UPDATE: RVANews Live #004: Out with the Old—KonMari and Confederate Symbols

It’s here! It’s finally here! Join us this Thursday, it’ll be a blast.

September 9, 2015; 2:43 PM • by Susan Howson

Update #1 — September 1, 2015; 10:02 PM

We’ve still got a fair amount of tickets left for RVANews Live #004, but honestly not that many. Because guess what, it’s going to rule. Better get your ticket!

Those details again

Thursday, September 10th • Doors open at 5:00 PM, first talk begins promptly at 5:30 PM
Visual Arts Center, 1812 W. Main Street
$15, which includes one drink ticket and a bunch of things to eat. Beer and wine will be sold for $5, after your drink ticket is exhausted. Tickets will also be available at the door (also for $15) and we accept cash, check, or charge.

New developments since last we spoke

Ana Edwards, star of mediated conversation #2: “Ana Edwards vs. Confederate Worship and Inherent Racism” was given the RVA gold star of approval (or is it the RVA tail-between-the-legs of submission?) by being featured in Style’s 2015 Richmond Politics Power List.

Relay Foods is now providing the vittles, which means that your ticket now includes a sweeter spread for snacking and has therefore just jumped in value. We’re like the stock exchange over here! Just ballistically moving around in value to keep you guessing! Topical joke!

Groundwork RVA is also helping us out, and we hope you’ll do what you can to support this really hardworking nonprofit.

We made a handy little round-up of all of the relevant material we’ve published on our site, in case you’d like a little background information. And, there’s more to come! Check out our RVANews Live page.

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Original — August 03, 2015

It’s that time! RVANews Live time! Mark your cals for Thursday, September 10th, and get your tickets now.

It’s a big one

We’ve had this one up our sleeves for awhile, and the moment we had both confirmations from our speakers, a jubilant cry went up in the office.

Our two topics lend themselves well to moderated conversations with one person (or possibly two, you never know) instead of our usual panel format. And, this time around, we’ll be devoting more time to Q&A from you, our gorgeous audience.

Sarah Fought and the KonMari Way

Ask anyone who’s adopted the Marie Kondo method–“tidying up” is not just about your possessions, it’s about your entire life. We’ve all spent too many years acquiring and acquiring, defining our lives by our things. It hasn’t buoyed us up, it’s dragged us down. At first, Kondo will sound like a little bit of a zealous nut, but once you get into it, you’ll realize how much all your stuff (and even some of your relationships and commitments) is all psychologically affecting you.

Richmonder Sarah Fought read this excerpt on Slate and dove in headfirst. We followed her experience on social media, and it was such an extreme change in her life, that we thought she might like to write about it.

She did, in “A true account of the life-changing magic of tidying up”, which went truly viral. Her follow-up, “The greater KonMari way: Life beyond the method” took the zenlike approach even further.

Sarah has graciously agreed to come beam at us all (she’s a natural beamer), and answer all of our questions. Get ready to be free of the stuff trap.

Ana Edwards vs. Confederate Worship and Inherent Racism

We tracked down Ana Edwards for a quote for our original piece on whether or not we should get rid of monuments, road names, and school names that honor Confederate figures (see: De-Venerating Richmond’s confederate symbols. It was tough to write, the comments on it were tough to read, and a lot of people had a tough time giving us quotes.

Not so with Ms. Edwards. She knew exactly how she felt and gave us her perspective so eloquently and so passionately, that suddenly it all seemed to come into focus. Since then, she’s been quoted all over the place, including the Boston Globe article about Richmond’s Confederate symbol split.

Her group, the Defenders for Freedom, Justice, and Equality have focused on Shockoe Bottom, the Big Bike Race™ course, and a bunch of other things. There’s a lot that needs to be done, and Ana Edwards can tell us how to get started.

The details

Thursday, September 10th • Doors open at 5:00 PM, event starts at 5:30 PM
Visual Arts Center, 1812 W. Main Street
$15, includes one drink ticket (drinks are $5 thereafter)
We recommend purchasing tickets online so as to be guaranteed a spot. We’ll also be selling tickets at the door, and you are welcome to bring a plastic method of payment!

We’ll have snacks, beer, wine, and scintillating conversation! But, like, in a totally cool casual way.

PURCHASE TICKETS NOW, GOOD PEOPLE!

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Read a whole lot of articles about both topics before you go! Or don’t, and just wing it!