Transition Whatcom Quarterly Hub Meeting

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Comment by Rob Olason on August 22, 2011 at 9:52am

I would like a few minutes to mention the local 350.org moving planet project, Bike Bellingham which takes place Saturday 9/24/11. Also, I am part of a group wanting to develop a TW film series. Both actions need volunteers.

Comment by warren miller on August 15, 2011 at 11:12am

Heather-

Good thoughts on the schedule. I will review your suggestion with the TWOG. Anyone else have thoughts on the best dates for the Hub and Assembly meetings?

A short summary of the Assembly meeting topics is posted below.

Also- here is the link for the audio of the Rob Hopkins presentation to Transition US. http://transitionus.org/event/conversation-rob-hopkins

 

Here are some of the high level discussions and conclusions from the last Assembly Meeting.

 

1) Reflections on Challenges and Successes-

Challenges- The TWOG has been too focused on doing things themselves instead of finding the energy in the membership and supporting those activities. This has lead to Twog burn-out. Some work groups are active and others are finding it difficult to get going. The Transition Whatcom message needs to be more visible in the community.

Successes- We have close to 1,000 members. Some work groups have been very active and are making a visible difference (Finance work group, EDAP team has had several meetings, etc). We have participated in amny partner events tabling and speaking and this is improving our visibility and driving membership (Economics of happiness movie, Co-op Market events, Green Party speaking event, Resilience Circles at BUF, etc).

 

1) Our thoughts on Challenges and Successes were echoed by the experienced TW attendees.

2)      Our work going forward would be most effective if we focus on a small number of key elements. Here are some examples:

1. Outreach- continue to spread the TW message, build awareness, build membership, clearly explain how we are different from other sustainable organizations.
2. Work Group Facilitation- energize and encourage work group effectiveness, and create visible work group driven successes in the community. Show how the work groups are ‘making a difference’.
3. Delegation- get more help from TW membership. Encourage and enable member driven ideas so that members are doing more and the TWOG is going less of the ‘leg work’.
4. Get more TWOGs- find members who would be effective TWOGs and sign them up.
5. Create a Schedule- provide a clear guideline for planning and executing TW events, identifying and achieving TW goals.
6. Describe our Mission- More clearly identify what the TWOG is doing, why we are doing it and how we are going to do it.

3)      Ideas that had good member support

1. Letters from the future- showing how TW efforts made a difference in the future quality of life.
2. Personal EDAP- publish individuals personal energy descent action plans as a way to share ideas and actions.
3. Encourage small group meetings to make it easier to accomplish things at the ‘working level’
4. Identify weekly TW activities with a common time, place and rotating theme to drive awareness and energize the membership:   Pot Luck with a purpose, Transition Café, Party-up for Power-down, Movie nite, Book Club, Event planning, learning from our successes, etc.
5. Create a Policy Task Force to interface and engage with local government. Leverage government resources and capabilities.
6. Publicize successes to build momentum for the next opportunity. Expand and repeat.
7. Creating a TW schedule based on seasons allows members to reconnect with nature and can be an effective method to organize efforts around a deeply engaging and intuitive understanding.

 

Comment by Heather K on August 13, 2011 at 5:18pm

Warren, its tough to make these sunday Transition quarterly meetings during the months you've chosen. (height of sunny summer & height of spring planting).

It might be easier to bring more folks together on a weekend if you switched to a rotation of July-Oct-Jan-April or a rotation of June-Sept-Dec-March.

 

I've missed the last meetings, but would enjoy any minutes or summary if available. Nothing was posted on the last Quarterly Transition Meeting.

Comment by Jamie Jedinak on August 11, 2011 at 10:17pm

 

~  Hi Rob. Since we did not get to the Rob Hopkins audio at the Work group meeting, would you post the link here for a listen?  ~  Jamie