IASD ANNUAL CONFERENCE, JUNE 22-26, 2012,
DOUBLETREE HOTEL, BERKELEY, CA.

Join us at the annual IASD conference as we go SAILING ON THE SEA OF DREAMS at the Doubletree Hotel, Berkeley Marina, Berkeley, California. This 29th Annual IASD Conference will feature three world-renowned keynote speakers, over 150 presenters from around the globe, plus a chance to network and relax at our many evening receptions and social events including: the dream art exhibition, the costume Dream Ball, the annual Dream Telepathy Contest, and a sunset sail on the “sea of dreams” - a special dessert cruise on the San Francisco Bay.

Hear the following keynoters speak: Patricia Garfield, Ph.D. is a pioneer and renowned expert in the study of dreams. She is a prize-winning author of eleven books on dreams. Her first bestseller Creative Dreaming (1974) is considered a classic. Fred Alan Wolf, Ph.D. (aka Dr. Quantum (TM)) is a world-renowned physicist, writer and lecturer who also conducts research on the relationship of quantum physics to consciousness. He is the author of 13 books and 3 CD courses. Tracey Kahan, Ph.D. is a full-time faculty member of the Psychology Department at Santa Clara University. Research conducted by Dr. Kahan and her colleagues has shown that waking and dreaming, especially REM dreaming, are more similar than different.

CALLING ALL PRESENTERS: If you are interested in presenting a paper, workshop, symposia, panel, morning dream group or Research Hot-off-the-Press, use the online web-based submission system at https://asdreams.org/2012 . Presenters are entitled to a special conference discount up until January 1, 2012. Deadline for Submissions is December 15, 2011.

PSIBERDREAMING CONFERENCE 2011
MOST SUCCESSFUL EVER
Jean Campbell, Conference Host

Although I have hosted almost a decade of PsiberDreaming Conferences for IASD, and (with the help of an immensely talented crowd of volunteers) have seen this online conference grow in scope and popularity even beyond the vision we initially had, the most satisfying thing for me about this year's conference was to hear repeatedly: "Thank you for creating a safe space for us to talk about dreams."

PsiberDreaming 2011, "Perspectives on Lucidity," was the largest PsiberDreaming conference we have hosted. By the close of the conference there were 205 attendees, generating a conference income of $4,055.

Conference income does not correctly reflect attendance though, because we offer the PsiberDreaming Conference as a free benefit to those who join IASD in the month and a half prior to the conference. This year's activity around promoting the PsiberDreaming Conference online, particularly on Facebook – where for the first time presenters were able to advertise their upcoming presentations on their own Facebook pages, as well as more general advertising on the IASD Facebook page and Twitter – brought over 40 new IASD members to the PDC for free. An additional 40 people or more registered for the conference from the general public without becoming IASD members.

Because we were curious about this particular balance of conference attendees, Office Manager Richard Wilkerson and I decided to send out a mid-conference on-line evaluation survey to attendees via Survey Monkey. What we discovered from the 75 people who replied was that the PDC has a very high response rate and new members were feeling more than satisfied. Results of the survey are available upon request.

Particular thanks for this year's conference go to Richard Wilkerson and Laura Atkinson, who designed web pages and managed the Forum; to Joy Fatooh, who created the whimsical conference masthead and graphic; to Janet Garrett, who not only managed the copy editing and formatting team but presented a paper on her own research; to Mary Pat Lynch and Diana Thompson and Lindsay Van Hove who, with Laura's assistance created a magnificent art gallery; to Ed Kellogg who managed contests; to Curt Hoffman and Dolores Nurss, who outdid themselves in the Outer Inn; to all of the talented and generous presenters--and to others too numerous to mention. Special thanks to Rita Dwyer, who always runs interference behind the scenes. The PsiberDreaming Conference is a huge volunteer effort that brings together the entire dreaming community.

One way to look at the growth of IASD's international scope is to look at the geography of this year's PsiberDreaming Conference. The column to your right indicates where attendees hail from.

Ten years ago, when this conference began, one of the intended goals was to find a way to include the global dream community in IASD activities. This goal has been amply realized.

Thanks to all who participated,
Jean Campbell, PsiberDreaming Host

MEMBERSHIP NEWS OCTOBER 2011

Spotlight on Great Britain
Jennifer Parker, Membership Chair

I have been part of the IASD for many years and have accepted, with gratitude, my new role as membership committee chair. By profession, I am an academic psychologist and an active dream researcher. I have been fortunate to write books on dreams and to actively engage with various types of media to promote dream work. I always mention The IASD with the hope of extending its membership and this dream community. I would like to take this opportunity to share my own journey with my dreams.

I have been interested in dreams for as long as I can remember. As a child and teenager I frequently experienced nightmares. Later, as a rather “mature” undergraduate student, I was mesmerized by the lectures on dreams and dreaming. I so badly wanted to understand why I had had these dreams, and what they meant. I searched for answers but found that explanations in textbooks or academic papers provided only part of the answers to my questions. My academic career has been motivated by trying to find a way to research dreams that allows multiple types of dream experiences to be, at least, described in some meaningful way.

