Bridging Cultures

photo: via http://www.vcusocialmedia.com

One of the best parts of my job – which as best I can tell is to be a community-minded, entrepreneurial busybody – is when I’m invited into the room to share what passes for accumulated knowledge.

Early in June, Sarah Milston and I shared the stage with 50 college student s engaged in what may well be one of the most amazing educational experiences available in #RVA.

Now in its second year, VCU’s participation in the Department of State’s Iraqi Young Leaders Exchange Program (IYLEP) has matured and found focus. Two groups – 25 Iraqi students and 25 American students – are spending the summer learning about journalism, social media and the nonprofit landscape. The Iraqi students are learning about America, and all of the students are learning about each other.

The students form into teams and are assigned a local nonprofit. Their assignment? To develop and implement a strategic social media campaign for their nonprofit. The challenges? Too many to describe.

Sarah and I were among several dozen experts invited to speak to the students during their month-long program. We shared our expertise in nonprofit consulting. This is my second year with the program; in 2010, I worked with students to address social media and project management issues.

We walked away thoroughly impressed with the IYLEP students. They asked good questions and wrestled big consulting challenges -- some teams worked with organizations that were unfamiliar with social media platforms; other groups experienced uncomfortable disconnects among individuals within the client organizations.

In the end, I’m confident that these students will deliver some valuable new tools and strategies to the organizations they’re supporting. The teams will present their final projects to the Social Media Club of Richmond later this month.

As a former student of Middle Eastern culture and politics with several extended trips to the region under my belt, I’m less concerned about the quality of their work. I’m far more interested in the quality of their interactions with the people and cultures they’re experiencing here in the United States.

Last year’s IYLEP experience was a major paradigm shift for the Iraqi participants, several of whom still periodically check in with me on Facebook. The State Department and VCU should be applauded for this amazing program, and the American and Iraqi students participating should be proud to represent their countries and cultures during this rare experience together.

A Round of Applause

I’ll admit, when I’m at the end of what feels like an awesome, spot-on day of facilitation, nothing beats a spontaneous round of applause.

Last week, Sarah, Cara and I spent the day with the board of the Virginia Oral Health Coalition, a relatively new nonprofit dedicated to providing access to dental and oral health to all Virginians.

Sarah and I spent a chunk of time with VHOC’s executive director and board president clarifying their desired outcomes. With their help, we mapped out an organized, action-oriented agenda in advance of our broader meeting. Everyone came ready to play, and to have meaningful conversations about how the board could best support the organization’s mission.

We left them with a six-month game plan focused on their internal operations, their upcoming legislative agenda and their commitment to initiating a long-term development strategy.

As we wrapped up, the board gave us a standing ovation. And before we could even drop our thank you notes into the mail, a board member sent us a thank you note of her own.

All of which is evidence for us that preparation, alignment and readiness are among the most important elements of our work.

Gratitude is another.

Innovation Happens Everywhere

Last month I missed i.e*, an innovation event that Floricane helped shape with more than a dozen other Richmond organizations. I followed the Twitter stream and read all of the articles. I was a bit disappointed to miss it – but I know innovation isn’t a one day event.

I missed i.e.* for a good reason -- I was in a room with the staff of the University of Richmond's Bonner Center for Civic Engagement.

The Bonner Center team brought our team in to facilitate a two-day staff planning session; I facilitated the second day while i.e.* was happening.

It was so rewarding to watch this group of passionate people wrestle difficult issues to arrive at a shared consensus. Aside from getting to know each other better and watching programs connect before their eyes, this team did something truly brilliant – they put a stake in the ground. As a group, they began with a statement, “We are going to transform…”

Like I said, innovation is not a one-day event. Over the course of their two days with our team (me, John Sarvay and Cara McDaniel), the Bonner Center team crafted a strategic direction that was robust and scary and exciting. Our team works well together. John is a big dreamer and storyteller; I like to get stuff done; and neither of us minds pushing our clients to go there with us.

Together – teams of people move, change, transform. This past week, we sat down with the Virginia Oral Health Coalition to make their upcoming board retreat extraordinary.

Over the past year of working at Floricane I have learned wonderful things. I have seen first hand the innovative work happening in this region and have been in the room while serious and imaginative work has happened. Sometimes serious work is a staff retreat. Sometimes it's leading a fresh young board through a day of creativity.

