Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: first meeting

[Matt Lawrence (matt]

On Mon, 6 Dec 2004, elke lerman wrote:

> The Western Queens project will have it's first meeting Thursday!  I'm
> excited!  Here's what I've got for an agenda so far.  Any suggestions
> from experienced folks would be appreciated.
>
> 1. Introductions - Getting to know each other.
>
> 2. Priorities - What are people looking for - size, space,
> neighborhood, relations with co-owners, costs, pets, kids/schools,
> problemsolving agreements, etc.

I suggest you make lists of desires, wants and requirements.

> 3. Outreach - Do we want to do a mailing?  Are there other bulletin
> boards to post on (So far I did FIC, Cohousing, Craigslist).

Sounds like a start.  I wouldn't have thought of Craigslist, I'll have to 
remember that.  The free local papers are also a good possibility.

> 4. sponsorship to renters

You're in New York which has some very different customs when it comes to 
rentals.  Personally, I would favor keeping the community as a whole 
minimally involved and let investors within the community deal with the 
majority of the rental issues.  This might not be the best approach for 
where you are, I'm fairly clueless about that area.

> 5.'vision statement'

I have yet to see a vision statement that really inspired me.  I would be 
more interested in seeing solid goals.

> 6. screening process for future tenants

Lots of potential problems with the Fair Housing laws.  Be careful and get 
the guidance of some highly trained professionals.

To quote a friend about building relationships: "Communicate, communicate, 
communicate".  Personally, I'm very much in favor of having things written 
down and easily available.  Having the documents online and easily 
modifiable (think "wiki") would work well for me.  However, for those 
folks who don't get online, other forms of communication are important as 
well.  I suggest that you work towards the maximum practical forms of 
communications.

-- Matt
Nothing great was ever accomplished without _passion_