Easter Weekend

 

For Easter, I went to Yellowstone National Park. My favorite part of the trip was when we stopped at the Gardiner River on the 45th parallel.

We hiked for about 20 minutes off the road in our jackets and boots. Then, in the distance, I saw steam along the river. The Boiling Spring spills into the Gardiner right here and looks like what Watiki is trying to emulate. We tossed our jackets, scarves and other winter gear on the railing and slipped over slick rocks while cold water splashed across my toes until I joined the Boiling River's entrance to the Gardiner. Warmth up to my ankles, knees, submerge and sigh. COLD! currant surrounds me briefly and then it's warm again. Soaking in the spring water was by far my favorite experience.

This little one is brand new!

I went to Yellowstone particularly to see Old Faithful. I didn't know it would smell like that.  We watched a movie about geysers while we waited for her to blow. The geyser was going off when we arrived so it was a 93 minute (+,- 10) wait and I got to explore the area around the visitor's center. There were several blue pools and bubbly, simmering holes of water. When people began to join me on the boardwalk, we headed back to the best view of Old Faithful.

Well, it was right on time, but I thought it would be larger, taller, somehow. 

Downtown Rapid City and Main Street Square

I went to the mixer at Prairie Edge this evening while Max was at the last Campus Kids meeting for the season. (Campus Kids is a program of Big Brother/Big Sister for kids who are waiting for a Big.) The mixer was to introduce the staff of the Main Street Square project and Destination Rapid City. We got to tour the future site of Main Street Square and ask questions. I didn't realize there was going to be an ice skating rink but it's going to be a bit bigger than Rockefeller. 
The stone monuments are tapestries of our skyline. The grey granite is the Black Hills tapestry and the pinkish granite is the Badlands tapestry. There's going to be a fountain for kids to enjoy during the summer and a permanent fire pit. I am looking forward to the retro movies that LRC 2010 is putting together along with the Square. We got to visit the spot where the concert stage will be, too. It's bigger than it looks from outside the fence. 
I spoke to Debra Jensen of Black Hills Bagels and the guys who were awarded the construction contract and Bonny Petersen. The tour of the Square was extremely cold. Beth of Destination Rapid City was serving drinks; I talked with her a while and got her card. Mayor Hanks recognized me from the Chamber mixer last week. He said he received my email and is looking over my fellowship application to write a letter of support for me! 
John Tesh said tonight on my way home that the number one mistake people make on job interviews and first dates is talking too much. Networking is more about what other people are doing than what I am doing, at least at the first meeting. If I am able to show that I care about their projects and interests, I will receive more interest from them. I like to talk though! And I'm working on my new elevator speech. I had a chance to practice tonight, and I did. I didn't get to say hello to John Stewart of the Main Street Square project, though. Since I saw him just yesterday at the Nonprofit Networker, I was disappointed that I didn't get the chance this time. But then since my elevator speech is not as polished as his yet maybe it's just as well. 
I'm really looking forward to YPG next week. Toastmasters will be there, too!

Elevator Speech

One of the presenters at today's Nonprofit Networker, hosted and facilitated by Chiesman, Black Hills Community Foundation, and the Dahl, was Nancy Anderson-Smith, Director of Youth Programs and Continuing Education at SDSM&T. (I know, that's a lot of comas, but it couldn't be helped) She talked about networking as meeting people with intention. Intention to help others, to grow a stronger community, to find out what is important to others. Networking helps us care for our neighbors. 
She gave us an assignment: prepare an elevator speech by the next convening of the Nonprofit Networker. An elevator speech is what you tell the mayor while shaking his hand at a Chamber mixer. I had a good one as an AmeriCorps*VISTA Member. Now I need a new one, so I was very pleased to have an assignment that I can apply immediately. 
An elevator speech is clear and concise. Who am I, what do I do, why it's important and what do I want. It should be a sentence or two, surely not more than two or three lines of text. I am verbose. This will be difficult for me. She gave us a couple of minutes to network at our tables in groups of three and four. I went with my old elevator speech that ended on Friday with my contract, but it is a little long. 
Power networking, Nancy explained, is a concise expansion of just the 'what I'm looking for' part. Add a few statistics to back up my request. Be clear and concise. I'm using that word a lot because she did too. (I believe repetition in speeches is used to drive home a point.)
She picked a random member of her captive audience to deliver his elevator speech. He was John Stewart of Main Street Square. He ended his speech with an enthusiastic "...this is your square." Everyone clapped. I can't wait till October! See? It works :)
Nancy also told us that a good elevator speech will help you write grants because grant reviewers like concise work, too. 

