CBODN News & Announcements

Programs - RFP for Presenters

Maureen Gelwicks — Tue, 14 Dec 2010 19:04:30 GMT

CALL FOR PRESENTERS FOR CBODN MONTHLY PROGRAMS & WEBINARS

CBODN is looking for experienced professionals with proven presentation ability for its monthly educational programs in the Washington DC metropolitan area and to offer presentations using webinars.

Presentations for the monthly programs should be designed for an audience of 20+ participants and materials should cover a 2 hour time frame. Evening programs are held every third Tuesday of the month during September, October, November, January, February, March*, April*, May, June ( Depending on the time of the annual conference, the monthly program may be cancelled for that month).

Evening programs start with a half hour networking from 6:00pm – 6:30 pm and the program runs from 6:30pm until 8:30pm. Locations vary between Northern Virginia, Washington DC and Maryland, but are accessible via the Metro.

CBODN membership is optional but highly encouraged. Please download a presentation proposal form or reference our CBODN Programs website for information on previous programs.

NTL Annual Meeting - Save the Date

Maureen Gelwicks — Tue, 14 Dec 2010 19:07:17 GMT

NTL Institute Annual Meeting 2010
NTL Today - Translating Advances into the Applied Behavioral Science

August 27-29, 2010
National Labor College
Silver Spring, Maryland

Engage NTL members, alumni, and friends regarding present day advances in brain science, social networking technologies, and virtual interactions among others, and empower them to be translators of these amazing innovations and more effective trainers and practitioners in the Applied Behavioral Sciences.

CBODN Member and Volunteer Helen Starkweather published in OD Practitioner

Maureen Gelwicks — Tue, 14 Dec 2010 18:57:59 GMT

Helen Starkweather is an organization development consultant and coach with ten years of program management experience in retail, media, museums, and the arts. A former magazine editor for Smithsonian, Helen brings an affinity for narrative and story to her OD practice. While pursuing a Master of Science in Organization Development (OD) from American University/NTL Institute, Helen earned a distinction for her field work and received the Hal Kellner Award for demonstrated commitment to diversity. She is currently a program associate with the NTL Institute and is pursuing her professional leadership coaching certification from Georgetown University. Her article, "Embodied Differences," was recently published in the journal OD Practitioner.

What brought you to the field of OD?
After a decade as a journalist, I found that I needed to take my natural curiosity about human systems from the page to the person. I wanted to find work that was meaningful and that supported effective human and organizational functioning, especially in the areas of communication, relationships, professional development, differences and inclusion. I already had extensive experience in communications, strategically managing projects and programs, and building and leading teams. Furthermore, I was often the person at work who established rapport, enjoyed staff meetings, tracked interpersonal dynamics, and actively worked to improve processes and procedures.

What drew you to the work you did for this article?
The work for this article came from my personal journey involving the tension between social group and individual identities, as well as my own focus on conversation and language as a way to influence change. As someone who possesses a largely invisible but significant difference, I often felt, growing up, like a "cross-dresser" between cultures. Over the years, I have had conversations with people across many kinds of differences, who felt similarly that their unique, often marginal, experiences were not sufficiently talked about within the more dualistic kinds of diversity conversations taking place in society, subcultures and organizations, thus inhibiting fuller engagement. It seemed to me that we could better leverage the wealth of these "cross-dressing" or "bridging" experiences to facilitate change in whatever kind of status quo we find ourselves. I began to notice similar themes and language use in these stories and in my own. At the same time, many OD professionals admitted to me that they had little direct experience in working with people with disabilities. I found this curious, since people with disabilities are the world's largest minority. I also noticed some parallels between social groups around disability and gender. The article's combined lenses of disability and Queer Theory, already used in some academic circles, helps to bring nuanced concepts to organizations in a fresh way so as to raise an appreciative awareness of a variety of perspectives, as well as the social construction and cultural narratives around disability and gender differences.

