NeXtGen Digest

Our third brown bag gathering happened on Friday, July 25th at the Rialto Theater, home of The Reclamation Project, a refugee assistance organization.  Andrew Hoffman, NeXtGener and Executive Director of Neighborlink Fort Wayne hosted us and led our conversation on storytelling through a revealing game of “Name that Brand.” Thanks to friendly collaborations with TRP, Andrew works out of this building several times a week.

Sparked by sheer curiosity in the Rialto’s ongoing renovations, we numbered 16 for this much anticipated meeting- a sneak peak into one of our community’s most charming places of old.  Andrew’s tour of the old theater lived up to our expectations: we saw an amazing space that though only nearing the end of its first phase of rehabilitation, still provokes thoughts of grandeur and nostalgia.  A lot of labor and love have already gone into the building and our tour confirmed that much of the same is ongoing.  At this point in the process, NeXtGeners were able to see the potential in this beautiful building.

Our inquiring minds satisfied, we returned to the TRP’s gallery, a former storefront attached to the theater. In the gallery, we sat on sofas and a collection of comfy chairs to kick-off our storytelling conversation. Rather than go around the room tweaking each others elevator speeches, Andrew led us through a spontaneous exercise intended to reveal subtleties in our organizations’ brands.

Inspired by his previous experience in marketing (also one of the hats he wears for Neighborlink), Hoffman detailed the significance of understanding one’s brand and building communications from that understanding. The exercise was simple. For nearly all organization’s represented, we went around the room sharing our experience and knowledge of that organization.  We talked about its brand.  As Andrew explained, our organization’s brands are not self generated; they exist outside of the charity, based upon public perceptions. It’s not what you say it is, its what they say.

So, we said.

It was a powerful exercise in its simplicity. In a round we were able to pinpoint each organization’s storytelling challenges.  Our group spoke from experience about the power of using firsthand stories from volunteers, programmers, and especially persons-served. We talked about sharing these stories with everyone at all levels of our organizations so that everyone can be acting from the same energy and moving in the right directions.

Another unique session! By this, our third meeting, much of the learning circle format felt like a comfortable old hat.  NeXtGeners led the conversation freely and added to each others understanding of the nonprofit sector as a whole.  We all learned about each others organizations, especially in regards to programming, and walked away with a broader outlook on our own. And everyone had the opportunity to provide feedback.

Suffice it to say, NeXtGener’s appreciated the role of special guests! Thank you, Andrew!