Bringing the Conference Experience Back Home
One of my core identities is "learner." In fact, three of my top five strengths (according the Gallup StrengthsFinder tool) have to do with collecting, savoring, and sharing information. I love the Fall Conference for all its different ways to experience learning. But there is a flip side to every strength, and it is easy to become so wrapped up in new ideas that it is hard to get back home, sort through it all, and start taking action on the most promising ideas.
Monday’s session on community indicator reports offered some wisdom for those of us who are starting to feel overwhelmed about now. Mary L. Thomas of the Spartanburg County Foundation described the role of her community foundation in the indicator partnership as the "knowledge source." The community foundation uses its convening power to bring the important actors together, but the foundation itself does not take on every action item that comes out of those meetings.
This concept takes some of the pressure off the conference-goer who is inspired yet incapable of doing it all. When my colleagues and I return to the Omaha Community Foundation, we debrief with other staff about our conference experiences. I tend to think of my report in three categories:
- Information that resonates with our current activities and can help enrich them
- Information that will help us as we pursue some specific strategic goals in the near future
- Cool stuff we are not in a position to use now, if ever, but it is inspiring just to know about it
How do you sort through your conference takeaways, on your own or with colleagues, to move as quickly as possible to action?
Sarah Gilbert is director of philanthropic services for the Omaha Community Foundation.