What was the most interesting thing you learned through writing this article?
First of all, I learned that there is a wealth of information available, more is emerging, and that there is a lot that I am still learning about. Based on the stories told by other OD professionals, I am learning how hungry many are for pluralistic, relevant, cutting-edge theories, methods, and philosophies that can support people and systems in workplaces that are very different than when Kurt Lewin first proposed his three-step change model in the 1940s. The combined lens that I use seems to help to create energy as well as open the space for more intentional conversation around how we frame and work with visible and invisible differences.

How do you hope OD practitioners will use your work?
I'd be thrilled if this provides OD professionals with an "a-ha" moment, whether about themselves or others. Hopefully they will consider this work (as nascent as it is) as another resource for their own practice in support of client engagement, collaboration, and problem-solving. Perhaps this can be a reminder for practitioners to continue to consciously attend to narratives and stories that inform, expand, or constrict understanding, behavior, and systems-awareness regarding disabilities and other differences in organizations. I hope that this work invites OD professionals to more fully leverage practitioner/client "bridging" experiences to enhance some of their diversity and social justice work, rather than as an aside or after-thought.

What do you see as the top one or two emerging trends for OD?
More people are working virtually across national and organizational cultures, so being able to effectively intervene in virtual settings is, in my opinion, probably too pressing an issue to be considered an emerging trend. Given that people are increasingly working across a variety of differences, geographies, cultures and mind-sets, I believe how we converse with each other to jointly make meaning and create the environments in which we live and work will be critical. This is where social constructionism, neuroscience and other cognition, dialogue-type practices, cultural competencies, and studies in consciousness, for example, may continue to play even larger roles in our work.

Tell us a little bit about the sort of OD work you are doing right now.
Right now, my focus is on finding an organization development/training position in the DC area with an organization or consulting firm. Meanwhile, I have been coaching in both the private and public sectors; and working with various nonprofits to support leadership development; team building; and volunteer engagement. This spring, I will be co-presenting at a conference on Clinical Legal Education in Baltimore, MD. I am also on the Board of the AU/NTL Association, in addition to volunteering with CBODN's 2010 conference.

Volunteer Opportunities on CBODN.ORG

Maureen Gelwicks — Tue, 14 Dec 2010 18:48:06 GMT

CBODN has added a "Volunteer Community" to its website! Please visit our community where you can:

Learn about current volunteer needs
Sign-up for the Volunteer Opportunity Mailing List

Volunteering with CBODN is a great way to expand your network, develop your skills, improve your resume, and give back to the OD community. We have a variety of volunteer opportunities that can fit your schedule, interest area, and geographic location. If you have just an hour to lend a hand or if you are looking to lead a more complex project, we want to hear from you!

CBODN Launches "Practical IT for OD Professionals" Webinar Series

Maureen Gelwicks — Tue, 14 Dec 2010 18:49:56 GMT

CBODN is pleased launch a new webinar series aimed at helping OD practitioners quickly get up to speed on the latest popular technologies. This series is great for people who are looking to :

Grow their consulting practice
Find a new job
Expand their network
Learn how they can use modern technology to engage with clients and teams.

You will gain the information and comfort level you need to immediately apply what you have learned and quickly realize all the benefits that the technology has to offer.

Go to the main "Practical IT for the OD Professional" page to learn about upcoming topics, suggest a speaker, or request a future topic.

CBODN is on Twitter!

Maureen Gelwicks — Tue, 14 Dec 2010 18:52:19 GMT

CBODN is starting a Twitter presence! Twitter is becoming a very popular way for OD professionals to expand their network, reach prospective clients, learn about the latest trends in OD, and find great OD events & conferences.

We will soon be adding our twitter feed to the CBODN website so you can easily see the latest news and items important to OD professionals.

•Include the tag #CBODN in your tweet to have it displayed on our website twitter page.
•You can follow us at @cbodn.
•We are looking for people to help tweet on behalf of CBODN. If you are interested in volunteering for this, please email jwhitehead@cbodn.org

CBODN adds "Communities" to its website

Maureen Gelwicks — Tue, 14 Dec 2010 18:54:08 GMT

CBODN is excited to launch several new new “community” pages where people can share ask questions, post announcements, and share ideas. We currently have communities for Volunteers, Member Input, Conference Committee, and Board of Directors. These communities are part of our ongoing effort to engage members, foster discussions, and connect our members.

