Over a dozen leaders from regional networks convened earlier this month to exchange practices, share information, and discuss challenges and opportunities. A summary of the online chat has been posted to the Regional Leaders Knowledge base discussion forum on the OD Network website. 

The discussion continues on OD Network's Regional Leaders LinkedIn group. If you are a regional leader and have not yet joined OD Network's Regional Leaders LinkedIn group, please do. 

Special thanks to Jeff Richardson from the South Bay OD Network and ProjectConnections for donating complimentary access to Citrix  Go To Webinar for each of our virtual regional leader gatherings.  Project Connections publishes "know-how from the field" to help individuals and organizations achieve critical business goals through projects.

Regional Leaders Virtual Gathering 

Friday, May 1, 2015

9AM PT, 12PM ET

We will use Go To Webinar for this meeting.  Please register here.  

After registering you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the webinar. 

Dial in number

(646) 307-1719

Access Code: 817-715-920

If you have not already done so, please join ODN's new Regional Leaders LinkedIn Group where regional leaders can suggest topics for discussion as well as connect with one another prior to the session.  If you have any questions about this session, please contact your Regional Connector:  Melanie Brannigan, Jeff Richardson, Marisa Sanchez, or Eric Sanders.  (Check out your Regional's Profile on the OD Network website if you don't know who you Regional Connector is).

Marisa Sanchez

ODN Regionals Committee, Chair

OD Network Regional Leaders is set up as a private group by invitation only.   Add it to your list of LinkedIn Groups and request access to this new communication and collaboration forum established especially for regional leaders.

Marisa Sanchez

September 12, 2014

Attendees:

Carol Anderson, Greater Orlando Organization Development Network

Ed Bierschenk, Houston OD Network

Doug Blum, ODN Chicago

Chris Chittero, South Florida ODN

Magda Kaspary, Pacific Northwest ODN

Martha Legare, Organization Change Alliance (Atlanta)

Edward Malinowski, OD Connection Northeast Ohio

Robert McCarthy, Oregon ODN

Tammy Preble, Dallas-Fort Worth OD Network

Clarissa Sawyer, Massachusetts Bay OD Learning Group

Maggie Shreve, ODN of Chicago

Bob Stapleton, Triangle OD Network

Facilitators:

Melanie Brannigan

Jeff Richardson

Marisa Sanchez

Eric Sanders

Topics:

Resource Sharing: 

In this session, regional leaders identified resources that could be pooled or shared. 

·         Articles for our websites or newsletters.

·         A catalog of whitepapers or webinars

·         Completed newsletter templates, which we can brand by adding our logo to and a piece of local news.

·         Virtual admin to support several chapters

·         Models, processes, that help us do better work

·         Blog posts

·         Website content from ODN's site to post on regional sites

·         Use of rigorous behavioral science methods to contract with a client, assess needs, diagnose the issues, design relevant interventions, implement, and evaluate outcomes (during and after).

Regionals are not chapters of ODN but independent organizations that informally affiliate with ODN.  We hope that regional leaders self-organize around sharing these resources, post your resource sharing in the Regional Leaders KnowledgeBase blog, and share with your Regional Connectors so that we can continue to communicate to other regionals who may also want to contribute to your resource sharing.  For those regionals who would like to begin thinking about a more formal relationship with OD Network, please contact Marisa Sanchez so we can begin a dialogue with interested regionals. 

Other information regional leaders identified they would like to share with one another have been identified on OD Network’s Regional Leaders KnowledgeBase.  If you have information about these topics, please contribute your knowledge to the KnowledgeBase – reach out to your Regional Connectors if you want help posting to the KnowledgeBase. 

·         Legal advice, advice on becoming a non profit organization

·         501c3 information

·         Financial advice

·         How to recruit and retain volunteers and board members

·         Webpage best practices

Regional leaders also would like to share program topics and speakers.  If you have topics, materials, speaker contact information, please post your contributions to the OD Network’s Program Repository. 

