GroCo Represents at Up&Coming 2022

Many GroCo Board Members and volunteers attended the Up&Coming Conference in Madison.  It took place from Thursday to Saturday, May 19-21, with members from co-ops across the country in attendance.  Whitewater Grocery Co Board Members and volunteers attended for one, two or three days and chose from a variety of sessions related to all aspects of grocery co-ops from finance, to marketing, to accessibility and so much more.  We learned so much and will be working to implement these new ideas as we continue to grow closer to opening our own store!  

One idea we learned was about implementing image descriptions to make our social media and other publications (like the newsletter) accessible to those with disabilities.  An image description is a detailed explanation of an image in order to give textual access to visual content.  In addition to providing this to those with disabilities, it will also allow those with a poor WiFi connection or images blocked on their devices to know what an image shows.  Below is our first one to give you an idea.  We will work to make these part of our social media posts and other publications moving forward. 

[Image Description] Nine adults standing in two rows are all smiling at the camera.  All adults are wearing a t-shirt with the Whitewater Grocery Co logo or holding a tote bag or nametag featuring the logo.  The logo is a black circle.  Inside the circle are the words Whitewater Grocery Co in black.  The O in Grocery is green and has a leaf at the top.  Above the words Whitewater Grocery Co in the logo is the phrase Est. 2017.  Below the Whitewater Grocery Co in the logo is the phrase Community-Owned Market.