Intro to Events

Live Sensibly is starting with a website, but the site is intended to be a foundation for creating community among folks interested in alcohol-related issues.

Don’t get me wrong — I’m nuts about the internet — and I know how powerful online communities can be. (There is no way I would have made the progress I did starting in 2000 without email-based friendships with fellow MMers who had wisdom and experience to share.)

The plan for building the Live Sensibly community goes beyond the internet. I’m open to suggestions, but here are a couple of the options I’ll be researching and pursuing first:

• Hosting conference call-based events. For some of us, email and online chat have their limitations. For those of us who can connect on a face-to-face basis, that is often best. But, I’d like to take a stab at offering regularly-scheduled small-group gatherings for folks with questions about their own drinking or that of their loved ones to talk about options. Another good use of conference call technology could be MM meetings. I’ll keep you posted on scheduling and reserving space here on the Events page.
• Webcasting. Options for putting out audio content — online radio shows — are growing more affordable these days. This is something that could start simply: I’ll do a half-hour phone interview of an expert or one of our peers, record it, and set it up for streaming broadcast at regular intervals later. From there, it might segue to a live weekly broadcast, which could also be recorded and re-broadcast.
• Telecourses. Some of us learn best through visual media, some from reading, some from listening. It’s not unusual that we grasp a lot more when comparing and discussing our thoughts than from solitary textbook reading. With substantial, intriguing evidence developing on a regular basis, and experts with information to share, maybe a couple of 90-minute sessions on Prochaska & DiClemente’s Changing for Good could help folks cement their understanding of the stages of change.

Ideas Welcome

What other sorts of events might show up here? You just never know! Feel free to use the comments here for brainstorming. Every idea is a good idea, viable or not, because sometimes it’s the off-the-wall, pie-in-the-sky concepts that lead us to what is pragmatic and real and viable.