It also allows us to weigh the costs and benefits of future changes. For instance, Choice A might improve one category by two full grades, but Choice B could improve three categories each by about one grade. This is still a judgment call for the group, but having a measuring stick sometimes makes it easier to discuss something that is otherwise nebulous and ephemeral.

I don’t want to suggest that this is the only way of assessing our communities as villages. Rather, this is my attempt to lay out an example of a system in order to begin the discussion of what criteria we should be focused on and how to assess them.

I’m using a modified U.S. grading scale with a “neighborhood” style proximity being the assumed “optimal” distance between members. This obviously isn’t the ideal for all communities, but it provides a shared starting point for discussion.

For this article, I’m discussing the single criterion of proximity- the typical distance that separates members of the community. I’ve included some virtual values as well- these provide the ability to compare communities of various types.

Finally, I’d like to note that every one of us is a potential member of a dazzling array of possible communities. So my proximity to the polytheist leaders that Hearthingstone PLC is supposed to serve is an “F”; but, were I looking to join an Asatru fellowship, there’s one within “C” distance. On the other hand, were I a solitary devotee of indigenous Thai divinities, my community proximity would rate as “Z” or maybe “S” because I’m sure said faith exists elsewhere, but I have no idea how to find any practitioners.

Grades

Z – No Contact

This is the unfortunate reality of many polytheists. They don’t know any other polytheists personally, so they have no idea how near or far they are from anyone in their faith.

S – Some Online Contact

These polytheists are “ships in the night” online. They know that there are other members of their faith (or at least compatible polytheists worldviews) out there on the Internet, but they don’t know who they are and/or do not have regular discussions with them.

P – Passing Local Awareness

These polytheists have seen evidence that other members of their faith (or at least compatible polytheists worldviews) are occasionally present in their physical vicinity, but they have no means of contacting or locating those others.

O – Regular Online Contact

These polytheists communicate regularly with others of their faith (or at least compatible polytheists worldviews) via online tools. This could be social media, blogs, forums, or any other relatively stable system.

Importantly, most members of this community recognize at least some of the more regular members and have some method to reach out to them with questions or to request assistance. Therefore, this is the least proximal community that we would likely recognize as a “community”.

F – Far, Far Apart

The members of this community likely have regular online contact (“O”, above). However, many of them have met in person and many look for opportunities to meet other members in the future. It is likely that at least some members of the group also contact each other using “old school” means- postal mail, home visits, meals together when in-town, etc.

D – Day Trip

Visiting other members of this community requires committing most of a day. This means a drive longer than three hours each way. The actual distance this encompasses differs based on the area we’re talking about.

For example, I live in the Austin, Texas metro area, which is about 230 miles from Denton, TX. If I wanted to participate in a ritual with John Beckett at the Denton CUUPS, that’s a three-and-a-half hour trip under ideal circumstances. From experience, I know that driving to the northside of the Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW) metroplex is likely to take an hour or so longer than that.

On the other hand, on certain days/times, it could take almost that long to get from Plymouth, Massachusetts to Salem, MA- a distance of only about 50 miles.

C – Commutable

Most of the members of this community can reach each other in under an hour by car. Most will be closer, though some members might be further afield.

For example, a particular “pagan” social group in my area draws people from as far away as Lampassas, Killeen, and New Braunfels- each about an hour’s drive under ideal circumstances at highway speeds.

We could conceivably consider “C+” and “C-” grades for under half an hour and between one and two hours, respectively.

B – Bikable / Busable

At a “B” rating, most members can get together within a short bike or bus ride. If the members live along really good mass transit, this might be up to five or ten miles. However, in many areas this means no more than two or three miles – about fifteen minutes for a slow bicyclist or roughly an hour on foot.

We might consider “B+” and “B-” grades here as well.

“B+” would suggest distances under a mile (or very close to short transit rides), but still fairly spread out. For example, a community in a transit-heavy city like Boston might have a B+ proximity if its members all live within a “quick and easy” walk of a subway station, even though they dwell in different parts of the city.

“B-” means that cars are still pretty important to meet other members of the community. One could conceivably do it by bicycle or bus, but the effort and/or time involved would be discouraging to most. Here in Austin, there is a UU church that some local groups hold meetings at. It’s near a couple of bus lines, but our mass transit is pretty poor compared with a city like Boston or New York.

A – Adjacent

A community with an “A” proximity grade lives within easy walking distance of each other. There might be other members further afield, but the majority can conveniently stroll to the group’s central meeting place or to homes of other members should the need arise. In general, this probably means no more than a few hundred yards apart, though depending on the specific needs of the members, this might need to be much closer.

