The Uptown West Neighbourhood Association is a friendly, open and inclusive organization established to expand the
organic relationships already present in our close-knit community. Representing the historic, gardened streets bordered
by Union, Westmount, Erb and King Streets, Uptown West is made up of families, couples, singles, and students benefitting
from a vibrant and creative, safe and connected life at the urban core of the City of Waterloo. We welcome all community
members to join our efforts to consolidate our resources and skills in order to help fellow neighbours, people beyond our
borders, and the planet.

Sunday, November 27, 2011

Highlights of the November 8th Meeting of the Board

Why are we here?

* a place for young people to meet and hang out
* to be integrated into the community and meet more neighbours
* to rediscover a sense of community in our neighbourhood
* to get to know neighbours and form strong relationships with neighbours as the need for food/fuel security within a community increases.
* to have fun together; take care of each other; change the world together for the better.

Who's in charge?  (for official recognition as an association - not to be hierarchical or bureaucratic)

Fourteen of the representatives people elected to be on the board (by a shout out at the potluck) elected the following members to serve as executives until December 31, 2012:

President: Nina Bailey Dick
Vice-President: Carmen Everest Wahl
Treasurer(s): Kristin Howard and Ben Hudson
Secretary: Jennifer Lynes Murray

What do we do now?

If you want to help out on any of the activities below, let the organizers know.  Highlighted names have their name and contact info on the directory.  If you have any other ideas, start a discussion!

* Figure out if we can get a facility up and running!

Who can help:  Stuart; Will; Pat; Paul and potentially a planner (e.g. Dan Murray or Brenna MacKinnon who are both UWNA residents and also town planners – Jenn to ask them if they are interested in participating on this committee).

* Plan some events!

Who can help:  Tenille; Pat; Rachel; Jenn.

Ideas:
January 31st - A Soup Sampler
A skating event
A swimming event
A snow sculpture competition

* Get the word out!

Who can help:  Ben, Marie, Daryan.

There's a twitter feed now, and a facebook site.

A conundrum:
It's hard to make something everyone can follow.  Some people want password protection so they can post photos of their kids without worry, but others don't want to have to remember a password.  Some people love Facebook, but others don't want to be on it and feel very strongly about it.  If we find many ways to post information, then we hit more people, but we'll also have to update in many places, and some people will be left out of discussions on sites they don't follow.  Some people don't have computers at all, so newsletters on paper are still necessary.

Ideas:
A creative way to distribute the newsletter (e.g. only hand out 40 copies that neighbours then have to pass on to other neighbours; post them on hydro poles around the neighbourhood).

* Develop a Constitution and Bylaws and a Budget

Who can help:  Kristy

ANYTHING ELSE??

** There are 106 people on the i-neighbours directory, which is really cool, but it would be even more amazing if people could add their photos and street so we can get to know everyone's name and face! **

For complete and official minutes, see the discussion section of the website here.

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