OML Committee Meeting: Owner-Member Input July 29, 2015
Education Idea: Would like to see BCS become more proactive in helping members
learn: more about healthy eating and cooking recipes, how to use unusual products
we carry
Questionnaire: Please take care to use an ‘Education’ agenda carefully so it doesn’t
interfere with creating an unbiased survey that asks questions about what we want
to know.
Questionnaire/Survey Idea/critique: Comment on working group’s efforts: Focus
on Big perspective and work on survey from an inductive perspective (not from
deductive O-M comments). What do we want to learn from the survey?
Questionnaire/survey input: What information do we really hope to glean and
what do we want to do with the information we glean?
Questionnaire/survey input: I don’t believe that a survey is a tool for education
and feel-good-ness. Do we want to manipulate out members or do we want to glean
information to help us move forward?
Questionnaire/survey input: Take it one step further by also subtly informing
those taking the survey.. leave room for new ideas too.
Volunteer planning: Food committee—recommend that be narrowed to a Food
Policy working group. Now
Volunteer planning: I perceive a need to tap into ‘do something’ impulse on the
part of members. Proposals: Food movie screenings; big advertised event such as
store front cleanup
Volunteer planning: Partner with IUB faculty, internes, etc. Great idea!
Volunteer planning/working groups: bring IU Service Learning Program. Contact
IU Faculty, class projects, IU interns. (re Michael Valiant and Nicole Shoneman)
Volunteer planning/working groups: IUB Food Studies program : “I would also
like to offer the help and involvement of our grad and undergrad students if you
want to do surveys of membership, or customers, growers or other constituencies though there would be some costs involved. We can also talk about internships.”
[See Beebe for contact information]
Communications: need centralized information source, Now.
Communications: Volunteer manned info and feedback group in stores. Future.
Document1 Beebe
2/9/2016
1
Communications-proposal: 1. Cashiers check and update all member emailaddress-phone#; 2. Ask for authorization to share email addresses with members.
Now.
Communications-comment: Training cashiers is essential. Now.
Communications-comment: Cashiers need to be trained in information
dissemination. Ae they already?
Communications-proposal: Have a table with a person in co-op stores once a
week; ‘Talk to Me!” [also] Farmer market idea is good too!. Now.
Communications-proposal: information dissemination at each [location?], info
table. Now.
Communications-comment: Agree with: multi-pronged approach; developing a
method for member owner to talk to each other. Now.
Communications-proposal: Setup member input list-serve to promote dialogue,
ideas can be shared and monitored. Now.
Communications-comment: Who does the writing for: Newsletter, that brochure
at the register, blogs, web copy?
Communications-comment: Member meetings are poorly timed. 9-5 workers can’t
come. On Saturday do it in the afternoon.
Communications-comment: If we had some good interesting stories the HT would
run them…
Communications-comment: What makes BF positively different? Primary
communication? Preferred communication: Cashiers/pamphlets; networking, an
event; farmer’s market presence.
Communications-comment: Website redesign need to be accomplished. Real
information needs to be available. In/out doors, ¼ sheets at cashier and cashier
verbal communication—they are our PR people! Now.
Document1 Beebe
2/9/2016
2