Today we held our yearly staff meeting. I still get a little nervous for the multiple presentations that have to be given but it is a great time to review our accomplishments and plan for the coming year. As is common in business meetings, we started with a team building exercise. Since we all know each other we skipped the "getting to know you" stuff. This years game we had to guess each others soap opera stage name. This is arrived at by taking your middle name as your first name and combining it with the name of the street you live on for your last name. My new name is Byron Fir (I'm never going to be famous with that name). Once we had that figured out I had everyone write their new name on a note card and we divided into two teams. The teams switched cards and then got points for all the correct names they guessed on the other side. Nothing like starting the day laughing.While a chunk of the day was spent on training in policy/procedures the most interesting section for me was led by Sarah when she unveiled our new mission and vision statement for the Farm.
Vision - To be an innovative and enjoyable museum within the Chicagoland area.
Mission - To promote an educational and memorable experience through programs and site visits that ignite the imagination, inspire our visitors, and preserve our local agricultural history.
I think this new mission and vision does a good job of telling people who we are and what we do. As the staff spends the rest of the winter working on new programs and events it will serve as a helpful reminder of our ultimate goal.
