Organizing Your Neighborhood for Y2K

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There is a rhythm to neighborhood organizing just as there is in all of life. It usually begins with an idea of one person, talked out with another person, and then getting more people involved in the idea, which is now owned by the community.

On the issue of Y2K, the outlook of the Boulder County Y2K Community Preparedness Group (BCY2K) is one of hope:

'We can do this if we work together';

'This preparedness will help through any disaster such as that 100-year flood due to hit us';

'[This represents] an opportunity to create a caring community.'

When you set out to organize your community, you might ask yourself, 'How do I encourage people and offer hope?' Your attitude will make a huge difference in how people will accept your information. Take time to center yourself before a speaking engagement, have fun with the audience, don't overbook yourself so that speaking becomes a burden instead of a joy.

Preparing for The First Meeting

1. Write out what you know about Y2K and why you are concerned. Look over the information materials that helped you come to your conclusions. Choose materials that might help educate others without creating fear.

2. Think about a neighbor you know whom you might want to talk to about what you have learned. You might take your neighbor to coffee and explain what you have learned and are concerned about. Your neighbor will probably need the basic Y2K information to educate her/himself. Give your neighbor a few days to a week to absorb the material. Once she/he has done this, your conversation could turn towards sharing this information with the rest of your neighbors.

3. You might decide to skip step two and put out a flyer inviting your neighbors to dessert and coffee, BBQ, or other get-together to discuss Y2K. Food is usually a good thing to have at the meeting. Whether you take step two or three, give people enough notice of the meeting. Think about the need for childcare.

4. Before the meeting, make enough copies of materials to hand out. Think about other supplies you might need: colored pens, flip charts, and visual aids.

The meeting: 'What I Found Out'

1. Welcome people and have everyone grab something to eat or drink before settling down.

2. Let everyone know where the bathrooms are.

3. Take time for introductions and have people sign in with address and phone numbers.

4. 'Hi! My name is _________________. I am helping prepare the community for possible disruptions by the year 2000 issue. How many here know what the year 2000 issue is?' (Solicit comments.) Find out what they heard and/or know. What are some of the implications they have thought about.

5. 'We abbreviate this issue by calling it Y2K. Y for year, 2 for two and K for thousand. It is not just a simple computer problem as some people seem to think. It is a systems problem caused when '00' indicates a year in software used by computer chips in the world. There are an estimated 20?60 billion of these computer chips, with only 5 percent containing the year problem. However, we do not know where this 5 percent is located. You remember the old Christmas tree lights where if one bulb went out all the others went out, and you had to test each one of the bulbs to see which one was bad? Well consider doing this with 20?60 billion chips. We have run out of time to fix this problem, and are attempting to fix critical systems only.'

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