The next regular meeting of WORC’N (the Worker-Owned and Run Cooperative Network of greater Boston) will be held Wednesday November 14th 2012, 6-8:30 pm, at the offices of Vida Verde Cleaning Cooperative, 697 Cambridge Street, Suite 106, Brighton MA 02135. Please contact us if transportation will be a problem for you – there may be someone you can carpool with.
We are expecting a good discussion with lots of new co-ops. There will be simultaneous interpretation in Spanish and Portuguese. Donations will be accepted to help pay for dinner, but not required to attend ($5 suggested). An RSVP will help us get an accurate count for food, so let us know if you’re coming!
The monthly meeting is a forum where existing cooperatives and co-ops in formation can learn from each other’s experience.
The following are topics that have been suggested for discussion – feel free to leave a comment or reply to this message to let us know which topics are most relevant to your group at this time:
· How can we, as co-ops, support each other?
· How is the role of a manager different in a co-op than in another kind of business?
· How to develop leadership in a cooperative? How do you create commitment among the members?
· Are there equal # of women to men in worker co-ops?
· How do we create and support participation & accountability?
· What co-op trainings do co-ops give?
· Review the 7 principles of co-ops and discussion
· How do you strike the balance between the enterprise and the mission/value drive organization?
· Looking at structures that can limit or help co-ops grow given the conflict between “do you need big co-ops versus a lot of co-ops?
WORC’N 