Scene 8: Monday Morning Meeting
Backstory:
The pathway and MGV groups set up a meeting with Scott, Bob and the various sponsors for every Monday morning at ten. Each meeting takes place in the community centre that is already present in the Village. The pathway group had their meeting first. We were invited to sit in and listen and ask any questions of our own. Our meeting with Ronell and the advisors followed. This would be our first meeting with our sponsors and advisors together. We hoped that the meeting would help us to get a better understanding of how each person saw the project playing out.
Plan:
Since we would be sitting in on the pathway groups meeting we decided we could use the time to ask their sponsors for some advice. Their sponsors work for city council and as a result we hoped that they could give us insight into how we might go about getting the driving range building. As a result we developed the following questions to ask them:
- Do you have any information on the current status of the driving range land and building? Do you know who has possession of that land?
- Do you have any advice on who we should talk to or how we should go about obtaining the land for the Green Light Project and the rest of the community?
We also developed some questions to use as discussion tools during our meeting with Scott, Bob, and Ronell.
Regarding the building:
- What steps have already been taken and what departments of city council have already been spoken with?
- Do they have any specific contacts we could speak to?
- Do we know who owns the land/building and who we could speak to find out this information?
- Is there any way we can contact the man who owns the driving range?
Regarding the meeting with the community and Green Light Project Leaders:
- How should the meeting be run?
- When should the meeting happen?
Action and Observation:
On workday number four the group hopped on a train with Scott, Bob and the pathway team for a meeting with all the sponsors for the two projects. Our group sat in on the pathway groups meeting first with Crispin, Juan, Meghan, Scott, Bob, Ronell and Shelia. We were able to learn some important information from Crispin regarding the current status of the driving range land and building. He said all the land is considered unoccupied by the city and is in the hands of the property management department. He suggested talking to a woman named Belinda Mutti who has worked on a similar project that involved transferring land from the property management department to the parks and recreation department. From there we would try to obtain the land and building for the Green Light Project. Having that particular model could be useful in guiding us or giving us a good example of where to begin in the process of obtaining the building and land.
This meeting was followed by our groups meeting with Scott, Bob, and Ronell. During the meeting the team came to the realization that in order to write up a proposal there was some important information we needed to understand about the Green Light Project. We know the basics of the project and how it has started, but we have yet to realize the extent to which it is involved in the community. We also found out that many of the original recorded leaders are no longer involved. We got a sense that this was due to time commitments. People have jobs and children to look after so it is hard for them to find time to dedicate to other activities such as the Green Light Project. In order to find out who these new leaders are and what they have been able to accomplish thus far we have decided to set up a meeting on Thursday night. The meeting will consist of our team, Scott, Bob, Ronell, Shelia, and all other leaders and members of the Green Light Project. It is our hopes that through this meeting we can gain a better understanding of how the Green Light Project would put a venue to use.
Scott also brought up the idea of Ronell and Shelia finding other community members to work with us each day. Ronell and Shelia are smart and hard working women who seem to do most of the work for the Green Light Project themselves. We believe that in order to help the project reach its full potential, they need to help strengthen the other leaders of the project. One group in particular we feel they need to focus on is the youth. The youth are the ones that will take over in the future, creating a sustainable project.
The meeting was helpful in getting our thoughts together. At this point we are still confused on what exactly it is we are doing. The proposal and having this meeting will help organize the information we have and the information we plan on finding out. Then it is a matter of taking this information and deciding how it will be used and whom it will be presented to.
Key “take home” observations:
- The property management department owns the driving range land. There may be a way to transfer the land to another department so we can make use of it.
- Many original leaders of the Green Light Project are no longer involved.
- We need to find other community members that are willing to work with our group.
Reflection and Learning
This meeting was very important for the group. It helped to give us some more direction in the path the project may take. With talking with Crispin we learned that there is a process that one may have to go through in order to acquire the land (in our case the driving range building and land). In order for our project to progress, we are going to need to understand the steps and process of acquiring land. Finding out this information has not been that easy. In talking with people, they can only give you so much information. As a result we learned the importance of networking. Through networking we can be matched up with people who may be essential to our project.
Another big take away from this meeting was the importance of understanding what the Green Light Project is doing now and what it is they are planning on doing in the future. In order for us to begin drafting a proposal we need to get a sense of the structure of the Green Light Project. We are going to need to figure out a management system and funding system for the venue. This has not been the easy task for us thus far. We have found that sometimes it is hard to get all the information we may want out of a meeting. We have learned that it is important to think out your questions ahead of time. Deeper questions will help to extract useful information.
To go to the previous scene, click here! To go on to the next scene, click here!