HOST THE NEW MOON MYCOLOGY SUMMIT

Greetings! We're excited to collaborate with you! 

At the New Moon Mycology Summit, we hold space for people to build community by sharing skills, knowledge, and experiences. In order for us to do so, we must have site hosts and collaborators that share our goals and vision for the event. Don’t worry, if your land or homestead isn’t exactly aligned with these needs—we are here to discuss possibilities. We work closely with the stewards of the land and are always interested in hearing what your vision is.

What is the New Moon Mycology Summit?

The New Moon Mycology Summit is a gathering for communal learning around environmental + social justice through the lens of fungi. With 50+ presenters from various fields, this multi-day outdoor event offers interdisciplinary workshops, panel discussions, and skill-shares to bring a critical approach to science and education based in multiple ways of knowing. 

The New Moon Mycology Summit operates on a redistribution-oriented gift economy. Admission to the event is donation-based and sliding scale, pay-what-you-can, with no one turned away for lack of funds. We prioritize redistribution along the lines of ability and need, and encourage people with the means to contribute more toward admittance to support scholarships, travel stipends, and event costs. Funds collected through registration go directly toward covering total operational costs: paying presenters and contributors, food, the kitchen crew, material needs for the event, and scholarship funds for travel and other needs, so that we are able to operate without offsetting costs and hold space for scholarships. Much of the food that fuels the summit is donated by farms in the bioregion, and other food is rescued from going to waste. Volunteers assist with all aspects of organizing + putting on the event, from set-up to breakdown, tech support to sanitation.

In a world where the dominant paradigm seeks to commodify all life and value money and profit over everything, we seek to co-create a space that embodies a mutualistic, liberated way of building together that decentralizes capital and knowledge, and shows that a different way of working and sharing together is possible.

Here is what we need in order to make it happen:

What we’re looking for in a site:

  • We are looking for a gathering space large enough to host 100-500 attendees over the course of 4-6 days. 

    • We need enough parking on-site or close enough to accommodate people who will be walking with camping gear. In the past, we have had ‘car camping’ in some areas on the main site, but generally we don’t like having cars inside the camping zones and education areas.

    • We need spaces that can function as comfortable campsites to accommodate 100-500 people.

  • Multiple spaces that can serve as education areas/outdoor classes for 10-100 people

    • At least one of them must have electricity accessible for powerpoint

    • This could be a barn, clearings in the woods, open fields to set up large pole tents, unused buildings, large porches, etc. 

    • At least one educational space under weather-proof, secure covers (or indoors)

  • Site should NOT be raw land and ideally has some infrastructure which allows us to have more access and requires less input on everyone’s part. 

    • Access to water (both for us, and a spigot for our kitchen crew)

    • Access to electricity (including hook-up or access to solar/alternatives) 

  • A space for us to safely store materials for the duration agreed upon (protected from theft and weather)

  • We need an area designated for an outdoor kitchen, preferably with rain protection and electricity.

  • The safety of our community is of utmost priority. We need to be able to ensure that the space is safe for ALL of our attendees. We are not in alignment with the police. If the parking area or trails are on public land, we would really prefer that it isn’t highly frequented; we want people to feel safe when getting around at all hours of the day.

    • We have on-site security and community members on call for any conflict resolution.

  • We do not welcome the sale or use of alcohol.

  • Trails! Access to trails and diverse ecosystems  :) 

  • Relatively close public transportation (trains, buses, airport), to ensure that the site is accessible for those traveling from afar.

BONUS BLESSING IF THE HOST SITE PROVIDES:

  • Housing for organizers

  • Showers

  • Internet

  • Toilets 

  • Kitchen 

  • Washing machine

  • Cell phone service

  • Off road vehicles for better land access

What we’re looking for in a host:

  • It makes for a more nurturing and connective experience when the on-site host is a very hands-on collaborator who will help us facilitate what is needed to make the Summit happen.

  • Site hosts and The Mycelium Underground agree upon terms and an MOU is signed by both parties; this ensures transparency and something to return to when anything is in question.

  • Our host must be willing to interact with us and be reasonably responsive to our needs in a timely way that doesn't stress or hold back the organizing.

  • In the past, our hosts have not charged us for land use due to the nature of our sliding scale, donation based event. We have paid for electricity, phone use, lumber,  or other expenses that come up in order to host.

  • Our host should have access to, or knowledge of, nearby sources for tools + basic materials to prepare for the gathering:

    • Lots of wood chips + sawdust

    • Brush hogs, trailers, mowers, heavy equipment, lumber

    • Mowing, tools for trail maintenance, compost toilets, moving large items 

  • Ideally the site host will be willing to and will actively connect us to their local and regional resources.

Our presence on the site:

We envision our gatherings as land-based events that strengthen our existing community, build new connections, and bring life to the land where we gather. We want to build green infrastructure and tend to the land in a way that is mutually beneficial for our event’s needs and the host’s land-based visions. We work to leave the land healthier and happier than we find it, by exploring its fungal inhabitants, engaging with its many creatures, and creating compost heaps and new systems to live closely with the land.

To make this happen, our crew of organizers will come to land ahead of time (with reasonable notice!) for site visits, and in the month immediately prior/post-event, need constant access to the site for prep and clean up. Before the event, we typically have our crew working on infrastructure projects such as building compost toilet systems, a myco lab space, installing fridges, kitchen spaces, etc. We tend to do a little trail tending, trail making, compost system creation and grey-water filtration zones in collaboration with the host’s needs, with our own and volunteer support.

During the event and our prep time, we will serve fresh water, medicinal and herbal teas and the coffee is always on. Three home cooked meals are served daily—made by an amazing kitchen crew, Seeds of Peace. The fresh food we get to cook is mostly donated by local organic farms and providers. You are invited to be a part of these communal meals!

Depending on the nature of this year’s workshops, we may have facilitators that will lead projects to build outdoor wood chip mushroom beds, composting systems, or other land-based projects that fit into the host’s vision for the land.

As a host, you would be welcome to invite your friends and close community to attend this multi-day gathering without charge, given we communicate ahead of time.

We also need the following items to make the event happen. In the past, these items have been brought collectively by organizers, volunteers, regional folks in our mycelial networks, and the host:

  • Materials for kitchen and sustenance:

    • Food and other donations (tea, coffee, supplements etc.)

      • We acquire most perishable food donations & other dry food goods in bulk, and need a cool space for storing such donations until the event.

      • We might need items and donations mailed to the site before the event, so having room to store items and local support to arrange them would be ideal.

    • Fridges to store a lot of food

    • Coolers

    • Beverage dispensers

    • 55 gallon barrels for water (with installed spigots) or access to spigot for attendee to fill up 

    • full general kitchen set up and all it’s fixings (plates, flatware, bowls, cups, cooking pots pans, sink, stove/propane grill/burners) to feed folks/staff before our kitchen crew shows up (i.e., during pre-summit time with volunteers)

  • Materials for education:

    • Tables, chairs (at least 150-200) other seating

    • White boards/chalk boards

    • Powerpoint projectors - 2

    • Lighting

    • Tarps, ropes, pop-up tents

    • Speakers + microphones

    • Extension cords

    • Carpets

  • Materials for waste management

    • Many 5 gallon buckets for compost toilets, grey water systems, and handwashing stations

    • Eco-friendly soaps and disinfectants

  • Miscellaneous:

    • Paint for making signs

    • Scrap wood

    • Additional camping gear

Now that you have read through everything, if you’re interested in hosting us, head on to this Google Form link to connect with us!