Dear Co-op Members,
Thank you for your interest in the Olympia Food Co-op’s member engagement process, the Co-op Conversation. For those of you who have participated in the first two meetings, we thank you for your time and commitment and let you know that you are welcome to attend the general meeting on March 24. If you have signed up for the third meeting, you will find details of the event below.
The main purpose of this email is to share information with you in the hopes that you will pass it along to friends, neighbors and co-workers who are also Olympia Food Co-op members. We are hoping to have a broad spectrum of co-op members participate in this member engagement and we hope you will help us spread the word. Feel free to send this email on. You can also direct people to our website at www.coopconversation.org where they can learn more about the event and what it will mean for our co-op’s future.
With our thanks,
The Member Relations Committee
Olympia Food Co-op
Coopconversation@olympiafood.
Join the Co-op Conversation!
The Olympia Food Co-op has grown and evolved over time to meet the needs of our membership, yet it’s been many years since our organization came together to decide upon our collective future. As the Co-op expands to better serve our community, it is time to check in with the membership, staff, and the board to understand where best to put our energy and focus, and to build mechanisms for increased communication organization-wide, in order to foster unity and strength as a food co-op.
This engagement process is called the Co-op Conversation and it will be taking place on Saturday, March 24 at the Olympia Center, 222 Columbia St. in downtown Olympia. This general meeting of the co-op membership, staff and board will look at themes that have been developed at two prior meetings of co-op constituents. The March 24 forum will be conducted with Open Space, a self-organizing meeting technology. Participants are encouraged to ask meaningful questions about topics such as the Co-op’s organizational and communication structure, community reconciliation, business ownership and expansion.
We are asking the entire co-op membership to attend the Co-op Conversation on Saturday, March 24 at the Olympia Center, 222 Columbia St. in downtown Olympia. To accommodate schedules, we will have a morning session from 9 am to 12 pm and an afternoon session from 1 pm to 4 pm. All co-op members are welcome to attend either session. Childcare is available at both sessions. Snacks and drinks will be provided. To accommodate requests for childcare and accessibility and to help us plan for seating, we ask that participants sign up at
https://www.surveymonkey.com/
We encourage anyone who is interested in the Co-op Conversation to visit www.coopconversation.org to read about the process and study background materials on the co-op’s history, decision making process and organizational structure. These materials include the Olympia Food Co-op’s vision, mission and goals.
We value every voice and hope you will share yours on Saturday, March 24.
