Cohousing-L Mailing List: The Cohousing Network - organizational update.

[Fred H. Olson (fholson]

Before my problems developed about two weeks ago I was preparing a
message that included the update below as well as some other notes but 
I was still polishing it when problems developed with my provider that
mostly composed message was lost.  This stripped down version will have to
suffice.  THe message below will be included in the issue of the Cohousing
Magazine that will be coming out shortly.  

I do want to thank Stewart Staniford-Chen for all his work on 
starting and maintaining www.cohousing.org.  The website has been moved
to a new host (no change in address) and Bill Germino is starting lay
plans to catch up on maintenance.  Fred


>From  Don Lindemann
Puebla, Mexico
dlindem [at] mail.udlap.mx
*****************************
TCN Update
As winter gives way to spring, a group of energetic and talented 
volunteers is moving ahead with plans to officially merge the Rocky 
Mountain Cohousing Association (RMCA) with the publishing resources of 
CoHousing.  
Following up on discussions at the North American Cohousing Conference 
last fall in Seattle, the RMCA has changed its name to The CoHousing 
Network (adopting the name which has been used for five years by the 
organization which has published the this journal).
Since the conference a number of steps have been completed:
The Board of Trustees of the RMCA has officially changed its name to The 
CoHousing Network (TCN).
The RMCA Board is in the process of amending its bylaws to widen the 
organizations scope from the Rocky Mountain region to all of North 
America, increase the size of its board, create an advisory board, and 
change the date of its annual membership meeting to coincide with the 
North American conference.
In the middle of December, Donna Dobkin of Berkeley Cohousing was hired 
as Interim Business Manager pending a review of TCN administrative 
requirements and funding availability.  She is currently handling all 
membership matters and requests for information.
In January a letter was sent to all RMCA members, charter members of The 
CoHousing Network and journal subscribers describing the birth of this 
new organization and the related activities underway. 
At the end of February Bill Germino was selected as the new webmaster for 
the CoHousing Network web site.  We have high hopes for developing more 
comprehensive and up-to-date content, building on the firm foundation 
established by Stuart Staniford-Chen.
As this issue of CoHousing goes to press, a nominating committee is 
contacting people around the country to put together a slate of potential 
board members for the organization.  This new board will then take over 
the ongoing tasks of managing and setting policy for the newly re-formed 
organization.
What this means to readers of this journal is that your subscription will 
continue as before except that you will now become members of The 
CoHousing Network and, depending on your level of membership, begin to 
receive benefits as they are developed.
Stay tuned for further developments in upcoming issues.