Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: Today, April 7, is the deadline! (to get the early-bird 2011 Natl Coho Conference registration pricing)

[Raines Cohen (rc3-coho-L]

I just want to echo Craig in the reminder to register today - Betsy
and I (your Cohousing Coaches) are recommending that all our clients
and member groups  in East Bay Cohousing and Cohousing California do
their darndest to send at least one person to the national conference,
and here's a few more reasons why.

As a volunteer with the conference organizing crew, co-chairing the
Social Media team, we're in the process of creating web pages and
printed program materials from the accepted session proposals. It
became clear the breadth of topics covered when I pulled out the LONG
list of keywords, which I include here unedited for your inspiration -
are any of these topics ones that you or your group care about?

active aging, Adaptable, adaptation, adult communities, Advocacy,
affordable, affordable cohousing, Aging-in-place, agricultural
preservation, Appreciative Inquiry, architect, architectural photos,
Australia, Beer, Bonding over Food, budget, budgeting, builder,
building, carbon footprint, CDFIs, certification, Challenges, change,
Children, Cohousing, cohousing evolution, Cohousing policy, common
values, Common Vision, Communication, communication norms, community,
Community Development Financial Institutions, community land trust,
Community Liaison, comparative, Conflict, Connection, consensus,
construction, Contextual, culture, Decision Making, demographics,
Denmark, density, design, Design for Community, developer-driven,
development, differences, Discussion, distributing power, diversity,
earth elder, Eco-village, effective meetings, elder, elderhood,
eldering, Elderly, Empathy, employment, energy audit, energy
efficiency, Energy Efficient, Enterprise Community Partners, ethnic
diversity, existing communities, facebook, facilitation, fair housing,
farming, Federal Housing Policy, finance, Financial Needs, Food,
Forming, forming groups, fun, Fundraising, getting started, green,
green building, history, housing, Housing Agenda, Housing Assistance
Council, HUD funding, income, InnovativeZoning, Interactive,
Intergenerational, intergenerational cohousing, internet marketing,
Interpersonal, Intimacy, joint venture model, Kids, land development,
Leadership, LEED, legal, lifestyle communities, linkedIn, Local v
Neighborhood, Marketing, Marsupials, Meal Programs, meals, Mediation,
meetings, membership, mixed-income, Money, National politics,
neighborhood, new building techniques, Nonviolent Communication,
Online, online strategy, Open Building, Opportunity Finance Network,
organic, outreach, parking, Path Forward, Pizza, plan,
PocketNeighborhoods, policy, Policy Landscape, Politics, practical,
pre-development funding, professionals, progressive building, project
management, recruiting new members, Regional Groups, Relationships,
Relevant, renewal, Resilience, Resilient, rural housing, search,
Section 8, seniors, seo, servant leadership, shared leadership,
Sharing, similarities, singing, singles, site assessment, small,
social architecture, Social Interaction through Meals, Social media,
social media marketing, social media strategy, Solar, solar power,
Story-telling, Strength Based, Structure, success, Sustainability,
sustainable, Sustainable design, system, team, The Power of Stories,
time, timeline, twitter, U.S. communities, urban, Volunteer,
wastewater recycling, women, work, zoning

And of course that doesn't even include the keynote, plenaries, "open
space" and last minute sessions, nor the Cohousing University
pre-conference workshops, Cohousing 101 sessions, and the like.

The sessions were selected by the amazing program team to address the
needs of many distinct audiences. Are you or your group members in one
of these categories or sharing these goals?

Living In Community
Forming Communities
Understanding Community
Building Community
Supporting Community

And confirmed presenters are coming from these states:

Maryland, Colorado, Massachusetts, Missouri, California, Arizona,
North Carolina, Virginia, Oregon, Maine, Iowa, Pennsylvania,
Washington, the District of Columbia, and New Hampshire, not to
mention Australia.

And who are these great speakers? Some may be familiar to you from all
over the movement, including contributors to Cohousing-L (a partial
list):

Laird Schaub, Catya Belfer, Eli Spevak, Lyons Witten, Lyons Witten,
Laura Fitch, Richart Keller, Kristin Wells, Marilyn Hanna-Myrick,
Terri Huggett, Dene Peterson, Tedd Benson, Joel Plotkin, Jennifer
Ryan, Jessie Hanforth Kome, Claudia Bullmore, Donna Niemann, Deborah
Maher, Duncan Ferguson, Ann Zabaldo, David Bellin, Deborah Sugarman,
Jerome Garciano, Elizabeth Trice, Lacy Brittingham, Shane Labrake,
Ross Chapin, Charles Durrett, Bryan Bowen, Bryan Bowen, Peg Mcdermott,
Jim Baker, Steve Balderson, Jack Wilbern, Ann Zabaldo, Tony Kidd,
Diane Margolis, David Entin, Lisa Poley, Fred Mignone, Jane Connor,
Ryan Mcallister, Barbara Burnham, Lisa Poley, Grace H. Kim, Moises
Loza, Grace Kim, Jack Wilbern

But as much fun and informative as all that is, I'd be happy at a
conference even if I got to absolutely none of the sessions, because
of all the other organized and informal learning and networking that
goes on. It could be the one thing you learn over a meal in casual
conversation with another cohouser who has gone down the road before
saves your community hundreds or even thousands of dollars and years
of struggle.

I have to say that there's still some great deals to be found on DC
airfares, with a choice of regional airports and many competitive
long-haul nonstop routes. Some cohousers and community
seekers/co-creators in Wisconsin we met with this week are already
planning to drive together for the Citizens Climate Summit/Lobby Day
right after the cohousing conference, so may be able to carpool in
time for the conference. Plus Amtrak and regional bus carriers provide
many scenic and no-hassle ground transportation options, often at
prices that can't be beat.

Note that a decision to register today is a low-risk investment: save
$50 on conference registration and more on Cohousing University and
tours registration, and you've got 'til the end of the month to cancel
and get back all but $50, in case all the logistics and support from
your future or current neighbors don't fall into place in time.

Remember, the conference costs less than most professional workshops
in these subject areas do for any one topic. With the network effects
of our movement unified in one place, the more cohousers make it
there, the more likely it is that we can all learn more from each
other and have more fun and build the relationships that will get us
where ever we -- and our communities -- need to be for what lies
ahead.

Join me today to learn more and get connected:
http://conference.cohousing.org/

Raines Cohen, Cohousing Coach & Regional Community Organizer
at Berkeley (CA) Cohousing
http://www.CohousingCoaches.com/