This Week

Hi all,

I will be in PEI permanently on Monday, July 4th. So if any one needs any help setting up for the meetings on Thursday or Friday, or needs rides to or fro, just let me know. I'll be happy to help. I'm staying with my wonderful Grandmother for a week or so, so you can reach me there at 902-676-2394. I will also be checking my e-mail at some point, but it will probably be easier to call and leave a message with Grams :)

See you all soon,

Katie

Wrap up of Week 5: Matthew Petre

Wow, this week went by fast. Very productive as well.

• Traveled to Shediac Bridge, NB to meet with the Passage Funeral Home Co-operative, whom have been quite successful and are providing me with their business plan and annual reports for the funeral guide I am working on for the NSCC
• Traveled to Halifax for the Healthy Minds Co-op task team meeting and their first meeting of the interm board
• Worked on the funeral guide
• Set up a phone meeting with Kathy Driscoll from the Sobey School for this upcoming Tuesday
• Contacted various media outlets regarding the press release

I look forward to the upcoming orientation, see you all there.
Happy Canada Day!

Matt

Wrap up of Week 5: Kristi Kelly

As Neal mentioned we had quite the week.

• Our meeting with the Minister went extremely well, and it looks like we will be able to play a role in helping to spread the cooperative word! He was very supportive of our initiative, and trust us, we are quite exciting about theirs! This is a huge project and hopefully Neal and I can play a role in having it established.
• Our meeting with Carousel went pretty good. We met with the lady incharge of the LEAP program (which is soon to be a cooperative) and have agreed to help her in the development of a weblog. Once it is up and running, we will have it as a link for all to see.
• As you all have heard there is an orientation scheduled for July 7th and 8th in Prince Edward Island. This is primarily for the new interns, but from looking at the agenda, you will notice that some interns will be presenting orientation tutorials. Please come prepared.
• Neal and I have chosen our success story! Hurrah!

Happy Canada everyone!! Enjoy the weather, the concerts and the celebrations!!!

Week 5 Wrap-up: Neal

Heya,

Week 5 went well. I am feeling much better, and I've got the internet back working on my computer at home (it was on the fritz for the last few days... I was not in good shape).

This week Kristi and I attended a couple of meetings (one with the Minister of Environment and Engery) on a wind energy co-op that is getting started (very very very exciting. very.), and one with the Carosel Family Centre in Montague (not quite as exciting, but we're going to be working on a project out of the centre that will be exciting).

We also talked about our success story and should get that done up soon.

There's a couple of documents to go up on the blog that should make their way up soon.

Hope everyone has a happy and healthy Canada Day!

Bye for now!

Orientation Confirmed: July 7th and 8th

Orientation Training is confirmed for July 7th and 8th on Prince Edward Island. You will be getting a draft agenda via email, as well as directions on how to get to David's house (which is where we will be staying). The agenda and directions will soon be posted on the blog as well.

Semaine No 2 pour Moi ! ''wrap up''

A very succesfull week !!! malheureusement j’ai pas encore aide a la franchises d’une coop, SORRY !! j’suis encore neuf moi la !!!

HÉHÉ

So how is it going in your corners guys and gals ? I hope we can all meet next week! Here is a follow up of my activities this week !

• - I have received my cool Business cards. I shall show you when we all meet. Your gonna be jealous and will want to make your own like mine, so I'll bring ID concept' contacts with me HIHI !!!!!!

• I have a reunion today with the Ministre des Relations intergouvernemental et International.

• I also have a reunion with Carrefour d’immigration rurale. In ST-Léonard. So this is great !!! It will maybe help me on NB government resources for different cooperative operations.

• I have contacted Marc Duguay, he is basicly doing the same thing as I am doing. He is presently working on housing cooperatives. I have learned a lot from him and also tried to settle a date to meet with him and Melvin Doiron, president of le Conseil Régional de Développement Coopératif Acadien.
  
• I have also contacted Jason Frenette witch is the Youth rep for Entreprise Kent. He will have interesting ideas and Youth that are willing to go in Entrepreneurship. SO I will try to contact these people and inform them. I have set up a reunion with him !

• I have contacted Gabriel LeBlanc, witch is the manager of my local Coop. I will try to invest a little bit of my time in marketing research. This will be very cool for me because I will learn from this to follow my concentration in Marketing @ l’Université de Moncton.

