What's up with NAYA?

[Jafo]

I have been considering applying for membership to the

North American Yurt Alliance

, otherwise known as

NAYA

, but I see so little activity on their site. Their last article seems to be from October 2011. I like their mission, but this has me a little cautious. I know Melissa is a member so maybe she has some info.

Yurtforum.com is a young site and before I spend what little funds I have on a membership, I guess I want to know if the group is active or not lol.

[HawaiiYurts]

There is plenty going on behind the scenes right now, not much on the site.

NAYA

is actually a group for manufacturers and others in the yurt industry, not so much for yurt owners/yurt dwellers. It's a slow labor of love right now, with many leaders in the industry getting involved, we have narrowed down our focus and are saving up money to make some big pushes forward.

[Jafo]

Do you think a website about yurts would be considered part of the industry?

[HawaiiYurts]

It definitely could be. Becky Kemery helped to found NAYA, and as you probably know, she has another yurt website, as well as the book, "Yurts: Living in the Round". She has done a ton of work educating people about yurts over the years. At her request though, we classified her as an 'Associate Member', because her work was quite a bit different than someone who builds, manufactures, sells yurts, etc. So you could be added as an Associate Member. PM me your email and info and I will have Kathy contact you about an Associate membership.

[Surely Yurts - Steve]

Is this group still active? I'm interested in getting involved with this kind of an organization but the website is not working.

[Jafo]

I am not sure. I haven't heard from Melissa in a while. The site appears to be down. I will shoot her an email.

[HawaiiYurts]

Aloha fellow yurt people!

I have our webmaster fixing the NAYA site issue. NAYA is dormant for just a little longer. It takes a lot of energy and a lot of passion to keep it all moving forward and keep members actively engaged. With the loss of Becky, I lost my right hand woman in the effort, so I have been patiently waiting for the right person to help me guide things forward. I don't want to start out on fire only to find that we don't have enough to continue the momentum. The great news is that I'm pretty certain I have found just the person I was hoping to find, and she is very interested in getting on board.

We have some incredibly exciting stuff that we're working on right now, and I'll be sharing that information with you soon. We're about to break some ground that will help shift things nation wide, perhaps even internationally. But enough of that for now, just wanted to mention it because that's what's pulling most of our energy right now, and it all goes hand in hand with our goals and hopes in NAYA. So yes, still working behind the scenes in major ways, and soon we'll join this work back up with NAYA, do the work to gather everyone together again, and take some more big leaps as an alliance. Thanks for your patience and your inquiries. It feels good to know that people are asking for it.