The Importance of Collaborations

Today I attended a Funder's Forum at a Nonprofit Networker meeting. There was a representative from each of four local funders: Black Hills Corp, United Way, J.T. Vucurevich and Black Hills Community Foundation. Helen Usera introduced the panel and asked the questions. Each representative answered each question. 
She asked what is the process for funding requests, what are the elements of a proposal that attract, how has the economy affected their review process and their ability to fund, and how do we put our best foot forward.  
One of the things they all repeatedly stressed was the importance of collaboration, of filling a need with an unduplicated service or, if someone else is working towards the same goal, work together to be stronger.
I met with Anne and Becky today to go over some specs for our group project while I was thinking about the meeting I'd attended earlier. I was late to the meeting because I took a wrong turn in the fog around Catron Blvd. I have never seen so much fog! Oncoming vehicles just materialized out of the gloom about thirty feet in front of me! Anne has detailed notes and took a few more pictures and I am left with daydreams for this post. (Or am I?) We have a better idea of how to align our goals with the agency we have chosen to assist.
 Afterwards, Becky joined me to help set up for a fundraiser breakfast tomorrow morning. While she was there, we had an opportunity to meet several girls from Central High School's Solutions program and their director, Jackie Swanson.
I met Jackie last summer after I read an article about her in the Rapid City Journal. Her Solutions program connects with students at risk of dropping out due to a variety of reasons. The inaugural class has already won a national award. 
The girls in Solutions are in charge of their own futures and they work hard. I've visited them a few times and today, while Becky and I were putting flyers at each place setting for the Breakfast, I saw them enter the hall to volunteer with us and I saw young leaders. I saw young women who faced the same struggles I face every day but without the benefit of my years. I invited them to collaborate on our blog and offer their insights to this community and their thoughts on leadership. Working together with the women of WCLI I am learning about the importance of perspective. 
When we were debating class project ideas, I recall several variations of mentorship expressed by my classmates. My vision of this blog hasn't gone the way I planned so far. Despite my best efforts, I'm just not as interesting when I'm waxing poetic all by myself as I hoped :) I need back up. I need company. I need to be inspired. 
A blog about women, women's issues, leadership and the Rapid City community should be by women of the community. I hope to generate some interest with differing perspectives. Collaborations generate interest, according to the funders. The Women's Community Leadership Initiative is a collaborative venture on its own;  we set an example in this community by our actions as do the young women in Solutions. We are working towards similar goals and many of them are more comfortable with digital media. They are the first generation that grew up with access to computers from infancy. We are living their world and we will one day give it to them. Let us get to know the leaders of tomorrow here.
This blog is a place to communicate ideas, to showcase accomplishments, and collaborate with other women. I have spent my service year building relationships between the agency I worked for and others. I have personally connected with enough individuals to want to continue living here. I love what I do and I enjoy sharing with others. I also enjoy learning what other people are doing, what daily accomplishments make you smile. I want to know what you struggle to achieve and if you need a different perspective, there are several here. Well, mostly just me, but that will change. This blog is a tool for creating a better future for ourselves and for each other. I hope this collaboration between WCLI and Solutions will prove to be a prolific breeding ground for many discussions about the Rapid City community as a whole, leadership, and the bonds between generations of women of diverse backgrounds.
Welcome, Solutions!  