Things are going

Bonne fête du Canada, On devrais toute être fiers de venir de ce beau pays

Tommorow WAVE THAT FLAG LOUD AND PROUD !!! bonne fin de semaine tout le monde !

Marc

Week 5 Reflection: Erin

Good morning everyone,
I am pleased with my week although I would have liked to do a few more things. I'll take today and times over the weekend to get some extra time in, as to complete all of my goals.

I attended the marketing meeting on Monday with a small group of people representing Fredericton co-ops and credit unions. We discussed creating incentives for people to be part of many co-ops, marketing programs between all co-ops and community events the co-op family can invest in that really brings awareness to co-ops in Fredericton. I was able to have the floor for a few minutes to speak about the MYDAS program and since many had sponsored youth for the ACYL program, I was able to speak to that as well.

I met with our new intern, Diedre in Moncton for Tuesday and Wednesday and we covered a lot of ground in a short time. Carole met up with us and was so helpful as usual.

I will use today to contact a few people that I met at the SeaChange conference last week and previsously this summer. I have some research to do for the VAC as well.

Happy Canada Day everyone!
Erin

1st MYDAS Incorporation!! CONGRATS!!

CONGRATS!!!!!!!!!!!

Congratulations is extended to the Nova Scotia interns who, with the help of the NSCC, have incorporated the Heathly Minds Co-operative Limited!

Stu and Matt, great work!

This is the first incorporation for the MYDAS Workers Cooperative Limited

Orientation Training

Potential Dates: July 7th and 8th

Location: Prince Edward Island

Please confirm your availablity before the end of the week.

Introduction

Hello everyone

My name is Diedre Smith, I am the other English intern working in New Brunswick. I am going to be based in the Moncton area for the summer. I am really working hard to get down to all the paper work and in understanding the whole Cooperative movement, which i find to be very interesting and exciting. Although currently I am a little lost in the magnatude of the whole project, but with time and patience and especially by help from Erin, David and Carole i am picking up all the information in good time.

A little about myself i guess, beside liking the typical walk on the beach, im currently intering my third year at U.N.B. Doing an honors in social cultural anthropolgy and international development studies. I am very interested in trying new things, im pretty outgoing and social, i eat like food is going out of style and i have watched the travel network so much everything is a rerun.

Wel that's enough from me, i look forward to meeting and working with eveyone this summer.

Expense Claims

Notice to all of you who haven't sent in your expense claim forms: please send in your expense claim forms.

Thank you.

Introduction

Hi All,

I'm Katie and I'm going to be working in the Acadian community. I'm pretty excited and nervous but I can't wait to get down to work. I am not francophone but I've studied french for like 17 years. I'm still nervous about speaking french all day. I'll probably loose my voice in like the first week. My boyfriend is a native Quebecker and he's yelling at me because he says that I shouldn't be worried because Acadians know a lot of english as well. I'm worried about my accent because it is like a third acadian, a third Quebec, and a third academic french. I will stand out like a sore thumb.

I'm sifting through all the information on co-ops, however I am sick as a dog, and mostly sleeping all day. I was going to be in PEI this week, but I didn't want to infect all you Islanders with my germs. I am in Halifax right now. I just finished my degree in Political Science, and I specialized in Atlantic Canadian politics and economics. I'm not sure what all your backgrounds are, but I have a lot of information and resources available when it comes to economic and regional development, so I'd love to share any information I can. Don't hesitate to ask.

I'm just finishing up my job at Sobeys in the Produce Department. I worked there all through school, so I'm going to miss everyone there, but it's time to move on. A little about me. I'm a big tomboy, and I'm a political geek. I also love animals, and I do have pets named after prime ministers. Otherwise, I'm a bit of a home body; I love to read and watch cartoons.

That's all I really have to say. I'm a little lost in paper work now, and I'm trying to find an apartment, get my car insured, and suffer through my cold, so I apologize if I'm not all there for a few days.

I should be in PEI sometime next week, so I hope to meet all of you.

Monday reflections.

