By: Marie Eddy

This March, Burlington BPW ran a four-session Individual Development program at the Hinesburg
community library. Nine people registered for this program, which met for four consecutive
Saturday mornings. Three of the participants were BPW members and six were non-BPW members.
The participants were Leslie Higgins, Heather Streeter, Jennifer Savage, Kimberley Legg, Cheyenne Journey, Christie Hammach, Mary Segura, Fexhrije Suleimani, and Stacie Deason. Only one participant didn’t make it back after the first meeting, although we kept in touch via e-mail.

Since it was impossible to cover all 14 modules of ID in eight hours, I selected those modules I
felt would be most helpful to the participants, paying special attention to covering the modules that would make members eligible to participate at State and National ID events. The modules covered were 1, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 and 11, although we should have spent more time on Module 9 (Leadership Development) but we spent extra time on Module 6 (Networking), per participant request.

On Saturday, March 29th, as many Vermont BPW members were at the Spring Board meeting,
we had seven people participate in the Speak-Off, the 5-minute prepared speech part of the program. As usual, the speeches were interesting, informative and wonderfully presented. Jennifer Savage, Franklin County BPW member, won the Speak-Off, with her speech on how she became involved in BPW.

Looking back on this spring’s program, I feel it was a success! The group meshed well and
networked with each other. Some participants have remained connected with each other through
the LinkedIn website technology. Participants were mailed the April Bulletin of Burlington BPW and have been invited to attend. Who knows, perhaps some of the non-members participating might join.

The participants filled out evaluation forms as part of the process. Most of the feedback was
very positive. Many wished the program could have been longer, and suggested that the next time ID runs, it meets for three hours
instead of two hours at a time. Hopefully, we can incorporate the feedback into next year’s program, and have another good year.

Submitted by Marie Eddy