Yesterday afternoon, five Brooklyn Connectors met in one of the free meeting rooms at the beautiful Brooklyn Public Library Central Branch.

The BPL’s Central Library (image via Wikimedia Commons)

By the end, we’d covered three things:

1) Expectations for Connectors in the Team

In order to be effective, we proposed that people in the Team should:

•  Complete their Idealist personal profiles so that everyone can see their skills, interests, connections, and contact info they feel comfortable sharing.

• Make an effort to interact with the Team at least once a month: attend a meeting, reply to a discussion thread, participate in a Team event, or add a helpful resource.

• Keep the Team discussion board a place for Connector-related topics only.

2) Starting a resource inventory

Collectively, we have a lot to offer. Using a Google spreadsheet, we’ll create a repository of these skills, knowledge and connections to great resources, so we can quickly help someone move from intention to action.

3) A schedule for meetings

New Yorkers tend to be busy people, so scheduling ahead is helpful. We chose the date for our next meeting at the library and created an event on our team page. (Note: libraries often offer meeting rooms to the public for free.  If you’re looking for a space for a meeting, start there!)

We also raised the possibility of using Google Hangouts for an online meeting if it’s ever too difficult to meet up in person.

Connectors: Welcome to Brooklyn, baby!

At the end of the meeting, someone suggested that we take a quiet moment to reflect. Sitting there looking at my fellow Connectors, I was overcome by a sense of possibility and purpose. I’m so excited to get to work and meet more amazing people who are passionate about building this movement and sparking good action in this world.

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Liz Morrison is a brand-new Brooklyn Connector and a video producer at Idealist. Connect with her! If you’re in the Brooklyn area, check out the Brooklyn Team.