Kicking Off General Assembly 2011 in Charlotte, N.C.

Old friendships rekindled. New friends made. This is the scene the first day at the UUA's General Assembly (GA) in Charlotte, N.C. It began quietly as a small group of UUSC staff put the finishing touches on booth #512 in the downstairs exhibit hall. But it grew to a loud buzz with waves of people as the opening ceremonies ended and the evening reception began in the vendor area. There were even cupcakes, provided by the UUA to mark the 50th anniversary celebration!

Dedicated UUSC volunteers Bob Keim and Gay Ann Gustafson were on hand to help talk about UUSC and human rights to visitors at UUSC's booth. We've got new merchandise on display, including "I love GA" and "College of Social Justice" t-shirt designs, which will be available in UUSC's online store after GA. People got their first taste of the Two Degrees nutrition bars, which you can purchase now online. And for the fourth year in a row, we are sharing the exhibit space with our economic-justice partner Equal Exchange to provide fair-trade coffee samples, tea, chocolate, and other snacks.

Today was a day to celebrate the force for good that Unitarian Universalism can be in the world, and our booth demonstrated the vehicle UUSC can be to put that faith into action. Tomorrow, as our workshops begin, we'll dig into the practical knowledge to make that happen. Stay tuned to our blog for on-the-ground updates.

We're also excited to have Gary Nissenbaum at the booth, signing copies of his new book, Assembling the Pieces, which gives practical and inspirational instructions on how congregations can supercharge their social-action committees. He has tested his model of engagement with great success at his congregation in Summit, N.J., and GA attendees can look forward to learning more in tomorrow's workshop, presented with UUSC staff member Lauralyn Smith.

Folks who are not attending GA can watch some proceedings streaming live from the UUA website — don't forget to tune in around 9:00 a.m. on Saturday morning to catch UUSC President and CEO Bill Schulz's speech during Plenary IV!