PROPOSED MEETING~ Wednesday 11th ~ CAN YOU COME?

[Kat]

Hi Everybody,

We've been envisioning a meet-n-greet so we can get to know each other a little better.

How about: WEDNESDAY EVENING - FEBRUARY 11th, 6:30 p.m.
GREENLIFE GROCERY, upstairs

It would be great if we could have a good turn out and get to know some of the local faces we see here on the group. Who all can come? Let us know if this will work for you!

If enough people are interested, we'll add it to the events calendar.

[David]

i hope lots of you can make it.

I will be out of town so i will be unable to attend

david

[Christine Chapin]

we can make it but will have to bring Elinor

[Kat]

Please definitely post whether you're coming or not, because if only a person or two is willing and able to come, then it could be we're not yet ready to start getting together as a sizable group and should reschedule or change location (tea time at somebody's house, perhaps?). The time will come when there are many of us and we're eager to get together and start getting something done. Are we there yet? :) I'd love to meet lots of folks!

[Lana Sutton]

I'll see ya there! I'll invite members from my group as well!

[Lana Sutton]

I invited the entire sustainable chattanooga group, and called it the Green Meet & Greet! I hope a few show up, although most of them are out of staters!

[Pam]

I will be there.I cant wait to see as many of you as possible.

[Lana Sutton]

Perhaps we can go over now how we plan to conduct the meeting, so that it goes quickly and smoothly. I suggest that we ask people to tell what their pet issues are, so that they can recognize people with similar interests and strengths, and sign up for brainstorming groups that can address those topics in more detail than the larger group.
Then, after we do a sort of greetings, and discussion about who is represented, such as Transition TN, Sustainable Chattanooga, and hopefully reps from some of the other groups, we can divide up into break out groups based on interest.
Or we can set up a future meeting for the breakout groups. Ideally, we can have someone from one of the local groups that is currently working on issues. I'm hoping someone is there from Chattanooga Green. Brad? That way we can all jump in and ask how to help his group. Matt from the Riverkeeper, can you make it? SVI? I'm currently engaged with the city's Eco-Landscaping Committee in recommending ways to enable and hopefully encourage people to farm and preserve native habitats in their yards. I'm particularly interested in helping to get the city's ordinance language changed so that urban farms and habitats aren't continually threatened and destroyed.

[Lana Sutton]

I just looked, and 22 people are confirmed going from my group. I've also asked reps of chattanooga green, slow food, Sierra club and Take root chattanooga if they will represent their groups at the meeting. They can inform about their activities, so that people can lock in to what they want to get involved with.

[Lana Sutton]

As of 9:30a, there are 24 folks confirmed going to the meet up with representatives from Sustainable Chattanooga, Transition TN, Chattanooga Green, Cherokee Sierra, Global Warming Task Force, GeenDrinksChattanooga.com, the Green Events calendar at meetup.com.
I hope this event becomes a way for these groups to attract the members that are appropriate to getting the most good done. It's probably best to let the reps all tell what they do, not only to help folks know which group to hook up with, but also so that there is no duplication of efforts and the groups coordinate their efforts efficiently. Lana

[Kat]

I look forward to hearing what various groups are doing. That will help my understanding of the bigger picture in Chattanooga. Do you know whether any of the groups have focused specifically on the Transition model (per the UK, New Zealand, etc.) or are we at this point mostly a consortium of Green groups?

[Lana Sutton]

Greenlife contacted me on facebook worried that the group attendance is getting too large. They said if it gets much larger than 25 attendees, they'll have to charge rental. If they're worried about getting 30 people in their store, I say we meet somewhere else. I really don't think that many will actually attend.

[Kat]

Yes, our original intent with setting it at Greenlife was based on the assumption that maybe 12 people would be there, as a casual meet-n-greet where Transition Tennessee members talk about what their skill sets are, what their interests are, etc. and discuss how we might move forward together with some focus. While I think it's great to have a huge turn-out and multiple groups represented, presentations given, etc., that sounds like a much bigger scenario and we probably should plan differently for it.

For a small "get to know you" group meeting and casual discussion of how we as individuals can transition, coffee shops and Greenlife work great, but with much more than about 10 people, there really isn't a place to meet at Greenlife. I don't know of an area where we could gather a lot of people without paying rent. If paying rent, there are some great little places -- but we'd need to have a consistent turn-out (and some dedicated donors?) so we could set that up. Where do the larger groups like Sierra Club meet? (Or are they small enough to stay casual when it comes to location?)

I'm not sure what to propose... What are your thoughts about location? Perhaps we could do a larger Sustainable Chattanooga combined meeting with group reps and all in a church or storefront who would be amenable to allowing a meeting? I'm keen to network and meet lots of folks -- just not sure where to suggest we meet.

With regards to Transition TN itself meeting in person consistently (as opposed to having an event but then parting ways again to straggle along virtually), I have been sort of waiting to see what develops - If people are willing to dedicate to the idea, I would like to see it become a focused group with specific intention for educating individuals, neighborhoods, and creating a strongly interacting Chattanooga Transition community, rather than only an umbrella for various special interest groups (although having folks on board from all those groups as a part of TT is a wonderful thing with great interactive potential!). We may need to start small to keep the turn-out consistent. You have more experience with these sorts of things -- what are your thoughts?