Puttering day. At 4, we’re hosting about 50 people for a faculty union BBQ. After going to the leadership conference this summer, one of the things Kev and I talked about with our union organizer was how to build community within the union members, and build a sense of shared goals, as we fight for a stronger university for ourselves and our students.
The union sends out lots of communications to us, but we’re all flooded with e-mails, and it’s easy to let those slide by. How do you motivate people to join committees, to spend time and energy volunteering to improve community? Well, starting by feeding them is a time-honored tactic. We’ll eat, we’ll drink, we’ll get to know each other better, we’ll find out more about what the union is working on right now, and where they could use help. (I may have gotten drafted into the Communications team. Mary Anne, stop putting your hand up. Why don’t you ever listen?)
Food and drink is mostly bought (thanks, Costco), though at some point will duck out for ice and maybe some more lemonade. The Village decided to tear up a good part of our street this week, which is great for getting new sewer lines, but a little intimidating if you don’t know what’s going on — you can still park there, but it looks terrible. Oh well — hopefully, people will figure it out. We may get a little rain just before the party, but if we need to cook and hang out inside, it’s not the end of the world.
Plan for the next eight hours — straighten up in a lackadaisical manner while watching lots of silly tv. There’s not much actual cooking planned, but I do need to marinate some chicken and make some potato salad. But what kind of potato salad? That is the age-old question. So many delicious choices…