An “A+” grade would mean that not only are most members within easy walking distance of each other, but that other important services are located within the same radius- groceries, banking, etc.

An “A-” grade could be considered a community whose members could walk, but are still far enough apart that cars, bikes, or mass transit are still preferred. This would probably mean distances between a quarter-mile and half a mile, certainly under a kilometer. In the case of a community with a lot of special physical needs, even an “A+” might instead be an “A-” if services and other members are hard to reach for reasons other than distance.

Summary

This is a preliminary stab at a method of grading the proximity of members in a polytheist community versus an idealized “village”. There are entire fields of study devoted to these kinds of questions for municipalities and regions- my brother works on city planning in California, for instance. There are all sorts of advanced tools available, but they’re probably too detailed for our needs. My hope is that we can arrive at a general system of guidelines that are granular enough to aid planning and assessment while being readily adaptable to the needs of a given community as it moves towards becoming a polytheist village.

-In Deos Confidimus

The post Villages: Grading Proximity appeared first on Hearthingstone.

After touching base with the hotels in the expanded search area, I believe that one of them stood out as clearly the best candidate. It won’t allow for much expansion in-place (if any), but it’s a lovely all-suites hotel that is convenient to plenty of restaurants and other amenities. The meeting room rate is very reasonable (for Austin) and decreases by as much as half if we can book enough room nights.

It even has fire!

I don’t yet have a formal rate quote for a sleeping room block. However, their published rates for the equivalent weekend in 2019 were under $100- extremely low for a newly-built suite hotel in Austin. This same hotel charges over $200 a night during busier times of year!

All the rooms have a kitchenette.

As far as the date, I was weighing a lot of different factors, both religious and practical. This weekend kept “pinging”, despite its proximity to New Year’s Day- or perhaps because of it.

As much as possible, I wanted to avoid conflicts with holy days, though that’s nigh-impossible to do perfectly. This weekend does fall right around the end of Yule in some traditions. It is also roughly around the time that the Romans sometimes celebrated Compitalia- the festival of crossroads Powers. I haven’t found others, though I could certainly be mistaken.

This weekend is close enough to the general “Holiday Season” that many of our academics will not yet have returned to the classroom. Some of us might even be lucky enough to work at places that are closed through the following Monday.

Furthermore, January in Austin is a time of year when visitors from other parts of the country aren’t likely to burst into flames when walking outside. While the locals might wear parkas, our colleagues from more northern climes might consider it lovely spring or fall weather.

In addition, my comparison of airfares showed an average of $173 in round-trip savings compared with busy weekends like those during SXSW. There is also a large park-and-ride bus terminal less than two miles away and four different bus lines pass near to the hotel.

Finally, there is the esoteric gravitas of conducting an event like this on the first weekend after the dawn of a new year. While our various faiths and traditions may use different calendars, we all live in a society the runs on the Gregorian one. Rather than just making forgettable personal resolutions, perhaps we can put the power of this liminal time to a more holy use.

To that end, I have tentatively confirmed a keynote speaker- a published author who has a long history of service to the Gods.

-In Deos Confidimus

The post A Stake In The Ground appeared first on Hearthingstone.

Their rate was just shy of $120 per night for Nov. 8-10, 2019- so about $20 more than #1, which also quoted that date. They are, however, the only one that explicitly included a hot breakfast buffet for up to four people per room.

This hotel is located next to candidate #3 and across the highway from #1.

Unlike #2 & 3, they have free parking (like #1) and they also have no airport shuttle.

Their meeting room cost for the weekend is half that of #2 and about 50% more than #3. If we decide to pin down for a different weekend, I can probably get a new quote, but I expect it will be similar.

Thoughts?

-In Deos Confidimus

The post Hotel Rates and Dates from Venue Candidate #4 appeared first on Hearthingstone.

Sadly, this hotel has fewer dates available (or quoted fewer). I haven’t spoken with the rep there- they called, but didn’t leave a message.

$100-110 for Single/Double

• August 23-25
• December 20-22 (Also quoted by #2)
• December 27-29 (Also quoted by #2)
• January 3-5, 2020 (Also quoted by #1 & #2)

It turns out this hotel does not have an airport shuttle as we thought; however, they do have a local shuttle that goes out 2 miles.

As far as meeting room costs, this hotel’s total price is equal to the daily price for VC #2. On the other hand, this hotel charges for parking- in this case $15+ per day. VC #1 does not, but #2 does.

I feel like I need to get a couple of other quotes from smaller hotels and then decide on a date and venue. But, smaller hotels wouldn’t have a lot of room to grow and we’d definitely have to cap registrations.

Thoughts?

-In Deos Confidimus

The post Hotel Rates and Dates from Venue Candidate #3 appeared first on Hearthingstone.

