PROGRESS REPORT

Well it's been a month since I started working to get kids outside in Oklahoma City by starting an ICO (Inner City Outing) group. In my posts up until now I've been outlining how I will be structuring the organization and the things I'm doing to facilitate putting that organization together. Let's see how I'm doing against the "official" New Group Starup Checklist at http://clubhouse.sierraclub.org/outings/ico/chair-resources/establishing-an-ico-group.aspx. My progress follows each in italics.

I’d originally planned to lead the first hikes around Spring break. Based on my progress I’d give myself a B-, but you be the judge.

NEW GROUP STARTUP CHECKLIST

1) Solicit approval and recognition of your group as an official activity section or committee from your Sierra Club Chapter and Group Executive Committees.Have the chair of your Sierra Club Chapter and Group Executive Committees write a letter indicating approval and recognition of your group.

Me - This was the first thing I did. Both the Group and Chapter Chairs sent emails of recognition within the first week.

2) Select a chair or co-chairs for your ICO group. A letter of reference about the chair from some other Sierra Club official must accompany the ICO group application.

Me - Haven't done this yet. Hmmm. Who should I ask to send a letter of reference? Stay tuned.

3) Send names, addresses, email addresses, and phone numbers of core volunteers to the ICO Administrator upon applying for ICO group recognition. This will be your first "leader list." These should be people who have committed to becoming certified ICO leaders or committed to taking on a specific role in the group to make it flourish.

Me - This is the element is a perfect example of how checklists can be deceiving. Though it's a single check, it's the one on which I've written the most posts and spent the most time.
As I outlined in "E-Myth" I'm being fairly specific of skill sets and responsibilities for the people who will comprise the "core volunteers". It's made the going slow, but I believe it will be more sustainable and scalable.

So far, I've gotten agreements from two people to serve with me on the steering committee. David Franklin, a former ICO Chair, has agreed to be the Business Manager. David has a long and varied Sierra Club resume', which will be a real asset to our group. And, Doug Hill, current Chapter Outing Chair, has agreed to serve in the role of Activity Manager. Doug has been a solid advocate and facilitator for training local outdoor leaders. A critical asset as we move forward. But there are still more to recruit.

4) Get letters of interest from at least two agencies (organizations) including a description of the populations they serve. Include a contact person for each agency with phone numbers and addresses.

Me - I've met with two agencies. Both have expressed not only interest, but excitement at the prospect of the program. But neither has sent a "letter of interest". Guess I'll need to nudge a little.

5) Describe your plan for leader screening and certification, including criminal background check and motor vehicle check procedures. Note: National ICO has a contract with an online screening service to conduct background and DMV checks. If you are interested in using this service, please indicate that in your application with the name, phone number, and email address of the person who will be responsible for this task.

Me - We'll use the service that the National ICO is using. Doug Hill, the activity manager, will be handling this. So, for the most part, this one's done.
Describe your plan for leader training.Me - Since I'm a member of the national training team, I can easily do this myself or set up a training workshop and bring in some of the other trainers. I'll be writing a post on this in the near future. Stay tuned.

6) Describe your plan for fundraising.

Me - Fundraising is critical. At this time I'm planning to do something in January. Again, it'll be a future post.

7) Describe your plan for outings: What kind? When will you begin your outings? How often will you conduct outings? Plan to have at least the equivalent of two outings per six months (or explain a realistic plan for outings).

Me - The plan for outings will be integrated into the goals of the agency with which they are run. Most will be day hikes. But we'll develop them according to the outcomes desired by the agency. For instance, one agency may want to integrate it into a leader development program with increasing responsibility and challenge for the participants while another may want to use it as a positive reward for appropriate behavior of their kids.

8) Plan to have regular ICO meetings.

Me - "Duh".

HELP WANTED

Over the years in various volunteer leadership roles, from President of the Band Boosters to Girl Scout Troop Leader I've learned that even though I'm looking for volunteers, these are still jobs. I sure wouldn't want someone who can't balance their own checkbook to handle the finances. Even if they are a volunteer. And I wouldn't want a leader who doesn't like being around a bunch of kids, leading a bunch of kids into the outdoors. So, even if they are volunteers, they need to be qualified.


So I'm going to approach this just as if it were a job interview. And I'm going to write help wanted ads for each of the roles and post them where ever I can.

Writing The Ads
You may have noticed that most help wanted ads follow a format of 1) Title of Job, 2)Description of Job, and 3)Description of Ideal Candidate.

