November Tutor/Mentor Conference is just around the corner

Hello everyone! Tonight we are having our back-to-school volunteer coordinator and employee meeting. This weekend is the Labor Day holiday and then next weekend we are hosting a Welcome Back Brunch for our volunteers, students and their families. The week after next is our week of orientations for volunteers and students and then September 17th is our first night of tutoring. Can you believe how fast this summer has flown by?

Which only means that fall is going to fly by too, and before you know it, our November Tutor/Mentor Leadership and Networking Conference is coming up as well. Here is where we need YOUR help - If you know of any place that would be in a convenient, centrally-located location in Chicago, or nearby suburbs (ie Evanston, Oak Park) and has space for 150-200 people, with a main room for keynote speakers and several smaller rooms for breakout speakers. If you know of any places that would be available a Monday/Tuesday or a Thursday/Friday preferably (although a Tuesday/Wednesday or a Wednesday/Thursday could work) the 2nd or 3rd Week of November, please contact me at nicolewhite.cabrini@gmail.com or you can just post your ideas in the comments section for this post.

In regards to what we're hoping to achieve with our Tutor/Mentor Research and Networking Conference, you can read about what our conference goals are here. In planning for what I hope to achieve our conference, I am posting our goals and my strategies for achieving those goals below:

November Tutor/Mentor Conference Goals

Goal 1: Bring together 150 to 200 leaders representing volunteer-based tutoring and/or mentoring programs, foundations, business, media, k-16 education and the faith community.

Strategy 1: First contact everybody that came to the most recent conference, and then go back – they’re most likely to go to the next conference. Next, make sure that everybody in our database is invited. Emphasize that it’s up to them as well to invite businesses, media and faith-based organizations such as churches, mosques and synagogues to the conference, ESPECIALLY if they’re doing a workshop.

Goal 2: Provide learning that program leaders, volunteers, donors can take back and apply in their own activities, in their own neighborhoods and communities.

Strategy 2: Look back on surveys done by program participants in the past. Invite back people who’ve done workshops which got particularly high scores. Brainstorm who might be good to do workshops who hasn’t done workshops before. Be sure to invite organizations that are from areas that are especially in need – ideally from south and west suburbs.

Goal 3: Share understanding of how volunteer-based non-school tutor/mentor programs are a valuable learning support and a key component of education reform, workforce development, violence prevention, and civic engagement.

Strategy 3: Invite those involved in education reform, workforce development, violence prevention and civic engagement to the conference to speak at the conference about ways their sector interact with the tutoring and mentoring sector.

Goal 4: Increase visibility during November and December with a result of donors designating year end contributions to tutor/mentor programs in their community. Links to Chicago programs can be found on the Tutor/Mentor Connection web site.

Strategy 5: Invite people who would be potential donors to our conference. Ask them to possibly present how for-profits and non-profits can interact in multiple ways – as volunteers and donors.

Goal 5: Identify and build commitment for shared actions, such as the August/September Tutor/Mentor Volunteer Recruitment Campaign, that will strengthen existing programs and help build new programs.

Strategy 5: Panel discussions on volunteer recruitment and retention – get as many programs involved and spearheading recruitment campaign efforts in their own regions