·         Sharing of program speakers, topics

·         Sharing meeting formats

Marketing to Members Amid Changing OD Profession:

In the second half of the session, regional leaders voted on the types of professions that attend regional sessions:

Facilitators / Trainers (5)

Change Management practitioners (6)

OD consultants (6)

Talent development specialists (8)

Coaches (6)

HR professionals (5)

Strategy consultants (3)

Management / human capital analysts / consultants (6)

Organizational leaders (1)

I/O Psychology programs

Leadership development

Training and development, instructional designer programs

Community development professionals

Students of OD (7)

Professors (6)

Students from other programs (3)

Researchers (1)

Business majors

Psychology majors

MBA students belonging to the Organization Behavior club

Participants were also polled on how regionals track attendance of these various professions: 

Formal tracking – during registration process (6),

Informal tracking - “Raise hand” request at event (1)

We don't track very well (1)

We track based on loose categories related to OD -- student, interested in the field, experienced practitioner, etc.

Conversation moved into how the definition of OD (or lack of a common definition) is contributing to less of a focus on how to market to participants for regional programs.  Participants discussed the relevance of questions such as “what is OD” and “where is it going” to understanding trends in association membership and regard for the field.

·         Marketing to members amid a changing OD profession.   What language do we use to attract other professions to OD?  Are younger practitioners using different terminology like change leadership that we need to incorporate into our marketing and communications?  How does OD differentiate itself from training and HR?  How do we draw business leaders to our membership? 

·         Pooling regional resources.  How might we share blog topics, co-brand newsletter content, exchange ideas for programming?

Participation information:

We will be using Go To Webinar for this virtual gathering so we can collect your ideas online, take a few polls, and record the discussion so you can go back to it later.   Please register for this event in advance; you will receive a customized link in your email to join the webinar.    

For those not able to be on the internet, please dial in to (951) 266-6126 Access Code: 894-538-645. 

Please join us!

OD Network Regional Connectors

Jeff Richardson (West)

Eric Sanders (Midwest)

Marisa Sanchez (East)

Melanie Brannigan (South)

The next Regional Leaders Virtual Gathering will be held on September 12th at 9 a.m. PT (12 p.m. ET).  

In our last session, regional leaders identified the following topics for upcoming gatherings:

* Marketing to members amid a changing OD profession.   What language do we use to attract other professions to OD?  Are younger practitioners using different terminology like change leadership that we need to incorporate into our marketing and communications? How does OD differentiate itself from training and HR?  How do we draw business leaders to our membership? 

* Pooling regional resources.  How might we share blog topics, co-brand newsletter content, exchange ideas for programming?

Please join us to exchange perspectives and ideas.  And remember, you can SHARE and SEEK programming ideas and best practices using our regional leader knowledge exchange tools. Contact your Regional Connector for more information.

Attendees:

Jason Martin – San Diego ODN

Mike Cardus – ODN of Western New York

Marsha Coleman – Philadelphia Region ODN

Maggie Shreve – ODN of Chicago

Joey Pauley – Pacific Northwest OD Network

Clarissa Sawyer – Massachusetts Bay OD Learning Group

Jamie Kelly– Omaha OD Network

Guillermo Gutierrez – Dallas/Ft. Worth OD Network

Jeff Richardson – South Bay ODN, ODN Regional Connector for West

Eric Sanders – ODN of Chicago past president, ODN Regional Connector for Midwest

Melanie Brannigan – Greater Orlando OD Network, ODN Regional Connector for South

Marisa Sanchez – Chair, ODN Regionals Committee, Regional Connector for East

Roundtable Discussion

Several regional leaders shared emerging practices to create alliances with related organizations (e.g., ASTD, SHRM, ICF).  Rather than compete for member time, attendance, and money, organizations are coordinating their meetings on a central calendar, hosting shared events, allowing each others’ members to pay member rates for events.  The San Diego network has created the San Diego Workforce Performance Alliance in an attempt to have more joint programs across the region.  While still in the experimental phase, organization presidents are formulating draft agreements for 2015.  South Bay ODN participates in the NorCal Association Consortium and has created a shared calendar of events (www.changeleaderevents.com).  The ODN of Western NY partners with a local college’s center for professional development to use space at no cost for its monthly meetings. Regionals discussed specific outreach to universities to draw more faculty and students from OD programs to regional events (discount rate or 3 free tickets) as well as reaching out to local OD gurus to attend regional events.

