Saturday, November 8, 2008

Houston, We Have a Problem... by Sarah




So last Wednesday, I got back to Dallas at around 11 AM, planning to head in to the office and get some work done before leaving for Houston Thursday, to attend the Governor's Nonprofit Leadership Conference. Before leaving my apartment, I decided I was going to print out my reservation information and conference confirmation, just so it was ready for the next day. But as I searched my inbox, low and behold!, not a reservation was to be found! Where was I staying? What time was I supposed to be there? Panic set in as I perused the GNLC website and discovered that check in for the conference was WEDNESDAY from noon to 5pm! So after two hours of frantic calls and e-mails, I finally pieced together some semblence of an agenda, and hit the road to Houston, not nearly in time to arrive by 5 pm, but resting assured that it would all be ok.

Despite my troubles and the headache that nagged me well into the 4.5 hour drive south, the conference was actually well worth it! The keynote speaker was fantastic: Heather McLeod Grant, co-author of Forces for Good: The Six Practices of High-Impact Nonprofits, a book which instantly earned a top slot on my '08 Christmas list. Naturally, the Governor, who was also supposed to speak, became 'unavoidably detained', so we turned our attention instead to a 3 minute generic video clip during his allotted time. The individual sessions were great too- My favorites were the presentation made by Benevon, an organization which teaches nonprofits to create sustainable funding; and one made by a OneStar Foundation rep on creating effective logic models, aptly titled "For Love of Logic Models". Both speakers were very entertaining, and their subject matter very applicable to my mission here with Texas HIPPY. By the end of the conference I was absolutely bursting with enthusiasm and new goals and tactics to take back with me to Home Sweet Carrollton.

Thanks OneStar Foundation for putting on an amazing conference!

Here's a picture of me and Tina at the conference! We were definitely listening to the presenter...


If anyone's interested in learning more about OneStar Foundation, their website is www.onestarfoundation.org. "OneStar Foundation: Texas Center for Social Impact is a statewide nonprofit that improves the lives of every Texan, every day."

No comments:

Post a Comment