Life's a Lesson to be Learned

As we grow older and more experienced in both life and our professions, there's a tendency to think our expertise in any particular subject exempts us from learning from others. This is just simply not true as tacit knowledge - knowledge transferred from one to another through interactions/experiences - is abundantly available...if you care to look for it.

Last night, Downtown Champaign hosted its 16th Annual Parade of Lights which serves as Champaign-Urbana's official kick-off to the holiday season. 2016 was my third year serving on the committee that organizes the parade and second as the committee chair. The 2014 parade was my introduction to the parade, 2015 gave me the opportunity to help put a stamp on the festivities, by the time this year rolled around things were pretty much streamlined.

Thanks to a smooth planning season, we were extremely confident heading in to the day of event. What happened next? Knowledge!

Our pre-parade festivities started out with two bangs. The superhero scavenger hunt planned had far better attendance than we had anticipated, bang 1. Bang 2, there were only two noticeable absences from our roster, 2 of our four superheroes. As soon as we had resolved that issue, our VIP seating arrived to be set up and was 25 chairs short. Once sorted, we realized there were numerous issues with residents parked illegally - for context, when I say numerous I mean 8 towed cars compared to 1 in the previous 2 years combined.

All issues were sorted matter of factly and the only true public impact as a result was a 14-minute delay in step-off as we needed to wait for the final car to be removed from the route for safety reasons. We were prepped to handle each situation and did so accordingly. But I couldn't help sit there and think what could we have done differently as a committee to better handle the laundry list of obstacles that popped-up...I learned a lesson about there never being such a thing as too prepared.

These types of lessons are all around us as long as we keep our eyes open and are willing to accept them!

Putting the Fun in Fundraising

One of the more rewarding aspects of my job with Busey is leading the annual corporate United Way campaign. Being afforded the trust and the ability to represent my company in such an impactful endeavor is something I take seriously, but never too seriously!

In my three years serving on the corporate campaign committee, the last two as campaign chair, I've found that limiting the seriousness as much as possible is a major key to success. The fact of the matter is that people understand the severity and the justness of the cause well enough - a lesson our friends in the political spectrum could learn - and while you don't want to ignore the facts you don't want to focus on them either.

This concept was never more prevalent than after the final event of our 2016 campaign, the Busey Triathlon. Now, this wasn't just a standard athletic competition, more than that it was a battle for bragging rights! Busey boasts 5 unique lines of business to serve all our customer’s financial needs - it also provides the United Way committee with 5 pre-determined and very proud teams.

We use this to the campaigns advantage and identify a champion from each line of business to accept the challenge of besting their rival lines in a competition of the committee's choosing. With the addition of a new corporate wellness center earlier this year, that competition was a gym based triathlon featuring a 10-minute stationary bike ride, 1 mile run on the treadmill, and a 1 mile run on the elliptical.

The competitors had been chosen and the stage was set for a lively event, but how do you monetize this style of competition into something that will lead to financial contributions for your community? Put the FUN in the fundraising. Each line of business chose one of their most physically gifted competitors, but the campaign committee added a fundraising wrinkle that completely negated the skill level of whomever represents a specific team - we made time alterations available for purchase!

Armed with the knowledge that you could purchase a minute subtraction from your time for $5.00, or a minute addition to a competitor for $1.00, the teams began their fundraising efforts a week before the event and raised a combined total of $2,500.00 to support the United Way of Champaign County. Teams made use of engaging email campaigns to recruit dollars from their teams, and the committees made sure each line of business were aware of the lengths their competition was going to raise funds as well!

There wasn't a single mention of the harsh realities that face our community, and what transpired was the most lucrative fundraising event in our campaigns recorded history.

Disillusionment with the Status Quo

I had the privilege of attending the second session of my IBA Future Leaders Alliance program at the State Capital these last few days. Our topic for this session involved banking regulation on day 1 and lobbying state legislature on day 2.

While I knew this session would represent the biggest step out of my comfort zone, I was eager for the opportunity to round out my banking experience. One of the more enticing parts of this entire experience was the opportunity to directly meet with our state legislation.

Over the course of our two days in Springfield, I met with 5 separate Representatives. With the exception of one of those meetings, they did little to contradict the stereotype emblazoned upon legislation. I appreciated their willingness to open up and speak to their honest assessment why Illinois is currently in its 10th month of a budget impasse.

When given the opportunity to present their tactics for solution however, not a single representative missed the chance to cast blame on the other sides unwillingness to compromise. Citing philosophical differences as the point of contention, I proceeded to ask one representative the following question:

"If the trouble truly is philosophy, conventional wisdom suggests an agreement will not be happening any time soon. If EIU laying off 100+ employees wasn't a big enough catalyst, will Chicago State University closing its doors in 3 weeks represent a large enough threat to bring the two sides together?"

Responded by a pause, then a "good question" followed up by, "I hope it doesn't get that far," the representative could not have backed out of that question quicker. Others I spoke with are far more fearful that a resolution won't come until threats of grade school closures arise this coming August.

Both parties recognize the problem, neither side is willing to do anything about it. It's a sad state of affairs and truly disappointing to see the stereotypes proven true. Things only got worse when all parties combined on the floor of the general assembly. Reminiscent of a bunch of 5 year olds fighting, one representative went as far as to say, "I really want to say something nice, I can't, so I just won't say anything."

I kid you not, that was an actual rebuttal heard on the floor during live session while debating the $3.9 billion higher education budget that was later approved and sent on to the Governor's desk in hopes of ending this turmoil. Unfortunately, it won't be the end many are hoping for. As the Illinois House Republican Leader so eloquently put it, "the assembly will pass it, Rauner will veto, and there won't be enough dems willing to attach their name to the right of override given it's an election year. Just a waste of time."

In the end, that's what it all boils down to. Our elected representatives unwilling to speak for their constituents out of fear they might offend that one key demographic that would tip a 2% win in the general election to a 1% loss.

None of this comes as a great shock to me, but it does leave a far more bitter taste in my mouth after witnessing it all in live action. To end on a positive note though, regardless of when they actually pass a budget, at least both sides were able to work together in order to identify an appropriation of non-existent funds to cover their annual salaries!

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Thank you for visiting the life and times of Colin DeCair. This blog is in no way an advertisement for any entity covered, merely a commentary on those items I find important to me.

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