General Information

St. Francis Retreat Center
549 Mission Vineyard Rd, San Juan Bautista, CA 95045

FLIGHTS:

Please book your flights prioritizing San Jose Airport first; then Oakland Airport; and lastly, San Francisco Airport.

Strongly recommend book flights arriving by 2pm PST on 9/13 and departing after 6pm PST on 9/16 to avoid missing parts of the program.

OPTIONS FOR RIDES TO RETREAT CENTER FROM AIRPORT:

Groome Transportation: Make an online reservation to Prunedale Park n Ride. Costs generally between $45-65 per person and can be purchased online in advance or in person. Please inform staff of arrival time at Prunedale and AF will coordinate a pickup.
Uber/Lyft to retreat center with a buddy or two for a split fare
About Face coordinated carpool pick-ups by 3pm PT at San Jose, Oakland, and San Francisco airports for those that indicate requests for pick up on the Participant Survey.

EXPECTED WEATHER:

Low 70s and Sunny during the day
Low 50s at night

PACKING LIST:

Water Bottle
Sunscreen
Hiking/Walking Shoes (lots of trails at the retreat center)
Light jacket/sweatshirt
Insect repellent
Special object for altar

ROOMS:

Majority of rooms are shared with one other participant and will be matched based on the preferences you provide in the Participant Survey
En suite bathroom for each room
Limited single rooms available, please indicate on Participant Survey if you are in need of one
Limited mobility accessible rooms are available, please indicate on survey if you are in need of one

Convention Agenda

All times listed are in Pacific Timezone (PT). Jump to:

Friday, September 13th

12:00pm – 6:00pm

Arrival and Registration
Check-in to receive materials, room assignments, and other useful info

6:00pm – 8:00pm

Dinner & Opening
Welcome, grounding, alter settling, and participant meet and greet

8:00pm – 10:00pm

Optional: Campfire & S’mores
Unstructured relationship building and hang out time

Saturday, September 14th

8:00am-9:00am

BREAKFAST

9:00am – 9:15am

Opening and Centering
BOLD Centering practice, Housekeeping announcements

9:15am – 10:15am

Reflecting on 20 Years of IVAW/About Face
A walk through the major campaigns, goals, and lessons learned of past eras of our work

10:15am – 11:45am

Panel on “The Conjuncture” or “State of Affairs”
Assessing and making meaning of the current political conditions with special guest speakers Steve Williams, Thenjiwe McHarris, Lara Kiswani

11:45am – 12:15pm

Discussion: Why organizing as Veterans?
Given the state of affairs, why do we believe it’s strategic and important to organize as veterans?

12:15pm – 1:15pm

LUNCH

1:15pm – 3:00pm

Sharpening Our Shared Purpose and Goals
What do we seek to accomplish together? What is the shared work we must do to make that possible?

3:00pm – 3:30pm

BREAK

3:30pm – 5:00pm

Organizing Fundamentals
Key concepts and skills for growing the movement and building power

5:00pm – 6:00pm

Battle of the Story
Leveraging our stories and experiences to change and shape the narrative

6:00pm – 7:00pm

DINNER

7:00pm – 9:00pm

Optional: Virtual Session with IDF Resister Meital Yaniv

Sunday, September 15th

8:00am – 9:00am

BREAKFAST

9:00am – 12:00pm

Annual Business Meeting
Members are welcome to attend regardless of convention registration. The Board of Directors will facilitate a Board Elections Candidate Forum, presentations on the State of the Organization, and voting on any proposals or resolutions submitted.

12:00pm – 1:00pm

LUNCH

1:00am – 3:00pm

Principled Struggle
Concepts and skills we must build to maintain healthy community culture, engage in constructive conflict, and practice accountability and repair.

3:00pm – 3:30pm

BREAK

3:30pm – 6:00pm

Direct Action Workshops
Ruckus Society Trainers give intro to core concepts for Non-Violent Direct Action followed by breakout skills workshops on Planning Direct Actions, Movement Art Production, Blockades, and Community Safety

6:00pm – 7:00pm

DINNER

7:00am – 9:00pm

Optional: Talent Show & Art Build

Monday, September 15th

8:00am – 10:00am

BREAKFAST AND CHECK-OUT

10:00am – 12:00pm

Preparing to Take the Work Home
Orientation to updated About Face resources for organizing, regional break-outs, and goal setting

12:00pm – 1:00pm

LUNCH

1:00pm – 3:00pm

Next Steps, Closing and Farewell
Follow-up tasks and commitments, AAR and Appreciations