir par la poste avec un chèque, cliquez ici.

Montreal's Gaia's Bardic a Success!

This past Saturday night, Atwater Library was host to an evening of music, storytelling, and more than a few surprises! If you missed it, you really denied yourself a rare treat. You shouldn't deny yourself such pleasures... you deserve better!

We had over 50 people in the audience that night, and thanks to their generosity and mathematical formulas that I've never been very good at, we raised over $600 for the Gaia Gathering conference. Amazing!
As with all pagan events, we started the evening about 15 minutes late (logistics and waiting for certain people), but once we got going, we found it difficult to stop! The evening's entertainment included:

• Hobbes and Shayne Gryn (storytelling and music)
• Triskelia (music)
• Alex and the Goddesses (music)
• Kanaska (music)

All the performances were amazing and the audience were very appreciative and responsive.

As for surprises, well here's one that caught everyone by surprise. One of the performers couldn't make it that night, so when we were approached by Kanaska offering to sing a couple of songs, we found room in the evening for her.

She. was. amazing. The beautiful passion and raw power that came from this woman and her guitar floored the room. After each song, the audience went crazy with applause and cheers. She added something to that evening that we were hoping for, but not to that degree: magic.

From that evening, we already have 4 people signed up for the conference and many more people interested in finding out more about it. It was a great kick-off event to lead into and help promote the Montreal edition of Gaia Gathering.

Scarlet recorded a few of the performances and posted them on her YouTube channel, so have a look. Gaia Gathering has it's own YouTube channel, so you can check that out too.

 The next big event for Gaia Gathering is the Slave/Product auction to take place the first weekend of December. Stay tuned for more information about it!

Announcing our E-mail Newsletter

Sign up for our new Canadian National Pagan Conference, Gaia Gathering, e-mail newsletter!

Get all our news and updates consolidated into one monthly e-mail sent directly to your inbox. For example, announcements when registration opens, early-bird specials, conference programme, sneak peaks at what we have planned, information on future conferences, and more.

Stay up to date. To sign-up, click here. The only mandatory field that you need to fill out is the e-mail address field. All others are optional, although we'd love to learn more about you.

Call for Products and "Slaves" for our Yule Fundraiser

Montreal's Yule fundraiser will highlight the talented artists, artisans and business people in our community, and will be held the on Saturday December 4th, 2010 at the Atwater library auditorium. This is the same weekend as the Yule fair organised by Le Melange Magique. The product and slave auction is great way to buy Yule gifts while supporting Gaia Gathering.

We are looking for people to donate either a product or a service that will be auctioned off during this event.

Services that have already been offered for the live "slave" auction include: reiki sessions, massage therapy, storytelling, reflexology sessions, shamanic healing, sound healing, astrology reading, chauffeur service, etc. We are also having a silent auction on products where people can sign-up and bid on products during the Yule Fair and also during the Slave/Product Auction event. So far, these products include paintings, books, CDs, gift certificates, clothing, etc.

So... are you with us? Can you support our cause by donating a service or a product to help us raise the funds needed to hold this historic event in Montreal in May 2011? All the proceeds from these fundraisers go to making the Gaia Gathering national Canadian pagan conference a reality, not only in Montreal, but also for future incarnations of the event. This can be a fantastic opportunity for you to showcase your product or service to a wider national audience as well as supporting our local community and raising Montreal's community recognition to a national level.

If you have any questions or comments, please let us know. We look forward to hearing from you!

Gaia's Bardic - Fundraising for Montreal in 2011

Greetings!

Please join us for an evening of music, song, storytelling, and magic to raise funds and awareness for the Gaia Gathering pagan conference in May 2011.

Time: October 23, 2010 · 7:00pm – 9:00pm
Location: Atwater Library
1200 Atwater
Montreal, QC

Facebook Event page

Featuring: Hobbes • Alex Del Busso • Shayne Gryn • LC • Triskalia • and much more!

Tickets sold @ / Billets en vente @:
Melange Magique (1928 Ste. Catherine Street West, Montreal)
Charme et Sortilège (4933, Rue De Grand-Pre, Montreal)
$10 advanced purchase
$15 at the door

Special deal: Register and pay for Gaia Gathering 2011 at our bardic fundraiser and get into the bardic for free!

Gaia Gathering Montreal - Open Meeting

After six years of traveling across the country, Gaia Gathering, Canada's National Pagan Conference (CNPC), is finally coming to Montreal! Gaia Gathering is an annual pagan conference that brings together Pagans from across the country discussion, sharing of ideas, and social events. The conference takes place over the Victoria Day weekend and is hosted by a different Canadian city each year.

The proposed theme for 2011 will be "Language to Liturgy", which reflects the cultural diversity of Montreal and how language itself can affect our practices and beliefs. The Montreal Gaia Gathering team are coordinating a series of fund-raising and fun community events to promote the conference.

But a conference of this caliber cannot be put together by only four people: they need your support, your generosity, your hands-on help to ensure a successful conference. The Montreal Gaia Gathering team will be holding public meetings to meet with people to answer questions, discuss how volunteers can help, and to ensure transparency with our community about how this conference is being put together.

Our first Open Meeting is:
Tuesday August 24th, 7pm
L’Amere a Boire
2049 Rue Saint Denis,
Montreal, QC, 514 282-7448

Each organizer is in charge of a different aspect of the conference and its planning. They are putting out a call to the community to let you know what is being planned and how you can help. Take a look at what we have planned and where we need help, decide how you want to lend your support, and contact the person in charge of it.

HOBBES
Bardic Coordinator
jdhobbes@gmail.com

ROBYN
Vendor coordinator and event logistics
robyn.stroll@gmail.com

SCARLET
Volunteer Coordinator
Coordinator of Academic Stream
Liaison for Academic Institutional Support
scarletcougar@gmail.com

AMANDA
Liaison with the National Board of Directors
Publicity, Advertising and Sponsorship
ravenka@cosmic-muse.com

Gaia Goes to Montreal in 2011

Greetings all,

The Board of Directors of Gaia Gathering-The Canadian National Pagan Conference is very pleased to announce that Montreal, Quebec will be the host city for the 2011 conference to be held over the May Long Weekend, May 20th - 23rd, 2011.

The Host Team has put together an exciting plan for the conference. The proposed theme for 2011 will be "Language to Liturgy". This theme reflects the cultural diversity of Montreal and reflects upon how language itself can affect our practices and beliefs. What better a city to do this in then Montreal where the two solitudes of English and French collide in a multicultural kaleidoscope?

The host team is comprised of energetic and dedicated community leaders. Amanda Strong, Hobbes, Robyn Stroll and T.Scarlet Jory are planning several fun, community building fund raisers in order to ensure that the momentum, energy and cash are available to provide an exciting and worthwhile conference.

Please stay tuned for exciting updates from the Gaia Board and Montreal Host team.

We look forward to seeing you in Montreal! Mark your calendars!

- The Gaia Gathering Board of Directors