Outreach Working Group

April 19, 2004 - minutes

Thanks to all who participated in the most recent conference call for the working group on Outreach.  We took our initial objectives one step further and began to set priorities.  The goal, once again, is to have a set of deliverables—either specific recommendations or some type of toolkit—ready by the next Shambhala Congress. 

 The conference call was incredibly productive with a number of specific ideas about tangible services that our working group could provide to the Shambhala community. At this point, it seems that our potential deliverables are focused in several areas:

* PUBLICITY TOOLKIT in order to provide a multi-pronged approach, expanding our idea of publicity beyond direct mailings to members and in-house email lists. This might include a series of templates and/or samples for poster design, press releases, web postings, classified adds, fliers, coupons, etc. As an economy of scale, this could be an especially helpful service to smaller centers. We also discussed revamping websites as a marketing tool. The idea is to broaden our publicity venues and advertise through multiple channels in order to attract new people and fill programs.

* TRACKING DEVICE #1 for gateway programs. It could be as simple as designing a handout for first-time participants to fill out, providing contact information and other feedback (how did you hear about us, were the teachings clearly presented, etc.). We might also try to figure out a system for data sharing between centers regionally. The idea here is to "bake" new processes into gateway programs and make the path "stickier." In other words, when someone comes in the door, how do we keep them?  We discussed two other issues that address this question: (1) using Shambhala guides to make personal contact with newcomers and (2) having a clear pipeline of what the path is for newcomers so it can be communicated through announcements, brochures, integrated publicity, etc.

* TRACKING DEVICE #2 to gather statistics for quantitative analysis. This would involve inviting a dozen centers of various scales (small and large, urban and rural, etc.) to track their pricing and participation levels in specific gateway programs, in coordination with publicity options and other systems we develop. We may be able to offer a database model for centers who do not already have a mechanism to track registration and net income for programs. This could enable centers to assess their progress with outreach and gain valuable data for the future strategic planning.

 * ADAPTING THE GATEWAY or providing flexible designs for entry-level programs, such as Turning the Mind into an Ally (TMA). Adaptable modules would provide local centers with the most flexibility for hosting programs and/or bringing them out into the community (to hospitals, public library, college campuses, etc.). We discussed the relative merits of explicitly Buddhist approaches versus no-frills meditation.

 So, we're off and running!  We have some great ideas, and the next step is to clarify our plan of action.  The summer might be an ideal time to branch off into smaller groups to discuss individual topics in more detail.  Looking forward to our next conference call on Monday, May 17th!

Members of the Outreach Working Group in attendance: Brian Spielmann, Deborah Garrett, Ravenna Michalsen, Adam Lobel, Holly Gayley, Sophie Maclaren, Peter Bancel, and Valerie Morvan

Additional members of the Outreach Working Group: David Quinn, Magali Meneses, Kerry Conant and Betsy Pond

Consulting Members: Jane Arthur, Ann Cason, Seth Bregman and Bill Karelis