Time To Focus – Most of your time will be available to work independently on your project -- editing, reading, researching, writing, strolling about, etc. Throughout the week, we will help you think about how you're spending your time, but ultimately what you do will be up to you.

Keeping on Track – To help meet your goals we have a few ways we'll help you make the most of your time.

• Small-group support: Each day you'll meet to share how your work is going; ask for feedback if you want it; and identify your next steps to keep things moving and get over any humps.
• One-on-one coaching: Schedule time during the week with Shea, Lisa or Elaine to help you work through specific issues, if necessary.
• Focusing your work: We'll share specific work strategies to help make the most of your work-time at the retreat (and back at home).
• On-the-fly: One of the greatest assets you'll have as a participant is the expertise, creativity and input of other participants.
• You, too: Of course, that means you'll have the opportunity to help others think about their work, too.

Rubbing Your Creative Shoulders – We want to make sure that you're inspired, restored, focused and having a good time. Towards that end, here are a few things you can expect:

• Creative Cuisine: We're planning a bevy of short, idea-generating workshops to keep your creative juices flowing.
• Cutting Loose: From field trips to barbecues, expect several opportunities to take a break and have fun with all of the great folks who have come.
• Space: A variety of work environments to choose from

• Nourishment: Sharing a healthful, home-cooked lunch each day
• Cherry-on-top: Hand-cranked ice cream on the porch

The Basics – We take the little things seriously.

• Food: We'll share a tasty and healthy home-cooked lunch each day. And you'll have access to a full kitchen if you'd like to prepare evening meals for yourself or with others. We've been known to throw a cookout, and of course … there will be hand-cranked ice cream.
• Space: CDS has a variety of workspaces you can use throughout the week. There are plenty of places where you can work with others or by yourself.
• Time: Most of the retreat work time happens between 9am and 6pm each day, followed by (optional) evening activities. But if you're an a perpetual early riser or a confirmed night owl, the workspaces will be open to you from 8am to 9pm.

Arrival / Departure Times – For planning your travel.

• Begins: 6pm on Sunday (July 27) with dinner and a relaxed evening session.
• Ends: 1:30pm on Saturday (August 2) after a closing presentations and lunch.

Focus On A Specific Project – Before you arrive, you should decide on a particular project you'd like to focus on. It can be as broad or narrow as you like. You'll get the most out of this retreat if you know what you want to focus on long before you arrive. (If you aren't sure what we mean, drop us a line).

Closing Session – At the end of the week, you'll have an opportunity to present your work. Whether this is a deadline to help you finish producing a piece or an opportunity to review what you've accomplished and what you're going to explore after you leave, this will be a brief but important time to share your work after a week of working together. Then we'll have lunch and say our fond farewells.

Bring What You Need (Or Ask For It) – You should bring any software or hardware you might need for your work. However, we can make a mac workstation available to you. Let us know ahead of time if that's something you're interested in. CDS has a pretty robust library of media production software. If there's specific software you need, give us a heads up so we can find out if they have it. It's better to figure that out ahead of time.

Professional vs. Production Training – This retreat is designed for media makers who already have their basic technical chops down -- enough to employ them in service of you own projects. Of course, it's fine to hone your software skills at the retreat. We just want to be clear that this isn't a replacement for production or technical training.

Housing: There are a variety of housing options at your disposal while attending summer sessions at the Center for Documentary Studies, including a number of reasonably-priced hotels and Airbnb options accessible to CDS (participants sometimes rent places together).

Dining: A home-cooked lunch will be provided each day, but you'll want to have money for dinner, breakfast and any snacks you want. Refrigerator space and coolers are available during the day for snacks. And you'll have access to a full kitchen if you'd like to prepare evening meals for yourself or with others. Maybe budget $15-40 a day for food.  

Other Expenses: There will be several opportunities to socialize with other participants during the evenings. We might try to take in a baseball game one night, or you may choose to spend time with other participants at a local pub or coffeeshop. Those activities are at your discretion, but you might want to bring an extra $100-200.

Transportation from Airport: RDU airport is a 20-30 minute drive from CDS. You are responsible for your transportation to CDS. It's a $30-40 cab ride between CDS and the airport.  You can find other participants to share a cab. There are SuperShuttle vans available at the airport and pickups for return filghts. And there's a bus route from the airport to a bus station near CDS - triangletransit.org (The bus route doesn't run on Sunday, unfortunately). There is also a taxi stand at the airport.

Transportation around Durham: There are several ways to get around Durham while you're at CDS -- carpooling, cabs, walking and buses. We've never seen transportation be a problem at CDS events. Folks with cars seem to help each other get where they need to be. Walking is an option for several dining and even housing options. There are several bus routes to/from CDS and the rest of the city. And worst case scenario, Durham has a good, reasonably priced, cab company called Durham's Best.