Technology and optimism

As part of my duties as Optimist International Vice President for the West Coast Region, I am also happily sharing tips for better communication via new media tools. My first opportunity was at the Arizona District - Optimist International 1st Quarter Meeting, October 17, 2015. Governor Brian Goldstien was especially interested in video and that led to a 20-minute hands-on video production segment in addition to the presentation on communications. We'll allow more time the next time around!

As you can see, I couldn't resist a nod to "Back to the Future." Here's my presentation.

21st Century Tools for 21st Century Optimists from Linda Vaught

Embrace the meeting

Several years ago, Optimist International leaders began promoting a slight change in language for one to use when inviting someone to attend an Optimist Club meeting. Instead of using the word "meeting," they said you should invite someone to a breakfast, lunch, or gathering. It was their opinion that no one wanted to attend a meeting, but that they had to eat. Maybe so, but I know that I wouldn't be too pleased with a friend or an associate if they asked me to lunch only to find out that I was really part of a membership drive at their service club. And a gathering? Well, for me, that just brings to mind some sort of cult. My mind races to immortals, as depicted in the movie franchise "Highlander," when the gathering would bring all of their kind together to fight until there was only one.

Post by Urbandale Optimist Club invites people, members and others, to attend a gathering. 

Post by Urbandale Optimist Club invites people, members and others, to attend a gathering. 

I admit that even I have promoted the use of online calendars to and press releases to promote Optimist Club guest speakers as forums and lectures as topics of general interest. I still stand behind that idea; however, I don't agree with obfuscating that your reason for bringing people together is to conduct an Optimist Club meeting.

Meetings are an important part of our culture for the word itself implies that people are coming together for a purpose. That purpose might be social, educational, inspirational, or devotional, among other things; but it is its purposeful focus that helps us get things done. Meetings are important because:

• In meetings, we learn about issues, share ideas, and develop plans to address problems, promote goodness, and make our world a better place to live.
• Meetings are time-conscious. While there are always outliers, most meetings begin and end in a reasonable amount of time. Personally, I have no idea how long a gathering may last and depending on my schedule, I may not be willing to find out.
• Meetings provide a sense of formality. Please don't confuse being formal to wearing a suit and tie; it doesn't matter what you wear to the occasion. Formality means that someone is accountable for what happens before, during and after the meeting. Someone cares enough to engage others and see projects through to the end.

I like the formality and accountability of the meeting process. I, for one, embrace the meeting and I encourage you to do so too.

Something you've never done

Communication. Why is it such a challenging concept?

I'm struggling at my day job with both a misrepresentation and misunderstanding. Because something was presented to me in an obtuse way, I adopted a certain line of thinking that I have had for nearly one year. I was recently told my thinking was wrong and while I've explained my position and how arrived at my understanding, rather than working towards a reasonable middle ground that benefits both parties, I was told that my way of thinking was untenable. Seriously? It's the reality in which I have functioned for nearly one year and on which our relationship is based; how can that be untenable?

Untenable is a strong word that polarizes parties even when they have mutually beneficial goals. It's the true role of the public relations communicator to not allow untenable situations arise. This is perhaps my greatest challenge with individuals who consider themselves adept at public relations but who are not public relations professionals. They put on a smiley face and glad-hand those whom they want to influence; however, when there is a misunderstanding that does not go their way, they are the first to cut bait, indicate my way or the highway, burn bridges, and perform every other tired cliche for moving on. 

Even true public relations professionals are challenged by this mindset because it is so self-serving. It's difficult to serve the greater good when one or both parties decide they can't, or won't, work with one another. 

Of course, had I realized I had an questionable belief one year ago, I would have struggled to learn more and to perhaps revise my interpretation. Now I feel put off to the point that not working together may just fit my needs as well. There's a quote that says, "If you want something you've never had, then you've got to do something that you have never done." This may just be the day I do just that. Wish me luck. 

Having a voice, or not, at the international convention

Some of my friends, representing different Optimist Clubs around the globe, are checking in on Facebook with their locations today as they head to their ultimate destination: the 95th Optimist International Convention in Cincinnati, Ohio. It will take place July 4-6, 2013. 

At the convention, new international officers will be selected during a mostly ceremonial election. According to Optimist International bylaws, nominations are not accepted from the floor and the International President-elect and regional Vice Presidents-elect are therefore running unopposed. 

