I went to the Synergy Project..

[miss giggles]

there are a LOT of hippy enterpreneurs, though. a lot of the hippy ideal seems to be about self-improvement without much of a wider view. half of the fucking Grateful Dead seem to be big in something in Silicon Valley.

I agree. The thing is with synergy though, what is their ideal? I've read loads of their *ahem* philosophy and I'm fucked if I can make any sense of it.

It's just a load of cosmic waffle about planet earth being a spaceship

I've even read it stoned and it still didn't make sense!

The parties are good though. If they were just honest about what they do instead of dressing it up in this cosmic bullshit, and making out they're trying to save the world, I really wouldn't have a problem with them. I suspect if they did though, they might loose a sizeable chunk of their "volunteers".

 

[William of Walworth]

I don't think the synergy people are hippies at all. They're very shrewd buisness men who dress like hippies.

I kind of got that impression too, but others know more than I do about them.

 

[Dubversion]

I agree. The thing is with synergy though, what is their ideal? I've read loads of their *ahem* philosophy and I'm fucked if I can make any sense of it.

It's just a load of cosmic waffle about planet earth being a spaceship

I've even read it stoned and it still didn't make sense!

The parties are good though. If they were just honest about what they do instead of dressing it up in this cosmic bullshit, and making out they're trying to save the world, I really wouldn't have a problem with them. I suspect if they did though, they might loose a sizeable chunk of their "volunteers".

i agree with most of that apart from the bit about their parties being good

the thing is, they may well do good things with the Synergy Centre but i'm afraid i still TOTALLY distrust the motives of the main players. perhaps they've just sussed how to play both the funding system and the goodwill of 'volunteers'..
i wouldn't be surprised if they can actually set it up in such a way that even their accounts are clean as a whistle in terms of charity status or whatever but somehow they accrue goodwill / free help / partygoers who feed into the profitmaking aspects (or waged aspects) of the whole Synergy 'empire' that still makes them more money than if they just did parties

 

[Skim]

I went to the Synergy Project...

... and all I got was this lousy T-shirt

 

[miss giggles]

Dub, my thoughts exactly.

 

[citydreams]

they may well do good things with the Synergy Centre but i'm afraid i still TOTALLY distrust the motives of the main players.

So, if it was run without a grant would you be ok with it? Genuine question, there's obviously a need for community centres

 

[Dubversion]

So, if it was run without a grant would you be ok with it? Genuine question, there's obviously a need for community centres

no. i'd be ok with it if it wasn't run by a bunch of party organisers with gibberish for a manifesto.

 

[citydreams]

no. i'd be ok with it if it wasn't run by a bunch of party organisers with gibberish for a manifesto.

Their summary makes easier reading:

The Centre will aim to:
• build the capacity of local groups and individuals working in the field of citizenship and cultural education in ethical and sustainable living.
• highlight the importance of creativity as a means of providing people with an outlet for self expression and a means of enhancing self esteem and confidence, the lack of which lie at the root of much antisocial behaviour.
• provide local young people with hands-on experience and training in all aspects of the management of such creative and educational projects, equipping them with valuable skills in today’s creative economy.
• form part of a crime reduction strategy by diverting young people from the risk associated with destructive cycles of boredom and crime, and instead giving them an outlet for their youthful energy and drive.

To achieve these aims, the centre will:

• provide valuable community facilities and space where a wide variety of people can gather to pool experience and best practice, fulfilling an invaluable synergising role, whereby the whole is considerably stronger and more effective than the mere sum of its constituent parts.
• act as a resource base where workshops, presentations and exhibitions in a variety of personal and social development and empowerment techniques will be facilitated.
• provide training courses in the use of creative media, project management and organisational development and in a wide variety of techniques, practices and awareness associated with ethical and sustainable living.
• house a community arts venue for the development and presentation of a wide variety of both professional and community arts initiatives, injecting a sense of local community and identity and regenerating a ‘pride of place’ in the neighbourhood.

 

[editor]

Their summary makes easier reading:

Yes. But what does it all mean?



This is just unfathomable, nu-age gibberish - it could be describing a pub for all I know

provide valuable community facilities and space where a wide variety of people can gather to pool experience and best practice, fulfilling an invaluable synergising role, whereby the whole is considerably stronger and more effective than the mere sum of its constituent parts.

 

[citydreams]

Synergy are still spamming into my Spam box every week or so, despite repeated requests to remove me from their list.

I've sent Synergy an email asking for them to respond.

 

[editor]

I've sent Synergy an email asking for them to respond.

If my experiences are anything to go by, they'll be in hurry tp actually do anything.

I was getting spammed to six different email addresses for a while and they seemed to think that had some sort of right to carry on.

 

[Dubversion]

a continuing theme of a lot of their guff seems to involve them knowing what's best for the 'community' and proposing foisting it upon them

anyway, even if their summary makes a LITTLE more sense than the rest, i still absolutely refuse to take anything they say seriously in the light of the rest of their website.

they're cynical airheaded fuckwitted pseudo-mystical twatmonkeys.

 

[citydreams]

This is just unfathomable, nu-age gibberish - it could be describing a pub for all I know

provide valuable community facilities and space where a wide variety of people can gather to pool experience and best practice, fulfilling an invaluable synergising role, whereby the whole is considerably stronger and more effective than the mere sum of its constituent parts.

To me that means they are trying to be all-inclusive towards anything that can add to a sense of community.

Though I don't know why they couldn't just say that.

 

[editor]

Though I don't know why they couldn't just say that.

But that's part of the problem I have with them: they arrogantly trot out weird shit about what 'the community' supposedly needs yet haven't the courtesy to write it in a language that normal people understand.

