#cong24 Press Release

Legacy Footprint Left in Cong

(11/11/2024) Who, how and what is remembered after we pass away are some of the topics that speakers from the America, Portugal, England, Poland and all over Ireland will debate in Cong Village on Nov 23rd at the annual ‘Legacy’ themed CongRegation unconference.

Entering its 12 year, the free open entry three day CongRegation mind mesh features a mix of talks, huddles, workshop, open mic, social events and a book launch.

The event kicks off on Friday 22nd  with a ‘Night of Legacy’ in Ashford Castle with Chief Legacy Officer Sherrie Rose who is flying in from San Diego to join UK based storyteller Clare Murphy and author and CEO of Shine Your Light Dr Eileen Forrestal to deliver a series of thought provoking talks on Legacy.

The main feature of the weekend is the unconference and discussions over intimate huddles which takes place on Saturday 23rd in multiple social venues throughout Cong Village.  After all 100 speakers have presented the group will split into the different workshops in Ryans Hotel before dinner.  International clowning expert from San Francisco Moshe Cohen will explore legacy and the things that matter through mime and movement, while artist Zanya Dahl will guide the group towards capturing and expressing their thoughts through the visual medium of drawing.   Building on the legacy theme the final Existential Eulogy Workshop by philosopher, psychoanalyst and founder of the Viktor Frankl Institute of Ireland Dr Stephen Costello will see attendees attempt to record the essence of their life by scripting their own eulogy before exploring its implications.

The evening will finish with a fireside chat to launch ‘HUMANLIKE The AI Transformation’ with book author Victor Del Rosal and moderator Joan Mulvihill in Danaghers Hotel.  The OpenMic featuring poetry, songs, tributes and stories will bookend the evening before attendees mingle late into the evening.

The final event of the weekend will be a Legacy Walk through Cong Abbey with story telling, history and lore.

In order to get a free ticket for this event each attendee produces a submission on theme of ‘Legacy’ that is posted on the www.congregation.ie.  Submissions are still being accepted.  Full details on the website.

CongRegation is supported by Mayo.ie, MKC Communication, Blacknight Solutions, the IRDG Innovation Skillnet, the ICBE Advanced Productivity Skillnet, Informed Decisions and Grow Remote.

For further information please contact:

Eoin Kennedy, +353 86 8339540, eoin@congregation.ie

#cong23 Press Release

Cong Gets A Dose of Reality

(14.11.2023) Cong Village in Co Mayo will get a strong dose of Reality from Nov24-26th with the celebration of the 11th annual CongRegation  (www.congregation.ie) mind mesh unconference.  Over 100 people will probe, discuss and share insights on this year’s theme of ‘Reality’ over 3 days and 7 different events.

The event kicks off with a night of ‘Reality Talks’ in Ashford Castle on Friday 24th November with Astronomer, David Moore from Astronomy Ireland,  Shaman Aldo Jordan from the Irish School of Shamanic Studies, Philosopher Stephen Costello, founder of the Viktor Frankl Institute of Ireland and virtual world avatar creator Aileen Carville, CEO and Co Founder of COLONII.

Saturday will see 100 attendees discuss their submissions in rotating huddles spread through multiple venues in Cong village during the full day unconference while their children enjoy ‘Forest School bushcraft workshop.

Following the unconference clowning artist Mitchell ‘Moshe’ Cohen, who is flying in from the United States especially for the event, will deliver a 1 hr session that will awaken playfulness in a mature way and develop the power to transform the energies that create disturbance and disconnect.  The workshop’s explorations and practices draw from physical theatre practices, clown improvisations, elements from butoh dance, qi gong and feldenkreis movement.  A second workshop led by Chris Reina from MakerMeet will use generated graphics to put attendees into places that are not real.   Using AI generated graphics and real humans along with a green screen and chromakey technology the workshop aims to take and make art, reality, illusion, confusion, ineptness and incompetence – while having lots of fun!

Saturday will finish off with a special performance of ‘The Magic Play’, which has recently completed its run the Bewleys Café Theatre in Dublin.  Branded as fusion of comedy, magic and theatre this play will take place in the beautifully restored All Saints Centre in Clonbur Village.

Sunday will finish off with a GeoWalk with a geologist from the Joyce Country Ecopark mixing myth, reality , fact and geology.

In order to earn a ticket each attendee submits a 600 word article, via the website, outlining their own unique perspectives, thoughts and experiences on the theme of ‘Reality’, all of which are published on the event website.  These submissions form the basis of the presentations on Saturday November 25th in small huddles of 10-12 people.  Each huddle is chaired and attendees are given 10-15 minutes to share the insights from their submission followed by a group discussion.  The huddles rotate 4 times giving all attendees the opportunity to present and meet as many of the other attendees as possible, in a peer to peer environment.