No matter where in Richmond it happens, innovative thinking is having an impact.

Innovation Planning Showcases Unique Talent

With the clock ticking down on the June 23 i.e. innovation showcase event -- organized by the Greater Richmond Chamber and a dozen other organizations, including Floricane -- it was fascinating to gather with most of the 30+ presenters and organizers this week on the top floor of Prophet's Richmond offices in Shockoe Slip.

Facinating for lots of reasons -- seeing everyone in the same place, hearing the stories and (ta king a cue from Floricane's marketing guru) checking out the shoes.

Juliet's right. Shoes do offer a glimpse into the personality and diversity of the room.

The Monday night huddle was a chance for all of the presenters -- or provocateurs, as i.e. frames them -- to meet, and better understand how they will engage more than 200 people in a three-floor warehouse space next Thursday, June 23. Over the course of the event, participants and provocateurs alike will be encouraged to connect -- the dots, the stories, the relationships -- and to create -- ideas, connections, next steps.

The i.e. website continues to trickle out snapshots of the provocateur speakers. Names revealed this week include Scoot's Chelsea Lahmers with her demand to "quit sucking!" and writer Anoa Monsho.

Organizers see the June 23 event as the launch -- the Chamber and other project partners have committee to a three-year engagement to identify, encourage and celebrate creativity and innovation around the Richmond Region.

You can check out the details at the i.e. website.

Fulton Rising + Slideshow

Floricane’s first big contract – serious commitment, huge scope, intense deliverables – came our way last fall. Creating a community vision plan for the three East End neighborhoods that comprise Greater Fulton has been a powerfully tough slog.

I’m pretty sure that consultant Peter Fraser and I would do it all over again in a heartbeat.

Last weekend, the Fulton community came together to cel ebrate the culmination of a nine-month process that involved several hundred residents and community stakeholders. The amazing level of engagement from the community – and the unflagging commitment of community organizer Jason Sawyer and the Neighborhood Resource Center’s Annette Cousins (our clients) – put our own contributions to shame.

With the completion of the plan, groups of residents are already in full implementation mode – with partners like Virginia LISC, HOME, the Storefront for Community Design Councilwoman Cynthia Newbille and the Valentine Richmond History Center deeply invested in turning the community vision into a reality.

View our slideshow from last weekend’s Greater Fulton’s Future celebration to see what an engaged community of Richmonders looks like.

Discovering Innovation at Your Doorstep

I’ve been reminded in recent weeks that you can’t throw a rock in this town without hitting someone in the midst of doing it their way, beating their own drum, inventing something new. We sometimes forget that the city of Patrick Henry and Oliver Hill has more than a few centuries of revolutionary ideas under its belt.

As a founding partner in a thre e-year collaborative effort to connect creative dots and showcase innovative talent across the Richmond region, Floricane is excited at the prospect of learning from more than 20 largely unsung innovators during a day-long,  TED-with-a-twist showcase on June 23.

Called i.e.– of course – the event will be held in a still-undisclosed downtown warehouse space during the day. In addition to presentations by two dozen “provocateurs”, participants will be challenged to think in new ways and to help shape a three-year drive to celebrate the innovative, creative and do-it-yourself spirit that is Richmond.

Floricane has purchased a handful of tickets to this event to give to its community of innovators and provocateurs. It’s our way of stacking the deck – making sure the room is filled with some familiar, challenge-oriented faces.

We’ll be drawing names from a hat on Wednesday, June 15. If you’re free to attend the event on June 23 – and want to challenge conventional wisdom even as you are challenged by some unconventional thinkers – email us a one-sentence statement that describes your favorite Richmond innovator (person or organization).

(image via ie-rva.org)

Diving Back Into Organizational Engagement

It’s great to get back to my roots, so to speak, to come full circle.

I spent the last chapter of my corporate career helping shape a new culture, focused on organizational and leadership development.

In recent months, Floricane has been getting back into that business – balancing our strategic consulting work with new projects targeted at shaping and strengthening organizational cultures.

I’ve been learning a lot in the process.

The work we’ve been doing around leadership and employee engagement with Bon Secours Virginia has been both deeply informative and inspiring. Bon Secours is one of a handful of large organizations in the area to seriously invest itself on so many levels to building a culture that is aligned with its vision, mission and values. Every time I sit down at a table with an engaged leader in that organization, I walk away with another nugget of wisdom and knowledge.

