September Meeting: Tour of the Islamic Center of Tennessee

The September meeting of RCC took place at the Islamic Center of Tennessee (ICT), which was established in 2010 with the goal of educating both the Muslim and non-Muslim communities in Middle Tennessee. Located in Antioch, a community southeast of Nashville, the Carmike Bell Forge Theater was purchased with money raised from the local community and transformed into the Islamic Center of Tennessee.  As the largest Islamic Center in Middle Tennessee, ICT strives to provide unprecedented and professional Islamic and educational services to its parishioners. As the newest and most diverse community in Nashville, ICT aims to unite Muslims upon the true teachings of tolerance and peace from the Qu’ran and Sunnah.

There were 12 attendees, and RCC members began the tour in the worship hall hearing from Imam Anwar Arafat who moved to Nashville just 3 months ago to oversee ICT. He's a Utah native who grew up in a diverse household, and traveled before winding up as the Imam of a Memphis mosque, and of course, now lives in Antioch. 

Sabina Mohyuddin also spoke to RCC members, telling the story of how she helped co-found and now is Executive Director for the American Muslim Advisory Council, a group with the purpose of helping to change the narrative in the media about Muslims and which also helps Muslims realize their civic duties. 

Following the discussion, Imam Anwar gave RCC members a full tour of the center which includes a movie theatre (as the center was previously an actual movie theatre), a gym, a general meeting room which can be used for community events, weddings, etc., and the reception hall, in addition to the worship halls. 

Thanks so much to Imam Anwar, Sabina, Aisha and all the rest at ICT for taking the time out to have RCC for a tour! 

July Meeting: Tour of the New Tennessean Offices

The July meeting of RCC took place at the brand new offices for the Tennessean newspaper in the upper floors of a high-rise on West End Avenue. 

There were 14 attendees, and RCC members convened in the Rutherford meeting room at 11am to hear from Duane Gang, Metro News Editor, and Holly Meyer, Religion Reporter. Duane and Holly spoke to us about the work they do, how they manage & plan stories, and fielded questions.

Afterward, Holly led a full tour of the new office spaces which include absolutely fabulous views of the city, great people and a really neat workspace.

Thanks so much to Holly and Duane for taking the time out from your schedules to have RCC for a tour! 

May Meeting: Paid Advertising Strategies

The May meeting of RCC was held at United Methodist Communications on 12th Avenue South. We had a lunch and learn with guest presenter, Debbie Hill, CEO of Creative Website Marketing on the topic Paid Advertising Strategies for Brand Awareness & How It Can Impact Your Organization.

Debbie Hill founded Creative Website Marketing in 1999 and has both an extensive and impressive history of working with successful start-ups to high-end brands and creating tangible Digital results for clients. A veteran in Digital marketing with over 20 years experience, Debbie has a track record of client longevity in an environment of growing complexity and rapid pace of change. Debbie has been a guest presenter at universities, seminars and regularly educates executives and key stakeholders on new and advanced Digital concepts and strategy solutions.

During her talk, Debbie shared two important tools for finding the best keywords. They were Wordstream and Google Trends. She also pointed out that if you would like to advertise in an application that is going to reach your desired audience, 90% of apps are on the Google platform. As well, Google AdWords can provide a grant for non-profit organizations up to $10,000 in advertising. 

Debbie gave a fabulous presentation on the best practices and ways to utilize advertising to showcase your organization or brand. 

Thank you to United Methodist Communications for being wonderful hosts, and to Debbie for taking the time to share this valuable information with us! 

April Meeting: Putting Research into Action

The April meeting of RCC was held at the Church of Scientology on 8th Avenue South. We had a lunch and learn with two guest presenters: Sheila King & Magda Vaughn. Sheila is CEO & Founder of King Research Solutions LLC, and Magda is the Senior Research Manager at MaritzCX. They gave a fabulous presentation on the best practices for fully utilizing research and how it impacts planning and future projects. 

Due to the interest in their presentation, they have made their PowerPoint available at this link for anyone interested in reviewing the information. 

 

Thank you to the Church of Scientology for being wonderful hosts, and to Sheila and Magda for taking the time to share this valuable information with us! 

March Meeting: The Great Reset

The March meeting of RCC was held at the United Methodist Communications building on 12th Avenue South. We had a lunch and learn with Kalinda Fisher who has created a series of community round tables around sometimes difficult conversations which she has dubbed "The Great Reset." 

The Great Reset centers on monthly conversations. At these meetings, participants discuss a topic of interest, covering a variety areas -- some controversial.

Kalinda says her goal is to create groups like this throughout the community to teach people how to talk, even disagree and still walk away -- friends. And she has succeeded. The Great Reset is now in California, Wisconsin, Illinois, New York, Tennessee and Ohio.

Kalinda is always welcoming new participants in the Great Reset, and encourages people to start up their own conversations, which she will help to get rolling. To find out how to be involved, contact Kalinda: 

Kalinda Fisher ~ kalinda14@icloud.com
Follow The Great Reset on Twitter & Facebook!

February Meeting: How to Lead When No One Listens

The February meeting of RCC was held at the General Council on Finance & Administration for the

United Methodist Church on Music Row. We had a lunch and learn with Reah Aitkin, the Regional Development Director of St. Jude Children's Research Hospital on how to engage volunteers and get participation ...in other words, how to lead when no one listens.

Reah gave a friendly, open discussion on the topic of engaging volunteers. She included tips about the right kind of swag to incentivize, as well as tips on recruitment, and various levels of volunteers (from your one time volunteer to your brand ambassadors and committee members).  

It was a fabulous discussion and all attendees learned so much! A big thank you to Reah for sharing with us, and thank you as well to our wonderful hosts, GCFA! 

To view archives of past meetings, visit the RCC Nashville blog.

Our next RCC meeting is March 5, 2019 from 11:30 - 1:00 with guest presenter Tim Earnhart of Werkshop Branding.

January Meeting: What Makes an Idea Stick

The January meeting of RCC was held at the United Methodist Communications building on 12th Avenue South. We had a lunch and learn with Laura Buchanan, Senior Creative Content Specialist at United Methodist Communications. Her passion for writing, strategic messaging and connecting with audiences comes from a 12-year career in nonprofit fundraising and faith-based communications. 

Her topic on “What makes an idea memorable?” comes from the book, “Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die.”

Buchanan’s presentation covered six basic ways to make content relevant and interesting: 1) keep it simple and easy to understand, 2) drop in something unexpected to grab attention, 3) make it concrete so they remember, 4) ensure the information is credible, 5) create an emotional connection with the content, and 6) tell a story. 

It was a fabulous discussion and all attendees learned so much! A big thank you to Ms. Buchanan for sharing with us, and thank you as well to our wonderful hosts, UM Com!