“The Reality theme builds on previous themes with submissions exploring the scientific and spiritual nature of Reality through to the grounded reality of everyday life.  Outside of the rich and stimulating discussions the event also forges deep and serendipitous connections, due to the informal presentation style and social locations used for the event.  In order to spark off inspiration attendees can also pick one of the curated books on reality that are available free of charge from the website” commented organiser Eoin Kennedy.

CongRegation is a free event and would not be possible without the generous support of its sponsors

Mayo.ie, Blacknight, MKC Communications, Informed Decisions, Grow Remote, IRDG, Blockverse Ventures and the Advanced Productivity Skillnet.  All the submissions to date can be viewed on the website.  Submissions are now being accepted via the online form https://congregation.ie/submit-entry/

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For further information

Eoin Kennedy

eoin@congregtion.ie

086 8339549

CongRegation Celebrates 10 Years on Purpose

CongRegation (www.congregation.ie) #cong22, the annual mind mesh unconference, marks its 10th year with a return to Cong Village, Co Mayo from Nov25-27th under the ‘Purpose’ theme.

Attracting attendees from all over Ireland and overseas the event will see over 100 people earning their entry via a submission on the topic and debate it in small face to face huddles spread throughout Cong Village.

The event kicks off with a night of ‘Purpose Tales’ in Ashford Castle on Friday 25th November, followed by the all day unconference on Saturday 26th.  Saturday evening will see a variety of social events from a poetry open mic, sketch crawl to purpose workshops.  The event will finish with a social event in Cong Woods on the Sunday of that weekend.

In order to earn a ticket each attendee submits a 600 word article, via the website, outlining their own unique perspectives, thoughts and experiences on the theme of ‘Purpose’, all of which are published on the event website.  These submissions form the basis of the presentations on Saturday November 26th in small huddles of 10-12 people.  Each huddle is chaired and attendees are given 10-15 minutes to share the insights from their submission followed by a group discussion.  The huddles rotate 4 times giving all attendees the opportunity to present and meet as many of the other attendees as possible, in a peer to peer environment.

“This is probably the most challenging topic to date” commented event organiser Eoin Kennedy.  “For some people they only consider their purpose when faced with life or death situations, for others its their guiding principle while many businesses see it a central part of their culture.  Debating of this topic echoes back to the early philosophers yet it remains elusive and rarely given the airing it deserves, despite its importance.   Exploration of Purpose can be unsettling, highly motivating and most certainly deeply personal.   As each attendee captures their thinking in the submissions in advance of the weekend in November it means they are more open to informed debate and questioning.  Outside of the rich and stimulating discussions the event also forges deep and serendipitous connections, due to the informal presentation style and social locations used for the event.”

CongRegation is a free event and would not be possible without the generous support of its sponsors Blacknight Solutions, Mayo.ie. MKC Communications, ICBE Advanced Productivity Network, Grow Remote and Common Purpose.

All the submissions to date can be viewed on the website.  Submissions are now being accepted via the online form https://congregation.ie/submit-entry/

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For further information

Eoin Kennedy

eoin@congregtion.ie

086 8339549

Press Release: CongRegation Virtually Tackles Leadership

CongRegation (www.congregation.ie) #cong21 the annual mind mesh unconference returns on November 27thas a virtual event with ‘Leadership’ as its theme.

Celebrating its 9th year the online format still features an earned entry via a submission, which are discussed in small moderated huddles.  Attracting attendees from all over Ireland and overseas the event will cover a wide range of perspectives and angles on the theme of ‘Leadership’.

In order to earn a ticket each attendee submits a 600 word article covering their own unique perspectives and experiences which is published on the website.  These submissions form the basis of the presentations on November 27th.  Each huddle is chaired and attendees are given 10-15 minutes to present followed by a group discussion.  The huddles rotate 4 times giving all attendees the opportunity to present and meet as many of the other attendees as possible, in a peer to peer environment.

Due to covid concerns the event has switched from its home in Cong, Co Mayo although some attendees will still be logging in from their favourite venue or at the specially organised socially distanced Crossroads centre.

“The submissions are really only a catalyst for discussion” commented organised Eoin Kennedy.  Adding he said “The real magic happens when people add their own perspective and tease out new ideas.  As everyone has had to earn their entry they not only come prepared but experience a true peer to peer environment.  In addition to generating new ideas the intimate structure forms strong bonds between attendees with many collaborating beyond the event.  Despite zoom fatigue after a year of lockdown, last year the online format attracted 80 attendees with the event lasting over 12 hours”.

Following the 4 one hour huddles the day finishes with the ever popular poetry open mic, featuring new and favourite poems moderated by Paul O’Mahony.  Some additional socially distanced social events will be organised for the attendees who log in from Cong.

All the submissions to date can be viewed on the website.  Submissions will be accepted up to Friday November 26th via the online form

CongRegation is supported by Mayo.ie, MKC Communications, the ICBE Advanced Productivity Skillnet, Grow Remote, Informed Decisions and Common Purpose.

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For further information

Eoin Kennedy

eoin@congregtion.ie

086 8339549