Sober alternatives for PSI events

[JenHudgens]

I know of several PSI members/poets who are either in recovery, or do not drink alcohol, and would like sober alternatives to the after parties, as well as a possibility for AA meetings, or a safe meeting place that is not surrounded by alcohol.  I would love to get some ideas going for Nats this year, thanks in advance! :)

[simone]

Great! Jen, we are already planning to hold a Recovery Reading as one of our day events... Although I do realize that one event on one day is not adequate support for the whole community.

Please post your ideas, folks. I'll be sure to keep an eye on this thread.

[Detroitphoenix]

Simone,

Maybe you can find a local AA that the artists can go to.  In addition, maybe we can square away some space inside of the hotel where we can serve some appetizers and punch.  What do you think?

[Scott Woods]

Clarify: How sober are we talking here?
Are we talking an alternative to the After Party?
Or are we talking a non-alcoholic venue?
How far do we extend into this issue, and for how many folks?

[Ransacked]

While respecting what that second "A" stands for, I'll say that at the 2008 NPS in Madison, I woke up early and got breakfast, and I was surprised to see a NorthBEAST poet up and about at that hour. When I asked him what he was up to, he said he'd been at a meeting. I <foot ="mouth"> asked him why on Earth the team had a meeting at 7AM </foot>. He replied that it was an AA meeting.

Man found an AA meeting in an unfamiliar city at 7AM on a Friday. That's some skills.

Here's a meeting locator for Boston/Cambridge. Kendall, Central, and Porter Squares are all EASILY accessible on the Red Line T (subway) from the hotel and venues.

I realize that most people in recovery know how to find AA meetings, and I also realize that "attending an AA meeting" is not a sober social alternative to "attending a PSI event." But perhaps someone in the know could put together a listing of community resources (links, a QRC tag, flier, Web page) as a start?

[simone]

It will be no problem for us to post/publish locations and times for AA meetings local to the hotel and event; I'll add this to our resources for poets on the website. A more extensive resource will be an additional task; if I can find someone to produce this for us, it will happen! If the work falls to some of our already hard-working staff, though, I can't guarantee that we can come through with more than a bare-bones listing. I do know there are many weekly meetings within walking distance of the hotel.  

I do not think we have room in the hotel to provide a designated social space free from drinking and drugging; we have one 24-hour conference room that has been left open for all to use, but getting a second one will pose a cost, one which I don't think will pay off, given the low attendance in such spaces in the past. I am going to ask our community for help with this one; if you choose to throw open your room for poetry tag/cipher, please consider making it a dry space, and think carefully before you bring alcohol into someone else's room.

I can guarantee right now that each day, there will be at least one day event (probably 2-3) and one competition event that will take place in environments without alcohol. Obviously, I cannot guarantee that poets in recovery will compete in non-bar spaces, but they will have non-bars to go to to enjoy their community during the day and during their night off from competition. I will work towards adding a non-bar late-night event to the schedule, too.

We are still working to secure pre- and after-party spaces for the tournament, but due to the nature of the area where we are holding NPS, I suspect these will be in bars. I will consider possible alternatives for poets in recovery on Saturday night, but for these events, I think I have to take what we can get in terms of party spaces.

Please keep posting your thoughts and concerns in this thread.

[Detroitphoenix]

It will be no problem for us to post/publish locations and times for AA meetings local to the hotel and event; I'll add this to our resources for poets on the website. A more extensive resource will be an additional task; if I can find someone to produce this for us, it will happen! If the work falls to some of our already hard-working staff, though, I can't guarantee that we can come through with more than a bare-bones listing. I do know there are many weekly meetings within walking distance of the hotel.  

I do not think we have room in the hotel to provide a designated social space free from drinking and drugging; we have one 24-hour conference room that has been left open for all to use, but getting a second one will pose a cost, one which I don't think will pay off, given the low attendance in such spaces in the past. I am going to ask our community for help with this one; if you choose to throw open your room for poetry tag/cipher, please consider making it a dry space, and think carefully before you bring alcohol into someone else's room.

I can guarantee right now that each day, there will be at least one day event (probably 2-3) and one competition event that will take place in environments without alcohol. Obviously, I cannot guarantee that poets in recovery will compete in non-bar spaces, but they will have non-bars to go to to enjoy their community during the day and during their night off from competition. I will work towards adding a non-bar late-night event to the schedule, too.

We are still working to secure pre- and after-party spaces for the tournament, but due to the nature of the area where we are holding NPS, I suspect these will be in bars. I will consider possible alternatives for poets in recovery on Saturday night, but for these events, I think I have to take what we can get in terms of party spaces.

Please keep posting your thoughts and concerns in this thread.

This is an extremely fair response, Sis.  I like the idea of folks who have rooms, just offering their room as a safe space.

[simone]

It's been a minute since we talked about this, fam, but I just wanted to get the word out that in addition to the Recovery Reading, we're also providing a schedule of Recovery events in the area for those in need at NPS2011:

http://nps2011.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/NPS2011_Recovery_Resources.pdf

You may thank Ryk McIntyre and Artie Moffa for doing the work to produce this.

Stay safe, family. We'll see you soon.