More recently, whilst finishing my Ph.D., the trajectory of my career was inextricably changed by a serious illness. This led me to question many of the assumptions I held about “good” dreamwork. As a scientist I had been trained to look for the middle ground, or the “average” dream description. However, my attention was drawn to the exceptional or, in more statistical terms, the outliers that didn’t fit into so called rational theory. So in order to understand my own experiences, I was attracted to experiential and intuitive ways of working with dreams. In order to do so, I experimented with qualitative, as well as quantitative, research methods.

This tension between purely scientific observation and my own experience-based knowledge was exacerbated further by my own dreams both prior to, and during, this illness. The “evidence” was clearly documented in a dream journal that I had kept religiously as part of my rigorous academic training. My records showed that some ten years previously I had dreamt my illness. The observable truth was undeniable: prodromal dreams, possibly even precognitive dreams actually existed. If I had acted on these dreams and had regular medical check-ups who knows what I might have prevented happening. For a hardened skeptic this was a big “Ah-ha” experience. Later in my recovery, dreams showed me, often in glorious Technicolor, exactly what I needed to do in waking life to be healthy. My dreams showed me that health must be present in the physical, mental, spiritual and emotional domains. My dreams have literally taken me from a one-dimensional way of being and opened up the possibility of a much more meaningful way of living.

I have had to conclude that “a part of me knows” even if I am not consciously aware of it. This taught me a very valuable lesson: to respect other people’s truth about dreams, not just my own. I try to empower the people I work with in accordance with IASD’s ethical statement. I avoid telling people what their dreams mean. The people I come in contact with often ask exactly the same questions that I once asked. I tell them to cherish all their dreams and think of them as an internal barometer that is far wiser than the waking mind.

My dream as I enter service to IASD is that the researchers, artists, spiritual advisors, and practitioners that make up this unique association come together to share ideas and ways of working. Regardless of our chosen approach to dreams, we all share one desire: to understand these fascinating universal phenomena, in all their forms, and to disseminate this knowledge to the people with whom we work. The IASD provides a sacred space for us to be able to do this. I am really looking forward to my role as membership chair. I hope to help our members, both old and new, to feel as welcome as I have felt. If I can help with any membership queries please feel free contact me at: Jenniferparker917@btinternet.com  I really will be happy to help.

Call for IASD Board Nominations

The IASD nominating committee is soliciting recommendations for members to serve on the board of directors for the term beginning in July 2012. Nominees should be members in good standing who are willing to serve. Please send your recommendations to the Nominating Committee Chair, Scott Sparrow, gscotspar@gmail.com  by December 31, 2011.

Membership Inquires

Please feel free to contact Jennifer Parker, Scott Sparrow or Jeff Vovillia at any time with membership questions or concerns. We always welcome new volunteers. You are the future leaders of IASD and we want your energy, help, and visions.

Jennifer Parker: jenniferparker917@btinternet.com
Jeff Vovillia, Membership Assistant: jallenvov@yahoo.com

Regional Representatives

Please check the IASD website for up-to-date names and contact information for the regional representative in your area. The Regional Representative webpage is divided into regions, making your search more user-friendly. If you do not have a regional rep for your area, consider volunteering to become one! You could serve an important networking role for IASD.

To become a regional rep, contact Jennifer Parker, jenniferparker917@btinternet.com

Join IASD'S Facebook page and visit out new fan page

Be sure to join our Facebook group page! We have 416 friends and growing!

Please let your Facebook friends know about IASD’s group page, fan page (with 903 Likes) as well as its website. You can help us reach a lot of new people by taking a few minutes to post the urls of these three IASD sites on your Facebook page.

IASD 2011 PLEDGE DRIVE TO FOCUS ON WEBSITE UPGRADE

Refurbishing the IASD Website to better reflect exciting areas of growth and change in the organization has been named as a major goal for 2012 by the IASD Board of Directors. So we are asking for your assistance.

Each year during our annual Pledge Drive, which begins in November and extends until January, we ask members and friends to help us build the IASD dream. This year, in addition to the usual help the Pledge Drive brings to areas of IASD like conference scholarships, complimentary memberships, Research Grant Awards, Student Awards, publications and general operations, we are asking you to contribute to the cost of making our web presence more inviting and attractive.

In 2011, a year when many nonprofit organizations have struggled to stay alive, IASD has been thriving--because of your interest, and the growing interest of the general public, in dreams and consciousness. With your contribution of $50 or more to IASD, we will upgrade your membership to the Patron category and list your name as a contributor to the 2011 Pledge Drive page at www.asdreams.org/pledge2011 

Plans have already begun for work on the web site upgrade. First steps include the development of a web task force including Richard Wilkerson, Laura Atkinson, Jacquie Lewis, Jean Campbell, Scott Sparrow and Ryan Hurd. The first work of this ad hoc committee will be the development of a Needs Assessment form through which Chairs of IASD committees and others can request changes to the web site. This is the first step of an assessment of needs in order to estimate the cost of changes.