Another discussion theme was attracting other professions that may benefit from incorporating OD principles/practices into their work, broadening who regionals think of as members.  The Philadelphia regional attracts professionals in the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine and the arts community.   ODN is also looking to attract business leaders and others who use OD but may not consider themselves OD practitioners.  Regionals could also seek to attract local business leaders to educate them on how organization development can support their business goals (e.g., host an executive panel on organization change).  

Regionals are posting more pictures from their events on websites, Twitter, and Instagram so there was a question about getting permission to post attendee pictures.  Most regionals shared that they inform participants that pictures will be taken and participants who do not want to be included in a photo can inform the photographer.  Some regionals include this information as a disclaimer at the registration desk and others do so verbally at the start of the meeting. 

Future Discussion Topics

Several discussion topics were identified for future teleconferences as well as the face to face meeting in October at the ODN Annual Conference:

·         Careers in OD and OD as a profession.  How does OD differentiate itself from training and HR?  What language do we use to attract other professions to OD?  Are younger practitioners using different terminology like change leadership that we need to incorporate into our marketing and communications? How do we continue to tie OD to the business? 

·         Pooling resources, for example, sharing blog topics, co-branding newsletter content, exchanging ideas for programming.

Action Items

Regional leaders can contact their Regional Connectors to walk through the new knowledge exchange tools and help leaders post regional management practices and programs in the tools (http://www.odnetwork.org/?RegionalKnowledge).  Regional Connectors will take up the action item to identify how to make these tools more accessible (connectivity to other frequently used tools like LinkedIn or other reminders).

Please contact your Regional Connector with comments or questions about this virtual gathering.

Remember that ODN now offers a Regionals Knowledge Exchange for to share information with each other.

Will you be in the Chesapeake Bay area this spring? If yes, we have the perfect opportunity for you: the 3-day CBODN 2014 Conference. Hailing from the premier DC metro area network for OD professionals, this conference will explore how you can build, foster and embed creative innovations in your OD community.

Check out more here!

This year, OD Network launched new tools to support sharing of best practices and collaboration across regionals.  But we also know that making real-time connection is vital.  So we are hosting a Regional Leaders Virtual Gathering on Friday, April 25th  at 12:00 noon Eastern Time (9:00 am Pacific), for 90 minutes. Dial-in information is:  605-475-4350605-475-4350, Passcode: 349541.

(Optional)  Go To Meeting link  https://www3.gotomeeting.com/register/865061750  

Agenda:

• Introduce ourselves and a little about our regional networks
• you can review the regional profiles of many of the regionals -- see ODN web site's Network of Networks
  
  
• Have a focused conversation (about an hour) on the following:

• what's working well in my regional 
• where could I use help from other regionals
• how OD Network can be helpful to me as a regional leader
• what would be a helpful conversation to have face to face in October at Annual Conference

• Wrap up with feedback about this meeting 

Please join us for this virtual gathering. RSVP by April 21st. If you have any questions about what we are planning, contact any of the Regionals Connectors listed below. And if you can't join us on April 25th, we'd still like to hear from you so give us a call.

US Western regionals:  Jeff Richardson

US Midwestern regionals:  Eric Sanders

US Southern regionals:  Melanie Brannigan

US Eastern regionals:  Marisa Sanchez

***We are looking for 2 ODN members to serve as regional connectors for non-US regionals -- please be in touch if you are interested!
 

Thank you,

ODN Regionals Connectors

• Regional Profiles: Complete your regional network profile to share information about your network with other regional leaders; search regional profiles and get help or collaborate with one another. 
  
  
• Regional Connectors: Talk to a volunteer who is ready to help you connect with ODN and other regionals. 
  
  
• Regional Leaders Knowledge Database: Exchange best practices with one another. 
  
  
• Regional Program Repository: Share ideas, materials, and speakers for monthly programming.

Please click here to gain access to the Knowledge Database and click here to gain access to the Program Repository. Once you click on the links, please select "join group" at the top. Once you have access, you can find these tools by selecting Groups from the My Profile box on the right side of the OD Network website. Contact the OD Network if you have any questions.  

• Become familiar with the structure and goals of each regional;
• Listen to challenges and experiences;
• Connect regionals with one another;
• Communicate ODN information relevant to regionals;
• Collect feedback about how ODN can better serve as a Network of networks.   

