Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: common meal software demo

[Ken Lewis (kenlewisjr]

Jim Snyder-Grant wrote:

> Are you thinking that a community would be able to host this code on
> their own server & modify it? Or would it be better to have this 
> centrally maintained?

More the latter. I think it will be pretty rare that a community has the 
specific skill set and time to do their own hosting. I'm planning on offering 
this as a low cost, hassle-free solution to managing the scheduling and 
accounting of common meals. Sine I would maintain it and manage all the 
hosting, modifications, and updates, communities would benefit from the 
continued development of the system. I do think that would be better for most 
communities.

> If we used this system at New View (Acton MA), I would consider the
> following changes:

> -Change the meat/veg option to a configurable option by the cooks
> (some offer two choices of vegatables, or without cheese, or
> non-dairy, etc.).

That's definitely possible.

> -To compensate for that extra complexity, I'd make all options cost
> the same (except for small vs large), since this is what we do.

That highlights the need to customize the system to a particular community's 
requirements. I'm hoping that the basic structure of what I've developed will 
work for most communities with the understanding that some customization will 
invariably be required.

Financial note:

An extra note about the accounting piece that I think is worth mentioning: The 
approach we're using, facilitated by the system's financial tracking reports, 
minimizes the number of actual "cash" transactions. For example, for about 200 
meals (over 2,300 household signups) in nine months we've only written about 20 
checks. A household's balance fluctuates over time as they cook and eat and 
checks are only written when a balance goes too far in any one direction. I use 
a separate HOA account as a centralized fund for dispensing and receiving meal 
system monies.

Thanks very much for your email, Jim. Let me know if you have any more 
questions.

Ken