ROCO Chicago is run by you. As a member, you get to vote on important decisions, the council leadership, and the ROCO agenda through referendums and annual elections. This is your most important responsibility and this is why you should expect and allow us to send you texts and emails.

The Bottom Line

• Events
  • Workshop: How to Publish a Book, Thursday, April 14
  • Karaoke Night BYOB: May 7th
• Hiring
  • Director of Operations $4,000/m
• Fundraising
  • Expected to pick up again in April, after a slowdown in 2022
  • 342 Donors, $68,000 so far
  • RUF dedicates Gala to ROCO
•  Buildout
  • Construction costs so far: $65,000
  • Exp total cost: $120,000
  • 3 Rooms: great room, tech room, conf room
• Elections
  • 5 ROCO Councils: role is to coordinate activities
  • Each council met 2-3 times
  • Elections coming up soon
  • Become a member today

Launch

When we started the ROCO campaign in September, March seemed far away. But life marches on and here we are a few days from our initial deadline. We did pretty well: just a few days off our initial timeframe and slightly off-budget, the soft opening date has been set for May 7th.

The center will open its doors to everyone that wants to get involved on a personal level: sponsor or create a program, volunteer or coordinate/join a council.

On April 14th ROCO Edu will also hold the first-ever ROCO event: “How to publish your own book, with Gregg Borzo”. This is a hybrid event, RSVP is required to join us at the location. Follow us on Facebook to view the live event.

Buildout

Today ROCO is almost ready to open. Rough construction is done, all we have left is to finish details and furniture.

Hiring

ROCO IS LOOKING to hire a director of operations asap! Send in your recommendations and share the director job post on LinkedIn, on behalf of ROCO.

The director position is very important to ROCO. This person is going to be the smiling face of ROCO, so it’s really important to get it right.

After extensive consultations with people that are familiar with the current market, we have started our hiring process. We are open to a $3,000, 30h/week position or $4,000, 40h/week position. Must live around Chicago and be flexible with schedule (some evenings and weekends will be required). Apply or learn more.

Elections

The 5 ROCO councils have each met a few times, and they have lots of cool ideas ready to be implemented. Wanna be part of the ROCO Community Council? Choose between ROCO BIZ (business), ROCO EDU (education), ROCO ARTS (arts and culture), ROCO INFO (information and community support), ROCO FUN (entertainment and sports), and signup to participate (members only). Roco council elections coming up soon.

Fundraising

After a significant slowdown in 2022, we hope and we expect fundraising to pick back up. We are happy to report that we reached $78,000 so far and we have a few names that we are hoping will come in to support ROCO with some serious funding. Your role is extremely important: share the news about ROCO and ask your friends to signup.