BOARD MEMBER MESSAGE
Hello EO New York!
After being a member for 10 years, I finally took the leap to the join the Chapter Board and I could not be more impressed with our community and those who have stepped up to lead and nurture it. Seeing it from this side brings a whole new perspective. Being able to take part in making it better seems the natural progression of our membership. This organization has done a tremendous amount for me, and I am happy to do what I can now to help improve every other members’ experience.
As Moderator Chair, I am tasked with Forum Support and Health. Besides the reasons we all rely on forum, forum is also conduit of information from EO global, from regional, and from our chapter, through our moderators and on to our members. Simple things like the fact that EO no longer uses the word gestalt. Instead we use “Forum Mindset” which means the same thing. Apparently gestalt doesn’t actually mean exactly what we all think it does. As well as larger changes and shifts in the EO world. While forum seems so intimate and personal, it is important to remember that there is a global universe of EO out there for you to explore.
To get these messages out we have two annual moderator meetings where we discuss items that affect forums, and bring tools that can help forums improve their experience. We feel that stepping up to moderate is a big deal and shows a deep commitment to the forum. We like to reward that with special speakers and trainings designed to help the moderator be a leader of leaders. In keeping with the forum of mods theme, I also hold monthly mod lunches or happy hours for mods to meet up and share with each other best practices and ideas. I am trying to plan these before or after learning events to make attendance easier.
In our most recent moderator meeting held in September, we practiced using an Open Coaching Presentation Format. Perhaps some of you have tried it out already at your last meeting. It offers a great way to generate Deep Dives (new word for presentations!). Then, Dr. Jon Fader lead a presentation on Motivational Interviewing. Dr. Fader served two seasons as the Director of Mental Conditioning for the New York Football Giants, and also served as the team psychologist for the New York Mets for nine seasons. He is part of The New York City Fire Department (FDNY) Mental Performance Initiative. The tools of Motivational Interviewing directly corelate to coaching deep dives. It was a good morning of learning and moderator bonding.
This year as a board we are, for the first time, focusing on the “Trifecta.” A global EO initiative, the Trifecta brings the Membership Chair, the Forum Chair, and the Integration Chair together to create a smooth member experience from first glance to old timer. Of special interest to me currently is the forum placement process. We strive to have every new member placed in a forum within 90 days of joining. It is a difficult task to manage as we have 21 forums, 1 spousal forum, and 1 key exec forum. I have been working closely with Michael Tobias, Len Oppenheimer, Rich Shinnick, Ameen Nassiri, and Beth Chernick to streamline and make this process simpler for new members.
Thank you to the EONY community for all your support over the years. Business has good years and bad years, but the support of this community is constant. Just when you need it most, EO shows up.
Please reach out if I can ever be of service to anyone. See ya at the next event!
Nat Milner
Moderator Chair