Cohousing-L Mailing List: Cohousing Conference 2008 Bulletin!

[Whitney Schmidt (whitneyschmidt]

Hello and Happy New Year!
   
  Here is your 2008 Cohousing Conference news!  Please email whitneyschmidt 
[at] verizon.net for more information.
   
  *** Starting in February, this bulletin will be in hyperlinked format.  For 
now, please forgive its length; it does require a bit of scrolling. ***
   
  Information you will find below:
  Sponsor the 2008 Cohousing Conference!
  Pre-registration starts this month!  (includes a tentative schedule of events)
  Presenters raise your hands!
  Cohousing Olympics and Events suggestions
   
  2008 Conference Sponsors
  The 2008 Conference will give your company or organization better exposure 
than ever!  Over 250 attendees are expected at Bentley College in June; current 
and future cohousers who are building, improving, and maintaining their homes, 
neighborhoods, relationships, and lives every day.
   
  There are four ways to sponsor this conference:
   
  Platinum Level sponsors - $2000
Buy a spot in conference history. Your company will be featured in conference 
literature and mentioned appropriately throughout the conference. One exhibit 
space is yours for the duration of the conference, and you get two free 
registrations which will include our Saturday night dinner auction.
  Gold Level sponsors - $1700
Be featured in our conference literature appropriately throughout the 
conference, and get an exhibit space for the duration of the conference. Join 
us for the Saturday night dinner auction, too!
  Silver Level sponsors - $1000
Get a spot in our conference literature without staffing an exhibit table ? but 
please join us at our dinner auction on Saturday night for dinner, bidding, and 
dancing! 
  Exhibitor - Options Vary
  Cohousing Groups:  $200 for a whole table, $100 for a half table
  Non-Group rate:  $500 for a whole table, $250.00 for a half table
  Special Exhibitor-Sponsor Rate for Cohousing Groups in any stage from forming 
to established:
  $500 for a whole table plus and ad in our program!
   
  To become a sponsor, contact our conference organizer, Whitney Schmidt.
   - 
  2008 Conference Early Bird Registration 
  Starts this month!
   
  Pre-Registration begins on January 31 at www.cohousing.org.
   
  Reserve your spot and get the best deal on limited on-site housing.  Early 
Bird registration is $195 per person for the main conference program, with 
lodging an unbelievable $30 per person per night on campus.  
   
  Pre-conference workshops are also available for sign up ($50 per workshop), 
with offerings including Retooling Cohousing for Aging in Place, Developing 
Cohousing Communities, The Cohousing Timeline Game, Survey of Legal Issues for 
Cohousing, Best Practices in Project Management, Nonviolent Communication, The 
Essentials of Dynamic Facilitation, Antidotes to Five Common Sources of 
Community Conflict, The Right Site, Common House Workshop, and Agenda for 
Sustainability.  Preconference workshops are $50 each.  Lodging on campus is 
also available for these nights.
   
  Don?t miss this year?s bus trips ? an unprecedented 3 trips scheduled for 
Thursday and Friday!  See everything Massachusetts Cohousing has to offer!
   
  You may also sign up for extra tickets to Saturday Night?s Dinner Auction, 
make donations to the auction, reserve exhibit space, or sponsor the event.  
Stay tuned for exciting developments in this fast-approaching conference event!
   
  Conference schedule (subject to changes):
   
  Thursday, June 12: Western MA bus tour all day
                                Pre-Conference workshops starting at noon
  Friday, June 13: Pre-Conference workshops all day
                           Boston Area Bus Tours 2 half day
                           Key note Address Friday evening
  Saturday, June 14: Regular Conference Presentations, all day
                               Saturday evening Dinner Auction
  Sunday, June 15: Regular Conference Presentations, half day
                             Conference "Open Forum" self directed discussion 
time, afternoon
   
  Pre-Registration begins on January 31 at www.cohousing.org.
   
  Presenters raise your hands!
   From Steve Hecht, Programming Team
  Greetings from the Program Team for the 2008 National Cohousing Conference! 
We are actively putting together our program for the main conference, and we?d 
love it if you submit your proposal or idea for a conference presentation. The 
deadline for submission of proposals is March 15, 2008. We can give you 
feedback if you?re not sure about the content or approach you?d like to take 
for a presentation. 
   
  More formal proposals should be around 100 words (or fewer). To help you 
along we are including descriptions of the topical areas below, as well as 
suggestions about particular topics we?re interested in.
  Our presentation areas include Process, Management, Green Design, 
Development, Professional, General Interest.
  Here are some suggested topics to spur your imagination:
  Connecting beyond cohousing to the local community 
Aging (and Dying) in place 
Creating communities from a variety of shared interests 
Under resourced, non traditional cohousing models 
Making it affordable 
Early financing: How-tos 
Children in cohousing 
Getting everyone involved 
Developing a Culture of Traditions 
Diversity 
Deepening connections after the "romance" is gone 
Professionals: How to grow the market and keep cohousing on the path to mass 
adoption 
What works: best practices for meals, decision making, etc
   Please send all proposals to the chair of the Program Team, Steve Hecht, at: 
shecht [at] newview.org. We?re looking forward to hearing from you! 
  Remember that deadline! 
   
  Calling all team players? To the Cohousing Olympics!
   
  We?re exploring the possibility of something new this year at the 2008 
Cohousing Conference near Boston .  We?re creating downtime for some 
inter-community bonding and beginning a legacy of Who?s the Best ? at what?  
That?s up to you!
   
  Green cart parking?  Tug of War?  Who can achieve consensus the fastest while 
whistling?  We need suggestions for some fun activities that will foster 
friendly competition, entertain the conference masses, and keep you coming back 
year after year, to see who wins next!
   
  Email us your suggestions for any type of fun activity; we?re making a list 
to see what?s feasible, what works with the schedule, and what will be fun and 
valuable to our conference experience.