Under $100 (Barely)

• April 19 – 21 (Also being considered by someone else- Easter)
• June 14 – 16
• July 12 – 14
• November 8 – 10 (Veterans’ Day weekend)
• January 3 – 5, 2020

$100-120

• April 5 – 7 (Would have to start late on Friday)
• April 26 – 28 (Would be using less than my preferred rooms)
• May 30 – June 2
• July 26 – 28
• November 1 – 3
• January 10 – 12, 2020

Over $120

• January 17 – 19, 2020 (MLK Day weekend)
• January 24 – 26, 2020

So far, the staff contact has been wonderful and I like the space. However, it turns out that they don’t have a free airport shuttle. With perhaps 80% of our attendees coming from out of the area, we’d need to think about options.

It’s been a really busy week at day job, but I need to reach out to at least a couple of other hotels. I found one right at the airport, but would that be too noisy?

Thoughts on the dates above? I’d like to aim at the cheaper end if possible, but so far no dates are jumping out at me as ideal.

-In Deos Confidimus

The post Hotel Room Estimates From Venue Candidate #1 appeared first on Hearthingstone.

It is located within walking distance (1/2 mile or less) of a number of restaurants, two movie theatres (including an artsy one), and is directly next to an old shopping mall that is being redeveloped into a mixed-use center including a community college, apartments, shops, and the like. It is one of four hotels in the vicinity that I’ve been interested in, and is the most walkable of the four.

That said, this part of town is fairly far from the airport and I don’t think this hotel offers a free airport shuttle. I need to remember to ask next time we talk. At least one hotel nearby does. The route from the airport isn’t complicated, but for those who don’t or don’t want to drive it could be an issue.

On the other hand, it’s the closest hotel to the Greyhound bus terminal, being a little more than a block away. As far as mass transit, there is a red line train (to downtown) stop about a 7/10 mile walk away. The route 350 bus stops a bit closer, but it’s still a hike. Given Austin (and Texas) mass transit in general, this isn’t bad, but it’s probably further than folks used to good transit systems expect to carry bags- especially if it’s a warmer time of year!

Speaking of times of year, I got a list of possible dates for this hotel. We cut off March of 2019 and earlier to leave enough time for planning and getting enough attendees. March and October are also the two craziest months for hotel space in Austin, apparently.

Here are the dates that the hotel is costing out for us:

• April 5 – 7 (Would have to start late on Friday)
• April 19 – 21 (Also being considered by someone else- Easter)
• April 26 – 28 (Would be using less than my preferred rooms)
• May 30 – June 2
• June 14 – 16
• July 12 – 14
• July 26 – 28
• November 1 – 3
• November 8 – 10 (Veterans’ Day weekend)

August, interestingly, was booked solid. According to the hotel, it’s usually dead, but in 2019 it’s filled up. That might be for the best, given our summertime temperatures.

As far as other events, it looks like there are three possible conflicts amongst the events I’ve found. Spring Mysteries runs April 18-21. Mystic South is in-between the two July dates. Spiritfire hasn’t released their 2019 dates, but it’s usually in mid-July as well.

Of course, for those engaged in Celtic reconstructionism, the first weekend in November might easily create a scheduling conflict. So too for those practicing Mexican traditions. While Austin does have a large Dia de los Muertos celebration, attending it isn’t the reason for the conference.

The following weekend could be tight for folks whose work includes services timed around Veterans’ Day.

That’s my report for today.

-In Deos Confidimus

The post Venue Candidate #1 appeared first on Hearthingstone.

If I’m collecting 5¢ cans, it might take me awhile to find 120,000 of them!

Let’s start with an obvious “gotcha”- Wedding Season! In talking with one of the 2014 organizers, she noted that in her area October, May, and June are the big months. September is also popular, according to some articles I found. Here in Austin, it might be a bit earlier, in the spring, but I’m having trouble confirming one way or the other. Then again, being sunny most of the year probably spreads the weddings out a bit more.

That said, we’re not just trying to avoid conflicts with weddings locally, but to minimize the odds of a possible presenter (or attendee, for that matter) having a scheduling conflict.

Another time of year with MASSIVE scheduling conflicts is the November-December holiday season. Aside from significant holy days in a number of traditions, many folks have practical considerations- kids out of school, families to visit, and the like.

I’ve considered January, since many academic folks have a slight reprieve then and people from northern climes might appreciate weather that ranges from just below freezing into what would be considered full-spring temperatures elsewhere. However, January is also “Cedar Season“, when the Mountain Junipers make love with each other and war upon the sinuses of many a human.

So out of 12 months, we’ve already raised serious concerns about 7 of them!

