Teachable Moments...

FYI,
I cannot suppose someone else’s intent. I thought the statement was clear, even if in regards to the TORCH program. The statement made would indicate, upon reading, that I think residents need to be trained. I never indicated that thought. There has already been shared sentiment that what is said has impact. To allow such wording to be applied would have created a feeling of compulsory obligation for homeowners.
As usual , the continued hijacking of the thread. Your own rebuttal does not use the word “homeowner”. And once again, the personal attack on the author. I will move my thoughts elsewhere, as this thread is done.
FYI, I appreciate your concern as to what was said and possible outcomes,

 

Believe it or not some terms are interchangeable. Community could be a group of homeowners, Miriam should know

community
noun
com·mu·ni·ty kə-ˈmyü-nə-tē

pluralcommunities
often attributive
Synonyms of community
1
: a unified body of individuals: such as
a
: the people with common interests living in a particular area
broadly : the area itself
the problems of a large community

b
: a group of people with a common characteristic or interest living together within a larger society
a community of retired persons

a monastic community

c
: a body of persons of common and especially professional interests scattered through a larger society
the academic community

the scientific community

d
: a body of persons or nations having a common history or common social, economic, and political interests
the international community

e
: a group linked by a common policy
f
: an interacting population of various kinds of individuals (such as species) in a common location
g
: state, commonwealth

2
a
: a social state or condition
The school encourages a sense of community in its students.

b
: joint ownership or participation
community of goods

c
: common character : likeness
community of interests

d
: social activity : fellowship

3
: society at large
the interests of the community

The interesting thing was your first inclination was to lash out at what was an innocent question then to accuse me of hijacking for the umpteenth time. I feel sorry for you.

 

What did Bill mean by this Carole?

CM comment
As I was rereading some of the talking points, I realized I was asking for change, but not offering possible solutions. The adage of you can be a part of the solution or a continued part of the problem stuck with me. I am not relying on the word “communication” as it’s vague. I want outreach for starters.

BP comment
Your remarks are important because as we get lost in the aspect of "board training," we lose sight of the critical nature of member training/education.

Who are the "members"?

 

Hi Carol,
That was kind, Thank you.
I have a love for service to the public.
I just would love to continue doing this for community.
I had gone to our HR office about 3 times in the past 15 years just seeking to work at front desk administration, and never get a call back or invite to interview. I sincerely don’t know why.
I would still be willing to meet and greet if something ever arises.

 

Eileen,
Please accept my apologies for the delay in responding, focus is elsewhere. Someone who has the love of doing this type of service and the experience and ability to help make the program successful is a gift to the community. I don’t have a timeline for when this type of program would be reviewed as something the RCSC desires to implement, but it has a very important role for the proposed member outreach program.
As far as offering your services over the last several years, I will speculate that at the time, there was no posted opening for such an opportunity to be filled. Even if you wanted to offer your services gratis, a location for you to serve would have been needed. In the world of employment and volunteer opportunities, there exists certain legal requirements needing to be met prior to placement. Job description, scope of employment, expected hours and experience required are all requisite documentation which need to be in place. Even moving forward with the ambassador program, this description of duties needs to be in place. I thank you again for your support and am most grateful for your time.
I am debating to start a new thread, or continue creating in earnest, but in silence. I don’t know if seeking input from others, with the hope of creating a positive dialogue that furthers the conversation for membership recognition, is something I should do. Either way, I will keep you informed as to the progress as I know it. If it is okay with you, I would absolutely love your thoughts on how this program works and why you feel it’s best implemented.
Thank you.

 

IMHO any such training and outreach initiative has to come from the top and has to be boiled down to the understandable essentials. As we have all discussed on these posts one gets the sense that the members want to be involved. 1,700 cared enough about member voting rights that they were represented at the Annual Member Meeting even though the meeting was advertised as a legal CYA followed by an exchange meeting. I think we all agree the Board missed an opportunity to engage the membership. Perhaps this was because they misjudged how many would come out after the Board's not so subtle campaign to discourage participation. I also, think they completely missed the impact of the mouse that roared - Jean Totten. We owe her a debt of gratitude. What she did was nothing short of amazing.

The question now becomes have our leaders learned anything from the experience or are they now just saying that they fended off an attack by an angry mob of members that acted civilly? Time will tell.

