Strawberry Creek Monthly Community Evenings
Connection, care, and shared wisdom, together in person.
Because being together matters, especially now.
What is it?
Once a month, we gather in person to slow down, reconnect, and remember that we don’t have to navigate this moment alone.
We’re living in a stressful and uncertain time. Many of us are carrying more than usual, concern for the world, personal challenges, and the quiet exhaustion that comes from being constantly connected yet often feeling disconnected. In moments like this, face-to-face connection matters. Spaces where we can be human together matter.
Strawberry Creek Community Evenings are an intentional pause. A place to gather in real time, share food, share stories, and draw strength from the wisdom, experience, and generosity already present in our community.
These evenings may include teaching, workshops, and skill-sharing and people will naturally connect and network.
What makes Strawberry Creek Community Evenings different is the orientation. This is not a transactional networking event or a traditional workshop designed for optimization or performance.
It’s a community practice rooted in presence, care, and mutual support where learning and connection emerge through relationship, generosity, and shared humanity.
Why This Series Exists
So much wisdom lives among us, earned through lived experience, professional paths, creative practices, and personal journeys. These evenings create a container where that wisdom can be shared and received.
This series exists to:
Be together in person during a stressful and fragmented time
Strengthen real relationships that help us feel less alone
Share expertise, insight, and lived wisdom from within the community
Receive people’s gifts, not as performance, but as offering
Care for one another through presence, listening, and being together
Each month, one or more community members will offer something meaningful to them, an area of expertise, a story, a practice, a question they’re living into, or a piece of wisdom they feel called to share.
What to Expect Each Evening
6:30 – 7:00 | Arrival, Schmoozing & Snacks
Arrive, settle in, and connect. This is unstructured time to land, catch up, and enjoy light snacks together.
7:00 – 8:30 | Community Member Sharing
A longer-form share from a member (or members) of the community. This may include storytelling, teaching, reflection, or a guided experience, followed by light dialogue.
8:30 – 9:00 | Debrief & More Schmoozing
Time to integrate what’s been shared, reflect together, and continue conversations before heading home.
When & Where
When: Once a month, Wednesday evenings
Time: 6:30 - 9:00 pm
Where: Strawberry Creek Design Center, Berkeley
(Exact office details shared upon registration)
Cost
$15 per gathering
This helps cover snacks and shared space costs. No profit—just collective support for the container.
Who This Is For
These evenings are for people who value:
Depth over polish
Presence over productivity
Relationship over transaction
Learning from one another rather than consuming content
You don’t need to arrive with answers. You don’t need to perform.
Come as you are. Bring your curiosity, your listening, and when it’s your turn, your gifts.
Your Host: Michael Tertes
I’ll be hosting and holding the container for these evenings. My role is not to be the expert in the room, but to create a space where people feel welcome, grounded, and able to show up as themselves.
I’m a coach, facilitator, and community-builder with nearly two decades of experience working with leaders, teams, and groups. Much of my work focuses on presence, belonging, and helping people recognize and share their unique gifts.
Strawberry Creek Community Evenings are an extension of a long-standing belief and practice of mine: that real learning and meaningful connection happen when people feel safe enough to be human together.