The following is an overview of the first meeting of the membership committee. Please post any feedback on the comments section of this post. We are specifically looking for feedback on survey questions. If you have any ideas for questions, please let us know!
Agenda Items
1.
Communication Systems
2.
Community Survey
Communication Systems
Since most
of the tasks of the committee include some kind of data collection, data
analysis, or data tracking, the committee reviewed an online data
management/communication system. The web address is www.neworg.com for anyone who would like to
review the 5 minute video giving an overview of the program’s capabilities.
This is a subscription based program.
This does not require IT personnel or software purchase. The monthly fee is
“about the cost of your telephone bill”. The main advantage is that individuals
can go on line and key in their own membership data. This eliminates an army of
volunteers doing data entry from paper membership forms.
Community Survey
The Committee identified the following steps to the survey
process:
1.
Define the purpose of the survey
2.
Define the target audience
3.
Create the survey
4.
Logistics (getting survey out, getting survey
back, collating data, etc)
Purpose of the Survey
This was the most difficult item to nail down since this is a new
organization and we are all charting new territory both individually and
corporately. We think that the main purpose is to determine community interest
level and to obtain some data that would be helpful in choosing the appropriate
site for the store and choosing the kind of products to offer initially.
Target Audience/Logistics
The committee members present were unanimously
uncomfortable with a door-to-door approach. They preferred working with
churches, civic associations, the East End Chamber of Commerce, the U of H
business school, and local HISD schools.
Create the Survey
The committee tossed around ideas for survey questions. The
members present were unanimously uncomfortable with a long survey. They felt
that a short and simpler survey would be best.
The following action items were established:
1.
Members are going to communicate with personal
contacts to gain more information about the survey process.
2.
More research will be done on existing co-ops
and what technology they use as well as what survey process they used.
3.
Survey Monkey will be researched as a possible
tool for survey logistics.
4.
A draft survey is going to be written and
distributed to the committee before the next meeting.
The meeting adjourned at 8:15p.m.
The next meeting is set for April 11, 2012 at 7:00 p.m. at
the home of Gerry Vander-Lyn (4404 Pease St).