I've already written the Job Titles and Descriptions. Now I need to describe the ideal candidate. Doing so does three things. First, it tells potential candidates what sort of experience they need to do the job. Second, it helps potential candidates self-screen themselves out if they don't have appropriate experience. And, finally, and most importantly, it helps the interviewer better define what they're looking for.

Lets look at the Business Manager for instance. The job definition reads "tracks revenue and expenses related to the program and oversees all necessary reporting to the Sierra Club national office." I then added "The ideal candidate will have experience maintaining the finances of an organization, experience with organizational reporting procedures and familiarity with the structure of the Sierra Club."

Now instead of asking, "Do you know someone who would be willing to track the revenue and expenses related to the ICO program and oversee all necessary reporting to the Sierra Club national office?" Which is the job description. I ask, "Do you know someone in the Sierra Club with experience maintaining finances and organizational reports?" Which is the description of the ideal candidate.

You'll notice I'm asking, "Do you know someone?", not "Will you?" So the "Ideal Candidate bullets" are a recruiting tool that I can apply to what I learned in My Date With Drew.

Again, over the years I've learned that volunteers don't want to be in charge, but they are willing to help with something based on a skill set they already have. So, when I do find a likely candidate, I always ask, "Will you help me with _____?" Not, "Will you be in charge of _______?".

You'll find the ideal candidate descriptions for all the jobs below. Hopefully, I will soon have help. Here are the job titles, job description and ideal candidate descriptions.


PROGRAM COORDINATOR (Chair)
The Program Coordinator is responsible for coordinating the activities of the six program managers and holding coordinates the overall program by managing and holding accountable the managers, coordinators and officers.


The ideal candidate will have -

• experience in each of the jobs necessary to sustain the program


• experience organizing and executing organizational events

BUSINESS MANAGER
The Business Manager tracks revenue and expenses related to the program and oversees all necessary reporting to the Sierra Club national office.

The ideal candidate will have

• experience with maintaining the finances of an organization


• experience with organizational reporting procedures


• familiarity with the structure of the Sierra Club

VOLUNTEER COORDINATOR
The Volunteer Coordinator identifies the human resource needs of the program and then recruits volunteers to meet those needs including the Program Coordinator and all of the department heads, as well as the leaders on the activities.

The ideal candidate will have -

• experience asking people to help


• a broad network of contacts inside and outside the club

AGENCY LIASON MANAGER
The Agency Liason Manager recruits and leads the selection process of partner agencies and maintains the relationship between the program and partner agencies.

The ideal candidate will have-

• experience working with youth support agencies


• experience working with the Sierra Club

ACTIVITY MANAGER
The Activities Manager approves all outdoor activities led by the program and develops new activities to keep the participants engaged. Additionally, the Activity Manager recruits and coordinates the volunteers who will be taking the participants into the out of doors and makes certain they are appropriately trained and certified.

The ideal candidate will have -

• Certification as a Sierra Club outing leader


• Experience training outing leaders using the resources available through the club


• Experience working with youth and youth organizations

SUPPORT SERVICES MANAGER
The Support Services Manager arranges necessary transportation, food, equipment and educational materials for all outdoor activities and maintains the equipment and materials of the program.

The ideal candidate will have-

• Demonstrated problem solving ability


• Experience acquiring materials and services


• A can-do attitude

DEVELOPMENT MANAGER
The Development Manager is responsible for generating all funds necessary to operate the program.

The ideal candidate will have -

• Experience asking people for money

PUBLIC INFORMATION MANAGER
The Public Information Manager manages all public communication both inside and outside the organization.

The ideal candidate will have -

• Experience working with the media


• Experience writing press releases


• Experience maintaining websites


• Experience maintaining Facebook pages

MY DATE WITH DREW

I need to do some recruiting for agencies serving youths, volunteers to lead those youths on hikes and additional administrative help. I could just start cold calling people. But, I'm an outside salesperson by trade, and I've learned that a referral increases one's success in "the ask".

The best place I've found to learn how to get referrals is a movie titled, "My Date With Drew". It's a fun and funny documentary. Learning is ALWAYS more fun when it's entertaining! The story is about an unemployed guy who decides he needs a goal. So he decides his goal will be to get a date with Drew Barrymore. And, since he was in the entertainment industry, he decides to make a movie about his goal. It's a valuable watch if you need someone you don't know to help you accomplish a task.

