Talking about the new model for Fellowship

Comment by Scott Baron on October 1, 2009 at 8:39

Hi Belinda & Fellows

I share Matthew`s "obsession" and passion. I am delighted that a few fellows are pro-actively moving in this direction.

My own contribution to the process is organise `grass roots` socially inclusive intergeneration community activities using the Arts (in the broadest sense) as a tool and vehicle. This what I have been doing for many years outside of RSA.

For the past year I have attended many meetings, conferences and events involving Fellows and others. However, I have found the process of engaging Fellows slow and frustrating. Most say "Scott we think your ideas for your SIICA project are excellent but unfortunately I do not have any spare time to help".

The "shift from a great social club to a force for social change" is a considerable challenge and one that requires much promotional and motivational energy from those of us that believe that many Fellows should actively promote "Social Change".

There is a danger that some Fellows may be reluctant to "shift". Personally, I think it is important to provide Fellows with what they want. I see no reason to abandon the "great social club" and other traditional activities whilst persuing
the new and exciting agendas towards "becoming" and achieving "social change". This agenda should be regarded as "ADDITIONAL" . I am sure Matthew agrees.

In pursuing the exciting new agenda we should "avoid throwing the baby out with the bath-water". My philosophy is that often 2 + 2 can equal 5. The challenge for RSA Fellows is to make it happen!

Therefore, I am delighted to learn of the lauching of exciting initiatives and I am happy to contribute great evidence in support and demonstrate initiatives and action. I have 30 years experience of participation at the `grass roots` as a `practioner` and director of programmes. I only wish that I was a member of Council .

"SIICA" is an acrinim for "Social Inclusion and Intergenerational Community Activities" . The project is supported by a few Fellows including Steve Forshaw and Paula Geldert.. SIICA intends to develop in partnership with the "International Arts Collaborative" a `Not-for-Profit` organisation and NHS Trusts, Local Councils, Schools, Community Groups and others initially in the NW of England , We are keen to attract more Fellows to the project.
Interested - please contact Scott Baron by email or telephone, scott.baron@joining-hands.org 01925 756030

Many Thanks

Comment by Peter J Bebb on October 1, 2009 at 9:44

The RSA isn't even a social club. How can it be when there isn't an accessible directory of Fellows? Matthew and Belinda should walk the talk by inviting all Fellows for whom they have email addresses to join the OpenRSA website and to add their contact details. The official database is months away – the Ning invitations could be sent in an hour given the data.

Comment by John McMullan on October 1, 2009 at 11:25

Just read the blog and find the idea of there being 'cake' beneath the 'icing' as being essential. I've always found demonstration to be quite potent when seeking social change. I'm not denigrating dialog and conceptulizing, as I believe the are complementary. Living in N Ireland and haveing been governed by government departments for so many years it has been my expereince that 'forgiveness is easier won than permission', so essentially doing things gets change quicker than saying things - personal experience.
I'm quite passionate about Social Enterprise as a new business pardigm and have found explaining it can be difficult but demonstrating it has a profound effect on policy development, so clearly I'm in the do it camp but just to sit on the fence, I see the importance talking it too.

Comment by Laura Billings on October 1, 2009 at 11:48

It's fantastic to see the support and enthusiasm here for the shift we're all undertaking to unlock the potential of the Fellowship, and make it a truly effective force for change.

Hopefully the Fellowship Charter can act as a catalyst for more Fellows to start thinking and acting along these lines as it reconfirms what we're all passionate about achieving. The proposed text will be available in the House and online following the AGM on 7 Oct, for everyone to add ideas and examples of how we can all play a part to embody this. And as Belinda says, we can begin to gather, promote and support more great Fellows' initiatives.

Comment by Belinda Lester on October 1, 2009 at 12:25

Hi Scott and David - we couldn't agree more. We need to make sure there is room for socialising/networking as well as noses to the grindstone. We also know that ability and desire to participate varies widely for people. What we want to do - with Fellows - is create the right kind of enviroment where our overall focus is on content-led outcomes. What difference are we making in the world? This is about communicating the work that Fellows are already doing, and encouraging more. The ideal model for us is that the encouragement and momentum comes from within the Fellowship as much as from within JAS. The intitatives I talk about, including the social venture fund, will be developed with and by Fellows, not from the top down - I will be talking much more about this in the next few weeks.