We plan to add a community for the 2010 Conference where attendees can get advanced information about the sessions and also continue conversations after the conference.

Please join in the discussion and start sharing your ideas today!

CBODN Launches New & Improved Consultant Directory

Maureen Gelwicks — Tue, 14 Dec 2010 17:05:10 GMT

We at CBODN are glad to announce that our new, redesigned Consultant Directory is now online!

You can now advertise to those seeking OD services in the Washington, D.C. metro area on our website. It only takes a few minutes to get your company or individual consultancy listed, and you can add enhancers such as photos and logos with a simple upload.

As you will see, we have expended much effort on the redesign of this directory. Our listings have promotional and search functionality that many listings do not. We also have added the option for you to purchase a premium listing for an additional fee. Our fees are very competitive and are on a sliding scale, making them even more affordable, no matter how large or small your business is. Sign up for the Consultant Directory today!

Consultant listings are open to the public, allowing the more than 500 visitors who come to the CBODN website everyday to find you. Remember that you can use our directory to find partners for business opportunities, too. Internal OD professionals seeking a consultant are encouraged to look to your CBODN colleagues first and search our directory. Search the Consultant Directory to find the perfect OD consulting partner!

We hope that you will "give it a go" and share your feedback on how we can improve the directory as well. We would also appreciate your referrals of those who should be on our directory. Please send your comments and suggestions to support@cbodn.org.

SUPPORT@CBODN.ORG - Your New Email Address For All Member Support Questions

Maureen Gelwicks — Tue, 14 Dec 2010 17:01:21 GMT

You told us that improving our member support was important to you, and we listened! CBODN is proud to announce that we have implemented a new member support request tracking system and process. Part of the new website and member management system, the new process enables us to capture and track all communication with members, automatically prioritize issues, and generate reports on how quickly we respond to member issues. Additionally, you can now view all of your requests for support on the website, including all updates to your questions.

To make the most of our new capabilities:

Please email all requests for assistance to support@cbodn.org. All emails sent to this address automatically get entered into our support system and will be tracked to ensure a quick response.
Alternatively, please feel free to enter your questions via the website under the "Contact" menu.
You will receive an automatic confirmation that your request has been received, which will include a case number for your reference. Please be sure to include this case number in the subject line of any future emails (related to the particular case) sent to support@cbodn.org, so that your update gets assigned to your existing case.To view all of your requests for support, please login to the system and go to the "Your CBODN Profile." All of your cases are listed at the bottom of the page.
Look for announcements about other improvements to our website and member service capabilities in the months ahead.

Changes Coming to Membership Renewal Process

Maureen Gelwicks — Tue, 14 Dec 2010 17:02:54 GMT

Among other improvements implemented with our new website, we will be streamlining the member enrollment and renewal process. With this change, members will be enrolled in an automatic renewal process. The automatic renewal process will ensure you have continued access to all CBODN benefits, preferred pricing, and the members-only area of the website. The switch to automatic renewal will also eliminate the need for those pesky reminder emails that you used to receive letting you know that your membership was going to expire.

We are still developing this capability, but hope to roll in out soon. When implemented, the system will automatically charge your credit card when it is time for you to renew. All credit card information and transactions will continue to be processed by our secure system, which is powered, secured and maintained by PayPal. Also, you will be able to cancel your membership renewal at any time just by sending an email to support@cbodn.org.

CBODN has enjoyed a very high rate of membership renewals for many years, and we are happy to offer this new capability that will reduce the hassle and burden our members now face when it comes to renewing their membership.

Volunteer Opportunities on CBODN.ORG

Maureen Gelwicks — Tue, 14 Dec 2010 18:10:51 GMT

CBODN has added a "Volunteer Community" to its website! Please visit our community where you can:

Learn about current volunteer needs
Sign-up for the Volunteer Opportunity Mailing List