Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: Choosing a cohousing consulting

[Wayne Tyson (landrest]

Deryk,

Cohousing aside, if there is a "golden boy" in the wings, that should be 
made clear in any RFP. It is not ethical to request proposals under false 
pretenses.

Consultants spend many hours and considerable money in putting together 
proposals; I have come very close to suing the originators of RFP's who 
ultimately "selected" such a golden boy after such an offense. It is a 
common, but reprehensible practice for entities, private and governmental, 
to turn over competitors' proposals to the golden boy. Those competitors 
must assume that that will happen, despite all apparent good intentions.

I see nothing wrong with it if you are up-front with the other recipients of 
the RFP in the beginning, so they don't even have to waste a phone call 
unless they think they can outdo the consultant in the wings, but I doubt 
that you will get many responses--at least from people who have experienced 
this practice in the past. I have. Knowing only what I know now, I would not 
respond to any such RFP. I do, however, compliment you on your candor and 
good sense in seeking the counsel of others. There are other professionals 
on this list whom I expect will offer their "take" on your post.

WT

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Deryk Wenaus" <derykw [at] gmail.com>
To: <cohousing-L [at] cohousing.org>
Sent: Tuesday, July 05, 2011 4:08 PM
Subject: [C-L]_ Choosing a cohousing consulting


> Our forming cohousing group we realize that it's time we choose a 
> cohousing consultant to help in all aspects of the project. I'm hoping 
> others on this list can assist us about the best way to go about making 
> this decision.
>
> There is a person in our group that is VERY capable and he is interested 
> in organizing the development of our project from site selection through 
> to building. Seeing as he has limited cohousing experience, we are 
> thinking he would employ the services of one of the more established 
> cohousing companies as a mentor to understand best practices and to have 
> expert advice close at hand.
>
> In order to make this process clear we were going to create a request for 
> proposals (RFP) which he and others could then respond to. (The process 
> would have to be fair so as not to waste the time of other applicants even 
> though we are already leaning towards our member - he will eventually live 
> there).
>
> A few questions:
> Do other groups have experience in this process of choosing a cohousing 
> consultant?
> Has it worked well that a member of the group organized things?
> Does it make sense that the consultant/developer is local and work closely 
> with a more experienced cohousing consulting?
> Any advice about how to look at paying this organizer/consultant?
> Lastly, can people recommend very experienced cohousing consultants they 
> have worked that resulted in an active cohousing community?
>
> thanks in advance :)
> Deryk
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