Hello @reeflings . As the avant-projet is more or less under control, the main priority becomes recruitment. It seems that we have exhausted our social network, and it is getting harder to fill the room for our presentations.
I suggest the following:
let’s use this thread for brainstorming. No bad ideas! Just suggest anything that comes to mind, don’t worry about selecting or criticizing, that will come later.
Then, let’s have a @reef-external meeting / helping circle (open to whoever wants to participate) to choose which ones of these ideas to implement.
(we also need a regular Team External check-in, hopefully next week. This will be in a separate post).
Ok, let’s hear it. What could we do to reach out to more people so as to get more in the presentations?
A few ideas about which word to get out, not how to do so.
upgrade our visual identity > in view of the investment required, a more polished look might be appropriate
when presenting The Reef, have more people stand in front and make funny faces
have higher-quality 3D representations of The Reef as envisaged by us and the architects
Q: At what rate do we need to bring in new tenants to meet our needs for cash? I assume that cash is a greater concern than having unsold units when we open shop. Is it the case that we need to get commitments sooner than your average developer because, as opposed to them, we do not have capital? [please tell me where this question was already answered or where it belongs, if not here]
maybe write to all cohousings in Belgium. I think so far we’ve contacted only a few cohousings in Brussels, to spread the word that we are looking for some extra reeflings.
leaflets: more structured approach maybe. I see that there is a part of the people coming because of leaflets (it would be good to know from what kind of places they picked them up). See in the whole of Bxls which places should have leaflets. Also go back to these places every x months to put new ones. (ps @Sarah started a map a bit like the scouting map, with all the places we left leaflets a few weekends ago)
go to schools. Most schools have a bulletin board of some kind. Hang out our leaflet or poster (maybe have an A4 poster)
(that’s maybe going a bit too big, asking too much energy: organise some kind of event on our site, maybe around the theme of cohousing, maybe organise it with other cohousings, maybe ‘un chasse aux oeufs for kids with easter’… open to everyone and publish it on ‘https://www.quefaire.be/region-de-bruxelles’, https://www.wattedoen.be/, making publicity for ‘The Reef’ and creating some links with the neighbourhood at the same time
Cash needs are relatively modest for 2025. Two more households joining would comfortably cover our financial needs for the year.
Definitely a great idea. Maybe a double-pronged approach: a more personalized contact in Brussels (@manuelpueyo ?) and emails to everyone else @Odile ?)
I did not know about the map. I am hearing that Odile is distributing quite a few leaflets.
At yesterday plenary we also proposed organizing a “family-friendly” presentation on a weekend, maybe associated with a visit to the site (or maybe not even, just do it in De Spiegel’s common room).
I also had the idea to target creches and schools, but these are sites that are also difficult to access due to the security measures. Difficult to access or may take more time than any shop where you just come in and pin the leaflet on the advert’s board. Also, to note that parents of very small children must have an extra motivation i.e. wanting to joint in a co-housing as a priority. Otherwise, the project is intimidating and requires time that they (feel they) don’t have. To also note that we are mostly looking for 2-income households. I’ve gotten the feedback that the remaining apartments are too expensive for just one salary.
Think of the possibility of doing an on-line presentation. If it has to be in the evenings, seriously consider this option because parents of children could join when they are sleeping. In the presentation, the next Stammtisch for instance could be mentioned for a more social (and physical) setting.
I have been screening the instagram pages that follow other Belgian co-housings and there are many architects among them. Would it make sense to check with our architects if they think we could promote the Reef in any forum? (or maybe even the faculty of Architecture). Although this may not bring potential buyers to the sites, it can help to spread the word. To remind that Seb came to the Reef via the Architects. Maybe there are more Sebs waiting to know about the reef
In one of the plenaries, Mark (our coach) mentioned that, from time to time, they still receive emails from people who want to buy an apartment in Brutopia. Maybe we could ask him about this? Probably for data protection reasons he cannot share any details…but if we could get “a profile” it would help us to find other target audience.
