Welcome to the 4th generation TTN Website! I know your first question is “what’s in it for me?” – and there’s lots of good news:
- You can RSVP and pay for events online
- It’s easier to find the information you’re looking for, from events to resources to news…and there are a lot more useful resources on the site
- Logging in takes you directly to your own chapter
- Chapters each have their own section, including their own event calendar, committee listings, and photos
- You can connect with fellow members in lots of different ways
- post your business card
- join a discussion or share an opinion
- read a blog
Our former Website was something of a one-way street, with the organization sharing news out to our members. The new Website is more like a plaza, where all members have the chance to connect with other members, next door or across the country. We encourage each of you to experiment with at least one new feature of the site.
My favorite story so far about the new Website is that during our test period, a member from San Francisco used the Bulletin Board to post a request for an apartment rental during her upcoming trip to New York City. A New York City member saw the post, offered her own apartment, and the deal was done. Knowing the infinite energy and network of our members, we look forward to fostering many other success stories through the new site.
I hope your second question is “who did all this work?” The answer reflects the genius of TTN, where we tap into members’ talents and experience and combine that with the support of paid professionals.
TTN’s co-founder Christine Millen was the guiding spirit and project leader for the work. Her 30+ year career with technology implementations as a Deloitte Consulting partner – combined with her deep insights about TTN’s members and high energy – kept us moving forward steadily. Longtime Board member Sharon McGavin brought her decades of marketing experience to the development effort, and stayed with us through major home renovation, a daughter’s wedding and family challenges. Member Joanne Steinhart leveraged her years with Microsoft to ensure that the site and our communications match the expectations of our sophisticated audience.
In addition to the project team, many members across the country viewed the site in development, suggesting enhancements and asking great questions.
Those volunteers, who devoted many, many hours over more than a year to this effort, were supported by a strong team of paid professionals. Patrick Lee, our technology guru for our last three sites, used the latest technology tools as well as tailoring features to our requirements (on a 24/7 schedule). Patrick's business is www.makeitweb.com. Victoria Lau, our designer, helped us find a sophisticated, warm and engaging look for the site that embodies TTN’s personality (you can see more of her work at www.bluemedia.net ). And Carole Holland, who joined TTN’s staff in January 2007, was the engine for the project, drawing on her experience of launching Websites, building online communities and living in cyberspace (at least part of the time) to bring our ideas to life.
Last question: “what do YOU think?” We look forward to your compliments, suggestions and “where do we go from here?” visions. In fact, we’ll be forming a Website steering committee of members from across the country. Please send your comments and raise your hand to join the committee by e-mailing us at info@thetransitionnetwork.org.
TTN has grown remarkably fast in our eight year history - from a dozen members in the first livingroom get-togethers to more than 1,100 paid members today. New members find us because their friends, spouses, career counselors or kids say "you need to know about The Transition Network." A story in the Wall Street Journal brings in dozens of new members looking for support in their own transitions.
That growth tells us we're working on the right issues - - but we can't help noticing that we don't have a lot of women of color as members. Most of us have spent our working lives in multi-racial organizations, we live in multi-racial cities, and we think of aging as the one experience shared by people of all races. Now we need to be thoughtful about defining what TTN offers for women of color, and take practical steps to reach women of color to let them know about TTN.
A multi-racial peer group in New York City, which calls itself the Think Tank, have taken a leading role in emphasizing diversity. In a recent meeting, Executive Coach Grazell Howard* led a discussion of TTN's appeal to women of color, and how to achieve greater racial and ethnic diversity within TTN. Some key points from that discussion:
§ TTN has a unique voice on the issues of aging and transitions that women don't find in other organizations (sororities, church groups, civic organizations) - we need to emphasize that in our outreach
§ Increase the number of women of color on TTN's Board and Advisory Board. Joan Dawson has just joined TTN's Board, and Joan Dawson and Gloria Coles were members of our Advisory Board in 2006
§ Attend TTN programs as a group, to support each other and demonstrate our diversity to newcomers.
§ Work with our Program Committees to increase the number of speakers who are women of color
§ Partner with other organizations to present programs with multi-racial speakers and audiences
§ Two such programs have already been offered, one on not-for-profit board services and one on financial matters, in collaboration with the Asian Women's Leadership Network, 100 Hispanic Women and Coalition of 100 Black Women
§ Include women of color in our printed materials and Website photos
TTN's leadership is committed to increasing our diversity - - but as a small and growing organization, needs the help of many of our members to make that commitment a reality. Let me know what YOU think we can do to reach and engage women of color in our important and fulfilling activities.
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* Grazell is President and CEO of King & Kairos, Ltd., which offers executive coaching and consulting services (tel. 704-334-0476).