As part of this process of better meeting member needs, at its October Board meeting the IASD Board voted to make the Social Networking Committee, with Ryan Hurd as Chair, a full committee of the Board. IASD's work during 2011 has included a test of Internet social networking communication that has been very successful in encouraging new memberships.

With your help and your generosity, we will continue to grow internationally in 2012, with the aid of a more reflective and responsive web presence. Look for a post card soon in the mail, your reminder to help us grow the dream!

QUEBEC MEETS ALASKA IN MONTREAL

 On a recent sunny Sunday afternoon in Old Montreal, three members of the Quebec IASD Regional Committee gathered at a “café-terrasse” where they had the pleasure of welcoming to Montreal an IASD member from Alaska: Dr. Stephen B. Parker, a clinical and forensic psychologist. All had met a few years ago at an annual IASD conference and had much to share particularly on the topic of “dreams and dying.” The latest news Dr. Parker shared was the recent publication of his book Heart Attack & Soul - In the Labyrinth of Healing. This was of great interest to Angela Dupont and perhaps, more so, for Monique Sequin and Nicole Grafton who published in 2009 Les rêves en fin de vie (End of life dreams). There was much rejoicing also when Monique announced that the English version will go on sale in Canada and the US in the next few weeks.

In September 2001, Dr. Parker had the following dream: “An airplane with a red four-cylinder engine is leaking oil, and smoke is coming from the engine. The plane takes off, but then immediately crashes.” When he woke up he immediately thought: “You are having heart problems.”

Robbie Bosnak reviewed Dr. Parker’s book and said: “When the heart stops a world comes to an end. The work of Stephen Parker shows us that there is life after the end, after the heart has been attacked by death, and survived. In his remarkable reports and stunning paintings, we are moved to witness the transition from his life before to his life after as it forges its way to renewal.”

As a licensed practical nurse in a palliative care unit, Monique had been collecting dreams from dying patients for several years and together with Nicole Gratton they wrote the stories of these patients revealing the enlightened wisdom of dreams that manifests at this point in life.

As you can see, the meeting of these IASD members sparked the onset of a close relationship between Quebec and Alaska, which the Internet has kept alive. It led to this stimulating and enthusiastic get-together on a recent Sunday afternoon on a sunny terrace in Old Montreal.

NEW YORK IASD REGIONAL CONFERENCE OPENS DOORS

 "Dreaming: The Doorway to Spiritual and Religious Insight", the Western New York (WNY) IASD Regional, co-sponsored by Daemen College and Ruachrest, was held at Daemen College on October 1, 2011. Its "dreaming-duo", Dr. Kelly Bulkeley and Rev. Jeremy Taylor did a wonderful job of captivating the attention of 71 registrants, which included several hospice employees (chaplains, doctors, administrators), social workers, ministers, students, nuns, psychologists, school administrators and educators, writers, as well as members of the Western New York Analytical Psychology Society.

Conference topics included: themes in religious dreaming around the world, practical advice for hospice professionals and other caregivers whose work involves them in the dying process, dreams as a spiritual practice, and the projective dreamwork process (just to name a few).

Several of the participants expressed an interest in hearing more about IASD. Needless to say, we're hoping to see a few more faces from WNY at next year's Berkeley Conference!

IASD SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA REGIONAL CONFERENCE

 We had an enthusiastic response to the second IASD Southern California Regional Conference on “Dreams in a Changing World”. Sixty five participants and twenty presenters gathered on Marymount College campus overlooking the ocean on a beautiful sunny Saturday, September 17, 2011.

Jeremy Taylor delivered an inspiring keynote address to emphasize that each of us actively support the evolution of consciousness by giving attention to our dreams. Afterwards, participants selected from a rich variety of workshops and panels ranging from Christian spirituality, drawing the dream, synchronicity and Tarot as innovative approaches to dream work, embodied imagination, lucid dreaming, chaos and complexity theory, utilizing addicts’ dreams in recovery and listening to collective dreams for guidance through turbulent times. Sheila Asato came from Minneapolis to present about returning to Japan after the earthquake where she integrated dreams and creative arts for humanitarian aid with children and adults. Robert Hoss joined local presenters on a panel for beginning dreamers; David Jenkins and Marcia Emery also came from Northern California to present their work. Additional presenters included Joy Fatooh, Sheri Kling and Leonard Szymczak.

The conference received unanimous raves along with twelve new members to the IASD community. Thanks to our dream team of organizers/presenters led with great zeal and skill by Athena Johnson Kolinski, including Walter Berry, Rev. Geoff Nelson, Barbara Bishop, Rita Hildebrandt, Sandy Ginsberg, Barbara Schiffman, Janice Baylis, Judy White, Anna-Karin Bjorklund, Richard Paseman, and Lauren Schneider. We are already incubating more Southern California regional events for the upcoming year.

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