|
KARE-APA2006
– A Postscript
by
Vicki V. Vandaveer, Ph.D.
As the anniversary of Hurricane Katrina
(August 29, 2005) fast approaches, SIOP’s Katrina Aid & Relief Effort
(KARE) Team looks back on a very full – and ultimately successful – year of
dedicated work to help the people of New Orleans rebuild their businesses,
organizations, careers and thereby their lives.
Our work has only just begun, as the KARE Team is continuing to get new
clients and provide services to organizations in New Orleans.
In
June of this year, Dave Nershi posted an article on SIOP’s website describing
KARE, its mission and its APA2006 initiative.
The following excerpts are repeated here as the context for this
post-KARE-APA2006 look-back.
“The
effects felt by residents when Hurricane Katrina ripped through Gulf Coast
communities on August 29, 2005, are still a lingering reality. As rebuilding in
and around New Orleans continues, thousands of psychologists will visit the
Crescent City as part of the American Psychological Association’s annual
convention August 10-13. Most will be presenting or attending sessions,
catching up with colleagues and making new friends. One small band of
psychologists will be using their talents to heal the wounds and help get the
business community back on its feet.
“Just
days after Katrina stormed ashore, the Society of Industrial and Organizational
Psychologists formed the
KARE (Katrina Aid and Relief
Effort) committee under the leadership of Dr. Steven Rogelberg. The goals of
the committee were to support and assist members and student affiliates who
were affected by the storm, first responders, and businesses, workers and
workplaces damaged or devastated by the disaster. SIOP was soon joined in its
work by the Society of Consulting Psychologists (Division 13 of APA).
“KARE’s
Web-based “help and response” center, received thousands of hits and nearly 100
e-mails offering pro bono consulting help were received. Other messages offered
internship opportunities, housing assistance and office space. In a few cases
KARE worked with journal publishers to help rebuild destroyed personal
libraries.”
KARE
Team
The core KARE Team
currently consists of the following individuals:
John Fennig / DRIC
Consulting – Chair
Vicki Vandaveer /
Vandaveer Group – Chair, KARE-APA2006
Adrienne Colella /
Tulane University – APA2006 Director of Logistics – New Orleans
Tracey Rizzuto LSU /
Baton Rouge
Alan Davidson /
Davidson Training & Consulting
Jim Diefendorff /
University of Colorado (now University of Akron)
Leaetta Hough / Past
President – SIOP, and primary liaison to APA
Dave Nershi /
Executive Director – SIOP Administrative Office
Donald Truxillo /
Portland State University
Greg Gormanous / LSU –
Alexandria; Liaison – LA Licensing Board
Nic Bencaz /
University of Central Florida – Logistics Team
Diana Clarke /
Silverwood Associates
John Cornwell / Loyola
University
KARE-APA2006
In
November and December 2005 Leaetta Hough encouraged the KARE Team to submit a
proposal for hosting an outreach initiative at the APA 2006 convention in New
Orleans. In February, after
numerous communications and a specially-called APA Executive Management
Committee meeting, our proposal was “not rejected” by APA, but would receive no
convention space or active APA support.
The highly energized and talented KARE Team spent countless hours over the next
months, planning a two-day program to reach out to business owners, managers,
and individuals hard-hit by Katrina – to help them begin to rebuild by offering
pro-bono services of Division 14 and Division 13 volunteer psychologists.
This
outreach program was also part of a broader initiative, led by Adrienne Colella
and the SIOP Executive Committee, to increase SIOP’s and
industrial-organizational psychology’s external visibility.
The
KARE Team went to work to plan, organize, find suitable meeting space, mobilize
volunteers, and publicize the APA
KARE event to the New Orleans area people.
As late as June, the KARE Team was doing everything itself. We had a PR plan
and all hands on deck to get the word out.
We soon recognized, however, that no matter how hard-working and dedicated we
were (and all were!), our team of business psychologists was not equipped to do
the PR, marketing, negotiating, etc. that was needed to get the word out
effectively. Those competencies
are not our strongest skills, and even if they were, we didn’t have the media
and other business connections in New Orleans that are absolutely required.
PR
One
of the best decisions we made relative to the KARE-APA event was to engage a
professional local New Orleans PR firm – Marketing Etcetera.
The day that Stephanie Boh and Beverly Gianna joined our team was the
day that things really began happening.
Adrienne had found an ideal place for us to meet – Wyndham Canal Place, and
Marketing Etcetera negotiated unbelievable rates for us on everything from the
hotel space (thank you, Beverly and Stephanie and Wyndham!) to parking to
KARE-branded shirts. And they
managed to get announcements in ALL the major New Orleans publications:
(a) Times Picayune – Money section; (b) Gambit; (c) City Business; (d)
La Fete News; (e) BestOfNewOrleans; (f) New Orleans Convention & Visitors
Bureau – calendar and newsletters.