Félicitations à Marc et bienvenue...t'as vaincu le blog.
I'll be briefer with this post. I gave Erin the OK to work from the family compound in NS on Thursday and she will be heading home via Moncton in order to do some orientation and NB team-building with Diedre. Marc has already been briefed by Erin and is off in Acadie. In late-breaking news, Kristi and I are looking into possibilities for a mini-orientation that would take in Katie, Diedre and Marc. The orientation budget is pretty near exhausted, but we may also invite others who can make their way to the chosen location free or cheap (two orientations for the price of one is a challenge!). Watch this space for more info.

3 other points:
* Please make sure you are available for Kristi's check-in calls at the appointed time;
* Don't forget the one page (max.) success story that should be in to me by July 10
(I'll re-send the pertinent e-mail from Stéphane Audet);
* Keep your eye on the co-op development "ball". You are all ambassadors, but you are also explorers. We want to explore new territory as well as revisit and improve the familiar.

Week 2's objectives

HEy everyone, Bon la sa marche bien mon BLOGGER !!!


This week’s objective

Get a reunion with MRII’s office on immigrants in rural areas of New-Brunswick
( This would take place in St-Leonard witch is about 400 km from St-Paul )
Learn more about Marc Dugay ( he is an ‘’agent de dévellopement coopératif’’
Contact the responsible for ENtreprise Jeunesse Kent
Contact The new manager of my local Coop and see if I can help my local coop develop it’s marketing strategies.
Continue to talk to Melvin Doiron to inform him about the MYDAS project and see what we can do together

And that’s more than a week’s work, but let me tell you guys, I’m getting it along and already have lots of contact, so it’s gonna be where do I put my priorities this summer, because I have plenty of possibilities here in Acadie J !

Bonne semaine tout le monde !

Semaine No 1 pour MOI

Sorry for the wait, but my BLOGGER is not working right… I’m gonna wait till my new computer is installed and if I continue having problems, I’ll contact you guys !
Bonjour mes chers coopérateur !!!
Comment sa va ?

First off
I went to see Annie LeBouthillier at ID concept in Dieppe to create a card with my Agent de dévellopement coopératif and the COOL MYDAS logo
She is creating a card for me and I will be getting them next week !
Contacts are going great !!!

-My first stop was gonna be Melvin Doiron ( Président du Dévellopement Coopératif Régional Acadien ) .I will be meeting him in the next weeks

-I also met René Legacy ( V.P. of la Fédération des Caisses Populaires Acadiennes )

-Met with Shawn Graham’s cabinet workers

- Don Lavoie ( Carrefour d’Immigration Rural, St-Léonard ) discuss about the program and will try to meet with him next week in St-Leonard with the presence of le Ministre des Relations Intergouvernemental et internationnal Percy Mockler to discuss how cooperatives would be good for rural communities and Immigrants.

-Met with a lot of leaders of Next/Avenir NB and went to the convention in St-Jean where I met a lot of people and told them about the cooperative mouvment.

-I assisted in the Entrepreneurship and Employment session and told my fellow leaders about the cooperative mouvement and our New-Brunsick communities.
There is a small coop block in the report that will be handed out to President McGlaughlin of UNB and Richard LeBlanc of ACOA, New-Brunswick’s Division

However I did drink cocktails and met with a lot of leaders, but not many politicians because they were still in the legilative assembly, so I will still have to meet with mes amis progessiste-conservateur, I know them very well, and talk to them about what we could do together once I start raching Jason Frenette, witch I also contacted. He is the Coodinateur du projet Entreprise ‘’Jeune Entrpreneur KENT’’
Finnaly I have finished my treasure hunt and my computer shopping, so it was an all do WEEK for me
Just like a great politician… I have met all of my promises.
A great week, and an even greater annouces for the next, you will see Monday what are my goals and missions for the week !

Bonne fin de semaine

Week 5: Stephanie Hobbs

Well, I hope everyone had a great weekend, Dan and I sure did. The weather is starting to look a bit more like summer.

This is what Dan and I have planned for the week:

• We are meeting with Sam Organ about the Wetlands Co-op in Codroy Valley.
• We also hope to meet with Paul King about involving youth in the co-op movement, as well as talk about what else we can help the Indian Head Co-op, and how he can help us help them (you know what I mean).
• We will be trying to find a great place to have the ACYL camp.
• Due to the lack of attendance at the last Indian Head co-op meeting we will be trying to generate some interest in attending the next one.
• We are also still waiting for Ramea to get back to us about a good time to go down there (I hope he hear something soon).

We'll keep you all updated if our plans happen to change.

