Workshops and Events
Upcoming Workshops and Events:
Upcoming COCO Legal Information Session: BOARD 101
Come join us on February 20, 2012, from 1-4pm, at 3680 Jeanne Mance to discuss board basics such as board members’ roles and responsibilities, board composition, board liability and conflicts of interest.This legal information session is for community organizations’ staff, board members and volunteers who want to learn more about board basics, or want to develop tools to train future board members.
This workshop will be delivered in English, by a bilingual facilitator. Participants will be encouraged to speak the language of their choice in discussions. If you are interested in attending this free event, please register by emailing taras@coco-net.org with your name, role, and organization as well as any special needs we might be able to accommodate, by February 17, 2012.
UPCOMING FORUM : C'est en franglais! Bridging the Linguistic Divide - Au-delà des écarts linguistiques
March 9th, from 10am-4pm, COCo is hosting a one-day forum for community groups aware of, and impacted by, linguistic divides in their work and/or community engagements. We will be presenting our C'est en Franglais info-sheets and hope you can join us! Please rsvp taras@coco-net.org if you would like to attend. More information on the event will be available in the next few weeks.
Le 9 mars, de 10:00 à 16:00, COCo organise une journée de forum pour les organismes et regroupements communautaires sensibles aux questions d'écarts linguistiques dans le cadre de leur travail et/ou engagements. Nous allons vous présenter de nouveaux outils et espérons que vous serez des nôtres pour partager vos persepectives et trouver des réponses à vos préoccupations! Merci de nous confirmer votre présence à taras@coco-net.org. Plus d'information vous sera communiquée bientôt.
Past COCo Workshops and Events:
PAST EVENT: Spread the Word: A Web and Information Technology Training Event - February 10th, 2010 1:00pm - 5:00pm
Unitarian Church of Montreal, 5035 de Maisonneuve Ouest, 2 blocks from Metro Vendome *This event is wheelchair accessible.
This is a free event! Please RSVP by emailing spencerm@coco-net.org or calling the COCo office at 514 849-5599 Spaces will be limited to 50 people (max 3 people per group) Childcare is also available if requested by Feb. 4th.
This afternoon event will include workshops on a variety of Web and IT tools and solutions for community groups, an opportunity for community groups to consult with Web and IT specialists, and open discussion blocks to explore future Web and IT ideas and projects.
For more information about the Spread the Word Training Event click here
For more information about the Spread the Word Project click here
PAST EVENT: Reclaim the Quebec Budget! Decoding Provincial Dollars, Making Community Voices Count
1-4pm·February 17th, 2011·Centre St Pierre·
1212 Rue Panet·Montreal, QC H2L 2Y7
Join COCo on February 17th to demystify the provincial budget and walk through some easy and effective tools we can use to mobilize our communities against proposed tax and fee hikes! Give us a call at 514-849-5599 or drop Alex a line to register now, spaces are limited!
For more information about the Reclaim the Quebec Budget event click here
PAST EVENT: Committing to Action for Social Justice: Monday November 15th, 2010
Involved in a community group aiming to create a better society? Interested in meeting others like you about how to further your social change work and to hear more about what other groups are doing to commit their social justice work to action? Join us in an afternoon of reflection, sharing, learning, networking and action planning around:
* What social change means to you and how your group's work contributes to the "bigger picture";* The challenges you face when doing social change work;* Ways to strengthen how you do social change and how COCo can support this work.
In a spirit of sharing, the event will also:
* Launch the book Contesting Community: The Limits and Potential of Local Organizing (with authors James DeFilippis, Robert Fisher and Eric Shragge);
* Share highlights from COCo facilitator Frances Ravensbergen's doctoral research Claiming their Space: Rethinking the role of local community organizations in social justice work.
PAST EVENT: Legal info session on Board Liability and Non-Profit Organizations!
Monday, November 29, 2010: 1pm-4pm3680 Jeanne-ManceSuite 460 (down the hall from COCo)
At COCo, we like to frame liability concerns as another opportunity to think about our organization's "healthy practices". These healthy practices refer to the kind of habits that help us to take care of our employees, staff, board, volunteers as well as our physical space. When we look at our structures, employment contracts, policies, and decision-making process, we take care of our organization while simultaneously reducing our liability risks. This is a workshop for community organizations' staff, board members and volunteers who want to learn more about the legal responsibilities of board members and how they can take care to reduce liability risks.
PAST EVENT: Democracy and Collaboration: How do they take root and flourish inside our organizations?
Join COCo for an ideas exchange on ways that community groups can develop more collaborative and democratic structures and cultures. We will share some of what we learned from our own attempts to put collaborative and democratic principles into practice over the past four years- how our restructuring process unfolded, what inspired us, where we've stumbled along the way, and what the overall benefits have been. This workshop will be interactive and practical to help participants think through how to apply the lessons learned to their own organizational contexts. When: Thursday, June 3rd, 2010, 12:30-4:00pm. Where: 3680 Jeanne-Mance , suite 460 , Montreal, Quebec, 4th floor (down the hall from COCo, take an immediate left after exiting the elevator). It's free! Bring a brown bag lunch! For more information and to register please contact Tana: tanap@coco-net.org or (514) 849-5599. There is limited space. Register by May 27th, 2010.
PAST EVENT: COCo’s 10th Birthday Party and AGM March 31st
You are invited to COCo's 10th Birthday Party and Annual General Meeting March 31st, 2010 5:30 - 8:30 at the MAI Building 3680 Jeanne-Mance. Come network and catch up with other community groups. Cast your vote to elect the 2010 COCo Board of Directors. Join us for dinner and a giant Birthday Cake! Find out who will receive our 2nd Walking the Talk Award. Come celebrate 10 years of great COCo community work! We hope to see you all there! It would be great if you could RSVP to confirm your presence by emailing spencerm@coco-net.org or by calling (514) 849-5599.
PAST EVENT: February 19th 2010 COCO: Workshop on Annual General Meetings
As we all shift into AGM season, COCo fields many questions from curious and sometimes panicked staff and board members about what they can and can't, should and shouldn't do at their AGM as they dust off those old bylaws or take a stab at modifying lettres patents. We'll take this ...opportunity to explore some of these issues at our upcoming workshop on AGMs.
PAST EVENT: November 20th 2009: Employer and Employee Rights and Responsibilities Legal Information Workshop
Do you work or volunteer in a community group? Are you a board member? Do you want to learn more about the legal responsibilities and rights of employees and employers, while focusing on building healthy practices in your organization? COCo is pleased to be offering a workshop on the rights and responsibilities of employers and employees.
During this legal information workshop we will review subjects such as: working hours, overtime, vacation, termination, discipline, holidays, sick leave, and more. We will also talk about common employment-related policies found in non-profit organizations and discuss the legal issues that frequently arise in non-profit employment. Bring your questions!
PAST EVENT: October 10th 2009: Can the Revolution be Funded? The role of community organizations in progressive social change
Description: The evolution of a community organization often leads to increasing links with government funders. What dynamics are part of this sometimes necessary, often tenuous, relationship? Is avoiding government funding the only way to live the sort of revolution invoked by our raison-d'être? We'll consider how community organizations can avoid the entrapments of the Not-for-Profit Industrial Complex and will discuss how we can honor a long-term commitment to social change.