In this section I will give you enough information to get you started on organizing an Earth's Children Summer Meeting. Every meeting is unique in it's own way so please take this information and use it as a guideline more than anything else. On a personal note, everyone needs to understand that I am not a representative of Jean Auel. The only association I have with her and the Earth's Children series of books is the same as you. I am a devoted fan. I have made the committment to help everyone get together and learn more about the way our ancestors lived during the ice age. And with this committment I want to express that anyone who wants to organize and/or participate in a Summer Meeting should do so with dignity and respect for Jean Auel and the series of books.
Committment is a must. Decide on the date and keep it! Five days minimum amount of time. More days can be worked in and events can be repeated to accommodate those who show up later.
Communication with me and/or your web site is very important. If you are unable to build your own web site for the meeting and keep it updated, people will loose interest really fast. Between Deonizia and myself we can put together the web site for you but it's your responsibility to research and give us all necessary information to post on the site. That includes links to information relating to the Summer Meeting site, any travel tips and the like. Pictures would be good to. Gives participants a visual of where they will be.
Location needs to be determined along with the date. Interesting locations should be considered. A place with Ice Age History or other natural wonder is nice. Clean campground with showers. Good trails for hiking. Nearby cabins or other accomodations for those unable to camp. All things considered, the location should accomodate not only the Earth's Children Fans, but family members who are not interested in these things! If you haven't been to the location yourself, make sure you check it out first before deciding on it. The cost of the location needs to be posted so everyone knows how much their share will be. This should include any entrance fees to parks or ferry's ect. There is no charge for people to attend the meeting. They are only responsible for their own camp site, food, travel and the like.
Travel to the location needs to be addressed. People will be coming from all over so a map of the area posted on the web site is crucial. It is up to each individual to get there on their own and pay their own way.
Activities are a MUST! I will be including links to various sites to aid you in your quest for as many Ice Age activities as possible. We made amulets, knapped flint, cooked in a pit and on rocks, made donii's, started a fire (well we tried) with flint and iron pyrite, learned how to bank a fire, caveart, herb identification and the list goes on. We were never bored! As people sign up to participate in the meeting, it's important that you get volunteers to host an activity. For those individuals who are hosting an activity it is important that they have enough material for everyone in the meeting to do the specific activity. If one project costs more than another one, it needs to be addressed beforehand so if they need any kind of reimbursement the participants know of this in advance. We did not need to do this as everyone did an activity and the cost remained similar amongst everyone.
Sign Up window will be provided on your web site for participants. This will aid you in keeping track of how many people are coming. You can utilize the Sign Up link to notify me of your interest.
