Yay! I just learned yesterday that Montana will hold three Summits in April 2008 in conjunction with The 60 Summits Project. The Governor's Labor Management Advisory Council on workers' compensation will be the lead sponsor, along with the State of Montana, the Montana State Fund, the Montana Building Contractors Association and the Sisters of Charity Leavenworth Health System and others. Three members of the Labor-Management Advisory Council are on the Summit Planning Committee! Montana has been looking for a new model to adopt in the return to work arena, and will be engaging the whole state in a conversation about implementing the new work disability prevention paradigm.
In 2007, we:
-- held 5 Summits in 2 states, one in Northern California, and four in North Dakota, for a total to date of 7 Summits in 4 states.
-- got 6 new Summit Planning groups formed and off the ground in Arizona, Ohio, Florida, Massachusetts, Michigan and Montana.
-- benefited from association with our Charter North American sponsors, Prudential Financial and Webility Corporation, whose generous contributions made many of our 2007 activities and 2008 plans possible.
-- developed materials, methods and other key infrastructure including our new-and-improved website: www.60summits.org
As of yesterday, we already have 7 Summits on the calendar for the first half of the year (MN-1, MT-3, OH-1, AZ-1, and FL-1). We're entering several new states in the next few months.
Now that we've built a solid foundation, I'd like to open the throttle in 2008. My goal is to be halfway to 60 -- to have activity underway in 30 states and provinces -- by the end of 2008.
In 2007, I travelled all over the continent and met a lot of very good people with a lot of talent and pent-up energy they want to put into improving these "systems". I represented the 60 Summits Project at meetings in Arizona, British Columbia, California, District of Columbia, Florida, Illinois, Idaho, Illinois, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, North Dakota, Ohio, Oregon, Rhode Island, Quebec, Texas, and Washington. Meanwhile, the 60 Summits Project staff built the "guts" of The 60 Summits Project as an on-going endeavor: developing materials and methods that would set appropriate expectations and create strong planning groups and successful Summit events and follow-on action groups.
We are building an organization that has to be comfortable with local variation and individual eccentricities due to the volunteer nature of most of our groups -- but we are centering ourselves around some unifying themes and values. Key among them are a Partner Attraction Plan (see www.60summits.org) and the Commitment to Partnership. Together they lay out our mutual commitments to how we are BEING with each other in addition to what what we are DOING together.
It's been a challenging roller-coast type ride, and this project has consumed the vast bulk of my professional time and most of my creative energies. And wow, do I ever find it exciting and fulfilling! When I enter a room for a feasibility session (the next one is Feb 7 in Madison, Wisconsin), I am CONFIDENT that I am with a remarkable group of people -- because who else would accept our invitation?
In our push to put "meat in the hamburger", we haven't paid as much attention to developing our sponsor relationships. Now that we've built a strong engine that's really ready to take us places, I'd like to put a lot more fuel into it. The 60 Summits Project derives its revenue from a combination of sponsor contributions and fees charged for services to local Summit planning groups. It's time to build up our sponsorship contributions by attracting organizations that are a good fit with us and forming on-going mutually fulfilling relationships with them, too.
Sponsor contributions to The 60 Summits Project make it possible for us to:
-- build and maintain our infrastructure including our new website (www.60Summits.org)
-- bring the possibility of The 60 Summits Project to new states
-- form new groups and support them until they get organized and off the ground
-- provide partial matching grants for local Summits
-- support the action coalitions that are springing up after Summits occur
-- and, in 2008, to hold our first national conference.
Summit Planning groups, once established, decide whether they want to be an official part of The 60 Summits Project and to have our support, in which case we then charge fees for our services. The local Summit planning groups in turn meet their expenses by charging registration fees to Summit attendees and garnering support from local sponsors.
I'd like to speed this whole thing up and be able to enter new states more often. I'd also like us to provide even BETTER support to the local groups -- especially the action coalitions that are springing up after the Summits -- so they can really become an ON-GOING and EFFECTIVE force for positive change in their states. As I said, our 2008 goal is to be halfway to 60 by year's end -- to have activity underway in 30 states.
You may wonder how you can help. Here are two ways:
1. By passing along names and contact information for people who will want to participate in this project in specific states, either as a Summit planner, attendee, or as a local sponsor.
2. By becoming a sponsor of our North American effort at some level. Join Prudential Financial and Webility Corporation as North American sponsors, or find another level at which to to contribute that suits your situation.
Ask yourself if your company:
---Likes to underwrite worthwhile activities, and would see supporting this inspiring grassroots effort as the right thing to do.
---Sees itself as a potential beneficiary of our initiative, and wants to assure the success of The 60 Summits Project by providing visible endorsement as well as financial support.
---Will benefit from being visibly associated in the marketplace with The 60 Summits Project's cutting edge thinking and an initiative that is being hailed as "brilliant and fresh . . . a new paradigm . . . a clear blueprint for positive change."
Sondra Seay from Florida has joined The 60 Summits Project as manager of sponsor relations. You can reach her at sondra.seay@60Summits.org.
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