The Board of Directors, with two seats to fill, will be chosen from a slate of six candidates. While still no nominations may be made from the floor, at least in this category delegates will have a choice to make. 

Delegates will also muddle their way through 19 proposed amendments to the bylaws. Theoretically, the delegates will have discussed all of these issues with the club that they represent because, as I've said here many times, individuals belong to Optimist Clubs and Optimist Clubs make up Optimist International. Therefore the bylaws should apply to and be approved by Optimist Clubs.

Somewhere in the early part of this century, that idea became skewed. The role of international board of directors was invented and a push for individual representation was on. The challenge, and partially why I am not attending this year's convention festivities, is that the focus for Optimist International began moving away from providing benefit to its member constituents (Optimist Clubs) to providing a more public benefit. Through efforts such as the Childhood Cancer Campaign, Optimist International began raising and giving money away to a third party. 

This year, one of the amendments to be considered allows individual memberships to Optimist International. The need to belong to an Optimist Club will be removed by this pilot program. While I am outraged, the crafters of the proposal say, don't worry, these members won't be allowed to vote. Well, now, isn't that special. If successful, there will be a large portion of members without a voice. If not successful, the organization will have still told its member clubs, we're looking to replace you. What a lose-lose situation for all and, in my opinion, a public relations debacle. 

Optimist International posted on its Facebook page today that 1,000 persons are registered for the convention. That includes staff, vendors, and family members of registered delegates. That seems like a rather low number although percentage-wise it's probably within acceptable terms. And as I mentioned earlier, I'm one of those who decided not to go. 

For me, a three-day trip to Cincinnati would have required, due to airline availability out of Boise, four days and at least $2,000. I would have gladly made the trip if I felt that had a real need to be there or if I believed my presence would make a difference. But as I know that communication within the organization is top-down and informational only, I feel shut out. I decided that it was better for me to feel shut out from afar rather than being an island amidst a sea of revelers. Those revelers, Optimist Club members and friends that I enjoy, seem to have somehow forgotten that the purpose of the convention is not social. Social is a benefit, a wonderful benefit; but the purpose of the international convention is to create a forum where member clubs can provide guidance to the organization and generate enthusiasm behind a common purpose. That common purpose is the work of Optimist Clubs.

When they realize that, we'll take our organization back to the Optimist Club model – a model where providing local benefit is empowered by the international umbrella. Service clubs are not dead. Optimist Clubs are not dying. They are just being led astray. It's up to caring members to get them back on track. Contact me to learn more. 

Of barbershops, service clubs and community

A week or so ago on Facebook, Julien Smith shared a video from Tedx Somerville: Clarence Smith Jr., "Education by Barbershop." He said there was genius at about 5:35 in the talk.

I think there was genius throughout, especially for a blog like Experience Optimism that talks about the power of belonging to a group.

The culture that is learned in a weekly visit to a barbershop is similar to what one learns when they attend a weekly service club meeting. Talking to peers, sharing ideas and opinions, and swapping stories establishes values and contributes to an unwritten social and moral code.

Visiting your favorite group, whether it is a barbershop or an Optimist Club, when you travel enhances your worldview and enriches the stories that you share when you return home.



Stories aside, both are examples of community and today, both are being replaced by social media. Instead of gathering as a group and learning together, we learn independently in our homes, offices, cars and coffee shops as we connect with others online 24/7.

Are the relationships as rich? More important, without face-to-face interaction do we risk losing the opportunities to make a difference through community service where we live, work and raise our families?

I fear we do. How about you?

How to communicate emotion

I was thinking about writing this post yesterday, well before I saw this graphic depicting communication styles through the ages. Provided by moo.com, one can see that we have long shared stories and that those stories have been largely accentuated by pictures, beginning with, you guessed it, cave paintings.

Please click to enlarge

My take on the picture and infographic medium is much less historic. Actually, it might even be considered a rant. You see, some of my Facebook friends have become oversharers of tacky pictures embedded with motivational sayings, unbelievable claims, political and religious messages and jokes, both good and bad. Sometimes I want to scream at them to please stop; and sometimes I just smile or shake my head. Always, I move on.

Putting my rant aside, it should be fairly easy to grasp that the old saying, " a picture is worth a thousand words," is alive and well and living in the social media sphere. Service clubs like Optimist International, Rotary, Kiwanis and Lions are just beginning to accumulate written stories about the good deeds that are performed by their clubs and club members around the world. I was wondering what would happen if they were to give up on the collection of stories and publish pictures instead?

