Spirit of Chicago:  Founding Member

Rich Kawolics

I'd like to share a favorite memory of the Chicago meeting, and I'd like to encourage others to do the same.
Those who attended will recall that on Saturday afternoon, a motion was made to pursue merger of the newly-formed Destination ImagiNation, Inc., with OM Association, Inc., and to empower the board of DI to negotiate the terms of merger. The only problem was that no one yet knew who the board of DI would be the election results had not been announced. One member - sorry, I don't remember who except that she was sitting toward the back of the auditorium - stated that she could not support the motion until she knew who the board would be. Because the assembly felt it was necessary to give every member his or her say, the vote on the motion was rescheduled to follow the announcement of the board members. When the motion was re-introduced, there were no objections and the vote was unanimous.
The reason I treasure this memory is that it indicates so clearly that it is possible for an organization to form consensus respecting the values and beliefs of all its members - we certainly showed that in Chicago!
That was a proud moment for all of us.