They distributed flyers (that they designed) to thousands of businesses and
people; and designed signs for posting at our event and in Canal Place mall.
Thanks to Dave Nershi and the SIOP Administrative Office for printing
and mounting the signs!
In
addition, Marketing Etcetera got us excellent TV and radio coverage – at the
stations of the local NBC affiliate at noon the day prior to the event, again
on-site the first day, and at the local radio station, and then again the day
after the event, FOX aired an interview.
An
APA Monitor Science writer and a Times Picayune reporter also covered the
event.
Free
Seminars
The main attractions
for the two-day event were the following four seminars, led by some of SIOP’s
and SCP’s best:
“Selecting and
Retaining Employees” – Joan Brannick
“Managing Stress” –
Val Arnold
“Managing Change in
Turbulent Times” – Randy White
“Managing a Diverse
Workforce” – Michelle Collins
We are very grateful
to all our Seminar Leaders. Thank
you. Private consultations
followed the seminars, and several were interviewed by TV, radio, and newspaper
reporters.
Volunteers
Special recognition
and thanks go to the following amazing people who joined our KARE Team to
volunteer their time, talent and services at the APA event:
Nathan Ainspan
Damon Bryant
Sidney Cooke
Stewart Cooper – past
President, SCP
Sarah de Armond
Arthur Freedman
Autumn Krauss
Ellen Lent
Paul Lloyd – past
President, SCP
Rodney Lowman – past
President and current APA Council Rep, SCP
Bill Macey – past
President, SIOP and KARE Sponsor
Debra Robinson –
President, SCP
Sabrina Volpone
Karen Wilson-Starks
Beryl Wingate
Paul Winum – past
President, SCP
“Success”
Several
weeks prior to the APA event, our PR partners asked us what “success” would
look like in terms of turnout. Given
8,000 psychologists would be in New Orleans and many businesses would be
scrambling to serve them well, as well as the unusual nature of what we were
offering, the KARE Team decided that if 40 people turned out, it would be a
successful event. We beat that
goal by two, and all expressed their enthusiastic thanks for what we were
doing. Several walked away from
the event with handfuls of KARE materials to share with friends, colleagues,
and business associates who were unable to make it to the KARE-APA event. We
have ongoing work with many of the attendees and organizations, and inquiries
are still coming in on the 800 line very generously contributed and staffed by
Alan Davidson – a KARE Team member with considerable experience and expertise
in disaster relief who provided wise counsel throughout the year.
(Thank you, Alan!)
Client
Support!
One of KARE’s valued
clients, the LA-SPCA, developed and presented a PowerPoint presentation (posted
on this website) that tells the story of how Katrina impacted them, what
challenges they have faced over the past year, and how KARE consultants have
helped them. With all they have
yet to do, as well as the anniversary of Katrina fast approaching, Gloria
Dauphin and Kate Pullen came on Saturday to talk with other businesses and
people and to tell the story of LA-SPCA and KARE.
Deeply appreciative thanks to them and the entire LA-SPCA Management
Team for helping us help other businesses and people!
Our
Sponsors
We
could not have done what we did at APA for the people of New Orleans without
the support and encouragement of our Sponsors!
When we saw that we needed professional help with PR, marketing and
event management, we actively solicited Sponsorships.
We and the people of New Orleans are very very grateful to the following
KARE-APA2006 Sponsors:
SIOP
– APA Division 14
SCP
– APA Division 13
BigbyHavis
/ Assess
RHR
International
Chevron
Global Marketing
The
A.B. Freeman School of Business at Tulane University
Valtera
Corporation
The
Vandaveer Group
Applied
Psychological Techniques
LSU
Alexandria
APA
Division 50 – Addictions
HRD
Solutions
Huge
thanks to our KARE Team members who were “rain makers” with me – Leaetta Hough,
Donald Truxillo, Jim Diefendorff, Adrienne Colella, Greg Gormanous, and Diana
Clarke, and Nic Bencaz.
KARE-APA2006
was very successful in several ways:
a)
We provided assistance to 42 people and organizations – many of them,
continuing to be served.
b)
We achieved the “greater visibility” objective.
c)
We collaborated across APA Divisions to give psychology away to those in
need.
The
APA event initiated what we intend to be ongoing support to the businesses and
people of New Orleans and other Gulf Coast areas.
KARE’s next steps are to (a) continue to serve well those clients we
have; (b) help determine KARE’s longer-term vision and infrastructure to
support it; and (c) continue to recruit and maintain an active Volunteer base.
Anyone
reading this message – if you’d like to join us as a KARE volunteer, please
sign up on this website – or contact John Fennig at
johnfennig@dric.com
for more information.
|