Pinterest has grown on the premise that the pictures are the story.  While I am still undecided on the ethics  or legality of pinning and repinning what may be copyrighted material, I started a few pinboards because one can't understand the issues if she only participates from the sidelines.

But what if the aforementioned organizations, and others, were to generate visual content and then extend the rights to republish it with attribution to their members? Think of the great awareness that would snowball through the ranks of the organization and around the world.

Pictures evoke emotion. Organizations, especially service clubs, thrive on the emotional connection that members have with its purpose. As potential members, we want to see what it looks like to be involved. As members, we want to have our positive feelings reinforced.

As advocates, activists and recruiters to our causes, we want content to share and the easier that content is to share, the better. Pictures, as Facebook and Pinterest have confirmed, are easy to share.

They learn to love, laugh and live with optimism

Travelling to other Optimist Districts is always a pleasure for visitors get to experience the hospitality and traditions of a slightly different culture. Yes, we are all united under the Optimist International umbrella, but the programs we choose to conduct and the way they are organized often differ slightly, if not greatly froem club to club and district to district. I've heard it likened to speaking with a different dialect.

One of the highlights of my trip to the Arizona District was to witness first hand the truly engaging Communications Contest for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing. Some districts have abandoned this program. Others struggle to get three contestants so that a scholarship may be granted from the Optimist International Foundation and there are a few that have developed relationships within the deaf community and have multiple entries. The Arizona District is one of the latter.

Students participating in the Arizona District - Optimist International
Communications Contest for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing

To accommodate the number of participants, they hold regional contests in order to advance 9 speakers to the District finals. These 9 students were remarkable in every way. Stories of feeling different and excluded led to stories of perseverance and ultimately optimism. Each speaker gave their presentation with just a little bit of levity and loads of optimism confirming that they are endowed with unique talents and a strong voice - a voice that is only assisted by their hands.

The Arizona District is so committed to the Communications Contest for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing (CCDHH), they have created a scholarship fund at the district level to match awards granted by the Foundation. This ensures that participants for every communications contest has the opportunity to achieve the same honors.

Being from a district that is working hard to advance this program, I was truly excited by their commitment to the program and how they embrace and encourage the students to excel. I've often been one to take baby steps to get a program going, but I think in this case a more successful route might be to go as big as possible. The deaf population is small enough that individuals may be cloaked inside a mainstream program and those baby steps may not reach as many as quickly as needed.

Our own network of optimism

The beauty of social media is that you can be your own publisher, public relations director and marketing manager all in one. The challenge, of course, is to produce an abundance of content that people want to read or learn more about. It's a daunting task and I accept that some days I do it better than I do on other days.

However, infographics like the one I'm sharing here today tell me that creating and publishing your own content is more important than ever before.  According to Frugal Dad , six media giants control 90% of all content that is available for consumption. Whether you read, listen or watch, chances are your media is being filtered by "The Big Six:" General Electric, News Corporation, Disney, Viacom, Time Warner or CBS. All told, 232 media executives determine the media made available to 277 million Americans.

This post isn't to ask how did we as an American public let this happen.

This post isn't to teach you how to get the big guys to notice you.

This post is to encourage you not be discouraged when your local media representatives seem uninterested in what you, a small service club made of of community volunteers, are doing. Chances are, your small concern does not have the wherewithal to feed the money-driven industry that dominates them.

This post is to encourage you to keep writing. Post articles on your blog and website and post stories on Facebook. Post your videos on YouTube. Tweet about them. Talk about them. And please, send me a message about your project and a link to your post and I will highlight them here.


Let's create our own network of optimism. Together, we can do it!

Source: Frugal dad

How to get more people to show up to the game

According to New York Times technology columnist David Pogue, communications today are two-way and conducted in real time and if your business is doing anything different, you risk losing the attention of those in the millennial generation.

Although this video was aimed at those who wish to connect with the millennial generation, as a communicator, you can't stop there. Sure, individuals may have different communication styles based on their  ages, but everyone wants to be included, have their voice heard, and know that what they contribute to the discussion matters.

It's called sharing and my friends, whether you are two or ninety-two, sharing never goes out of style. If your service club is perhaps noticing that fewer members seem to be involved lately, please take a look at the video and apply its message across all generations.

Even out that playing field and more people will show up to the game.

Thanks to Ragan.com for the tip: "How to grab millennials attention."