We are pleased to announce the Regional Connectors who have volunteered to-date: 

West (Jeff Richardson)
Arizona
California (6)
Colorado
Nevada
Oregon
Washington

Midwest (Eric Sanders)
Illinois
Indiana (2)
Minnesota
Missouri (2)
Nebraska
Ohio (6) 

South (Melanie Brannigan)
Florida (3)
Georgia
North Carolina (2)
South Carolina
Tennessee
Texas (3)

East (Marisa Sanchez)
Connecticut
DC
Maine
Massachusetts
New Jersey (2)
New York (4)
Pennsylvania

International A (Angie Keister)
Canada (4)
Caribbean
Mexico
IODA

International B (TBD)
Africa
Australia
Europe
India (2)
Japan
Singapore (2)
UK
Zambia 

Regional Connectors have committed to contacting each regional leader no later than January 15th.  Regional Leaders – please confirm your contact information on the OD Network web site Regionals Contact Information page so we can be sure to connect with you.  

Regional leaders can now complete a regional profile – thank you to Julie Rapacki, Chair of Minnesota Organization Development Network, for drafting the profile and Maggie Shreve, President of the OD Network of Chicago, for testing it for us! OD Network reformatted its Regional Contact Information page with links to these regional profiles. Once regional leaders complete the profile, our OD Network staff can build each web page.

These profiles will allow you as regional leaders to get to know more about one another and facilitate networking with regionals of most interest to you – that are similar to you, from whom you want to learn, or are geographically near. Visit the OD Network website, and select Network of Networks to get to your regional network web page and complete your profile!

Thank you,

Marisa Sanchez 
Chair, ODN Regionals Committee

In addition, the ODN Regionals Committee uses this forum to hear feedback on the committee’s work and planned activity. The following report was provided at this year’s Caucus.

2013 Accomplishments      

• Convened 25 regional leaders in a virtual session to:
• Create new value for regional network leaders
• Learn from each other
• Build the broadest possible ownership of the group
• Have everyone gain at least one good idea
• Held Regionals Caucus to support regionals networking
• Developed 2 knowledge sharing tools for regional leaders*:
• Program Repository to share programming ideas, materials, speakers
• Regional Leaders KnowledgeBase to share regional management practices
• Instituted complimentary membership for regional leaders and ½ price membership for 2 additional regional officers/staff
• Created regional profiles to share more information about each regional*
• Highlighted Regionals News each month in Network News

*instructions for access will be forthcoming once the tools are finalized 

2014 Plans

• Promote use of knowledge sharing tools
• Build regional profile web pages
• Institutionalize outreach by establishing volunteer regional connectors  

Thank you to 2013 Regionals Committee Members:

Christina Bell (Dallas/Fort Worth)
Ross Gruebel (CBODN)
Jim Leming  (Philadelphia)
Marisa Sanchez (Maryland)
Maggie Shreve (Chicago)
Darryl Wahlstrom (Kalamazoo)  

Please consider serving on the Regionals Committee with us!

Contact Marisa Sanchez to provide input or to join the Regionals Committee.  

• Exemplary leadership 
• Active participation in programming
• Creative programming
• A strong organizational structure, and
• Demonstrated impact on the local OD community

In addition to meeting the above criteria, both Networks demonstrated significant growth and development in recent years.    

ODN/Chicago increased program attendance by 80 percent, membership by 283 percent and income by 550 percent by creating an active environment of engagement. Their informal motto "to engage the engage-ables" keeps active participants coming back. This regional network also collaborates with other local HR, learning, and OD associations and draws program attendees from 8 local universities. 

The Omaha OD Network has a very strong leadership structure, having established a 10-person board to address tactical issues as well as 4-person executive committee to discuss strategic business.   This regional network has added to its regular monthly programs an opportunity for a more open environment of collegial sharing -- a Stammtisch, a roundtable discussion of regulars to support exploring, learning, sharing, and inspiring.   

Please congratulate these two Outstanding Regional Network Awardees. The Awards will be presented formally on Monday, October 7th  at the OD Network 2013 Annual Conference Awards Ceremony in San Jose, California. To read more about this award and the other awards and recipients click here. For those regional members attending the annual conference, the Regionals Caucus will meet in the morning on Sunday, October 6th. 

Register for the 2013 ODN Annual Conference October 5-8, 2013 in San Jose CA.

