Topic

Key Points Raised

Decision/Action

"In-reach"- How can we best communicate Alliance progress, initiatives to our members who are not currently engaged?

Brian: we could perhaps send an e-mail or paper communication that reaches out to member organizations who have not yet been oriented to gauge their interest in an a personal orientation to the Alliance?

Nicole to draft an electronic communication to send to all primary contacts from organizations that have not yet been trained, to gauge their interest in being formally oriented.

Patty: I always wonder if we reach the right person (if the appropriate individual within an organization is the primary contact) and whether they are sharing Alliance initiative, news with their colleagues. 

Patty: what if we were to ask that primary contact two questions:

1) Who is the best person in your organization to get the word out about the Alliance?

2) Who is the best person to help implement Cancer Plan Minnesota within your organization?

Brian: This will be in general an adjunct strategy – I think the in-reach is a good idea and it’s probably not senior leadership that we should go after, nor ground level staff, but individuals who are interested in moving our mission. The communication could relay:

- Offer to orient

- Offer an overview of our mission and an invitation to move the mission together

Nicole: For organizations that do not respond to our initial communications, we can reach out to them in phase two, since we have many organizations to orient. It will help us prioritize.

Nicole: Warren Larson and Pat McKone have yet to be trained. Perhaps we could arrange a trip to Duluth/Bemidji to orient not only these respective SC members, but their organizations. We found from our visits to St. Luke’s and Survivors’ Training orientations that these personal visits are invaluable and the organizations truly appreciate the Alliance taking the time to orient the organizations. These orientations helped sparked the beginning of a strong relationship, with each organization already engaged in Alliance activities and frequently in touch with Alliance staff.

Anna: For Warren Larson’s orientation, it may be a good idea to head to Bemidji to orient MeritCare Bemidji’s staff but in addition, work with Warren to include other community groups that MeritCare works with on a variety of cancer issues. For example, we may want to include the local B-Team, which has been integral in passing local smoking ordinances. These trips may be opportunities to court other potential new members. If we keep our eyes open for additional opportunities, they will most likely present themselves.

Brian: The personal nature with each organization is important: here’s a bit about the Alliance, here’s our priorities, how can we work with your organization in order to achieve our common mission of reducing cancer.

Brian: I think we need to make sure to make sure other players are involved in the orientation, in addition to like-minded organizations that they may collaborate with to also be around the table. 

The orientation team that orients each respective organization can follow-up by asking these questions to ensure that we have the appropriate contacts for organizations.

New Member Orientation

We currently have 47 organizations yet to be oriented. How can we best divide this list to make it manageable? Are there volunteers to take certain organizations to be responsible for training them or assigning a trainer to them?

This agenda item has been tabled until the committee reaches out to these members to gauge interest in being trained. The committee will then divide this list based upon which organizations would like to be oriented.

Member Recruitment at Summit

How could this committee best recruit new members at the Summit? Should we create and staff a table to try to help members learn more?

Patti: would it be possible for member organizations who have benefited from the Alliance to produce a short commercial showcasing the benefits that they have found as Alliance members.

Nicole: while this is a great idea, it is probably a little too late to expect member organizations to work on something this sophisticated. It is, however, a great idea for future years. While all organizations may not be able to produce a commercial, even personal testimonials would help offer credibility to the Alliance and may help recruit others to join our mission. We may want to look at incorporating personal testimonials into next year’s Summit.

Patti: welcome booth for potential members to explain more about the Alliance, talk about what we do, and perhaps offer an incentive for individuals who stop by.

Nicole to discuss with Liz.

Patti: We could also differentiate members at the Summit by adding member to their nametags.

Nicole: This is a wonderful idea and we could easily make this happen to recognize members.

Nicole to discuss with Liz.

Future Meetings

The committee decided to meet quarterly for the next year.

Nicole to send potential meeting times via Survey Monkey.