February doesn’t seem to have any major problems (except for the possibility of lingering “cedar fever”), but it doesn’t have any significant plusses either. Most academics are back to class, people are still paying off credit cards from the holidays, and so forth. In my line of work, we call this “The Doldrums” because business tends to be slow. Then again, maybe that’s a recommendation?

March in Austin is dominated by South-by-Southwest (SXSW), an enormous multidisciplinary conference that eats just about every venue in town. There’s also a massive rodeo and another large film festival during the month. The traffic can get bad enough downtown that some folks take a vacation to be away from the area! I’d love to do March, because it’s typically a beautiful time of year, full of wildflowers and such. But it’s likely to be trouble.

April is also nice, though typically a bit more rainy (go figure, right?). It’s also a heavy allergy season.

May and June are prime wedding months and May has tons of graduations. Here in Austin, late May is sometimes Monsoon Season (and sometimes not). While lots of folks are out of school by mid-June, June is also Pride Month for many of our possible attendees. As an aside, Austin celebrates PRIDE in mid-August.

July and August are hot. If you are not used to the Southwest or Deep South, this is not a good time to be out and about- air conditioning is your friend. While we don’t have random stuff melting all over town like Tucson did awhile back, we did have a giant cowboy boot burst into flames. Okay, it was probably a wiring fault, but still. Some tortilla chips totally did spontaneously combust TWICE within the last two weeks, though.

September is wedding season again, and can still be quite hot. Fantastic Fest happens in September, which suggests it might be a reasonable enough time to hold indoor events.

October is back into prime wedding season, and though the weather is usually nice here- Austin City Limits Music Festival dominates the downtown for the first two weekends. The United States Grand Prix and Austin Film Festival eat up a lot of hotels during the latter part of the month. That said, we have a pretty decent Dia de los Muertos event.

And, with that we’re back around to November and December. These also tend to be pretty nice, weather wise. Early November might be less hectic for people, though academics will still generally be in class. By late December we are back into Cedar Season again.

What am I forgetting?

-In Deos Confidimus

The post Date Considerations appeared first on Hearthingstone.

At the same time, if I can pull this off at all, it will be on a shoestring budget. I can’t afford to be hopping a jet every week to check out hotels and such. At least for now, any conference I’m organizing will need to be pretty much in my backyard. It’s possible that San Antonio, Houston, or even DFW would be a bit cheaper, but my research thus far doesn’t suggest that it’s enough to make it worth my time to make those drives frequently. Plus, none of those cities has a strong reputation for tolerating differences- Austin does.

This is important in a number of ways. For instance, many shamans, spiritworkers, and mystics possess a gender identity that is not recognized by a substantial portion of the US population. Many Austin businesses (though certainly not all) offer non-gendered restrooms and/or try hard to be conscientious of gender identity.

Furthermore, many of these leaders are also subject to significant restrictions regarding diet, dress, and the like. Others carry physical scars and ailments that require special accommodation to prevent extreme discomfort and suffering. Holding the conference in a major city makes it easier to find the goods and services (and service providers) necessary to ease this burden.

For instance, I can easily source vegan, gluten-free, organic, and/or humanely-pastured food from several different vendors. Austin might be Whole Foods’ headquarters city, but we have lots of other places, large and small.

I am fully confident that this city can comfortably support a polytheist leadership conference.

Of course, being in Texas, the season is important. March is a beautiful time of year, weather-wise, but that’s when SXSW happens… good luck booking a flight or a hotel during that! March is also during the school year, and many members of our target audience are academics- teachers, professors, graduate students, and such.

For that reason, the 2014 PLC was held in July- a perfectly reasonable time to visit New York state. Austin, however, topped out around 104°F (40°C) today. Sure, there’s a hemisphere-wide heat wave going on right now, but temperatures in the high 90s are not unusual here in summer, or late spring and autumn for that matter.

While most of the conference will be indoors (though it would be nice to have some outdoor events), we have to consider the possibility that some attendees will want to sleep outdoors or in their vehicles either because of religious strictures or to save money. This is not unprecedented, so I need to take it into consideration.

Another important transportation-related consideration is vehicle access and mass transit.

Being in Texas, many venues have plenty of parking. If you’re not sure what I mean by this state’s love of the automobile, I encourage you to visit the Buc-ee’s convenience store in New Braunfels, about 45 minutes south of Austin.

On the other hand, no city in Texas has particularly great public transit. Austin’s is improving, but I will need to plan carefully around the available bus routes to make sure that non-driving guests can get from the airport, Amtrak, and Greyhound stations to the conference venue.

-In Deos Confidimus

The post Host City Considerations appeared first on Hearthingstone.