Leading in times of economic uncertainty

The Board of Directors for WTCI, the PBS TV affiliate for the Chattanooga, North Georgia and the Tennessee Valley area was facing economic challenges with fundraising and viewership loss due to the explosion of viewing options through digital TV and broadband internet advances. The Board wanted to refresh their strategy for 2009 and define a clear view of the future view of WTCI and the value it would provide in the market. They also wanted to explore four critical pillars to their future plan by creating strategic objectives and action plans in these areas. Bridge Consulting International was engaged to run their Accelerated Strategy Refresh Workshop. In 5 hours, a group of 32 comprised of board members, thought leaders, and future board members created an extraordinary bold future view reinventing themselves to capitalize on the new digital/ internet age. They also defined strategic objectives, action plans, and board leadership in 4 critical areas to drive their strategy forward. Julie Taylor, Director of Major Giving for WTCI, shared this feedback with Jenny Whitener, leader of the WTCI Accelerated Strategy Refresh:

"I can't believe I've let a whole week go by without telling you how wonderful the retreat went. I have talked with several board members who felt like it was informative, thought-provoking and most important, engaging. One board member said that he usually winces when he has to get involved in "break out" sessions but he said "I was enjoying the conversation and task at hand so much that I didn't even realize that we were 'breaking out'!" We also had a potential board member there who used the retreat as an opportunity to get to know us better. She has agreed to join the board and is really excited about the opportunity. One of our "thought leaders" was so engaged, she wants to come in, pro bono and do a 2 day financial assessment with our development department. This is something she normally gets paid top dollar to do all over the country! We covered a lot of ground in a short period of time and you and your team were fantastic at keeping us on task. We still have some work to do hammering out the details of our strategy but boy are we on the right track! Thanks again for all of your preparation, hard work and attention to detail."
Julie Taylor, Director of Major Giving for WTCI