Sunday, November 4th, 3:20-4:50 pm
501. The Competitive Environment in Natural Foods-- The Co-op Advantage
Mark Kastel, Cornucopia Institute
Most natural food co-op managers know that they will never out Wal-Mart or Trader Joe's on pricing or be as glitzy and slick as a Whole Foods. But many cooperatives have something these giant corporations can't buy at any price: authenticity. Whether it is creating an unsurpassed infrastructure to connect your membership with local artisan farmers, growers, and food processors or whether it is "creating a food-based community," co-ops have a distinct advantage that could and should be exploited. Kastel will walk participants through an exercise that will help inventory strengths and weaknesses of co-op groceries with the goal of creating a different kind of retailer. One for which there is no competition.
511. Beginning Kitchen Managing for Small Co-ops
Virginia Lu, ICC-Austin
This course will introduce the basics of running a co-op kitchen of less than 30 people. We will cover simple strategies to manage a kitchen smoothly and provide delicious meals that are cost-effective and exciting. The course will cover: food management, easy ways to make a grocery list, how to save money on groceries, seasonal food and meals, how to get the best meals out of your cooks, many great sample menu ideas. This class is designed for any co-ops trying to make a new kitchen/ meal system from scratch or redesign an existing system.
521. Wiki Your Way to Forming a Cooperative
Jan Steinman, EcoReality Sustainable Land Use and Education Cooperative
Our group successfully formed our own British Columbia Cooperative, doing all the paperwork ourselves, and only paying the filing fee--while living 500 km apart! We used a "wiki," an Internet-based collaborative authoring system, to accomplish this feat. In this workshop, I'll describe what a wiki is, where and how to start one (for free!), and how to structure your wiki to best accomplish your goals, be they forming a co-op, or using one for day-to-day co-op operations.
522. How to Deal with Problem Members
Shannon Tubb, ICC-Ann Arbor
Ricardo Guerrero, Associated with College Houses, Austin
We'll start with a brief introduction of the workshop facilitators and their experiences before coming up with a working definition of "problem members" in the context of cooperatives. Then we want to hear from participants about why they're interested in attending this workshop and how their co-op has tried to deal with problem members, both successfully and unsuccessfully. The focus will be on sharing ideas about possible ways to address this issue in our co-ops.
523. How To Preserve Your Co-op's History
Vakil Smallen, Maryland Food Collective
Student-run cooperatives and collectives exist in an intentional community where the social fabric is created organically from the input of all members. The history reflected in the documents created by these organizations is often a truer picture of the greater community (whether the student body or the general population of a 'college town') than those created in hierarchical institutions such as corporations or government bodies. On the other hand, those hierarchical institutions have the infrastructure to archive their history in a way that smaller, more loosely designed communities cannot afford. This workshop will teach members of cooperatives and collectives what avenues are available to them to preserve the history of their community beyond the 'cardboard box stuffed with papers on a shelf in the back office.
524. Giving Dynamic Trainings and Reporting Back Home
Rebecca Nole, Former NASCO staff, ICC-Ann Arbor
This course will discuss strategies for planning and administering successful and stimulating trainings specific to your organization. We will be sharing ideas and learning new techniques for training your Boards, house officers, and new members. In addition to organizing information receiving, this course will also touch upon how to partake in information sharing. We will learn how to apply what we've learned at Institute and bring it back home to our coops. The reporting back and teaching element in cooperative communities is just as important as the learning and training.
531. Here Comes the Neighborhood: Expanding the Co-op Circle
Kirk Laubenstein, Nickel City Housing Cooperative
This workshop will discuss the issues that pertain to starting and maintaining a Housing Coop that is truly rooted in the struggle for economic self-sufficiency, by focusing on the organizing Work PUSH (People United for Sustainable Housing) is doing with regards to organizing low income people on the West Side of Buffalo. We will also talk about how best to create community in a low-income neighborhood, and the ways in which people from outside that community can learn from the people in the neighborhood what they want and help them change their situations for the better.
532. Domestic Fair Trade
Erbin Crowell, Equal Exchange
533. International Students Living in Cooperatives
Jennifer Duran-West, University Cooperative Housing Association
This session will touch upon various issues (in cooperatives) that International students face. Since it is known that International students experience many barriers when first entering the country and assimilating to their new surroundings, we will discuss the role of a co-op and how it can help facilitate a smooth transition.
541. The Power of Sharing: The Economics of an Egalitarian Commune
Bucket Von Harmony , Twin Oaks Community
Instead of earning individual wages, we work together to meet the needs of the community as a whole. In this workshop we will describe the details of our worker-owned businesses and look at systems of resource distribution. How do we share without resentment or hoarding? How do different systems operate to distribute scarce items fairly? How do we distribute labor and responsibility in a just manner?
551. Anti-Oppression Action Camp: Lessons Learned
Action Camp Alumni
Perhaps the theater is not revolutionary in itself; but have no doubts, it is a rehearsal of revolution! ~ Augusto Boal
The Anti-Oppression Action Camp is a week of intensive trainings on power, privilege and anti-oppression work. Camp participants return to their communities with concrete ideas and strategies to be agents of creative change and resistance against racism, sexism, homophobia, ableism, and other forms of oppression. This class will be facilitated by camp graduates who will share their favorite activities, and some of those concrete ideas and strategies they took home from camp.
561. Guy-necology: Examining Sexual Issues for Men
Benjamin Ayer, ICC-Ann Arbor
This will be a group discussion on sex, sexiness, and sexual issues for men and male identified folk. We will look at what it means to be and become a man in our society. Since our gender grants us power and privilege in our everyday relationships, we'll talk about that. Is there an alpha male in your house? Why do men often opt out of the birth control process? During this workshop we will examine multiple aspects of masculinity. It will be open for personal stories on the above, sexually transmitted infections, sex, sexual desires, acceptable flirtation, and more. We invite you to step out of your comfort zone and into the Guy-necology zone
581. Part 5: Putting it All Together: The Business Plan
Many would-be co-ops dissolve before they even get off the ground. Others find themselves in crisis when faced with lease expirations, financing deadlines, or turnover in leadership. The business plan serves as a guide for the challenges ahead, as well as a tool to mobilize community support or secure funding. This course will introduce the fundamental elements of business planning and how to turn your dream of starting a co-op into a tangible project.
582. Should You Start a Community or Join One?
Laird Schaub, Fellowship for Intentional Community
For some people hungry for community life, this can be a fundamental fork in the road. While starting your own group may look like the clearest pathway to getting what you want, we'll explore the brambles you'll find along the way, and lay out the pros and cons of joining versus starting. There's more here than you might think!