Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: [EE] Fw: Cohousing/HOA Communication Software?

[Judy LIghtstone (judy]

Wow - who'da thunk, OUR Raines is the new Dave Barry of cohousing! You
should get this published in Coho magazine!

How are you Raines?  Someone from Earthsong (actually Robin - you may know
her?) was so impressed by your little essay that she passed it around our
community.  Small world, huh!? 

When did you drop your role as super-geek and develop sympathies for the
electronically challenged?  And since when did you develop a penchant for
sarcasm?  I always thought Californians didn't DO sarcasm.

BTW, please say hi to Berkeley coho folks for us, and also say hi to the
Summer of Love 40th anniversary celeb which we're going to have to miss =(
but otherwise, we're so happy to be here living in cohousing at last! 

Love,
Judy

-----Original Message-----
From: Robin Allison [mailto:robin.allison [at] earthsong.org.nz] 
Sent: Tuesday, August 14, 2007 4:16 PM
To: Full Group
Subject: [EE] Fw: [C-L]_ Cohousing/HOA Communication Software?


I had a chuckle at this, rising to a full on guffaw. Hope you enjoy it too,
Robin

----- Original Message ----- 
From: Raines Cohen 
To: Cohousing-L 
Sent: Saturday, August 11, 2007 4:40 AM
Subject: Re: [C-L]_ Cohousing/HOA Communication Software?



On Aug 9, 2007, at 12:51 PM, Tegaroni wrote:
> Does anyone know of a good software package or service that handles
> most of a community`s electronic communication needs?
>
> Currently we are patching together many different pieces such as
> YahooGroups, Gmail Calendars, hand edited website pages, etc.

While clearly the needs and tools are different for a moved-in  
community from one in development. I have noticed that quite a few  
cohousing neighborhoods, though, do continue with whatever habits/ 
practices were established in the development phase after move-in.  
While electronic tools can be very helpful, it is important to  
remember that we actually do live in a neighborhood with good access  
and proximity, so, based on visiting 3/4 of the built communities out  
there, I`d like to surprise some who may think of me as the advocate  
for all things electronic and take a moment to remind us of the old- 
fashioned alternatives in each of these areas:

> * Log-In: Each resident will have a personal log-in name and password.

Each resident will have a house key and common house key/code. After  
you lose all the copies of your Common House key, you will start  
keeping an eye out for other people going there to pick up mail, do  
laundry, cook a meal, etc., and will get proficient at inobtrusively  
following them in, as though you actually liked them; be ready to  
spark up a conversation or have something to ask them as an excuse  
for coming in behind them. Eventually they will decide that you are  
stalking them, and will only sneak into the CH after dark, so you may  
need to invest in night-vision goggles to maintain this practice.

> * BIO: Each resident will maintain their personal information such
> as house number, phone numbers, email address, photo, etc.

The house number will be posted on the front of each house, and  
sometimes (especially for larger communities) in a difficult-to- 
interpret-created-by-your-architect`s-intern map, which will result  
in most of your neighbor`s guests coming to your house first and you  
will make many new friends. Someone will take on the task of updating  
and distributing a paper list of phone numbers, email addresses, and  
unit letters/numbers/addresses, which will immediately become out of  
date and get scribbled on. Subsequent updates will not include the  
important scribbles from earlier editions, so old ones will be  
retained until we all need to get stronger magnets for our  
refrigerators to hold the whole pile on.

Some communities post photo walls in the CH, but for most the image  
of the person saying their name in person at a meeting and hearing  
people call to eachother by name between tables across the Common  
House at dinner will be the way identification is made.

> * Member Directory: A way to view a directory of all residents and
> their information.

You will be able to stand on your front porch/steps and see all  
residents and their information, if it`s not info on the list above.  
Personal information about other residents will be communicated  
orally, over common meals and through chance encounters on the walks,  
through a broadcast system known as rumormongering. The unique  
transmission characteristics of this medium means that whoever most  
needs to know something will be the last one to hear about it, and  
will stay up late at nights wondering who is saying what about them.

> * FAQ: A way to view community information pages

You will be doing something like putting away dishes from a common  
meal and one neighbor will tell you that you`re doing it wrong, and  
show you the way to do it. Another neighbor will subsequently explain  
that the other neighbor`s way is totally wrong. You will look through  
the decision log and realize that nothing has been written down since  
1996. Hijinks ensue, and eventually somebody brings up the topic at a  
Home-Owner`s Association (HOA) meeting. Eventually, the group process/ 
Heart/People Committee intervenes after people start threatening to  
move out over whether the  bottle opener should be in the drawer with  
measuring spoons or near the can opener.

> * Announcements: A way for a resident to send email announcements
> to all other residents or a subgroup of residents. Replies would be  
> sent to the sender instead of everyone. Also, one could send an  
> email announcement to the system from their email account.

Or you can tape a notice to the Common House door and people will  
know where to find you if they want to object to the accordion  
practice you`re hosting at 10:30 PM.

> * Calendars: A way for a resident to add/edit/delete events. The
> system would then automatically send an email to all residents to  
> inform them of the event or a change to the event. It would also  
> send out an email reminder the day before.

