Holiday communications panel follow up

[Gordon Mayer]

Thanks for having me out! I got a ride back to the office with Shane from AUSL--turned out we had a geogrphy connection, she lived for 5 years near where I grew up.... and I learned that she and her husband are jazz fans! So consider us connected, thanks to Dan, Cassina, Nicole et al.One thing that stuck with me after the panel based on what folks said and our own experience: Use Facebook to recuirt people to go drinking for a good cause. That's a winner, for sure (thank you, Jane from East Village Youth Programs and Cassina from Tutor Mentor). .Plus I'll be looking at Cassina's blog!

[Daniel Bassill]

This map shows locations of organizations who participated in the November conference. It shows that we need to find ways to bring more people form the South part of the city and suburbs if we're to help more tutor/mentor programs grow in those areas.

Nicole and each of the Cabrini Connections staff members wrote blog articles about the conference. You can find the list of blogs at https://tutormentorconnection.ning.com/profiles/blogs/read-the-blogs...

If other organizations are writing about their participation in the conference, I encourage you to share links to your site and articles on this forum so other people can find out what you had to say.

[Daniel Bassill]

Vjekoslav Hlede, the eLearning and Technology Coordinator for Cabrini Connections, Tutor/Mentor Connection, attended the conference on Friday and describes the workshops he attended in his blog.

[Daniel Bassill]

I've asked the staff at Cabrini Connections, Tutor/Mentor Connection to share ideas and reflections from the conference on their blogs. El Da'Sheon Nix, the administrative coordinator (or head coach) of the Cabrni Connections team, wrote at http://cabriniblog.blogspot.com/2008/11/leadership-from-players.html

Chris Warren, our 2008-09 Northwester University Public Interest Fellow, showed how the Tutor/Mentor Connection and the Conferences are intended to reduce the disconnect, or organizational silos, that separate many organizations working to help kids through school and into careers. His blog is at http://chrispip.blogspot.com/2008/11/organizational-silos.html

I encourage this blogging because as staff and volunteers write articles that explane the goals and strategies of an organization, they are building and strengthening their own understanding, making them more effective leaders. It also helps me understand their level of understanding so I can coach them more effectively.

Finally, the blogging is part of our network building and capacity building. Each writer has his/her own network of college, family, social, civic members who are more likely to read the blog articles of someone they know, than of someone they don't know. Thus, there are many entry points into the Tutor/Mentor Connection, which is illustrated by the graphics on the blog article Chris wrote.

As others write in this forum, or on their own blogs, they, too, become network builders, connecting people they know with their own organization, and with the Tutor/Mentor Connection and hundreds of other organizations. Ultimately, the weight of this network-building and communications is intended to serve as advertising, to draw customers (volunteers, donors, parents, students) to the various organizations and tutor/mentor programs who are operating in different parts of Chicago and other cities.

[Daniel Bassill]

Thanks Gordon. I hope that means you'll join Cassina and the group for either the Dec. 5 or Dec. 12th events which we've announced on Facebook. Both should be fun. I've been hosting the conference since 1994 and was hosting networking of tutor/mentor programs since 1976. It is really great to keep running into people you've met before, or new people with whom we have something in common. These relationships can really strengthen our ability to succeed in our different non profit roles.