[22873] in APO-L
Re: [APO-L] Thoughts about the future of APO
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Chris Rock)
Tue Aug 20 21:08:12 2002
Date: Tue, 20 Aug 2002 21:03:52 -0400
Reply-To: Chris Rock <rock@CMER.ORG>
From: Chris Rock <rock@CMER.ORG>
To: APO-L@LISTSERV.IUPUI.EDU
In-Reply-To: <000c01c2422d$096ee7e0$3300a8c0@ATHLON>
It was interesting reading people's thoughts on our future. One of the
common themes was other organizations getting credit for projects APO
chapters have previously done. It's not that they did the project better
than we did. It is simply that they did a better job of publicizing
it. To an organization that does not regularly do service projects doing
one is something of a big deal, so they are going to make a big deal about
it. We do service every day and tend to take it for granted. It is for
exactly this reason that the committee chaired by Ed Richter is the
National Service and COMMUNICATIONS Committee. We need to learn to promote
what we do. The biggest teaching tool for this is National Service Week.
Most believe NSW is only there to give everyone in the nation a chance to
do a project "together". Sure, that's one purpose. The big purpose though
is to promote the service we do. Look at the requirements for getting a
participation pin or certificate. The chapter is supposed to do the
project in conjunction with another group, do some sort of press release on
it, and submit a report to the National Office. It's all about doing
service with others and telling people about it.
How often does a chapter submit a project sharing form to the National
Office outside of NSW? If the National Office is told about our projects,
they can more accurately represent what the membership does to other
service organizations such as America's Promise, Youth Service America, and
all of our other partners. How often does the average chapter make press
releases or at least write an article for the school newspaper outside of
NSW? The administration will not involve our chapters in new service
related offices that may be created if they don't realize we are an
organization that could assist in furthering their purpose. Tell people
what we do, about specific projects, loudly and often.
Another theme in the responses to this thread is to increase our role as a
leadership organization. That change is already happening. The first new
LD program was rolled out this summer at the Leadership Institute in
Fairfax, VA. It's currently called Leadership 101. It is the first of
five LD programs that will be part of a complete leadership odyssey. The
new LD Program will replace the current programs, namely the LeAP and the
LDW, revamp the CPW and TDW, and add some new ones as well. Detailed
information about the new LD Programs will soon be released from the
National Office in the form of brochures and on the web site. It is the
long term goal to have chapters be able to request these programs to be
presented on their campus for ANY interested students, not just our
Brothers. In other words, APO can become a leadership resource for schools.
In the mean time, you can request to have a Leadership 101 or a TDW be
presented to any group of 12-30 Brothers. That means unlike the old
programs we can come to an individual chapter to present the program. We
have a limited number of staff trained currently to present these
programs. We will do our best to accommodate as many requests as possible
with these limited resources. In New Orleans at convention we will be
offering both these programs multiple times as well as training sessions.
To request a Leadership 101, please contact me, Chris Rock <rock@cmer.org>.
To request a TDW, please contact Fred Heismeyer <fred@leadingandteaming.org>
For more information about being trained as staff for an of the LD
programs, please contact me, Chris Rock <rock@cmer.org>.
I've enjoyed following this thread and look forward to many other lively
discussions as convention approaches.
In Brotherhood,
Chris
Christina M. "The Seal" Rock (AAE F'84)
Vice-Chair for Staff Development, Leadership Development Committee
Leadership Institute Director
UCLA CPW Director
Section 61 Chapter Representative
Leadership Resources Clearinghouse Coordinator
<http://www.cmer.org/clearinghouse>
21 Warren Pl.
Charleston, WV 25302
304-343-4892
