February 19, 2012

The CT Forum makes you think. Great people on stage talk about important things like the arts, economics, education, sports, whatever. Unscripted. Candid. Insightful. Funny. Worrisome. Angering. Inspiring. And audience members get to ask questions, too. Check it out!

I attended the World of Sports Forum last week. I know…weird that I’d attend anything related to sports. But I was available and The Forum is a client. What a great evening with William Rhoden, Rebecca Lobo, Colin Cowherd, Tedy Bruschi, and Linda Cohn.

— Rebecca Lobo, legendary UConn Husky, noted: People assume that women who play sports are lesbians and men are heterosexual.

I know that’s true – and it’s stupid and disgusting, too. We’re socialized to think like this. Are you fighting this stereotype with your kids and friends and colleagues?

— Tedy Bruschi, all-time great New England Patriots player, noted: Social media is an exercise of self-control Social media allows anonymity – and anonymity can produce vicious behavior. Social media promotes shorthand and informality – and sometimes that’s really bad. And for us fundraisers, social media allows us to forget what real relationship building and true relationships mean. Read Jaron Lanier’s book You Are Not A Gadget. Social media and the internet are dehumanizing us.

— Colin Cowherd, popular ESPN host, noted: Don’t do social media while drinking or in your underwear. When we’re drinking or sitting around casually in our jammies or underwear, we aren’t as professional. We aren’t as careful. And, to return to Tedy’s point, we don’t exert sufficient self control.

— Colin also made another point that really resonated with me: Men worship men in power – coaches, Wall Street, CEOs. And so men worshipping men don’t ask questions. Obviously, Colin was referring to the recent child abuse scandals at Penn State and Syracuse. He was referring to the economic meltdown. What’s your role in asking questions – in your organization, in your community, with your colleagues and friends? To what degree do you speak truth to power?

Filed under: Social Commentary

About Simone Joyaux

A consultant specializing in fund development, strategic planning, and board development, Simone P. Joyaux works with all types and sizes of nonprofits, speaks at conferences worldwide, and teaches in the graduate program for philanthropy at Saint Mary’s University, MN. Her books, Keep Your Donors and Strategic Fund Development, are standards in the field.

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