Most of the movie involves the six degrees of separation theory. Everyone is only 6 people removed from anyone else in the world. The most instructional scenes are where he is brainstorming with his friends. They are making a list of people they know, who may know someone who may know someone who knows Drew Barrymore. So, that's what I did when trying to find an agency.

I have friends at the Regional Food Bank of Oklahoma, friends who are teaching at public schools in economically depressed areas, and friends who are social workers. Some I hadn't talked to in years. But I emailed them all and everyone of them responded. Two not only gave me the agency name, but also a contact, phone number and permission to use them as a reference. So what once would have been a "cold call," was now a "warm call". In fact, when I arrived at one agency the person I was meeting with said, "one of our board members said we should meet with you, but didn't tell us why". Good thing I had my elevator speech ready. At another meeting, it turned out that one of the program coordinators had been a research assistant in the sociology department at a local university. So when I shared my plan to recruit sociology students from local universities to lead the hikes, he offered to connect me to the dean! BONUS!

Now on to getting some additional administrative help. Time to write some "Help Wanted" ads.

ELEVATOR SPEECH

I need to recruit some help. But before I ask anyone to help, I need to write an "elevator speech". An "elevator speech" is a short explanation of WHO you are, WHAT you do, WHY someone should get involved with you and HOW they can get involved with you. It's also good to tell them WHEN and WHERE to get engaged. It's called an elevator speech because it is designed to be short enough to engage someone in a brief chance encounter. Like an elevator ride.

I did a video about elevator speeches for an Outing Chair Training that you can watch at www.youtube.com/tomlibbyvideos. And there's also a print out that goes with the video for creating your own elevator speech at www.tomlibby.com/elevatortalk.pdf.

My elevator talk will be especially important because I plan to recruit primarily from outside the Sierra Club. That means most people will be like my oldest daughter. Remember the lunch I referred to in the "Pre Ramble"? When I would say ICO (Inner City Outings), she would ask "Kids Outside"?

Here's what I came up with -

“Hi. My name is Tom Libby. I’m coordinating a *Sierra Club* program in Oklahoma City that takes less privileged kids into the out of doors. It’s called Inner City Outings. Our program works through youth agencies and schools. We’re just getting started back up in Oklahoma after being dormant for a couple of years so we have no volunteers, no staff, no money and there are no current affiliations with any agencies. You can find out more information about our program by going to www.sierraclub.org/ico. *Would you like to help?*

About the asterisks: I don't mention Sierra Club, unless I'm talking to someone who knows I'm in the Sierra Club. I do this because I want to get straight to the topic "getting less privileged kids into the out-of-doors". I don't want to spend time explaining what the Sierra Club is and what it does. And I seldom, if ever, say "Would you like to help?" Because I always ask for something specific, like: "Can you help me identify appropriate agencies?" "Can you handle the paperwork for our efforts?" "Can you make a donation, so we can pay for transportation for the kids?"

Although the elevator speech is designed for chance encounters, it's also very usefull for planned encounters.

Next, "My Date With Drew".

E-MYTH

The first thing I did was contact the local and national Sierra Club entities to let them know I was interested in starting an ICO group.
Here's the email from the Oklahoma City Group Chair -

Hi Tom,
We would love to have you as ICO chair!
The Oct-Dec newsletter is going to press, but can we introduce you as the new ICO chair at the October group meeting?

The next thing I did was send an email to the ICO Staff at the Sierra Club's national office. Here's that email and response from the ICO Manager which came along with a check list for starting a local ICO group:

"I hope you have help.

Seriously, it is quite a commitment - but you know all about commitment.

I'm thrilled Tom. How cool!"

Like she said, I need help. So, the next thing I did was put together a rough draft of the jobs that would need to be done to get the program going and keep it going. I followed very closely the process that Michael Gerber outlines in chapter 14 of his book E-Myth. Although his book is written for for-profit entrepreneurs, I highly recommend it to anyone involved with creating or operating any organization. I used it to set up the organization that ran the marching contest. See Pre Ramble.


Basically, after reading through all the materials the national office sent me about starting an ICO program, I sat down and wrote out all the tasks needed to operate the program. I lumped similar tasks together and gave them a job title. I used my own descriptive titles and didn't worry about the official Sierra Club title for the job. I refer to each of the following as "Department Heads". Here's the list so far with a brief job description for each:

PROGRAM COORDINATOR (Chair)
The Program Coordinator is responsible for coordinating the activities of the six program managers and holding coordinates the overall program by managing and holding accountable the managers, coordinators and officers.

