Want to learn more about how to develop an effective online engagement strategy? Attend my upcoming May 19th presentation in Vancouver.

The Centre of Excellence in Communications and The Centre for Excellence in Public Sector Marketing (CEPSM), Ottawa, in association with Catapult Media, Halifax, are offering a series of professional development workshops for the Atlantic Canada public and not-for-profit sectors in the context of the Atlantic Canada Marketing and Communications Professional Development Program, Halifax, Nova Scotia, March 22-31, 2010.

Find out more at:  http://www.comcec.com/atlantic/index.html

"No problem can be solved from the same consciousness that created it.  We must learn to see the world anew"  Albert Einstein 

Creating new narratives that shift our world view to move to the tipping point of progressive change is what storyworks.ca is all about. 

 We don’t live in silos.  So much of our work towards progressive social change however still is so isolated on a sector by sector basis.  Some surmise that the legacy of this isolationism is funder driven for the most part. It continues to be supported however by leadership that remains overwhelmed by fiscal and strategic survival within the limits of their specific sector.  New models are needed for leaders and their organizations to collaborate strategically, programatically and operationally.  This collaboration if it is grow would be best to take root from a values-aligned approach to change not from a framework shaped by fiscal crisis.

A new " mental metabolism" (from Jane Magruder Watkin’s "Change at the Speed of Imagination") is in order.  We need to be supporting the leadership of socially progressive organizations to communicate, connect, collaborate and create new strategic approaches to complex social issues. Building upon our collective strengths to re-educate funders on impact and results, to re-orientate elected officials on investing in change and innovation and to re-engage the public in shaping a just an equitable world.

 Too much to hope for you say?  Thinking small won’t take us the distance.

One of the things that I have learned working in the NGO community for two decades is that we have a hard time telling our story well. In many cases we think we are telling stories but in fact we are not. We are experts in our content areas, we tend to be good at reporting to funders and we can masters at speaking jargon. But we really struggle to make sense of our work, its importance, impact or sometimes is relevance to many others.

Simmons in her new book says, “In this ocean of choice, a meaningful story can feel like a life preserver that tethers us to something safe, important or at the very least more solid than the disembodied voices begging for our attention.”

When millions of people stand up to make poverty history around the world or attend or tune into the Live Aid or Live Earth concerts, wear white bands, open their wallets for Katrina victims or drop off food to their local food bank in record numbers… we know that their is a great hunger to be “tethered” together to something important. Millions are looking for that “life preserver” civil society needs to throw these people a line… by being far more strategic and proficient storytellers.

As the song goes we are “waiting on the the world to change”. Thankfully more and more people around the world who have had their freedom corrupted by the politics of fear and corporate militarism are no longer just “waiting”. We are standing up and speaking out by the millions.

There is more we can do than just “wait”. You can invest in your community by buying products from your local co-op or by banking at a credit union, sign up to Make Poverty History, wear a whiteband, call your elected politician, buy fair trade .

We don’t have to wait on the world to change… we can make it change… in our every day lives… in our own communities.

They are gathered here at the annual Canadian Cooperative Association national congress. Harnessing the Hidden Potential was the theme of the conference. Catapult Media was here presenting a workshop on how the cooperative movement could implement a public engagement campaign to raise its profile in communities across the country.

Probably many Canadians have no real idea of the central role that cooperatives and credit unions play in local economic development. Credit Unions and Cooperatives are profitable enterprises yet service and community involvement is how they measure their bottom line. They see clearly how credit access, micro-finance and local ownership is the lifeblood of small business, entrepreneurial enterprises and community development.

How the Canadian cooperative movement harnesses this potential is the big question in a world of big banks, corporate mergers and increasing globalization.