 

Carole,
Thank you again for your generous remarks.
Please keep me in mind.
Respectfully,
Eileen

 

John,
Thank you. Some of the rough points jotted down reference member outreach with examples of possible solutions to include community meetings inviting member input. I have also written 2 lines about addressing the request to the board members by asking them to please consider being the leaders needed today to effect the change needed to include the membership. I am not anywhere near close to being comfortable with the way it’s shaping up. I need to develop a framework for encouraging the board to want to consider the changes in direction as well as examples of what are good recommendations for including the members more. All within a scheduled time frame. I keep taking it long. I want clarity about making members inclusive and ways to accomplish this.
Again, I appreciate your input.

 

It is the question John and the answers will unfold quickly...if they learned anything from the large gathering. There's too much at stake not to have come away aware the membership is watching, paying attention. We know they can't fix everything at once. We heard mention of a joint effort between SCHOA and the RCSC to meet and greet new home owners. It's a good start, but only that, a start.

I've written periodically of the concept DEVCO used regarding hostesses. There was one point in time, during new model home openings, the company had to ask members not to show up and help sell the community. They created a program where a host or hostess could be trained and then scheduled for events and projects. They were volunteers who just wanted to help the community flourish.

We have also been told the RCSC is going to dip their toe in the social media waters. Just as an example of how successful that concept could be used is yesterday i posted a link to the TOSC thread on Visioning Summation Synopsis on the Facebook group. In less than 24 hours, it has over 500 reads. While some hate social media, when used correctly and well, it can help build the bridge to grow the circle. Imagine if we created short videos with links on social media sites on : "How Sun City Works," "Why Joining SCHOA Matters," "Your Role As A New Home Owner," or, even better, "What's Happening In Sun City This Week." The list is endless and if done well and in short bites, we could begin to change the narrative.

These are easy and affordable projects that could pay huge dividends in both marketing the community and helping rebuild that sense of community. When the decision was made to move to a top down/we'll decide for you leadership style is when the problems began and the membership was pushed away. Bringing them back won't be easy, but it is doable.

Like Ben always said, set goals and then make a plan to execute them. And of course, evaluate them at year's end. Goodness, more common sense eh?

 

I would personally like to see more collaboration with SCHOA. I think we are missing opportunities to offer perhaps, once a month you get an expert in here, say from Lowes as an example, on paint, landscape, trends in decorating, ect...You use our Sun Dial, have the expert come in ( maybe with an coupon offer for members) to use for paint, landscape, home improvements. Classes on budget friendly home improvements and updates. Some properties look very nice, others look neglected and decaying. I feel if we can get folks in here to inspire more homeowners to do upkeep on properties, it would only add to furthering the beauty and reasons for new home buyers to want to invest and buy. These homes are easy to renovate and upgrade. Thanks to Del Webb. I like the new SCHOA outreach program they have on helping home bound folks to clean up properties. We also to really be concerned about the look of our aging community here.

 

Eileen I have asked you this before. Please don't spend my money for me. What is it you don't understand about the now 11% below poverty level here. You will never be able to inspire anyone to plant anything in their yard if they don't have the money. My yard is naked. As things died I had them removed and did not replace. That also saves money on my water bill as well. I don't understand why you purchased here if you don't like the way it looks. My yard is perfectly clean looking, however there is no way I will plant anything for your viewing enjoyment.

 

The other night at the annual membership meeting, the comment was made the RCSC should help SCHOA financially. They can't, their documents weren't set up that way. What they can do is form partnership/joint venture collaborations that are mutually beneficial from both a marketing perspective and from a educational point of view.

That's true of the other organizations that keep the community functioning and looking good. I have high hopes the "leadership council" will help bring the community together as well. That's how Sun City was built, with organizations working towards mutually beneficial outcomes. It's not rocket science, it just makes sense.

While the occasional background noise of a failed community raises their head to moan, the reality for most of those moving and living here are happy. When the drumbeat is "i hate it here, you should too," is what they hear, it is of little surprise they express that viewpoint. Both SCHOA (in part) and the Sun City Foundation exist to assist members. It's one of the many reasons that amplifies the idea the more a member knows, the more they enjoy all Sun City has to offer.

No matter where anyone lives, seldom is everyone happy or fulfilled. It's the reality of life and sadly the "geographic cure" rarely helps them find the peace or serenity they are looking for. Most of us, as we age, come to understand happiness begins within, not based of your street address.

What should happen as we evolve is a greater emphasis be put on building that sense of community, identifying those who need help and insure organizations have the exposure needed to meet their mission. We moved away from those kinds of partnerships, it's high time with move back where we exist for each other's mutual benefit.