VOLUNTEER COORDINATOR
The Volunteer Coordinator identifies the human resource needs of the program and then recruits volunteers to meet those needs including the Program Coordinator and all of the department heads, as well as the leaders on the activities.

BUSINESS MANAGER
The Business Manager tracks revenue and expenses related to the program and oversees all necessary reporting to the Sierra Club national office.

AGENCY LIASON MANAGER
The Agency Liason Manager recruits and leads the selection process of partner agencies and maintains the relationship between the program and partner agencies.

ACTIVITY MANAGER
The Activities Manager approves all outdoor activities led by the program and develops new activities to keep the participants engaged. Additionally, the Activity Manager coordinates the volunteers who will be taking the participants into the out of doors and makes certain they are appropriately trained and certified.

SUPPORT SERVICES MANAGER
The Support Services Manager arranges necessary transportation, food, equipment and educational materials for all outdoor activities and maintains the equipment and materials of the program.

DEVELOPMENT MANAGER
The Development Manager is responsible for generating all funds necessary to operate the program.

PUBLIC INFORMATION OFFICER
The Public Information Manager manages all public communication both inside and outside the organization.

That's eight different roles each with specific responsibilities and duties. And I need eight different people to fill these roles. But for now, I have written my name next to each job. My priority role is Volunteer Coordinator.

As you can see from the list, very few of the jobs require leading outdoor activities or working directly with the kids. This broadens my pool of candidates for the positions. Once recruited, the eight of us will form the steering committee or executive board. As the team forms we'll continue to review, revise and refine this list of roles. But right now, there’s just me, myself and I. Time to make some phone calls and get some help.

But first, I have to write my elevator speech.

PRE RAMBLE

This is a blog about my effort to start an Inner City Outings Program in Oklahoma City. Inner City Outings, or ICO, is a program run by the Sierra Club to take less fortunate kids in to the out-of-doors. Kids who otherwise might never get the chance to get away from an urban setting.

Paula Mitchell, friend and former volunteer national chair of the Inner City Outing program, encouraged me to blog about my experience to help others who might want to start a local program. My daughter Tana came up with the name for the blog. We were having lunch one day and jumping from topic to topic and back again. Whenever I'd say "ICO" she'd look at me and ask "kids outside"? The name stuck.

First, a little background information on me as it relates to kids, organizations and the outdoors. I've been a volunteer leader in the Sierra Club's Outdoor program for nearly 20 years. I've held leadership positions at both the local and national level. I am currently a member of the Outdoor Leadership Training Team which designs and delivers training that teaches the club's outdoor leaders how to take a group of people into the outdoors and bring them back safe, happy and inspired.

I have been involved with kids and have created organizations to support kids in several ways.

I served as a Girl Scout leader and Cookie Mom when my two younger daughters were in scouting. I was one of only two men in the Red Bud Council (Central & Western Oklahoma) serving in that capacity at the time.

In 2001 I was involved in the creation of the Putnam City Marching Classic, a high school marching band contest. Check it out at www.putnamcitymarchingclassic.com. I worked with the contest until 2010 and for 6 of the ten years served as its Event Coordinator.

I created a summer library workshop program that teaches 10 to 14 year olds how to build four foot tall model hot air balloons out of tissue paper and fly them. I’ve been doing workshops every summer since. Try it yourself at www.juniorballoonist.com. And, with help from the Oklahoma Department of Education, I created a lesson plan for middle school science teachers based on the workshops. At our peak my team delivered 63 workshops in three states in a single summer!

PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER
As an Outdoor Leadership Skills Instructor for the Sierra Club I've been involved with the development and delivery of curriculum to teach people how to lead a group on a hike safely. And then teach them how to move from being the leader of a hike to be the manager of an outdoor program. As event coordinator of a high school marching contest I learned how to create a sustainable organization structure that supports the work. And as a Girl Scout leader I witnessed firsthand the nature deficit among children today. Kids just don't know how to be outdoors and seldom have the chance to do so beyond a soccer field. So, I’ll use all I've learned about kids, the outdoors and organizations to create a local organizational structure to get Oklahoma City Kids Outside. And with this blog I'll be able to share my experiences with others to get THOUSANDS of kids into the outdoors.

Next, "E-Myth"