Samenhuizen will be celebrating its 25th anniversary in Brussels, on the 22th November. I expect there will be workshops, and the possibility to get a table at the main fair, where we can show the maquette and distribute flyers.
@reef-external, probably a good idea to save the date, so that we can ensure our presence with a crew of 3-4 people?
Hello @reef-external,
Before I go on a break I would like to share some non-related thoughts about this event.
I want to come back on what I wrote above saying that 3-4 people would be enough. Last time I went, there were a lot of interesting and very interactive workshops. I think these are not only interesting for us in and by themselves, but also that this is really good way to draw people’s attention to The Reef. It’s a different thing to meet someone nice in a workshop compared to passing by an anonymous cohousing’s table. So my suggestion would be to check with everybody who speaks Dutch and go to that event by the masses. Just a suggestion though.
Along the same lines: the event starts at 11 am, and our emotional springcleaning session runs until 1 pm. That means we can only be present and have our table ready by 2 pm, which doesn’t work for me. Recruitment is one of the most important challenges at this moment, and from the registration forms it doesn’t look like we are attracting many people, so I would rather not miss half of this event. If it means we need to reschedule that session, so be it. Really not the end of the world.
Not that it will get us many more candidates, but probably a nice gesture anyway: once there is more news about the programme, can it be an option to dedicate a paragraph to this in the next episode of the newsletter?
I’m not sure if this is a request for me to try and change the emotional spring cleaning date, or if I should wait for Team External to make a decision about it? There were a couple of other dates where quite a few people could make it, but if we’re going to ask for it to change, I should probably reach out to him sooner rather than later…
Hello @Lee ,
@reef-external confirmed that we should prioritize the Samenhuizen event and change the date for Emotional Springcleaning.
( Wenwei speaking here : from my perspective, the decision is made based on Lee’s reasoning as I have no experience with Trefdag…and personally i found the Emotional Spring Cleaning rather important back then but it kinda lost the momentum for me, so it seemed not as urgent any more. )
@ChrisM could you kindly reach out to David on this and reschedule the session ?
@Liesbet Could you confirm if you’ll be taking over newsletter writing from Chris, and that Manuel will be sending them out as before ? If it’s the case, could you dedicate a paragraph to this in the next episode of the newsletter, as suggested by Lee ?
Thank you all !!
Dear Dutch speaking fellows, @Lee @joannes @GaultierDWM @Liesbet @Hannah @els @mieke @Jeroen ,
I understand that our registrations have kinda stagnated ( ? ) , and we are currently putting effort into our outreach. Lee suggested that Samenhuizen’s 25th anniversary could be a good occasion to do this, with as many people as possible involved.
Is it possible for you to attend on 22/11/2025 ? Please let us know in the poll below. Thank you !!
Am I missing anyone: Who else speaks Dutch among us ?
Hi Wenwei, what time would we be expected to be there?
@Liesbet Do I remember correctly that you are following up with Samenhuizen ? If yes, could you help with answering Mieke’s question above ?
Tagging @joannes for more info.
Thank you !
Doors open at 11 am, so ideally we’d need at least two people by 11 am, even though a couple more people would be comfortable. After that, except for the speeddate at 1 pm, it’s all quite flexible.
Here’s the programme: Samenhuizen Trefdag 2025 – Vier 25 jaar Samenhuizen met ons! | Samenhuizen
Also to note that apart from promoting The Reef, this might also just be a nice opportunity to learn more from other cohousing groups.
Pinging some more people who speak (some) Dutch: @Sterre, @Guillaume, @Odile, @LuciaM, @RichardB, @alberto and @Sophie_B (if I missed someone else: apologies and don’t hesitate to join us!)
Be mindful though that it’s recommended to buy your ticket in advance.
Dear @reeflings and especially the Dutch speaking members, it would be great if you could fill in the poll above, in order to let me know if you can attend (part of) Samenhuizen Trefdag 
The idea is to have constantly 2 people at our stand, as from 10 am (not 11 am) to 6 pm. At 5 pm there is cake and a cheerfull shared moment to close the day, so I would say: be there ;-).
It is possible though to take turns, so no need to stay the full day.
If I communicate the names in advance, those people can get in for free, so in that case no need to buy a ticket.
If you can only stay part of the day, could you answer “yes” in the poll and add a comment clarifying from what time and till what time you will be able to attend?
Based on the answers, I can make a proposition for the time slots.
Thank you!!!
@mieke
Dear @Lee, I don’t know how the speeddating works. Is it you who will participate? Or can several Reeflings participate?
For the stand the idea is to have constantly 2 people, those people can get in for free.
But the more the merrier and if people pay, they can of course always get in
Which material should we have at the stand? Flyers, maquette, …?
Thanks for your feedback, that would be useful!
I have a long booked weekend off then, and Jeroen is alone with the kids, so sorry, don’t count on us.
The speeddate is a bit like a multi-presentation. We can go with several Reeflings of course, but we will need to decide on one who gives the 10 minute presentation. Happy to take care of that, though equally happy of course to leave it to someone else.
I cannot commit now, because I will probably be working then.
We can be there from 14h30 on
Hi Liesbet,
Apologies for the late reply. I somehow missed your question.
My recommendation would be to make a Helping Circle of two people and spend 30 minutes to see how we can make that table as attractive as possible. The maquette and the plans are certainly one thing, I can bring the three plastic fish that have accompanied us at all the presentations, but there’s probably much more that can be done. Print the Blueprint? Print a registration sheet so people can register for presentations on the spot? Bring chocolate sea shell thingies? …?
At one of those fairs a good three years ago we also had a laptop, where Manuel showed videos from The Reef when it was still a research project. Now we can maybe put the Powerpoint on automatic?
Just some ideas of course. Let me know if you need help. Happy to join you on the Helping Circle if help is needed, even happier to leave it to others.
Hello, dear all
Tagging the people who mentioned will be available: @Lee @LuciaM @Odile @Sterre @els @joannes and also @mieke and everyone from @reef-external :
I propose that we are present as much time as possible
10 AM: 2 people should be enough to install the stand. I can do it, toghether with @joannes maybe?
10:45 AM: please do come before 11 (since workshops start at 11), so that we:
Of course you are very welcome as from 2:30 @Sterre or whenever you are available.
A helping circle, as Lee suggests, to make our stand outstanding (pun intended :-)) seems to be a good idea.
I propose that we meet online tomorrow, at 6 pm or so?
We can use our familiar google meet link: [see Nextcloud calendar - best not posted here to avoid trolls]
I can also get the maquette on Friday.
Do you have enough stickers? We have plenty, and this is exactly where you want to give them our liberally.
Thanks, Alberto. I don’t have any. But I can come and pick them up on Friday late afternoon/early evening, when I will pick up the maquette.
Would that work for you?
I will be gone on Friday, but can give my entire box to @Lee.
i can meetup with you at 18:00 today