The Great Co-Leader Swap
Sometime in early 2020, my co-leader at the time and I reached out to the Milwaukee leaders and half-jokingly shared the idea of swapping leaders on April Fool’s Day, which was set to fall on a Wednesday. It’s something that we read NPOAK and NPSF had done the year prior, and seeing that Chicago and Milwaukee are 90 minutes apart, this could be done with relative ease. Beyond that, discussions about a house swap and logistics took place. It was setting up to be a lot of fun! But then Covid happened and the idea went to sh!t, like everything else.
Fast forward 5406984023 years to Summit/ Meeting of the Minds in San Diego where this idea popped up again. Christine (MKE) and I still wanted to check this off our bucket list, and we knew with April 1st falling on a Friday this year, this was our opportunity. Word got out and other leaders expressed interest, and before you knew it, this was going to happen. Extra kudos to Christine (MKE) and Vinnie (PHL) for really setting the wheels in motion.
Co-leaders had a separate slack channel. We had a spreadsheet where cities could list if they were participating and co-leaders could choose a city of their choice to lead where there were openings. A deadline of whether and where we would lead elsewhere. Several discussions and months of messaging back and forth. Designing and voting on a logo. Creating and shipping stencils (kudos Aaron, MSN). Figuring out housing, and in some cases, flights—there was a lot taking place behind the scenes! Dana (NYC) mailed me her spare keys in advance so I had a place to stay for free.
Oh, and yeah, designing a workout with leaders who hadn’t led a workout together and/or in a space likely unfamiliar with were another important boxes to check! This is type of stress that is fun, though. I cannot emphasize how much hype there was going into this.
Though how much fun—or less fun—would it be if this wasn’t kept a secret? I think the “element of surprise” was an important piece to the puzzle (there’s a photo somewhere of Kelly – CHI hiding in the bushes). So while all of this planning and scheming was underway, none of you knew. We didn’t even let Bojan or Brogan know.
Complete. Utter. Surprise. And the end result? A huge success! The only feedback we have received has been positive. Admittingly, yes, this was 100% for the enjoyment of us co-leaders to do something different, give a taste of our leadership elsewhere, and for you to be a part of it. I had the honor and absolute best time leading NPNYC alongside Vinnie (PHL) and Kerry (PVD). Halfway through the workout, it was so much fun, but it was going by so fast.
In the end you had:
- A date set
- Months of planning and anticipation
- An “RSVP” deadline
- SO MUCH EXCITEMENT
- Travel
- An hour long “ceremony”
I’ve never tied the knot, but I imagine this is what a wedding ceremony feels like. Months of planning and anticipation, and it was finished with the blink of an eye. For me, this was a great final hoorah as I step into retirement. I am so glad we pulled this off, it was truly one of the most memorable NP experiences I’ve had as a leader.