Have a good week everyone!

WEEK 5: Matthew Petre

Greetings,

Excited to begin another week! My meetings at Brock on Friday were very productive and yielded some great contacts at Universities across NS.
This week:

• I will be meeting with a funeral co-op in Shediac NB tomorrow with Fred
• Working on the funeral co-op guide
• Following up on the media release with outlets not yet followed up with
• Attend the Healthy Minds Co-op Board meeting
• Work on planning for the Halifax Co-op Forum
• NSCC always have some neat projects to work with, so I look forward to that.

Happy pre-Canada day everyone, have a great week.

Cheers,

Matt

Wk. 5- Blog n’ Roll, Blog n’ Roll

This week will be spent in meetings that we have been trying to set up for a while. Primarily with a number of EDO’s that have co-op related projects in their zones. One of them is Sam Organ, he is working with the “wetlands agricultural co-op” in the Codroy valley and they are in need of some “advising”. Paul King is still around from Co-op Atlantic and we have a meeting planned to discuss youth involvement in the co-op movement. I will be solidifying a site for this years ACYL seminar, there is a good potential site a little further up the coast. As a continuation to last weeks epic adventure Steph and I will be focusing on motivating people to attend the Indian Head Co-op AGM so that we can have a captive audience as we present the five-year strategic plan.

Should be a fun one,
Dan

Week Five or Six... I can't be sure: Neal

Hello peeps,

Hope all is well in your respective neck of the woods. I'm not feeling very well today, so excuse me if this post makes little or no sense. This week shall involve:

• A meeting with Jamie Ballem (minister of Environment, Energy, and Forestry) regarding wind-energy project down east that has rumours of co-op activity.


• Attend an AGM for that group that David mentioned in his post (should be good, as we haven't been to an AGM yet).


• Make contact with Katie, the Acadian intern based on PEI (should be interesting... the exent of my french is "bonjour" and "pizza").


• Work on the co-op success story thang.


• Clean up the office a bit... and figure out what computers are the best so we can be somewhat more efficient

Keep your sticks on the ice.

Week 5

Morning all,
This week will be a busy one.
Goals:

• Contact Affirmative Industries, a society that works with folks with disabilities to find employment. They have apparently been considering becoming a co-op
• Attend the Healthy Minds Co-op Board Meeting on Wed, and read-up on the appropriate material
• Prepare articles for Street Feat and Touchbase, two small newspapers in the region
• Find a venue for a Halifax Co-op Forum, figure out an appropriate facilitator tactic for such a meeting (likely a world cafe sort of thing), and begin approaching existing co-ops.
• Table at Marilyn Waring's talk this evening
• Meet with Jason Diceman of cooptools.ca, who happens to be in town this week. He offers web-design and training on democratic decision making and "dotmocracy"... so I will specifically be asking him about the Halifax Co-op forum, but if anyone else has any suggestions about things he might be able to help MYDAS with, let me know.
• Research on co-operative possibilities for low-income folks; research possibilities of housing co-op conversion of abandoned buildings in the HRM.

That'd be it for me. Take care everyone,

-stu

MYDAS Success Story!

Just a reminder that each province is supposed to submit one "success story" from there province. It should be around one page - and thank you to Dan who already submitted.

WEEK 5: Kristi Kelly

Happy new week folks!! This one should be a short one... but a good one! Here is the plan:

• Help the newest members of our team to get into the swing of things! With David, we will hopefully set up some orientation type stuff to make sure they are well on their way to meeting the MYDAS goals
• To meet with a potential family resource centre based cooperative towards incorporation
• To touch base with the guys of the Africian hertiage cooperative project to see with we can pick a meeting day
• To send MYDAS introductory letters to our MP's and MLA's
• Meeting with Jamie Ballem, Minister of Environment and Technology about the Windmills in Souris on Wednesday
• Follow up on media releases that have been sent out.

Seems like it is going to be a busy week! Happy almost Canada everyone, and I look forward to talking to everyone this evening. The phone schedule stays the same (Marc will take Annie's spot and 7:30 will now be for Diedre).

Take care and have a great week!

