Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: Slogans

[Fred H Olson (fholson]

Kevin Wolf, N Street Cohousing, kjwolf [at] dcn.davis.ca.us
is the author of the message below but due to a problem
it was posted by Fred the Cohousing-L list manager:  fholson [at] cohousing.org

--------------------  FORWARDED MESSAGE FOLLOWS -------------------- 

Hi all

In thinking about what slogan to put on a T-shirt (or anything else), we
should consider what goals we are trying to achieve.  Here are some goals,
some of which may eliminate some proposed slogans.

1.  Attract people to ask about cohousing.  (What kind of questions will
"cohousers do it in the common house" elicite?)
2.  Tell people what the wearer believes cohousing to be, and why they are
involved with it.
3.  Give the reader a message about what the wearer believes the world
should be like.
4.  Attract readers to join a cohousing group.
5.  Make the wearers feel good about themselves (e.g. by being proud of
what they are a part of, by being humorous and making people laugh, by
helping deliver a message that the world will benefit from reading).
6.  Other?

Given these possible goals, a slogan that may create a negative feeling in
some readers that cohousing is a commune may not advance number 4 for those
people who would  not want anything to do with a commune. Personally, I 
think that a slogan would have to be very commune oriented to have people 
so turned off by the slogan that they won't ask the wearer what it means. 
Such might be the case if it said: "Cohousers do It in a Commune."  I don't 
see how words like "share" and "community" would have a reader think 
"commune" without some doubts.

A slogan like "Cohousing: Belong to a Community Where You Live."  may raise
the sense of a commune and turn off those who don't want to "belong" to
anything.  On the otherhand, people have an innate longing to belong to a
group, and "community" has a positive connotation in almost any sense of
the word. It also pokes a little bit at all the people who "belong" to
organizations, groups, teams, churches, and other communities, but not
where they live.

A slogan like "Cohousing: Sharing Daily Life with Neighbors and Friends"
could advance all of the goals above.  There is probably nothing in this
statement that makes the reader so turn off by that they walk away with a 
bad feeling about cohousing or wouldn't even want to ask the wearer what it 
means.  Now a slogan like "Cohousers Do It in the Common House" may cause 
readers to not want to ask what that means nor have them walk away with a 
positive feeling about cohousing.

It is always easier to reach consensus on something if agreement is reached 
on the priority goals.

Kevin

****************
Kevin Wolf
N Street Cohousing Community member
724 N St, Davis, CA  95616
530-758-4211
kjwolf [at] dcn.davis.ca.us

To download my facilitation manual or other material on
consensus decision making, visit www.dcn.davis.ca.us/go/kjwolf

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