• A Virtual Regional Leaders Gathering on July 24th at 9:00 AM PT (12:00 PM ET).
• An in-person Regionals Caucus at the upcoming ODN conference on October 6th.

• Respond to its members needs
• Add value to a region
• Model how to sustain and grow a regional membership network
• Attract a diverse constituency of local practitioners

To submit a nomination, download the nomination form here. Complete the form and email to odnetwork@odnetwork.org by June 30, 2013.

         This learning exchange focused on Intergenerational Leadership and learning new ways to leverage generational diversity to enhance leadership capacity at all levels to meet organizational needs.  The day-long experience was designed by an intergenerational group of leaders and practitioners to enable participants to build their capacity to work with and across generations, and share insights and stories while being heard in a dynamic learning environment.  The event was highly interactive and incorporated AI, Power Dynamics, dance and music as ways of communication, expression and connection.  An Open Space session at the end of the workshop allowed participants to focus future energy on those issues and questions most relevant to the group.                

The revival of PRODN started with a PCOM-ODL Program Learning Exchange in  December 2011 when over 70 students, alumni, faculty and friends of the ODL program came together to talk about how as a program they could provide greater impact on the Philadelphia region.  An echo of responses included a call to revive the ODN community in Philadelphia with an intention to invite leaders from different sectors including the different cultural arts communities to a new PRODN.  The excitement included dialogue of ways of "inviting others in" so it would be inclusive of all the communities.  The current invitation steps include reaching out to other organizations and higher education institutions          

PRODN has been very active in the past year reviving the organization after a few years of dormancy, and the Learning Exchange concept has been a key driver in that revival. The first PRODN Learning Exchange held Summer 2012 focused on how practitoners and leaders were applying the principles and practices of Appreciative Inquiry.   At the most recent event,  over 60 persons, and 5 new members joined PRODN.  The next Learning Exchange will be a "co-creation” event held in April at which members will define what they want PRODN to be, and how that vision might be implemented.    

Join Plus Delta’s CEO & Chief Architect Dr. Jeremy Lurey as he kicks off the New Year OD style with an interactive World Café about the future of OD. Reflect on your greatest accomplishments of 2012. Set course for the year ahead by discussing the most critical emerging trends in the field of OD we need to be aware of.

For those unfamiliar with this large-group intervention, a World Café is a fun and fast-paced way of creating dialogue on important business topics and networking with your peers. Dr. Lurey will highlight the essential elements of the approach, and then we all will contribute to the conversation together so sign up today. You don’t want to miss this exciting MeetUp event as we ring in the new year together!

When:          Tuesday, January 29th from 6-9pm

Where:        BJs Restaurant & Brewhouse, 6424 Canoga Avenue, Woodland Hills CA 91367

• Howard Kea, Sr. OD Consultant/Coach, National Aeronautics & Space Administration (NASA) Goddard Space Flight Center
• Susana Hill, Change Management Advisor, General Services Administration (GSA)
• Brian Twillman, Training Coordinator and OD Specialist, Environmental Protection Agency
• Loraine Trotter, Division Manager, Pension Benefits Guaranty Corporation (PBGC)

Topics the panelists will address will include the following:

• What are your agency's biggest OD successes? Biggest challenges?
• How do you build value and understanding for OD in your organization?
• What are the key deliverables of OD in your agency?
• What types of initiatives are typically included under the OD category in your organization?
• What are some of your key insights and lessons learned about practicing OD in your organization?
• What do you see as the most unique aspects of implementing OD in a government culture?
• What is one thing OD consultants most need to understand about how government operates?

Date: Thursday, November 15, 2012 

Location:
Silver Spring Civic Building
One Veterans Place
Silver Spring, MD 20910
(corner of Ellsworth Drive and Fenton Street)

Time:·       

• 6:15-6:45 PM | Networking & Light Appetizers
• 6:45-8:45 PM | Evening Program

Please register at www.cbodn.org.  Registration is also available at the door.

Keeping Things Fresh in Omaha

Last month the Omaha OD Network explored change in a new way at their conference titled, Re-Modeling: A Fresh Look at Change Management. Over 80 participants gathered for a full day in an opportunity featuring both local and international speakers, focused on Omaha ODN’s goal: Explore, Learn, Share, Inspire.