Erin: Actually Week 5 goals

Hi everyone,
I have a couple of meetings this week. Tonight I will be meeting with a group of people working for co-ops who are discussing marketing and co-operation among co-ops. I thought I should go to get the chance to tell them about MYDAS and see if I can help with anything. This is help at the very successful Fredericton Direct Charge Co-op. On Wednesday I will be meeting with a group of people in Nackawic (outside Fredericton) who have been laid off and are seeking sustainable employment again. I will also be continuing research and advising for the Vision Action Collective who are delving deep into policy issues now. I am on 2 subcommittees (policy and finances) with them. I have a couple little projects around preferred shares and funding that I am working on for them as well. I would like to touch base with a few people I met at the SeaChange conference who work for the Enterprise centres. I hope to recieve Annie's notes on the funeral co-op and get that article going as well.
Good luck to everyone and happy Canada Day!
Erin

Canada Day approaching...Yes, it's a MYDAS holiday.

I'd like to welcome Marc, Diedre and Katie to the blog. Marc is already working, Diedre (pronounced Dee-druh) starts full-time tomorrow (Monday 27 June) and Katie will begin full-time work on July 06. Marc and Katie will work primarily on Acadian projects, while Diedre is the official replacement for Annie as our second NB intern. Going through all of the interviewing etc. threw me off schedule a bit, but I'm still on the co-op CED trail.

It's finally hot on PEI. We've had two days of sun and warmth. It was almost too hot for yesterday's initial cricket game with the group that are looking at forming the "Royal Prince Edward Island Cricket Club Co-operative Ltd." The core participants are from Sri Lanka and were well able to stand up to the glare of the sun. If it comes to fruition, this will be the first "Royal" co-op on the Island. Special permission is needed from the Lieutenant Governor, but Kristi and Neal were able to solicit his Honour's approval at their recent lunch at Government House. I also met yesterday with a group of people who attend sacred sweat lodge ceremonies with an aboriginal elder. They have been very informal to date, but there is some interest in incorporating as a co-op. Most of the participants have experience in leadership positions with other co-ops and the elder who leads the ceremonies is a founder member of a co-op that harvests and sells ground hemlock. On the multi-cultural co-op development front, the African immigrant group is still reviewing their draft Articles of Incorporation...the ball is in their court. I have a meeting tomorrow evening with an arts group and then a series of Annual General Meetings (AGMs) on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday evenings (I'll try to get Kristi and Neal to attend the Wednesday AGM).

I'd like to thank those of you who have already sent in your contact sheets detailing the people you have been meeting with. I know from my own work that this can be a tedious extra step, but please make the effort. E-mail and cell phone communication are self-logging so that you can refer back later, but for meetings and land-line calls you need to maintain a simple, fill-in-as-you-go "when/who/why" log as well as circulating the sign-in sheets at meetings with multiple participants.

Some of the things I have to do this week (other than the AGMs and ongoing co-op CED) include orientation and reporting issues. Kristi and I need to ensure that the new interns get off on the right foot. June 30 marks the end of the first quarter of the fiscal year, so there will be considerable reporting (both narrative and financial) to do aswell as invoicing. There are also a couple of housing co-op projects that are shaping up and I may get Diedre to do a bit of research on the ownership models. Her work in the law office should give her an advantage when trying to wheedle info from the legal and para-legal folks.

For now, I have a soccer tournament that starts in 20 minutes, so I shall bid y'all adieu

Wrap up of Week 4: Stu Neatby

Greetings all. It's been a busy week that sort of continued into the weekend. On the plus side, I have finished my last exam and have pretty much completed my undergrad. Hooray!
Things that were done:

• Completed a canvas of North End associations. Many have shown interest and/or directed me to other friends/associations
• Met with Richard Turner, and now have a better understanding of the governance tool he is looking to complete. I will be setting up interviews with co-op boards that have functioned very well in Nova Scotia, PEI, and possibly NB. I will likely give a few of you a call on Monday, and David as well, to see what suggestions you might have to offer
• Followed up with the Solidarity Boots Co-op. They have had a busy week, and I am still waiting on their next meeting
• Met with the Face of Poverty Consultation, a coalition of faith groups who focus on poverty issues in Nova Scotia. Also attended the Halifax Coalition Against Poverty Bar-B-Cue and set up a table there. I will be doing a presentation with them on July 9th.
• Began to set up the new office space. I will be sending you all my office phone number via e-mail.
• Followed up with a few small community papers, for which I will write a piece about MYDAS.

Cheers,

-stuart