It would be great to have more followers on Instagram. We could maybe get more if pages that follow co-housings shared our presentations.
I have found this website: https://www.woneninbrussel.be With the dear help of google translator I’ve seen they have a special page on cohousings. They are physically located in the Munpunt, maybe we can put a poster there/ tell them about us? Maybe Flemish-speaking reeflings have already reached out
Posters in ASBLs that organise cultural and social events (e.g. Elzenhof in Ixelles), the swimming pool of Ganshoren (as far as I know, Jettes does not have a swimming pool of its own and the closest to our site is Ganshoren). There is also a school (from my employer’s network) in Laeken, maybe this is an interesting place to pin a poster there.
If we organise something like a scouting exercise for adverts, I will do everything I can to join.
content creation: doing interviews of parents and kids already living in cohousings. creating posts with the results of the interviews. what are the benefits of living in cohousing from the point of view of kids? what are the health benefits of living in cohousings?
posting those summaries in facebook and instagram and here as separate pages in edgeryriders
In line with Muhammad and the mountain: let’s go for a drink/ have socials where where yoga-minded retirees meet, or expat mothers and the like. I’m sure there are Facebook groups and events for that?
Closer to home: have a look at our communication materials. The text on the website could use an update, and maybe we should consider changing the text on the flyer? If we go back to English-only, there should be space to use more words to explain the benefits of cohousing. On top of that I would invest money in a leaflet as it was done by Volta XL and Blom (see Promo: more wordy and more visual?)
Sharing no ideas as such. I did a small analysis to see our top 6 sources (~81%) based on 237 Google form responses to our past presentations. Here it is:
I created it last time when we went flyer-distributing, because it helps to know where to aim to rather than roam the streets.
And then I created a second one called “flyers distributed” so that we didn’t double down, and also where we could put the date were we went, so that we know when to go and redistribute.
Not sure that’s the most efficient way to follow things up, it was just a handy thing to do.
As Maria mentionned being interested, I’m going to reiterate my offer to all @reeflings : please fill in the post bellow if you would like to join for a day of flyer distribution in squads, which we could potentially merge with a social gathering at the beginning/middle/end of the day.
Also make yourself known if you could help with the preparation, because it takes quite a while to identify places to go to…
I can go on Saturday 19/04
I can go on Saturday 26/04
I can go on Saturday 3/05
I can go on Saturday 10/05
Sorry can’t make any of these dates
0voters
Let me know if somebody thinks that’s not a good approach, I just thought I would not wait for feedback because there is not much time, but happy to let it go…
If I get enough answers, I’ll then create another post to organise the actual event(s).
For the record, there is potentially a public presentation in Jette on 18 May, so it would be really good to focus on that part of town with one of the later Saturdays…
So it seems that Saturday 26th is the day where most people can make it. I will try and prepare a plan by then, and we will make sure to focus on Jette.
For the presentation of next week online, I guess that the best would be to focus on places that are not close to Brutopia nor Jette, so EU area, Ixelles, Etterbeek… ? There’s not really enough people to organise a group thing this Saturday, but maybe we can do this one individually over the next week?
I’ll share the map on Chitchatters so that people can mark places they cover, or suggest priority targets…
I contacted Wonen In Brussel with some questions how they could help us to promote our cohousing. For example let a biketour stop at our site so we can explain a future project.
I also emailed friends that are living already in a cohousing to spread the message under their network or asked them if they knew people who are looking for some cohousing right now. Reactions I got: great message, too pricey, they don’t allow dogs so not interested. The advantage is that they get already a lot of information through the presentation.
I am sending around whatsapp messages to people located in Brussel.
Targeting families:
After the easter break I will ask our crèche if I put some folders. But I feel I would change the message a bit for that target group. Something like: Do you want your children grow up in a little village in a big city?
Village dates: I am in one and try to make it more active because it is a little silent.
