Briarpatch 50th Anniversary
Rabbit Talk 05:
Tradeskill
Mark December 4, 2024, on your calendar. Join us on Zoom for the fifth of twelve Rabbit Talks, at the Briarpatch monthly gatherings.
Tradeskill was first introduced to the world in Chapter 2 of Honest Business: A Superior Strategy for Starting and Managing Your Own Business (by Salli Rasberry and Michael Phillips).
Honest Business chronicles the first five or six years of Briarpatch history and describes in some detail the lessons we learned about launching and nurturing self-sustaining right livelihood projects.
At our December 4th meeting, we’ll talk about the key behaviors required for success in any right livelihood business; what Briarpatch refers to as “tradeskill.”
In Briarpatch we use that word as a label for the behaviors that separate those who succeed in starting and running a small right livelihood business from those who fail.
We’re not talking about “business ability”, but rather the skills required for a successful project that serves your family, community, and society. In other words, the behaviors needed to start and run a right livelihood business.
[ Register to get Zoom link and email reminder here:
https://briarpatch.net/contact/briarpatch-reminder-list/ ]
The San Francisco Briarpatch is celebrating its 50th birthday starting this June!
We will be celebrating for an entire year from June 2024 through August 2025 (No Talks in January or July of either year).
On June 5, we launched two collections of stories and tales about the Briarpatch.
Click on one of these links to learn more:
Rabbit Talks
Monthly talks over the next year, brief but with a focus on our history and the principles and practices of right livelihood business that we helped each other discover.
Join us at the monthly Briarpatch gathering for short Rabbit Talks on our origin story, our cultural heroes and virtuoso members, and the principles and practices that are the hallmarks of a right-livelihood Briarpatch business.
[ Register to get Zoom link and email reminder here:
https://briarpatch.net/contact/briarpatch-reminder-list/ ]
Click here to see a detailed description of all 12 talks.
Details of the Rabbit Talks Series
Rabbit Talks is a monthly one-time series of brief talks about the stories, principles, and practices of right-livelihood businesses uncovered by the Briarpatch in the first two decades of its history.
The series will run from June 2024 through August 2025
(skipping July, 2024 and January and July, 2025).
[ Register to get Zoom link and email reminder here:
https://briarpatch.net/contact/briarpatch-reminder-list/ ]
Rabbit Talks Calendar
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Rabbit Talk 5. Tradeskill |
December 4, 2024 |
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Rabbit Talk 6. |
February 5, 2024 |
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Rabbit Talk 7. Fifteen Principles |
March 5, 2025 |
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Rabbit Talk 8. Eight Key Practices |
April 2, 2025 |
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Rabbit Talk 9. Briarpatch Marketing |
May 7, 2025 |
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Rabbit Talk 10. Briarpatch Marketing |
June 4, 2025 |
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Rabbit Talk 11. Briarpatch Marketing |
August 6, 2025 |
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Rabbit Talk 12. |
September 3, 2025 |
[ Register to get Zoom link and email reminder here:
More About the Rabbit Talks
Rabbit Talk 01. Briarpatch Origin Story
June 5, 2024
A look back at the period from the 1900s through the 1970s. A brief overview of the political, social, and cultural events that helped shape counter-culture thinking and give rise to the idea of a Briarpatch Society and the founding of the San Francisco Briarpatch Network in 1974.
[ Register to get Zoom link and email reminder here:
Rabbit Talk 02.
Briarpatch Cultural Heroes
and
Tales of Exemplary Members
August 7, 2024
A sampling of ancestors who influenced our thinking and set the example for action that brought us all together as the Briarpatch community. Examples include people like Rachel Carson, Helen Caldicott, Buckminster Fuller, or E.F. Schumacher. Also, an introduction to some history making people from among the early membership.
Rabbit Talk 03. The Seven Laws of Money
September 4, 2024
This classic book, chronicling the first few years of Briarpatch history, should have been subtitled, “how to live with money, how to get it, care for it, and forget about it.”
Plus, a reminder of how the first law of money (“Do it! The money will follow if you’re doing the right thing.”) is often misunderstood and what it actually means.
Briarpatch Marketing
Briarpatch has always put the greatest emphasis on accounting, bookkeeping, financial statements, open books, and alternative ways to finance a business. Our guidance has always been “If you’re worried about money, do the numbers!”
Nevertheless, the most frequently asked questions are about marketing. That’s where most people want to start or want help. Marketing encompasses everything there is about your business. That makes for difficulty in summarizing. We’ve done our best to include the absolute essentials in these three short talks.
The Website
A new, updated version of Briarpatch.net (now 75 pages). You’re going to want to visit this new site for stories, documents, and images from the Briarpatch Archives, including collections about the people, history, contributions to society and culture, Briarpatch knowledge and wisdom about starting and running a right livelihood business. (See menus at top of any page on this site).
Scroll down for a detailed description of the website.
Or just start exploring from the home page at: https://www.briarpatch.net/
More About the Website
Stories, documents, and images from the Briarpatch Archives, including the People, History, Contributions to Society, Briarpatch knowledge and wisdom about starting and running a right-livelihood business.
People
The people who made/make the San Francisco Briarpatch possible—and why they matter:
History
Different perspectives written by members between 1976 and 2016.
Also includes a list of books by historians and social commentators containing descriptions of the Briarpatch contribution to history and society.
Contributions
The contributions of Briars to art, history, culture, and society in the 20th and 21st centuries.
Divided into eight collections:
- Authors & Publishers
- Learning & Education
- Briarpatch Food Chain
- Briarpatch Take on Tech
- Businesses About Community
- Cause-Driven Non-Profits
- Well -Known Members
- Fun in Business
Resources
A plenitude of helpful ideas for starting and running a right-livelihood business.
Briarpatch Knowledge and Wisdom
Stories about, and guidelines for, starting and running a right-livelihood business. Based on lessons learned in the first two decades of our 50-year history (1974-1994).
A description of the 20-plus books that chronicle our history and share lessons learned about how we created a network of friends in business realizing right livelihood and simple living through self-sufficiency and mutual support