Spinach to the Rescue
One of my clients who does work in the food system was planning its Annual Meeting and asked me to be its Key Note Speaker to talk about the capacity building work that I have been doing with the organization. I was happy to say yes.
The Annual Meeting was to occur in the middle of a family-oriented event with a theme of Spinach. They highlighted attempts to grow spinach under different lighting and watering conditions. They had a delicious smoothie with spinach as one of the ingredients. They had participants plant their own seeds, and they left with directions for growing their own spinach.
I had asked about the day and the meeting in advance, and decided that I should attempt to fit the theme of the day - design my presentation around the theme of spinach!
I have recently been experimenting with using Artificial Intelligence (AI) and this seemed like a good experiment. How might I connect capacity building to spinach - a vegetable I really know little about? While it required extensive editing and revisions on my part, it turned out that AI was very useful in this creative process of making connections. I even used it to develop visuals related to spinach. (I was not fully pleased with those results.)
On the day of the event, I found that the room for the Annual Meeting had more children in it than adults, and I grew increasingly concerned that my presentation, while short, was not the right tone or approach for a group with so many people under the age of 16.
In the time it took for people to grab their lunch and come into the room, I generated in my mind several questions that I could ask that would connect to spinach since the children had just spent the day exploring its value. I also connected it to the programming they participated in by asking them questions that led to key points in my presentation.
Upon reflection, several things became clear to me:
By aligning with their theme, it generated lots of goodwill. I had people both in the room, and those that heard about it later, applaud the effort to align with their theme for the event.
I asked lots of questions prior to the day, but I didn’t ask the right questions about who would be in the room. I had not anticipated the adult/children ratio - and that was important information to have. It is a reminder to me that my usual good due diligence can fail me, and being willing to flex will always be important.
The alignment to their theme allowed me to adjust my presentation approach at the last minute. It gave me an “in” with the group where I had not adequately planned one for the audience that was actually in the room.
I knew my content. While the spinach theme gave me the entry point, my ability to talk about the content without relying on the existing structure/content on the slides gave me the ability to adjust. If I was relying on “reading the slides,” that would not have been possible.
I was on the road for 3 hours (90 minutes there and back) for a 15-minute presentation on a Saturday. That may not have been the best use of my time, using many measures, but it did demonstrate to the client my commitment to them and their success.
I am a person that often develops themes for training and retreats that I lead. This was an opportunity to align my efforts with someone else’s theme, and the experience was challenging and fun. In the end, it also allowed me to adjust quickly and effectively to engage the actual people in the room. Spinach to the rescue.
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At the writing of this, there are 42 million Americans who rely on SNAP (food stamps) to feed themselves or their family. That money is being withheld. There is a lot of (purposeful) misinformation about who receives SNAP and why. In reality, most SNAP recipients are children, people with disabilities, older adults, and individuals working full time for low wages.
If you are a person who has the means to fully feed your family, perhaps you can be a part of the rescue while food is being withheld. Whether spinach or any other nutritious food, your support for your neighbors and community is a perfect way to show your gratitude during the month of Thanksgiving. Reach out if you would like suggestions on which organizations to support. Many of my nonprofit clients are doing extraordinary work to meet this crucial moment.
