ONLINE
Micro Finance Team Consortium (MFT)
The MFT Board had to draw two years of planning and testing together into a strategy for funding and dissemination of a radical new payments clearinghouse for the world’s poor. There would be no meetings possible until near the deadline. A tall order. CoVision teamed with SeeChange Consulting of Washington DC to create a monthly cycle of online prep work via our WebCouncil collaboration center, followed by a facilitated conference call. We used our jointly developed Virtual Team Optimization process (VTO) to facilitate MFT member interaction and expedite team decision-making via a defined, systemized process utilizing online collaboration tools. They were able to work effectively while apart over the five months and accomplish the task.

MEETINGS
Research to Practice (Continuing Medical Education)
For two years, CoVision has supported the work of Research to Practice, a Miami-based Continuing Medical Education firm. Research to Practice convenes frequent meetings of top researchers in breast cancer and colon cancer. Research to Practice uses CoVision’s WebCouncil system to allow the researchers to freely exchange reactions, insights, and best practices throughout the day-long think tanks. WebCouncil is also used in Research to Practice Working Group Meetings held around the country. At these meetings, local community doctors are able to interact and engage with the top cancer researchers. WebCouncil is an open communication channel allowing for the immediate exchange of questions, answers, thoughts, and the creation and capture of new knowledge.

ONLINE + MEETINGS
The Smithsonian National Zoological Park – Strategic Planning Process
The Smithsonian National Zoological Park engaged Aliniad Consulting Partners to facilitate a long range strategic planning process. It was key for the process to allow for all employees and key outside stakeholders to have input and comment on the various stages of planning. CoVision was brought in to support this effort.  At each stage of the planning process, meetings were scheduled for all hands to come together, discuss, and give their input. Over several months, sessions focused on the mission, core values, vision, goal areas, strengths & weaknesses, and performance measures. All input was captured using CoVision’s WebCouncil fast-feedback system and was instantly available to the planning committee.  Sessions were also held to get input from the board of directors, volunteers, and the community at large. An online survey was also conducted to get input from the larger zoo professional community. The result of all of this engagement and involvement was a plan that employees truly feel they own and are excited about seeing implemented.

MEETINGS
Washington DC Citizen Summits - ’99, ’01, ’03, ’05
Every two years, the Washington DC mayor creates and ratifies a new fiscal budget. Since 1999, Mayor Anthony Williams has made it a priority to reach deep into the neighborhoods in order to find the most current priorities. His community outreach group, Neighborhood Action, holds hundreds of meetings in school libraries and cafeterias throughout the city. All that information is used to shape a draft of the new budget which is finally rolled out at a “citizen summit” of over 3,000 neighborhood respresentatives. CoVision has supported all four of these, providing our fast-feedback technology for the AmericaSpeaks team of teams. With one WebCouncil laptop on each table of 10, the lead facilitator is able to give deliberation tasks to the table groups and then collect the results from across the room in each table’s own words. This data is rolled up by the Theme Team and some of it is converted into polling lists on which all participants vote.