4-5+Convening+--+Dinner

===//At dinner, Annie Leonard (Story of Stuff) Marnie Webb (Tech Soup Global) and Deborah Meehan (Leadership Learning Community) shared inspirational stories on the power of networks. Beth Kanter facilitated the conversation.//=== media type="custom" key="9006544"Graphic recording by Lynn Carruthers. Download file on SlideShare to view in higher resolution.

media type="custom" key="9012866" Photos of the notes and event




 * //Additional discussion://**

//Brief background on their network work //
 * __Annie Leonard on the Story of Stuff __: After several requests from audiences who had seen the Story of Stuff presentation, Annie and a few others took on the production of the Story of Stuff video, as a side project. Almost overnight, the Story of Stuff became a massive accidental network. Thousands of mails started coming and donors were sending money to the “Story of Stuff” – which was nonexistent – so the team rushed and started a project at the Tide Center.
 * __Marnie Webb & Tech Soup Global __: TechSoup Global is a 24 year old capacity building organization that identifies nonprofits and their specific technology needs, and helps to fill that need by providing them with technology and tech support. TechSoup also records and disseminates information about how IT tools are currently being used by nonprofits in the field. Seven years ago, TechSoup was operating its donation program in the U.S. with some success. When pressure from constituents and from corporate partners to offer services internationally began to increase, the organization decided to expand. They quickly realized that they could not succeed on their own; rather they’d have to build relationships with partners on (foreign) ground. TechSoup’s leadership felt they had “no choice but to become a network.” In three years, donations to TechSoup made outside the U.S. will exceed those made nationally.
 * __Deborah Meehan & Leadership Learning Community __: 12 years ago, as a former Kellogg fellow, Meehan was recruited to organize (and later, to scale) the movement against Proposition 187, which would deny school for undocumented children. Deborah received a small grant to bring 50 leaders together to talk about their efforts in this area, and she decided to do so in Open Space fashion. This was the beginning of the LLC.

//The power of networks//
 * Annie: After the debut of the Story of Stuff, Annie and her team were inundated with requests to translate the video. To ensure the quality of the translation, they found experts worldwide to translate the video, and asked volunteers to check the translation for good measure… However, many volunteers who felt that this method was taking too long started translating the film on their own. Annie and her team had to let go and trust that the community would help with quality control – and indeed, people worldwide emailed Annie with debates on the “third word of the fifth paragraph of the French translation of the story of stuff.”
 * Marnie: TechSoup started the NetSquared initiative to “mine, profile, and accelerate innovative projects using Web and mobile-based technologies focused on social change, locally and globally.” The first year, TechSoup members all agreed that case studies were a fantastic idea, but no one volunteered. After we staged a popular contest with monetary reward, many organizations not only submitted their case study, but also spent a lot of time on the phone with TechSoup Global asking about how they could win… By the second year, the same organizations only cared about what the community thought about their cases, and by the third year they were combining their ideas and hiring each other! In the fourth year, the people who were competing with each other called the previous years’ winners, asked about how they succeeded, and shared it publically.
 * This experience was illustrative of how networks take time to develop and deliver powerful results.
 * From the beginning, TechSoup leadership had concerns about who the community might choose as the winner. To get over their apprehension, they approached the initiative as a learning experience.
 * Deborah: A couple of years ago, Deborah and her colleagues did not feel they had the right mix of people (e.g., in terms of racial and age diversity) for the upcoming LLC national convening. So, they put out a call to the entire community (e.g., via email, newsletter, and website). Because the response rate was so great, LLC was faced with an unforeseen predicament: deciding who to take! Board member Eugene Kim suggested a radical idea: take everyone! Eventually, and despite concerns over the quality of the program, Deborah decided to do just that, and extended the invitation to whoever expressed interest — even those who had never been to a meeting! It turned out to be a great meeting where many great new ideas were presented. Moreover, the leadership was so distributed that even when Deborah – the main organizer – broke her knee and couldn’t attend the event, the program proceeded as planned.
 * In extending the invitation to so many individuals with whom she wasn’t familiar, Deborah took a leap of faith – but she was surrounded by “smart people who supported her.”
 * The program was framed as an experiment. That reduced the pressure on organizers: if the event had failed, it would have still been a great learning experience.

