Cohousing-L Mailing List: RE: starting up--what to do first

[TR Ruddick (truddick]

> [Original Message]
> To: cohousing-l [at] cohousing.org
> From: timnabby [at] juno.com
> Subject: [C-L]_starting up - what to do first?
> Reply-To: cohousing-l [at] cohousing.org
> 
> 
> Hi!  [edit]
> 
> We have done some flyers, and advertised it to friends and acquaintances,
but although there is a lot of work to do to get this going, we don't
really know where to start.
> 
> Does it make sense to create mission/vision statements at this point?
> Does it make sense to go to county planning meetings and talk to the
planners about cohousing when we don't even know what county we're
interested in, or how long it will be until we have enough serious interest
to decide?
> 
> Thanks,
> Abby

Dayton Cohousing is just getting started as well, so we'll be looking hard
at your responses.  But to share a couple of things:

We've been advised that recruiting is an ongoing priority.  We've
discovered that it's possible to get a nice turnout for events around
Dayton if you simply plaster the town with flyers--which is what we're
doing. We've set 2 open to the public meetings for late June (one Thursday
evening, the other Saturday before lunch).  At the same time, we've gotten
contacts in the major local press who will probably run some articles in a
couple of weeks.

Meanwhile, we're making courtesy calls or friendly emails to officials and
development organizations (fortunate we are to have a couple of members
with contacts in those circles).  We're finding that there are usually some
misconceptions that we can clear up before they create negativity.

One of the BEST things we've done is to create an internet discussion group
(ours is on Yahoo! but there are other free sites where you can start them
up).  The group site allows us to communicate rapidly with all through
multiple channels--chat, polling, file-sharing.  It allows us to do lots of
that "generally optimistic and enthusiastic" expression that another post
in the digest noted was conducive to a high-performance group.

Now--one difference between your group and ours.  We are contemplating an
organization that has a Dayton Cohousing as a local coordinating body,
recruiting and supporting more than one cohousing community.  At present we
have several members who are very interested in locating near the center of
Dayton, while several others are more attracted to a small college town
nearby, Yellow Springs.  We understand that there's a similar effort
already well underway in Austin TX.

I'm sure you'll keep us posted on your progress!

TR Ruddick
Dayton Cohousing



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