We began the day exploring the martial art, Aikido, and how it relates to change management. Change can feel like a struggle. Aikido practice helps people resolve their struggles with others or with situations by embracing the practices of acknowledging, accepting, and redirecting what threatens us. Local Sensei, Lloyd McWhirt, brought real-world corporate and military experience to his teaching about following Aikido wisdom in everyday life.

Dr. Margaret Wheatley took the practice of acknowledge, accept, re-direct, to a new level by helping us continue our exploration focusing us on a topic very relevant to those of us who serve as change agents: How do we take care of ourselves in times of constant change? In answering this question, Meg urged each of us to have a regular practice, a way to connect to the larger picture. She stressed that it would be individual to each of us. Some of us might find silence in a regular exercise routine, in art or music, and for some of us, it might be just sitting still.

Meg’s conceptual journey led us right into focusing on how we might make that happen as we learned about the Systems Oriented Leadership model from Marita Fridjhon. Marita helped us learn about the third entity, where the power of the pair is greater than the sum of the individuals. This fresh look at change management focused on the power of the relationships at play during change, and how that impacts outcomes.

Our greatest chance to share with one another took place during the Open Space session led by local OD expert, Carol Horner. Carol led us into small groups formed around similar interests in thoughts born from the conference. We took the opportunity to share our ideas and collaborate around practical solutions.

We closed the conference with inspirational closing remarks from both Meg Wheatley and Marita Fridjhon. Together they reinforced key messages in an open question and answer exchange that kept us focused on the possibilities.

Support comes in the form of community, and we continue to take time to reach out to others in Omaha ODN and our local business communities. We share our stories, gather ideas, and prop each other up when times get tough. We’re setting our intentions on strengthening our community, and putting new ideas into practice every day.

Establishing New Beginnings for PRODN in the Philadelphia Region

Once upon a time in the city of brotherly love there lived a group of Organizational Development professionals and students from Philadelphia metro area schools. Long roots from a past group of OD professionals helped to ground these individuals and planted seeds of OD throughout the city. The current group wanted to cultivate a space where people could learn and practice principles of OD by sharing stories of success and problem solving challenges.

PRODN’s mission is to be a venue for positive change and innovation and to empower organizations and leaders to realize and obtain their highest potential. The new PRODN not only hopes to enhance the learning capabilities of OD students and practitioners but also provide a forum to collaborate with artists, musicians, non-profit leaders, corporate executives, doctors, lawyers and politicians. Our belief is that diverse people from varying age groups, backgrounds and cultures can go back to their organization or cause and extend the learning in ways that will create lasting change.

PRODN re-launched with an Appreciative Inquiry Learning Exchange held at Philadelphia College for Osteopathic Medicine (PCOM) on August 9th. PCOM is the current home of the PRODN efforts. Our next event which is scheduled for Saturday, October 13th will be PRODN’s first Intergenerational Learning Exchange with a focus on increasing leadership capacity and organizational sustainability. We welcome your presence at events if you’re in the Philadelphia area. Check our website http://www.prodn.orgfor updated event information. We also are requesting your good thoughts, suggestions and lessons learned! You can reach us at PRODNetwork@gmail.com.

Read More...

The Omaha Organization Development Network is excited to announce that we have brought together outstanding experts to explore and present emerging views of change management in a one-day conference at the DC Centre on September 26th, 2012. This is a rare and affordable opportunity to hear from authors, researchers and practitioners all under one roof. We anticipate several hundred attendees from the greater Omaha metro area.

Featured presenters include Margaret Wheatley, well-respected writer, speaker, and teacher, and Marita Fridjhon, co-owner and President of CRR Global.  We will also explore principles of Aikido to freshly understand and approach change management leadership and utilize an Open Space session to turn concepts and principles into application and real world work.  

OD Network President, Todd Conkright, says, "The day has been built to interest and inform business executives, entrepreneurs, managers, communicators, OD practitioners, HR professionals, trainers, coaches, and leaders from all industries.”

Download the flyer for "Re-Modeling” conference details. To register or enroll as a sponsor, visit the Omaha OD Network’s website. Early bird registration pricing is available through August 23.

The Omaha OD Network creates opportunities where members explore, learn and apply organization development methods, tools and techniques.