//Challenges of networks://
 * Annie: Scaling so suddenly was overwhelming. It took time to develop the infrastructure, however minimal, and to realize that this was the new normal. Having a diverse constituency is also quite challenging (e.g., interest from Martha Stuart, elementary school students, and an Oxford economics professor); having a broad audience means offering a very extensive buffet of topics / engagement opportunities.
 * <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0.1pt 0in;">Marnie: TechSoup has succeeded because it’s delivered on contracts and grants with excellence, and we often want our grantees to participate exactly like we would if we were them. Moreover, TechSoup faces legal ramifications if our contracts aren’t followed; for instance, if our products show up on ebay. One challenge is to identify where there are real risks vs. when we are just afraid. Another is to manage the network in a networked way, for example, working with lawyers to identify nonprofit partners on the ground. Combining the two challenges in a way that adds value and helps everyone thrive is a constant struggle.
 * <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0.1pt 0in;">Deborah: It’s difficult to try to behave as a network in an organizational context.

//Stories of radical but plausible success://
 * <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0.1pt 0in;">Annie: Story of Stuff network becomes less Annie-centric and incorporates other members of the five-person team. Moreover, there is more spontaneous discussion about how we throw away stuff in the community at large, and a shift in the economy that makes it more healthy, fair, and fun.
 * <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0.1pt 0in;">Marnie: There’s stronger leadership among TechSoup’s constituents, at least one of which becomes larger than TechSoup itself.
 * <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0.1pt 0in;">Deborah: People are learning and leading in dramatically different ways. We’re emergent, experimenting with collaborative research initiative (e.g., writing about different topics on wikis), etc. Our members are experimenting with getting the community organized beyond what LLC can do.

//Final thoughts from our guests://
 * <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0.1pt 0in;">Annie: embrace risk, fail fast and view it as a learning opportunity; invest in infrastructure (i.e., the ties as well as the nodes); and have fun! We’re giving / getting money to make the world better!
 * <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0.1pt 0in;">Marnie: As a nonprofit, I want to learn more about what you guys know! Partner with nonprofits. Share with them your successes and failures.
 * <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0.1pt 0in;">Deborah: We need to find the secret sauce, the opportunity to break down the barrier between “them” and “us” that often prevents funders from being part of the networks they support / help fund. In one open space session that included both funders and nonprofits, one funder held up a sign that said “deep secrets, dark places.” Later in the call out – which had a performing-arts component – this group put together a dramatic performance: people silently walked across the room “carrying” their burdens in the form of signs on their back (e.g., “I lie to funders,” “I have no idea what I’m doing,” and “I’m wearing golden handcuffs”), put them on the ground, then walked out. It created a whole ethos for the rest of the organization that stressed that funders and nonprofits are “in it” together.

//Discussion on the "secret sauce" of success for networks:// <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0.1pt 0in;">
 * <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">Annie: **Trust**
 * <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0.1pt 0in;">Marnie: **Tangible**
 * <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0.1pt 0in;">Deborah: **Openness** (Deborah actually asked the LLC for the answer to this question, and presented us with a wordle!)
 * **<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 11pt;">Sharing **<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 11pt;">: We’ve talked a lot about foundations having to give up control when working with networks, but giving up control may be the wrong term: it’s more about sharing control. Yes, funders need to listen to network members, but they can also share the concerns they’re faced with in a manner that will be appreciated by the network. Moreover, in terms of framing, having no control can be a very scary thing…
 * **<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 11pt;">Energy **<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 11pt;">: We need to ask what is attracting people to the network in the first place; even if it’s something passive, people have to be getting something out of it.
 * **<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 11pt;">Breaking through barriers **<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 11pt;">: All three stories broke through some barrier on their own terms, in their own time.
 * **<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 11pt;">Comfort with uncertainty and ambiguity **<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 11pt;">: It takes tremendous courage to find the courage, confidence, and comfort around sharing control.
 * **<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 11pt;">Relax **<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 11pt;">: Relax and live in the moment, take a deep breath and just do it… Have “coraggio”!
 * **<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 11pt;">Outlet **<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 11pt;">: People can engage in networks as an outlet for something they’re struggling with, to help them channel their thoughts into action.
 * **<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 11pt;">Emergence **<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 11pt;">: Large groups can converge and patterns emerge from big chaos.

Go back to April 5-6 Convening Notes