Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: 2011 Conference

[Racheli Gai (racheli]

I'm bothered by all this demonizing.  I don't know what the union  
people think, and perhaps
coho USA can't change its plans, but we don't need to turn them into  
villains.

Racheli.


On Mar 29, 2011, at 4:25 PM, Muriel Kranowski wrote:

> At 08:59 AM 3/27/2011, Jeannette wrote:
> > <snip> For a union to even ask a conference to change venues at the  
> > last
> > minute
> > shows disregard for the rights (and pocketbooks)  of the conference
> > organizers and attendees.
> >
> > Jeannette Watling-Mills
> > Living In Community Network, Sarasota, FL
>
> I'm writing to express my agreement with Jeannette.  What has been
> bothering me about Micah Ehler's (the union's boycott coordinator)  
> posts is
> his obvious indifference to the financial and organizational harm his
> union's stance is likely to cause Coho-USA.
>
> The Coho Board, after spending most of the last year planning this
> conference, have now been pulling out their collective hair over  
> this and
> have searched without success for a viable alternative.  Obviously  
> they
> couldn't find any feasible way to break their contract and move the
> conference to another venue at this late date. I really hope that  
> those of
> you who were planning on coming until this stuff hit the fan will go  
> ahead
> and sign up before the registration goes up on April 1.
>
> As cohousing folks, we're used to thinking that we can talk with  
> people
> whose ideas on some issue are totally different from ours, and by  
> talking
> together in good faith we may well come up with a solution that  
> everyone
> can live with.  But the union has refused to engage in any kind of
> discussion with Coho-USA to try to find a solution - they just  
> repeat what
> is essentially an ultimatum to abandon the original venue no matter  
> the
> cost, or possibly see the annual Coho conference in ruins due to low
> attendance - either way, a completely lose-lose proposition for Coho- 
> USA.
>
> Many of us have a reflexive sympathy for any union, but I don't  
> think this
> requires us to cooperate with them in sabotaging the annual Coho
> conference. The union stands to gain by any loss of attendance at the
> conference, since that can only harm the hotel, whereas any harm to
> Coho-USA and to cohousing are of no concern to the union.  A boycott  
> is a
> handy tactic - basically, let others bleed for your cause. It  
> bothers me
> greatly to see this.
>
>     Muriel at Shadowlake Village Cohousing
>     Blacksburg, VA
>
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