Considering Becoming Certified in ToP Methods?

Two virtual certification cohorts are about to open for 2013.  The cohorts combine peer coaching, a website to post documented events and reflection sheets, and information on a monthly topic that digs deeper into one of the ToP processes or the Certification process. 

90 minute monthly sessions beginning in March will provide a venue to focus on specific methods, share experiences, provide feedback and answer questions on topics that follow the certification journey.   Read more about the certification cohort and participation requirements under Methods at www.top-network.org.

Contact Marilyn Oyler by February 22, 2013 if you are interested. 

Seven ToP Facilitators Attain CTF Status in 2013 

Congratulations to Mayme Webb-Bledsoe, Molly Shaw, Nileen Verbeten, Melinda Posner, Suzanne Esber and Shannon Mong who were assessed at the Durham Gathering and Jennifer Moriarty who underwent assessment in Minneapolis.

We also thank the assessors who committed their time and energy to this work. In Durham:  Linda Alton, Nadine Bell, Ester Mae Cox, Mary Flanagan, Nancy Jackson, Dennis Jennings, Marilyn Oyler and Judy Weddle.   Dennis Jennings and Cheryl Kartes were the assessors in Minneapolis.

New!  Over the ToP Award Recognition

We celebrated the following people to recognize those few members who have gone way above & beyond for our Network.during 2012:

Suzanne Esber, who led the Customer Fulfillment Team through the technological, project management and organizational challenges, all while caring for her sister Linda during her last months of life.

Ester Mae Cox, who -- how do we summarize the ridiculous contributions of Ester Mae for the ToP Network? Virtual guru, membership queen, back up for anything whenever anyone calls her, detail maven. I wonder where this organization would be without her contributions?

Nileen Verbeten, came to us as a new member last year after performing mightily as a part of the Sacramento dream team, stepped up to lead the Membership Team and the development of our ToP Network website on Memberclicks.

Heidi Wilson, a newlywed and 1st time member of our Board, Heidi jumped in when others thought things couldn't happen. She led the effort to make sure we had an Annual Gathering SOMEWHERE, even though no one had stepped up. She led the Strategic Planning process which came to fruition in Durham, and will allow our Network to focus its resources for greater impact, AND she gave birth to Addy in November!!!  Last but not least,

Ann Epps, living proof that great teams make everything work by picking up the pieces that others have dropped, or handed off, or didn't even know had to be done.  When Heidi took a few minutes to bond with her precious Addy, AND heal from birthing, Ann kept things going to ensure that we all were working together & getting the job done for the Durham Annual Gathering.  Her selfless spirit of commitment brings joy to the process!

February 2013  

Welcome to our ToP Network Website & Inaugural Newsletter!

At last, the website design is up and we’re on our way. Kudos to Nileen Verbeten and Ester Mae Cox for their leadership and tenacity in bringing us to this point.  

2013 got off to a great start with the Durham Gathering (read more about it at http://www.top-network.org/annual-gathering) with 59 ToP devotees learning, collaborating and enjoying each other. The ToP Certification Team favorably assessed 6 CTF candidates (2 of whom submitted electronic portfolios) (see sidebar) and we honored the National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO) as ToP Champion.

We also presented Over the ToP Awards for the first time this year, to recognize those few members who have gone way above & beyond for our Network.  Going “over the top” connotes a bit of madness. . . losing one’s marbles. . .and still doing it on our behalf.  See the Over the ToP sidebar for the people and their Over the ToPness.

During the Gathering, Mayme Webb-Bledsoe and her colleagues led a tour of the Lyon Park Neighborhood and shared stories from this long-term community development project incorporating ToP methods. The tour, the insights and the lovely dinner at the community center, reinforced the importance of ToP in this type work for some of us and lit great curiosity about community development possibilities for others. We give great thanks to the Durham host and program teams.

Sunday’s planning portion of the Gathering yielded new or reframed Action Teams and one big transformation. Concerned about the message being sent, our PHaT group became PHiT and picked up several new members. Be on the watch for a final report on the strategic directions SOON, and how the action teams tie into them to move us forward strategically

Also on Sunday, we elected a new Board of Directors (http://www.top-network.org/top-network-board). Suzanne Esber and Nelson Stover provided orientation and training to the new ICA ToP Trainers website. Read more about that below. Stay tuned as this great work comes to fruition.

Since Durham, the Certification Team has assessed and awarded a 7^th CTF. Marilyn Oyler and the Certification Team are organizing the 2013 Virtual Certification Cohort(s) (see sidebar). The VCC is a great support system for ToP facilitators who are interested in certification. The window to join in is closing shortly, so if you’re interested – contact Marilyn by February 22.

ToP Network’s New Website -- We started the search for a new website because we needed a resource that could handle Network work (membership and event management) in addition to being a place to support communication and access resources. After researching options, we elected to contract with MemberClicks and have been hard at work on configuration and content creation since July. The site went live on October 16. In its first 4 months, the website has managed over 350 transactions (registrations, membership renewals and membership applications).  It is reminding members when membership is about to expire and helping us keep track of who has renewed.  We started tracking traffic in December and since then have recorded nearly 15,500 page views and an average visit on the site of more than 7 minutes. 

You’ve probably noticed it is nothing like ttn.groupsite.net and we all have a bit of a learning curve before us. Nileen, Ester Mae and Sunny Walker have been exploring strategies to transfer information from Groupsite to top-network.org (AKA top.memberclicks.net) and that task is daunting, to be sure. A prototype of how resources might be organized for easy access is the book charting article at http://www.top-network.org/book-charting  

Committee workspaces have been created for the new action teams (committee members can see the committees they are on at the “My Features” tab of the member menu bar). Several articles under the Get-Involved Menu Tab discuss website features and tips for using them. We’ve created a community forum and posted all of the 2013 action team victory and accomplishments statements to encourage members to jump in and offer feedback and ask questions. (Some of you may have experienced the sensation of drowning in notifications the day that task was done.)

We are very hopeful that this platform will be a place that will allow us to share our organization with newcomers, connect, grow, conduct business as teams, and streamline our business (membership renewals, annual gathering registrations, etc).

Let us know what you think. We are all working together to make our young organization move to a level of relevance and sustainability. Please join is in helping shape our future!

ICA ToP Training Website Soon to Be a Reality

ICA looks forward to launching the new and improved ToP Training website which will be the portal for ToP course and certified facilitator assessment event registration.   Overall, the objectives of the website are to provide a smooth user experience and self-service registrar system.

Our “customers”, ToP course registrants, will experience an easily navigable website to search, learn about and register for ToP courses.  ToP trainers will have access to our collective training and marketing materials, pay their annual licensing fee online, and network through forums. The website provides a comprehensive database of course grads accessible to registrars by region for communication and marketing purposes.

Registrars and ICA staff will be able to manage all ToP courses online - posting and updating courses, accessing needed information about their courses such as participant rosters, emailing course registrants, and closing out courses for reporting to ICA.  

Right now we are reviewing all of the registration processes and policies with input from registrars.  These processes are defining how we set up the functionality in the system.

A year ago, the ToP Network proposed the acquisition of a new website.  Many have been involved with the project.  Thank you to the RFP team – Sheila Cooke, Deb Burnight, Erin O'toole Murphy, Catherine Tornbom, Eric Warheit - who defined the requirements of a customer fulfillment system.  And thanks to the Implementation team  - Linda Alton, Jonathan Bell, Deb Burnight, Suzanne Esber, Gordon Harper, Elaine Stover; Tech Project Manager, Nelson Stover; and ICA staff - Anne Neal and Fara Taylor - for the development of the website.