 

[citydreams]

guess who's behind the whole Peace Not War shebang? Why, none other than the Stop the War Coalition (heavily associated with the SWP)!

seems like Alabam3 were up for it too
http://www.peace-not-war.org/Festival/Thursday12th/index.html

 

[moonsi til]

Citydreams...everytime I read your thread title my head goes 'I went to the shop and I bought...'

 

[editor]

seems like Alabam3 were up for it too
http://www.peace-not-war.org/Festival/Thursday12th/index.html

They'll play anywhere!

 

[citydreams]

Ok. I'm not getting obsessed, but thought I'd wordsmith The Synergy Project

RETRENCH EGYPT JOYS

or

GYP HO ENTRY REJECTS

 

[miss giggles]

a continuing theme of a lot of their guff seems to involve them knowing what's best for the 'community' and proposing foisting it upon them

anyway, even if their summary makes a LITTLE more sense than the rest, i still absolutely refuse to take anything they say seriously in the light of the rest of their website.

they're cynical airheaded fuckwitted pseudo-mystical twatmonkeys.

BTW, where is this centre? And were any local people consulted about it or even asked if they wanted it?

 

[Dubversion]

BTW, where is this centre? And were any local people consulted about it or even asked if they wanted it?

Camberwell, and almost certainly not. they'd probably prefer the money spent on some sports facilities or youth projects. not fucking chakra-alignment sessions and djembe lessons.

 

[Dubversion]

this is my favourite page of the website

 

[Yossarian]

Ok. I'm not getting obsessed, but thought I'd wordsmith The Synergy Project

RETRENCH EGYPT JOYS

or

GYP HO ENTRY REJECTS

Joy! Creepy strength.

Reject nor gypsy.

 

[miss giggles]

Camberwell, and almost certainly not. they'd probably prefer the money spent on some sports facilities or youth projects. not fucking chakra-alignment sessions and djembe lessons.

I bet they would.

If I was there, I'm not sure I'd like being told I was going to be given a "sense of identity" either. Especialy not from them.

 

[free spirit]

this lot really managed to wind up a few people on here didn't they...

seems to me that in essence they're in the process of setting up a community arts space with a green / political tinge and alternative therapy stuff too, partially funded by running psy trance parties. Nowt wrong with that in my book, good luck to them

to answer the editors question seeing as I've had to do a fair amount of funding speak in my time that sentence means essentially...

providing a building where like minded people can work together... the idea being that people working together can achieve more than they can working alone.

dub

they'd probably prefer the money spent on some sports facilities or youth projects. not fucking chakra-alignment sessions and djembe lessons.

fair enough, but any group of people are free to set up their own not for profit organisation to run youth projects or sport projects, fundraise for them and do it. This lot want to run a community arts, music, green, alt politics and alternative therapies space... no doubt it won't meet the needs of the entire community, but it in no way prevents any other group setting up to do other activities.

the thing is, they may well do good things with the Synergy Centre but i'm afraid i still TOTALLY distrust the motives of the main players. perhaps they've just sussed how to play both the funding system and the goodwill of 'volunteers'..

hmm you may have a point on this bit though, they've certainly left themselves open to some accusations about this to some extent as I can't see anything in their memorandum of association (company rules) on the election of the exectutive committee, which currently only comprises 2 people, and in fact the membership is actually determined by the executive committee rather than the other way round. This is a bit of an odd way of doing things, but not necessarily done with ill intent.

at the end of the day they've apparently scoured the site for email addresses and used that to spam people which is bad crack, but if you're email address is publicly available on the site then... they should have removed peeps from their spam lists when requested, which is pretty slack / shit of them... but at the end of the day they appear to be seriously attempting to do something generally positive and for that I applaud them and wish them all the best.

they ain't prefect, but then which of us are?

 

[Dubversion]

seems to me that in essence they're in the process of setting up a community arts space with a green / political tinge and alternative therapy stuff too, partially funded by running psy trance parties. Nowt wrong with that in my book, good luck to them

but there is something wrong with it in my book:

1) they've received public funding for their activities, which should surely mean they should provide something the community wants
2) half-baked 'spiritual' gobbledygook and vague new age platitudes are bollocks and quite rightly wind people up. to use them as the basis of a policy statement which uses public money, doubly so.
3) psy-trance is the work of the devil.

 

[sherriff rosco]

3) psy-trance is the work of the devil.

Q.E.D

.p.

 

[Streathamite]

in a squatted space
which the council then destroyed

I see your point though. But they've got the grant. It's up to the community to judge whether that money is well spent.

so who holds them accountable?
and how?

 

[pootle]

If the Synergy Project are a registered charity, they are answerable to the Charity Commission for a start.

 

[Doctor Carrot]

but there is something wrong with it in my book:

1) they've received public funding for their activities, which should surely mean they should provide something the community wants
2) half-baked 'spiritual' gobbledygook and vague new age platitudes are bollocks and quite rightly wind people up. to use them as the basis of a policy statement which uses public money, doubly so.
3) psy-trance is the work of the devil.

Oh you're spot on, particularly the last point. If I was a 14 year old kid and was looking for some where to have an outlet i'd want to go some where I could be safe playing a game of pool, learning to DJ/make tunes, paint or whatever. I wouldn't wanna go to a place where I could do all that but the only paints available were luminous ones and where i'd have to listen to some bellend harping on about new age bollocks.

Psy-trance is Satan's most twisted work and it must be stamped out.

 

[Streathamite]

finally, does ANYONE know of any concrete actual/achievement/project/campaign the Synergy project can point to and say 'we did that'?
anyone?