Dear friends and associates,

Here is some additional information besides the poster/brochure.

Not all of you may be familiar with the difference between a permaculture convergence and a pc conference.

Traditionally a permaculture convergence is a gathering of pc design course graduates and pc practitioners. It is an in-house event. Education if one facet but there is also a strong emphasis on permaculture organizational stuff, like course certification standards, protocol, networking, collaborative ventures, etc. A chance for movement permaculturists to meet each other face to face. Presenters are not paid.

A permaculture conference, on the other hand, is also open to the general public. There are workshops oriented to beginners and generally there are higher fees. Presenters are often paid.

The International Permaculture Convergence is always associated with an International Permaculture Conference afterwards.

The intent of this Washington State Permaculture Convergence has elements of both. We are not doing a seperate conference (at least this first year), so we are opening the convergence up to the interested public. Which of these two facets will predominate depends on who shows up. At this point we have a high level of experience by almost everyone. Hopefully we will also attract interested new people.

To this end we would really appreciate any form of outreach you can do for the convergence. Sending emails to likely folks. Sending to list serves. Mentioning WSPC on websites. Kinda late for printed publications. Also printing out the brochure/poster (will be sent seperately shortly) and making copies to hand out or post. Word of mouth is the best. Radio shows or whatever you can do. At our end we have limited time to do outreach so the size of the event will partially be determined by how many people help us with publicity. Feel free to take the initiave. If you have time to report to us what you've done, or what we could do, then that would be good.

Thanks for your participation.

I hope to see many of you at the convergence.

Permaculturally, Michael Pilarski

In addition to the 13 presenters listed on our poster here are additional presenters since then: Eventually we should have further info on all the presenters' workshops and their websites at www.friendsofthetrees.net

• Susan Buis: Restoration 101. How to restore that little wetland in the back forty that has been taken over by reed canarygrass and blackberries or that stream buffer that was logged or overgrazed before you bought the property.
• Deston Denniston will lead a discussion of what the PDC credential means and how permies will posit themselves so that the core design theory remains heritable and is transmitted, all the while being recognized and possibly accredited through institutions such that the PDC certificate caries the weight of a master gardener liscence, or LEED AP status- that is, when someone has this credential it has a recognized and value added meaning to state, county and local hiring process. He will also share about the permaculture seminar we are facilitating that has been contracted between Clark County, WA and WSU. I hope this will lead to a discussion about what vision and goals permaculture practioners have for affecting and creating large scale management and development practices and land use policy, and the advantages/obstacles/disadvantages/potentials of an "institutional" recognition of PDC certification, both of practitioners, as designers, and of sites, potentially similar to master gardeners for individuals and for organic certification of sites, etc. This is an exploratory discussion.
• Charlotte Anthony started Victory Gardens for All in Eugene. "We have done to date 307 new gardens in the Eugene area. Our goal is 10,000 new gardens here in Eugene. Will present how we are doing this in a primarily self organizing way."
• Reed Ellis Aubin is from Minnesota. She will report on her project: Plant Polyculture Database, which has been developed for the past 7 years or so. It is a very sensitive online database tool for producers (ag-scale) as well as landscapers, pc designers, to assemble guilds and document field trials of certain plant assemblages. It has a robust validation scheme (anyone can submit, but it is moderated and results are tagged for validation), It is quantitative as well as anecdotal, well-cited, and growing toward an upcoming release to the broader community. In many ways it is like an online, searchable version of the plant species matrix in the back of Dave Jacke's Edible Forest Gardens books. The small group of people involved use it for the designs we are doing in MN. We are looking at strategies including expanding it to zone 6/7/8 to make it national/international in scope. I think it could be a lively source of conversation as well locus for an exchange of information around the intersection of PC and computer-based tools.
• Ankur Shah is an organic farmer, writer, and permaculturist. "I split my time between the olympic peninsula and the wilds of india, studying organic farming and Gandhian philosophy. "
• Gil Schieber, Borealis Landscape&Design, and Skipley Farm. Planning a Market Garden: The process of choosing the land, economics, site and plant selection, market and plant selection, procedure and economics, market choices, the farm and permaculture, planning for success.
• Sam Benowitz of Raintree Nursery may present.
• Micheal Sundanda may present and is looking for a ride from Eugene area.
• Doug Bullock is going to see if he can fit the convergence into his Friday schedule, but no promises.

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