We know we have a way to go with our directories etc, but I won't let that be the excuse for lack of action. I am excited by the energy and enthusiasm that Fellows, including Council members, have said they want to apply to this challenge.

John, I look forward to continuing this discussion on Wednesday! As Laura says the Charter will be a very important catalyst, but we are the ones that can make things happen.

Comment by Belinda Lester on October 1, 2009 at 13:31

David - as you know I love your passion, and that you are quick to respond! One thing that I know is that - as part of our considered approach to network and project development - we need all sorts of spaces and places and types of events and sorts of discussions etc to engage the wider Fellowship. We will of course keep working to provide centralised and facilitated spaces, but we are also working to ensure that Fellows are empowered to create these spaces and places themselves. This is as much a resource issue as it is about participation and impact.

Watch this space - let's focus on the activities on the 7th and the launch of the Charter process and the Council, and the role that they will all play in helping us to deliver on shared RSA-Fellow ambition. These are genuinely exciting times :)

Comment by David Jennings on October 1, 2009 at 14:08

I do hope we can just do it, one way or another.

Comment by Belinda Lester on October 1, 2009 at 14:30

Absolutely - why don't you come in and speak to Clare, as London Networks Manager, so you can coordinate and work out how we can best help each other. We also need to engage the Regional Committe but let's bring them in to the discussion.

Comment by Belinda Lester on October 1, 2009 at 14:31

Or we can come to you :)

Comment by Andy Gibson on October 2, 2009 at 14:25

Right, time for my 2p then... :-)

"How do we shift from a great social club to a force for social change?"

This is the line which really grabbed my attention, coming as it did after Belinda had invited me to attend the recent New Fellows Evening. I really enjoyed the event, because it gave me a chance to mention my own projects and gather interest and support from other fellows, and also to help fellows with their projects. Since that evening I have introduced three fellows to people who may help them in their work, been invited to two great events and I may have found a partner to take my Mindapples mental health campaign into schools. And all from having a few drinks and a bit of fun together.

Afterwards, I Twittered about how great the event had been and quickly received an envious reply from another fellow, saying she felt very 'disconnected' from the RSA and other fellows and she wished she'd been there that night. I know how she feels. When is the next occasion that these new fellows will get to meet each other and support each other's work in this way? If the question on Matthew's mind is how we transform a great social club into a force for good, I suggest that we need to become the former before we can transform it into the latter. If I were building a force for change, I would much rather begin with a tight community of like-minded collaborators than a disconnected collection of individuals. You can't harness the power of a community until you have one.

The critical issue for me, which I hope we can discuss at next week's Fellowship Council meeting, is that I was invited to join the RSA because they believed in the work I was doing. I assume most other fellows can say the same. So, if the RSA wants its Fellowship to become a force for social good, surely its first task is to support all our good work and help us achieve more than we could on our own? If the RSA wants me to be a force for social good, what I need is a social club full of useful, helpful people who share my vision, and an organisation with political and cultural weight to support my work. To use Belinda's phrasing, isn't this collective endeavour to fight our own little battles actually the cake? And the RSA's own organisational projects merely the icing?

The power of networks is that you can achieve more by helping people do things than you can by doing things to people. The RSA is a powerful and effective institution, but it will never have the resources of 27000 people working collaboratively towards a shared vision. From the salons in the French Revolution to the geeks that built the internet, history shows that the most dangerous thing people can do is start socialising together. If the RSA used its convening power to turn us from a collection of individuals into a trusted fellowship working to support each other's interests, then who knows what wonderful things would emerge?

So my challenge is this: will the RSA host and fund a monthly event in the House, open to all fellows, where we can come and ask questions of each other and offer support to each other's work and projects? I'll even offer to facilitate the first one free of charge to get the ball rolling, and I'm sure other fellows would do the same.

(Okay, that was probably more than 2p.)

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