Justice. Equity. Healing. Transition. Transformation. Action. Community.
I hope you and yours continue to be safe and well.
I wrote my first message to the community around this time last year. I have learned a lot over the course of this past year. Thank you for your candid conversations and support of both me and our incredible team. As we reflect on 2020 and SOCAP plans for 2021, we are taking lessons learned, honest feedback and challenges we heard from the community into deeper collaboration and actions. One action we are committed to is centering racial equity and justice in all that we do. This work is demanding that we examine our policies and practices. It will have business model implications that we are researching currently. SOCAP is dedicated to being open and transparent with you around these current and upcoming changes and to seek your guidance and wisdom.
2021 will be a transition year for SOCAP Global as we take the best of SOCAP and pair it with new features and initiatives to allow the community to stay connected, learn and catalyze together in this new normal.
In this time of transitions, we want to say thank you and best wishes to Kate Byrne. Kate will be heading up an exciting initiative with Katupult X. Thank you for helping to grow SOCAP and the community. We look forward to collaborating with you in your new role. Additionally, we want to welcome back to the team Halima Adenegan! Joining us and bringing her magic to the Content Team on a more regular basis with SPECTRUM and more. The rest of the team is taking on new roles and responsibilities to bring you the best year of SOCAP yet.
I was recently asked by a friend and colleague what words come to mind when thinking about SOCAP for 2021. They are: Justice. Equity. Healing. Transition. Transformation. Action. Community. We here at SOCAP Global are doubling down on YOU – the community. When we are in community, durable changes become possible. New ideas, synergy and shared creation and learning happen. The only way through is together!
How can we create more sustained action together and bring more ideas and voices to the table?
SOCAP Community
We are launching a new initiative called SOCAP Community. We are turning the mic over to you. Providing the platform and space to hear from you with community generated content. Submit your ideas through our SOCAP Community portal. We are interested in both digital and live experiences:
- research, reports, articles and other original content
- webinars, networking sessions, working groups and other new formats for connecting and learning together.
The Content Team will review submissions weekly and curate the overall content flow. Add multiple ideas throughout the year. Your creativity is the limit.
SPECTRUM and SOCAP21 Virtual
In the spirit of continuous improvement we re-designed SPECTRUM and SOCAP21 from lessons learned last year and to fit our ever evolving new normal. With these events we are looking and building to the future for when we will have hybrid events.
SPECTRUM21
Changing times call for a change in how we collectively build, innovate and transform our society. As we enter our third year, SPECTRUM is excited to introduce year-round offerings that focus on justice, equity and action.
Creating more touch points for the community to connect, learn and do together is the goal for 2021.
Instead of just one event we want to create multiple events ranging from half-day to full-day virtual engagements. Dedicated networking and special programming will also take place year-round.
SOCAP21
We know that networking is tricky in this virtual world, and yet there are more opportunities to connect with people from around the world than ever before.
We are bringing more networking and facilitated conversations to SOCAP this year.
We will still bring you inspiring, provocative content plus more ways to connect around that content:
- Fewer sessions in different formats.
- Dynamic Main Stage.
- Session times for more international attendees.
- Day of Action on Friday, October 22, where we will open up the platform completely to the community. You create the content. Take advantage of a spur of the moment connection and spin up a session on the fly or reflection from the week.
- Expo Centers for Sponsors
- Entrepreneurs Showcases — and more.
Lastly, a shout out and HUGE THANK YOU to the amazing SOCAP team. The team makes the dream! The SOCAP crew is amazing, small but mighty. This is just a peek into what the team is planning for you and with you. You inspire us everyday. Help us know how we can be in service to you to provide more value, amplify and catalyze the work you are doing.
In community,
Cari Hanson and the SOCAP Team