The project planning team for our annual lecture series is hard at work figuring out the details for the 2018 lectures! This includes the all-important task of selecting four exceptional speakers to present during the upcoming season. The team has had several planning meetings already, even though the series doesn’t start until January 2018.
We’re in the process of whittling down a starting list of 49 candidate topics to the final 4. Even though sorting through that many options can seem daunting, Matt Kerschbaum makes the process fun. They started with 49 sheets of paper on the table and thoughtful discussion immediately removed 24 leaving a shorter list of 25 for the second cut round. Each team member was given 12 pennies to place on the remaining 25 sheets of paper to select their top 12. This enabled the group to shave the list to 13 candidates.
Team members (l – r) Sue Ehler, Matt Kerschbaum, Barbara Lechner, and Gina Johnson
Now the more formal voting process, involving lists and Excel spreadsheets, will sort the list to identify the top candidates. At that point the team will get busy contacting and confirming potential speakers. We hope to have that done by early October and have the four topics ready to start the next phase of work – advertising the lectures that will be presented on the dates listed below at the NW Educational Services District Building, 1601 R Avenue, Anacortes.
2018 Lecture Schedule: Friday evenings on January 19th, February 16th, March 16th, and April 20.
Mark your calendar and we’ll have the coffee and cookies ready when you get there.