What Did You Hear? What Does It Mean?
—After the the round-robin tradeshows were completed, the participants were divided into random work groups (numbered 1 through 6) and sent to their respective tables to collaborative discuss what they heard at each tradeshow and explain what it meant to them—an exercise focused on 'What Is Reality?'.
Starting with a blank template
(below), each work group dialogued and captured the consensus of the foundational background information gleaned from the tradeshows.
Following the work group time, each template was postioned on easels at
the front of the room and presented by the work group's spokesperson.
Focusing on 'What is Reality?', this exercise formed the collaborative foundation for the rest of the day.
The reporting session evoked some interesting comments:
‘The non-profit community feels that where there have been some pent-up frustration with progress, they are excited to feel they are being channeled toward a cumulative progress’
‘If we’re more business-like, we’ll be better...Says who?, Is a business model really better?’
‘There seems to be a holistic approach’
‘Serving as a gateway for volunteers’
‘A movement toward an enhancement on the current return on investment of all investors’
Reviewing the templates (below), it is evident that while the ideas/concepts were organized in different fashions at each table, common themes emerged which resonated within each of the work groups:
- Collaboration
- Volunteer Board Development
- Great Need
- Capacity Building
- Craft Very Carefully
- Timing is Right
- Avoiding Duplication: services, organization, costs
- Efficiency
- Pro-Community Vision: Building Community
- Clarity
- Increasing confidence in the public and how their money is spent
- ‘Return on Investment’: not return on $$$, but on development of community
- Scope: Geographic, Resources vs Abilities, Virtual vs Bricks-n-Mortar
- Empowering Boards to make decisions
- Start fresh instead of carbon-copying another city
- Seeing what is already working in other places is a good foundation to begin upon—not necessarily to copy—but what elements of those successful programs can we incorporate?