Hello IO Collective!

Take a glance over last year's invite (it's only 5 pages) and you'll see how everything we said and did in 2016 is just as relevant today.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BxgCtoAh2rKvMHlja3ZjeEd0MVk/view?usp=sharing

I have a booking in the diary for 19 - 23 June for an event which will now be postponed. What say we step boldly through this open door and co-create an IO Reunion on Evia in 2017?

Here is my proposal in a Medium blog: https://medium.com/origin-club-blog/io-reunion-2017-lets-play-world-games-48b3c178ea9f#.moyjah2u2

In essence it is the same design as last year (with capacity for 30 and a cost of around €400 per person, including food, accommodation and transfers) only this time we learn from our experiences in 2016 and co-create this year's retreat from start to finish.

So in summary my question is:

Do we wish to host an annual retreat in a new place each year, in order that we might enjoy a diversity of unique cultural experiences?

Or do we wish to explore our mission - "to co-create solutions which unite and transform" - in relation to a specific local community and place? If this is our choice, then this will require the cultivation of more lasting and committed relationships.

In 2016 we planted seeds on Evia which have continued to grow ever since. I say we reunite here in 2017 and help make this garden bloom.

Hello evryone ... Nice to keep in touch
I suggested places in Mt Parnonas place because the question was put forward "anyone interestedin hosting an event?"
I have no problem with the VILLA AVEROFF retreat that Marcus is preparing (pending if I shall be able to make it as my TEAM is forming fast here)
I then just call upon all others to decide where they want to have it. I am game ...

PleaseRembember: Always here to help and partake

Some more details on Christiana's offer:

I am proposing to HOST YOU in my village of Agiannis Kynourias Arcadia Peloponnesus https://www.facebook.com/to.koutri/media_set?set=a.1039974779368964.1073741832.100000693556983&type=3
where close to 70 people from 12 countries were hosted at the Gunter Pauli meeting of blue economy
Mr. Gareth Presch Founder of W.H.I.S came next year with the WHIS GREECE event and we did the World Health Innovation Summit with 87 people from 18 countries and 34 speakers in the village of KARYES !!
http://www.worldhealthinnovationsummit.com/blog/2015/09/30/the-meraki-people-gareth-presch/ this is how he described the experience in Agiannis Purely unforgettable
and I have experience in hosting people up in the middle of the mountains For those who want to stay longer accommodations can be arranged by me in PARALIO ASTROS
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lmi2Ya6SniQ

If you feel that is something the team WANTS and IS WILLING to explore … Marcus is RIGHT

WE need to access what the team feels and WANTS and what they feel their focus is

Under that light I am offering

Christiana

Wondering how much it will be focused on the region?
I love visiting a different place and immersing in the beautiful local culture, learning and sharing, but my primary interest would be re-connect with friends, share stories, skills and networks, be productive on my own project and be inspired and enabled by others + do the same for them. Also to potentially continue exploring the creation of something new (an enabling network more than a new entity itself) as I'm not especially invested in Evia itself per se - special and beautiful as it is.

Realistically speaking, there's very little time to organise everything, so it might be the only option anyway. I would like to see another place. Wouldn't mind Evia again but...

I'd like to point out, that before we understand what needs to be done for the retreat in general, we could benefit from waiting a bit with proposals for places :)

One important point to raise is that we are in no way limited to only one retreat. If we desire to help the IO Collective grow and become everything it can be over the next 12 - 18 months, then activating more regular retreats and meet-ups could become the primary objective of this thread / working group.

In 2017 I would LOVE to see retreats hosted in incredible spaces close to London and Berlin, as well as continuing to invest time and energy in our Greek hub via the retreat that is already lined up on Evia. This is my challenge for all the participants of this thread :)

I agree with Luke that not everyone will be attracted to everything which the IO collective is / can be. I think it is obvious and inevitable that different people will bring different ideas and make different choices. So let's encourage and celebrate these differences by creating a diversity of spaces in which our co-creativity may be expressed.

For me, the impact which the IO collective can have on a local community and place like Evia is the most important outcome of this whole experiment. My opinion is that if we really desire to change the way the world works then we need to innovate beyond the limited possibility maps of our urban landscapes.

Evia is being framed as an exemplar European destination for applied social economics and regenerative agriculture on a bioregional scale (for a brief overview: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BxgCtoAh2rKvN3BBcFN0cjVVeEE/view?usp=sharing). This is an extraordinary project with ambitions which can be achieved only by building lasting and committed relationships with collectives like the IO. I think there is so much potential for harvesting co-learning experiences of mutual benefit here, and while our retreat's collaborative agenda might only be 20% focused on this specific local community and place, for a place like Evia this is a really impactful 20%!

At the same time let there be no sense of duty or obligation. This is an invitation to come and play again on Evia in 2017, pure and simple. If that is appealing then let's get co-creative. If it isn't, then let's follow our bliss elsewhere :)

I am on board with Evia and Candili again. It was a lovely place and I would happily return.
That said, I would not be opposed to looking at other locations.

Off the top of my head
Eumelia (http://www.eumelia.com/)
Pilio
Ikaria
Samothraki
Or anywhere else someone might want to suggest.

But, I repeat, I'm fully on board with Evia. Only suggesting these in case we need to reach into our back pocket for another location.