Sunday, November 01, 2009
People In Groups
Hello everybody....here I am, back in the writing mode...on a rainy and chilled November 1st morning , snuggling in bed with husband and puppies... no sweeter cuddle can be found. And we gained, with no effort on our part, an extra hour to this day, which makes it even sweeter: it is now officially Fall 2009!!
We have earned this morning at rest because Peter and I just completed a two-day gathering at our Board of Trustees Retreat at the lovely Eastman House in Kingsport, Tennessee, at Bays Mountain, and everyone involved worked really hard! That alone was enough to impress me, but there were so many other things about this gathering that impressed, that I felt moved to write about it a bit...so , here we are.
People in groups can be many things: exciting (think of political rallies), INciting (think of pep rallies), scary (think of mobs), terrifying (think of lynch mobs), inspiring (think of really attentive theater audiences), awake ( a large class led by a brilliant professor) or asleep (same class led by a pedestrian one), happy (large weddings), stupid (think of bad versions of all of the above) and brilliant (a rally for an idea who time has come!),
comforting (a community after a disaster), or hurtful (mobs usually are).
I can honestly say that, except for stupidity, this past weekend's Board Retreat had elements of all of the above possibilities, and it was enthralling! This Board is a truly good gathering of people from all professional walks of life, with the only thing binding them together being an interest in this particular arts institution. So , you'd think that leading them to discussion and useful conclusions (which was wonderfully done by professional named David Mallett) would have been an impossible thing to do. But just the opposite turned out to be true: this group contracted and expanded, agreed and argued, laid down points, then backtracked and replaced points when necessary, kept to the disciplines gently put in place by the facilitator, and ate together, laughed together, met together, talked together in such a way that all voices were heard. All voices contributed.
Much like the brief time I spent being a Broadway Equity Deputy on AEA Council, I came away from this gathering very moved by the possibilities of human beings meeting together with a common goal. It was at times shocking how kind the group was, how concerned about the well being of others...i felt like I had been given a very large and loving gift to ameliorate the effects of certain tensions that entered the room at certain points...we have close-knit Staff, and i felt we were all taken well care of in this room we all shared....it is a loving Board of Trustees. And a damnably smart one as well! Such marvelous minds, from companies and industries all over our region...i loved getting to know so many I did not know before, and it helped restore my faith that people do care abut this particular arts organization...it became a wonderful example of people applying their specific expertise to areas I had always considered "arts" areas...my view was definitely widened , or should I say "views", since so many of my points of view went through deep change throughout this day and a half in a room with all these people.
I am honored to have been a part of it.
And I look forward to knowing these people better.
We have earned this morning at rest because Peter and I just completed a two-day gathering at our Board of Trustees Retreat at the lovely Eastman House in Kingsport, Tennessee, at Bays Mountain, and everyone involved worked really hard! That alone was enough to impress me, but there were so many other things about this gathering that impressed, that I felt moved to write about it a bit...so , here we are.
People in groups can be many things: exciting (think of political rallies), INciting (think of pep rallies), scary (think of mobs), terrifying (think of lynch mobs), inspiring (think of really attentive theater audiences), awake ( a large class led by a brilliant professor) or asleep (same class led by a pedestrian one), happy (large weddings), stupid (think of bad versions of all of the above) and brilliant (a rally for an idea who time has come!),
comforting (a community after a disaster), or hurtful (mobs usually are).
I can honestly say that, except for stupidity, this past weekend's Board Retreat had elements of all of the above possibilities, and it was enthralling! This Board is a truly good gathering of people from all professional walks of life, with the only thing binding them together being an interest in this particular arts institution. So , you'd think that leading them to discussion and useful conclusions (which was wonderfully done by professional named David Mallett) would have been an impossible thing to do. But just the opposite turned out to be true: this group contracted and expanded, agreed and argued, laid down points, then backtracked and replaced points when necessary, kept to the disciplines gently put in place by the facilitator, and ate together, laughed together, met together, talked together in such a way that all voices were heard. All voices contributed.
Much like the brief time I spent being a Broadway Equity Deputy on AEA Council, I came away from this gathering very moved by the possibilities of human beings meeting together with a common goal. It was at times shocking how kind the group was, how concerned about the well being of others...i felt like I had been given a very large and loving gift to ameliorate the effects of certain tensions that entered the room at certain points...we have close-knit Staff, and i felt we were all taken well care of in this room we all shared....it is a loving Board of Trustees. And a damnably smart one as well! Such marvelous minds, from companies and industries all over our region...i loved getting to know so many I did not know before, and it helped restore my faith that people do care abut this particular arts organization...it became a wonderful example of people applying their specific expertise to areas I had always considered "arts" areas...my view was definitely widened , or should I say "views", since so many of my points of view went through deep change throughout this day and a half in a room with all these people.
I am honored to have been a part of it.
And I look forward to knowing these people better.
Labels: Barter Musings
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