Theme: Resource Sharing
Notes:
1. Recap of what happened at the Bash in September
(see some notes here: http://bostoncoopassembly.wordpress.com/the-bash/)
2. Progress Reports since the Bash
- Inter-Co-op Games (24 Sept at the Spirit of ’76)
Great success! 8 co-ops came with 3-6 housemates each. Each co-op organized a game, food, and DIY awards. Lots of energy, might make it an annual event.
- Website working group
Met at Herbert Simpson & talked about what a website could/should do. See website notes below.
- Occupy Boston
Co-op houses are repping super hard at Occupy Boston (http://www.occupyboston.org/)!! Co-op houses and co-opers are involved in all aspects of the occupation and its logistics. Cooperative economics is a big topic there but could be bigger. Almost all the Assembly participants went directly to the occupation after the Assembly. A comment: “we are building the new world here [at the Assembly] to take the place of the one we are tearing down there [at the Occupation!" Cooooool.
- Almanac
Working group meeting took place. Goal: a printed zine for co-ops to list resources available to be shared with each other.
3. Project proposals
We took some time to brainstorm and decide on project ideas that we wanted to work on at this meeting. We decided to work on the Workshop Series together and the website and intra-co-op outreach as working groups, spending about an hour on each. Then we came back together to share and discuss further.
Boston Co-op Workshop Series
Idea: A weekly workshop & skillshare series, hosted by co-op houses around the Boston-area.
How it will work:
- Meetup.com allows groups to crowd-source the creation of events.
This means that someone can suggest a workshop by filling in the title field on a form. If someone else feels they can teach on that topic, they can fill their name into the slot for "facilitator." Then, someone else can fill in the "location" field by offering to host the workshop at their house. It's possible to fill in all the fields yourself, if you have a workshop you want to teach at your own house. But the cool thing about this website is that we don't have to be limited by our own homes and abilities, but can mix up locations, as well as request workshops on subjects we want to learn about.
- Using meetup.com, we will together create a calendar of workshops
- The series will begin in January
- Every week will have a workshop, though the day and time will vary
- The second Saturday of every month is reserved for the Collective House Assembly
- The workshops will be open to the general public (not just co-opers)
- At each workshop, the hosting house will give a 5-10 minute spiel or tour or something to introduce the workshop series, the Collective House Assembly, and show off their co-op house
ACTION POINTS:
- Nathan will create the meet-up.com group by the end of the week
- Once this group is functional, people with workshop ideas can go ahead and fill in the calendar!
- The official launch in January will need some outreach
Website(s)
First, we tried to clarify what websites and listserves currently exist to serve the coop community (or that one may come across when searching "Boston" and "coops"):
Listserves:
- boston-collective-houses@googlegroups.com - Coops listserve mostly with posts about Boston proper (a lot of Allston), music shows, younger crowd
- bcn@lists.bostoncoop.net - Mostly housing vacanies & co-op-focused events, usually includes a wider range of the Boston area
- bch-assembly@googlegroups.com - Created after the Co-op Bash in September to ensure everyone in attendance had access to the notes; unsure where to go with it
Websites:
- bostoncoop.net - BCN (Boston Coop Network) runs this, but hasn't updated for many years
- bcc.coop - BCC (Boston Community Coops) is the Seedpod Collective's umbrella non-profit
- bostoncoopassembly.wordpress.com - Home of the meeting minutes, policies, and proposals for the Boston Collective House Assembly
- bostoncoops.org - Home of Branches, which has a directory, map, and resources for Boston coop houses
Then we talked at length about how to combine and simplify these websites. We had organizers from Branches and the Assembly present, with input from BCN, so we felt empowered to make some big decisions here.
New URL: bostoncoops.org
- Branches & BCN site will point to this URL.
- This site will be the public face of co-op houses for the Boston-area, intended to be accessible for people new to Boston or new to co-ops, who want to get involved.
- Possible features include a directory of co-op houses (listing as much info as the house wants to make public; each house can have a webpage on this site if they'd like), a map, and info/resources for starting a new co-op house (links to lawyers, CFNE, and other resources)
- We debated whether and how to advertise vacancies at existing houses (currently this is done via listserves and Craigslist; is there a better way??)
bostoncoopassembly.wordpress.com
- For now, this website will function as is: a list of Assembly minutes, policies, and proposals
- It will prominently link with the meetup.com site for a calendar of co-op events
ACTION POINT:
- Website folks will continue to work on this stuff.
Outreach Events
Harvest Fest!
- November 4-5 OR 11-12, to be decides
- 7pm to midnight
- Will be geared toward co-opers with a potluck and both indoor and outdoor space.
ACTION POINT:
- Harvest Fest planning meeting Sat, 22 Oct at noon at in Cambridge (e-mail for details)
- Please advertise your Halloween parties on the co-op listserves!
Other events to come...:
- Progressive parties at multiple houses in a neighborhood in a one night, with food, tours, etc. Davis in December? JP in January?
- "Co-ops are Your Neighbors" event: bring brownies to neighborhoods, accompanied by a press release
Other exciting dates:
- 3-4 November: NASCO Institute, national co-op conference, in Michigan (http://www.nasco.coop/institute/)
- 9 November: Coop Finances meeting for coop treasurers at Millstone, 7pm
- 12-13 November: Boston Anarchist Bookfair at Simmons College (http://bostonanarchistbookfair.org/)
- 12 November: Collective House Assembly II at Encuentro 5, 33 Harrison St, from noon to 4pm (!!!)
<hr>
- 12:00 - 12:30 Potluck lunch (plates, cups & silverware provided)
- 12:30 - 12:45 Greeting and introductions
- 12:45 - 1:00 Progress reports (website, occupy boston)
- 1:00 - 1:30 Project proposals and "pass the agenda"
- 1:30 - 2:15 45 minute working groups
- 2:15 - 2:30 Reconvene and re-assess
- 2:30 - 3:15 45 minute working groups
- 3:15 - 3:45 Reflection on Assembly process & ways to improve
- 3:45 - 4:00 Announcements, check-out
Ongoing projects & proposals (please step up!):
- Halloween Co-op House Bike Tour and/or Co-op Haunted House
- Collective House website features & development
- Sister Co-ops, parties, more meeting each other
- Newsletter, directory of resources, wiki
Questions? Please get in touch viaassembly[at]bostoncoops[dot]org or ask a question at http://groups.google.com/group/bch-assembly!