You re-tape the notice to the common house door and use a sharpie,  
write big, with underlining and exclamation points, maybe even (gasp)  
ALL CAPS. Extra bonus: place notices on the laundry-room door and  
above the mailboxes, plus at the parking lot gate. And providing more  
than 2 hours` notice.

Example:
"My insightful meditation group will be using the CH tonight from  
5:30-7:30. Please don`t talk or make any loud noises during  
preparation or serving of Common Dinner, and please instruct all the  
kids to do the same."

> * Archives: A way for a resident to view or upload documents

You rummage through a filing cabinet in the Common House and discover  
that there are many drafts and outdated/antiquated pre-move-in  
policies there, and you eventually find a neighbor that has held on  
to every piece of paper for the last 15 years so you borrow theirs  
and promptly misplace it, earning an enemy for life. You eventually  
find it again and put a copy in the CH filing cabinet, at which point  
the decision is revisited and so the paper becomes obsolete again.

> * Photos: A way for a resident to view or upload photos.

Also known as "what I did on my vacation slide shows" or "passing  
around the new-baby photo album during a common dinner".

> * Groups: A way for a resident to join a "Group". These "Groups"
> would become email subgroups so a calendar event such as a Board  
> meeting would be sent only to the "Board" subgroup. "Groups" could  
> also be used for meals, committees, contact lists, etc.

You raise your hand during a meeting to volunteer, or (more  
frequently) say "who is going to take care of doing ____?", only to  
find out that the answer is... YOU

> * Classifieds: A way for a resident to view, add or edit a
> classified ad.

You retrieve the thumbtack object and affix the paper surface  
containing the information to the corkboard near the mailboxes in the  
CH. Tip: to edit, cross out the old information and write in the  
margins.

> * Pets: A way for a resident to view, add or edit information about
> neighborhood pets.

Not necessary because you already know them all by name and owner,  
and which ones eat each other. This may be unfamiliar to someone in a  
traditional condominium association, where the standard means of  
obtaining such information is during the pretrial discovery process  
in court after one member sued the assocation, or vice versa, or  
another member, because one pet ate another.

When a neighbor is killing pets or neighbors, then perhaps it is time  
to bring in some outside help, but be sure not to rush to  
judgement.... there may be a perfectly good reason that you simply  
don`t understand. Like putting the bottle opener in the wrong drawer  
in the CH kitchen.

> * Polling: A way to allow a resident to view a proposal and cast
> their vote.

Also known as coming to a meeting, listening to a presentation, and  
(I know this step is hard, but it really is essential not just here  
but to all the steps above), TALKING to ONE ANOTHER and DISCUSSING IT  
and going through a GROUP PROCESS of LOOKING AROUND THE ROOM to see  
if you have FOUND CONSENSUS.

----
> But I am hoping to find a single system with most of the following
> features. Please let me know if you have any suggestions.

But seriously, folks, I`ve been to some conferences for traditional  
condo HOA`s, and there is some software out there that does at least  
some of the above, but mostly it is designed for larger condo  
projects, for the use by the property managers, and is priced  
accordingly. There are also some free/open source alternatives. And a  
single monolithic system means that EVERYBODY has to be retrained,  
and if it breaks or fails to meet a need, then you`re really stuck...  
you get none of the resiliency of diversity when you embrace a  
monoculture.

And yes, technology can make things easier, like checking a menu, or  
signing up a dinner guest, or reserving the guestroom or CH, all from  
the comfort of your own home. It can make it easier to find things,  
reduce space requirements, and help in so many ways.

But rather than preventing a trip to the CH, why not find ways to  
encourage it and support it and make it easier? Or know your  
neighbors so well that you know exactly who to call who won`t mind  
checking the posted calendar/meal signup/mailbox for you, since  
you`ve helped that person and the community in so many ways?

The default societal approach to these things is to strive for  
efficiency, independence, autonomy, and economy. Perhaps instead we  
can embrace tools that support our core values, be they connection,  
community, mutual suppport, cooperation, caring, or whatever  
differentiates us enough as cohousers to make living in community a  
priority, as neighborhoods, as a movement, as earth citizens?

Raines Cohen, Cohousing Coach
Planning for Sustainable Communities (at Berkeley, CA Cohousing)

Regional Organizer, Northern California Cohousing http:// 
www.norcalcoho.org/
Who is proud to say that, with my walk-through of Valley Oaks Village  
(Chico, CA) this week while visiting a friend with friends there and  
seeing my sister in concert at the Sierra Nevada brewery, I have now  
visited ALL built California cohousing neighborhoods that we know of.  
We`re doing a cohousing table at the Solar Living Expo http:// 
www.solfest.org/ in Hopland next week, and have some free camping and  
exhibit passes for boothworkers, in case anyone wants to join us there.

Editor, Community Next Door http://www.communitynextdoor.org/ Who just
yesterday drove by Bear Grass Village (Ashland, OR) and  
wishes them a happy move-in next week... the construction crew was at  
work bright and early, and the nearby creek was flowing, and I hope  
your initially-recalcitrant NIMBY no-new-development neighbors will  
"get over it" and become friends once they see what a good influence  
you are on the neighborhood.

And who plans on visiting some Seattle-area cohousing neighborhoods  
and professionals and observing a group-in-formation meeting while in  
Seattle this weekend. I`m within striking distance of visiting all  
built cohousing

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