Cohousing-L Mailing List: community dinner attendance

[David M. Dobkin (dmdobkin]

Rob Sandelin wrote:
> 
In the study of why people attend or not attend community dinner, I
would have to add into the mix, the reputation of the cook. We have a
guy who is becoming a culinary legend, when he is the cook the place is
packed. There are some people that cook and people actually cross
themselves off the list and skip dinner that night.
> 
Another factor in noise is how you handle the behaviors of your
children.
> 
> Rob Sandelin
> Sharingwood Cohousing
> Snohomish, WA

I'ld like to add to Rob's observation about the quality of the cook.
I've observed that, as time goes on and our community becomes more
established, that the novelty of common dinners (and we have 3/week)
wears off a bit and that these intangibles (good food!!!) come more into
play. 

Also, an observation that I've made is that the element of
suspense/surprise is also a factor in our very high meal attendance . We
post a menu board prior to each meal. If the menu is posted by cooks
days in advance, it gives folks the option of deciding to attend or not.
If the menu board is posted on the day of the meal, the element of
surprise becomes a factor. No time to decide. Might as well just eat
dinner here. In our community, lack of advance information means higher
meal attendence. That's my take. Any other Berkeley cohoers care to
respond?

David Dobkin
The still unnamed Berkeley Cohousing Community
Berkeley, CA