Hello fellow public participation practitioners!
As you may be aware, there has been some discussion over the past year about launching a Prairie Chapter of IAP2. At the same time, IAP2 Canada has been working on increasing support for regional chapter development and is making some small grants available to encourage chapter development and events.
After some helpful advice from IAP2 Canada board members Tiffany Skomro and Anne Harding, I’ve decided to reach out to IAP2 members in Manitoba and Saskatchewan in the hopes of striking a steering committee of 5 to 10 people to explore setting up a Prairies Chapter of IAP2.
If you are interesting in joining the Steering Committee please contact me, Michelle Holland by Friday February 10, 2012.
1. Start Up Steering Committee – some initial thoughts:
Using the example of other IAP2 regional chapters, this steering committee could act as an interim body that would focus on: 1 – some initial proposals for the chapter’s purpose and mandate, and 2 –organizing a first chapter event. An event could be a great opportunity to create some momentum, meet one another, generate feedback on the steering committee’s proposals, or even striking a more formal structure for further work on a chapter.
- Time commitment:
To get things moving and to provide some initial direction on the formation of a regional chapter, an initial meeting would ideally be planned for mid- to late-February. Over the next few months prospective committee members might expect to participate in two or three meetings or conference calls and spend 5-10 hours of additional time on outreach, communication or planning.
- Committee planning:
Some aspects of planning may include: governance, membership and programming, development and outreach, communication, MB-SK-NW Ontario regional representation, etc.
- Duration of commitment:
An initial commitment of three months will allow some time for the committee to take some first steps towards establishing a chapter. After three months, the committee can determine whether their work should continue, end or transition to a more permanent board or committee.
2. If you are interested in joining the committee:
Please contact me by Friday, February 10th. Please provide the following information:
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Name/company/contact information
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Aspects of planning you may be interested in or have some experience with.
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Any thoughts on your hopes/expectations/questions for the steering committee or regional chapter.
We prefer that you have an active IAP2 membership to participate on the committee. If you know of colleagues or other P2 practitioners who might be interested in getting involved, please pass this along or let me know and I’ll do my best to reach them.
3. Keeping you informed on our progress:
We will be using this email list to send out updates and announcements regarding the chapter, so if you aren’t interested in being on the committee, but would still like to stay apprised of our progress, these email updates should help keep you in the loop. If you would prefer NOT to receive any further emails about this, please let me know and I’ll remove you from the list.
That’s it for now. If you have any questions, feel free to contact me. Thanks in advance for your time and attention on this. I look forward to working with you in the weeks and months to come!
With kind regards,
Michelle Holland
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Michelle Holland Consulting
Communications and Public Engagement
204.955.4225
michellekuly@gmail.com