Leadership in the letterhead

I can't believe I forgot to mention one of the most powerful points that our presenters made last night. Jacqueline Sly passed around her letterhead stationary and invited each of us to take a sheet. It was beautiful. Red-foil embossed header and footer. Very impressive, and she gracefully accepted our ooos and ahs. 
This looks like leadership, doesn't it? She asked us and we nodded. But leadership is not in the fancy foil embossing. You won't see the leadership on this stationary until you hold it up to the light. Which, as one, we did.
The light revealed a watermark that covered the page and depicted the river, a pheasant, Mt Rushmore, a Native American and the words, Dakota Bond. She went on to explain that you don't have to be on top to be the leader. Leadership comes from within, leadership is about creating conversation, not the fancy fireworks and embossed letterhead. Leadership is revealed by the light of the group being lead. 
A very powerful image to take home. And I want letterhead like that! I showed it to everyone in my office today.

Public Speaking and the Public Sector

I think last night's project session was my favorite because I feel like we moved forward. I hope we stay with the churches because that is a good place to start. Mel Gibson told his young son, in the movie The Patriot, "Aim small, miss small." Of course, he was talking about taking out the enemy but I think it's a universal concept.
Dorothy is always easy to listen to so I'm glad she was our public speaking presenter. I joined Toastmasters last June or July and it has been a fun learning experience for me. I was so shy when I came out here all by myself, my first office job, my first desk, my first time striking out on my own. I was a little overwhelmed by all the firsts, and then I realized I had to learn how to speak to people (especially since the grants I wrote were consistently denied). Toastmasters Top 5 allows me to practice my presentations so that when I go out into the community, no one knows how terrified I am when I'm talking to their groups.
I am not a politically active person. I don't follow the news and I just read headlines in the online paper. I don't feel connected because I wasn't politically connected in my former life before South Dakota, either. But my current job and the path my career is currently on just about requires I re-evaluate my political ambitions (or lack of). I am grateful that Ward 5 Councilwoman Bonnie Petersen, Pennington County Auditor Julie Pearson and District 33 Representative Jacqueline Sly came to talk to us, especially after Sheryl Kirkeby's passionate presentation last week. Sheryl suggested that any political ambitions can begin with volunteering for a school board. My VISTA project is very education-centered and I am considering these options. I applied for a Bush Fellowship so that I can continue working on Help to Obtain a Powerful Education (Project: H.O.P.E.) after my service year ends and to get the training I need to actualized my idea. Meeting these women who take time out of their busy schedules to talk to us about realizing our own goals is very empowering. I minored in Women's Studies, so Julie Pearson struck a chord in me, too.
My Women's Studies 101 teacher was passionate about suffrage and Julie's words were inspirational. I, too, suffer from stage fright like Bonnie but I overcome it. Perhaps a little too much sometimes, but that's what the fellowship is for. I mentioned my fellowship to Jacqueline as she was leaving and asked if she would meet me for coffee and she said yes! I love WCLI! 

Hootsuite--because there is never enough time in my day

DON’T put the burden of finding on the customer. Make it easy to be found.

Post two messages a week:

1 push and 1 pull.

Push—we have this deal...

Pull—what do you want us to do with this issue?

If you're as busy as I am, or even busier, hootsuite makes it easy to manage your digital marketing tools.

www.hootsuite.com

Set up a social media dashboard at hootsuite.com to time-manage messages for consistency. Hootsuite doesn’t allow much exploration until you have created a dashboard. I didn’t create one (yet). 

After I check my analytics, I discover that most of my fans check their Facebook pages on weeknights. The only time I have to update my page is Saturday mornings which, according to the analytical data, is when my page has the least traffic. Hootsuite allows me to post what I want on a timer so that my entry will ‘post’ automatically during high-traffic times to ensure my customers see my post when they are active online.

Timing is everything. If you run a restaurant, post your breakfast specials around 7:30 or so. About 80% of active users check their preferred forms of social media from their phone before getting out of bed (I do) and again one last time after getting tucked in. Give them something to get up for: your special bagels or today’s breakfast deals. Use hootsuite or another management tool to ensure your posts get to your target audience if you are unable to post fresh each morning for your fans’ convenience.