One Brick Quarterly EM/EC Meeting

Location: Polly’s Office

Date: Thursday, June 13, 2013; 6:30-8:00 pm

Even though I had been ordained as an ‘Event Coordinator’, I had not coordinated any events yet.  But, my profile was up on the website and I was invited to the ‘Quarterly EM/EC meeting’. It was going to be at Polly’s office and I had been there once for my training.  I picked up some cookies for sharing and arrived to find Wilson at the door.  In due course other members of the team arrived, most of whom I had already met at some event or the other.  We took a seat around the table and at one end had a laptop open where Vince, One Brick Chicago’s finance guy was joining from New York.  Now that was commitment to the team.  Vince had moved to New York to begin a new job, but his popularity with everyone else meant that people insisted that he still participate.  Once Meghan, the current President of our local chapter arrived, we were ready to begin. 

If you believe a man can fly

Meghan started with an ice breaker, asking all of us which superhero we preferred – ‘Superman’ or ‘Batman’.  This was an interesting one since as a kid I always preferred Superman.  Whenever there was a comic book where Superman and Batman were both involved, I rooted for Superman.  But then as I saw the new Batman movies and read iconic ‘The Dark Knight Returns’, I was more intrigued by Batman.  This is exactly what many said; referring to the new Batman movies as they nominated him as their favorite, while many women said that they liked Superman because of Henry Cavil.  When it was my turn, I had no doubt about whom I was going to pick, as I said it was Christopher Reeve’s Superman.  There have been a few since and there will be many more in the future.  But no one in my mind was better than Christopher Reeve.  He is Superman.

Next all of the committee members gave their updates, starting with Polly on recruitment.  My presence at the meeting was a sign that her recruitment efforts were progressing well.  Shaun, who is responsible for scheduling events on the calendar mentioned that while there were a lot of requests for One Brick to help out, he was turning away organizations due to staffing shortages.  Wilson did not quite agree with this and said that if we put in a little more effort into our recruitment efforts, we could do a lot more, and wouldn't have to turn away some of the opportunities.  He said that perhaps we should publish what we were turning away, so that others know if that is something that we want to do.  I agreed with Wilson, but also realize that there is need for new leadership who can help out at events.  I said that we should spot leaders during a project and encourage them to step up.  Some of the projects could be a great way for new leadership to develop.  What I am seeing right now is that One Brick usually prefers to go back to legacy projects and the same leadership team is assigned due to their existing relationship with the organization.  This will not allow new leaders the experience of being an EM or an EC.  However, new projects will open up more opportunities to lead, provided they can staff the events.  Wilson said that he was confident that we could use many other ideas and techniques to recruit people.  

We took a short break that allowed me to chat with Anne, whom I had met at the ‘Shamrock Shuffle’ event.  We talked about our jobs and I told her everything exciting that is happening in the world of energy and electricity!  The final agenda for our meeting was for Meghan to hand out the ‘Presidential Awards For Volunteerism’ and several folks in the room were proud recipients owing to their service, including Anne and Wilson.  Meghan then mentioned that she was stepping down as the Chicago Chapter President and Polly would now be moving in that role.  As we left that day, I was glad to have attended.  While it was nice to have met almost all of the local leadership team, it also gave me an insight in some of the areas that may need improvement.  I felt that someone like Wilson needs to be heard more.  Yes, while he does have lot of energy and ideas that may border on zeal, he has best intentions at heart, and some of the leaders who look jaded would do well to follow his lead.  As for me, if I see some that things need changing, it was up to me to do so. That's what being a leader entails.