DeliveryCats Cooperatives is a new concept in 2023 for empowering neighborhoods to create their own system for gig delivery.

The concept has two main parts:

* Design and create a platform for communities to use
* Design and create an organizational template for interested groups

Once designed and created, the system will be tested in prototype areas then released as open-source for any neighborhood to use.

The project is funded entirely by our membership fees, for the purpose of fostering a fair marketplace. Ideally the project seeks 25,000 interested members to accomplish these goals.

Just Looking

Cool. Here's a summary of the project.

TL;DR:

Gig delivery mega-apps are proof of concept. But they've treated everyone poorly while taking the lion's share of revenue.

We don't need to give five behemoth corporations 80% of the money from all our local economies. Let's keep that money in our own neighborhoods. Customers already pay top dollar for shitty service. Imagine the "economies of scale" benefit if we actually gave people good service.

How to make it work in your neighborhood? Some independent cooperatives already exist. But the barrier to entry is steep.

This project's goal is to design and create a system that ANY local delivery co-op can use: an open source platform (app) and an organizational template of suggested best practices . We have started a community with a body of Initial Ideas and an invitation to the public.

Join at any level, free or paid.

THANK YOU!

Prospective Organizer

Without interested neighborhoods, the entire concept is moot.

Can we get a head-count (no strings, no cost) of who might be interested in an open-source system for local delivery? Drop us a note with your zip code to be counted. (No obligation, just for estimating.)

For the most ambitious among you, keep in mind that we'll need a few prototype areas to test the system. The only investment (when the time comes) is a ridiculous amount of time, communication, and attention to detail.

Further, if you're interested in leadership and already  know of a few drivers and a few interested restaurants, in a small (1-4 sq mi) area of about 5,000-10,000 people..... we would appreciate your input in a focus group. We have a busload  of ideas for logistics and marketing (ideas that will only get better through through the public discussion forums) that we are eager to try out once the software is ready. First let's bounce those ideas around real-world neighborhoods.

Open-Source Platform Discussions

Picture something of a cross between CragisList (categorized,  local, real-time posting) and eBay (profiles and bidding).

The platform would offer memberships, profiles (smoker or non smoker, allows passenger stops or pets OR NOT), posting as "hiring" or "for hire," bartering, live chat, milestone operations (order in-process), GPS locating/mapping, money handling, support, record keeping, reports, and more including suggested "market rates" to start the bartering. (None of that two-dollar bullshit which is just an insult to anyone with self respect.)

None of this is re-inventing the wheel. All of these technologies exist already. It's a matter of compiling the best choices from available options. Which functions do we need? How to put it all together? How to design, build, and maintain the system? How to allow for true independence - groups using the base OS without being tied to a national home base? How about security?

A 30-page document of Initial Ideas is available as a starting point for discussions. Round table discussions will begin in Spring 2023, to establish parameters which amount to a task list for designers and engineers. Meanwhile a beginning outline of project parameters is available for commentary.

Organizational Template Discussions

Modern life is built upon establishing "best practices" for any given situation, to gain the greatest benefit or maximum efficiency. Experts, engineers, and scientists figure these things out. The rest of us in the public follow along because we can't all be experts at everything. We have to trust the experts to get it right. Still we provide feedback when systems fail or new information becomes available.

Without trying to condense an MBA program into a Cliff's Notes pamphlet, we would like to provide a loose organizational template for neighborhood co-op groups to use. A compilation - even bullet point lists of important topics to consider, would be very helpful. People don't miss what they don't know EXISTS. From marketing to logistics to liabilities, let's provide a bit of a road map to mark major pitfalls and list established best practices. Neighborhood people don't need to start out as experts at these things, is what we're saying. We can point them toward a road map if they really want run a successful delivery micro-system. To the cynical this may sound either scammy, condescending, or unrealistic. Our goal is only to be helpful, including the new app and passing along good information.

A 30-page document of Initial Ideas is available as a starting point for discussions. Round table discussions will begin in Spring 2023, to establish parameters which amount to a task list for designers and engineers. Meanwhile a beginning outline of project parameters is available for commentary.

Bread and Butter - Drivers and Customers

Customers and drivers, you are the bread and butter of a local delivery cooperative.

It takes only a handful of (honest, thoughtful) people to manage a local co-op. But the people who order regularly, and the people who drive and deliver daily, are the ones who make it possible for the whole system to run.

If you would patronize a local delivery cooperative, either as a driver or customer, let your voice be heard.

If you will use it, we will build it.

Join us, or just give us a social media blast.