I’ve been sitting down with familiar faces, as well.

Tom Epperson, my old boss from Luck Stone, and I are working closely to put shape around a leadership program for another local organization. We sat down at a table a month ago to start the conversation, and we didn’t miss a beat – true to our old dynamic, I floated the ideas and concepts; he nailed them into a plan. We both expect to be riding shotgun with this new program for months to come, and I’m truly excited to learn from and with Tom once again.

I’ve been able to create, as well.

Later this month, another former Luck Stone colleague and I will pick up where we left off with the Library of Virginia. After helping the Library craft a new vision and strategic plan, Debra Saneda and I will be guiding 30 of their key leaders and influencers through an eight-month development program. Our primary goal is to help this group of experienced professionals develop a deeper understanding of their opportunity and responsibility to support, shape and drive change in one of the Commonwealth’s oldest institutions.

We have more irons in the organizational engagement fire – in fact, Floricane’s own emerging strategic plan calls for us to create a core team dedicated to this work over the coming months.

It fits our passions and our mission. One of my mentors, the consultant and community advocate Peter Block, says that the most important role of a leader is to bring the voices on the margins into the center of the conversation. Partnering with some of Richmond’s best organizations in this space is deeply rewarding.

Keeping it Real

What started out as a boring hunt for corporate name tags turned into a rewarding discovery and humble reminder.

A few months ago at a Floricane team meeting, someone suggested we needed name tags for each team member to wear when we host special events or facilitate large meetings. Another simple way to build our visual brand beyond the standard Sharpie scribble on adhesive label.

As the marketing lead, this fell neatly into my bucket. The Floricane logo is always fun to work with and I set out to source a brightly colored, well-designed plastic name badge that wouldn't be unnecessarily expensive. By the time I had run all the estimates and held various samples in my hand, I decided the task had become painfully boring and I didn't like any of the options.

Outside of my work at Floricane, I love to scout great design with affordable (usually!) price tags. I do it for myself all the time, I blog about it regularly, and I even snap photos and text sources to friends on the go!

Well, the beauty of my job with Floricane is that it has never been anything other than me being me, doing what I do, with people I like. So what was I doing shopping for anything but something that I would be excited to boast from my own lapel. By the way, I can't tell you the last time I wore anything with a lapel, which contributes greatly to the aforementioned beauty of my job!

So as soon as I shifted my mindset, I quickly landed at Bullfrog Laserworks on Etsy where Roberto Sand makes gorgeous laser cut wood engravings in his Portland, OR studio. A few e-mails back and forth and Rob and I were on our way to something super cool that would be a much truer reflection of the Floricane brand.

Then somewhere along the way, Rob and I crossed wires -- he read my "receive by" deadline as a "ship by" request. The name tags did not arrive in time for our planned debut at the Greater Richmond Chamber's Schmooza Palooza.

I should also tell you that I'm a certified procrastinator, in addition to which I happened to be in the middle of moving the week this all went down; however, I did have the whole thing scheduled with just enough time to tempt Federal offense by dashing from the front door of a house that was no longer mine to one that was not yet mine in anticipation of Floricane's hot new name badges. Alas, there was no package.

Here's where the lesson in keeping it real comes in. I figured out that the package did not ship in time for our event. Rob might have cried he felt so bad about missing our deadline. He didn't waste a moment to say, "I blew it," and that he would do what he could to make it right, which he did.

There was a choice -- be really mad and and raise a stink in the name of  "good business" or say exactly what was going through my mind -- that I could have made the very same mistake this week. That in my boss' mind, I should have ordered these weeks ago anyway, in which case we wouldn't be racing the clock.

I make these mistakes all the time. And sometimes they're bigger than others. But what I what I really, really admire about Rob was his willingness to say, "I'm sorry I let you down." No excuses. No canned b/s. A sincere human apology.  

Rob responded honestly and authentically, which humbled me to recognize my own propensity for error.

I know we're not talking about brain surgery or tons of money, but it was important to me. It was important to John and the team. All of which made it important to Rob. And, that's good business.

PS: Did I mention his amazingly handcrafted work is half the price of those plastic name tags everyone else is wearing?