LLL US Western Division Presents
TEAM 2004: Essential Pieces

At the 2003 LLLI Conference in San Francisco, the Area Department Coordinators of LLL of Missouri volunteered to be the first Area to move toward being a distributed system. For the time being, this new entity is called Heartland LLL.

Updates on that transition have been shared in various formats, through the Missouri ALL, En Face, and through the internet by several different email discussion groups. TEAM was a valuable opportunity to share the process face-to-face with attendees, and give them the chance to ask questions to clarify their understanding. Joel Getzendanner offered a presentation on the key elements, such as the Core Agreement that participating Leaders will agree to accept, as well as a model of how Heartland will connect with other distributed Areas. Leaders from Missouri offered their perspectives on the discussions they’ve been holding with Joel, other Area Leaders, and the attorney consulting with them as they rewrite their bylaws to work within the new framework.

While the language is still new to many Leaders, every opportunity to talk about it helps to make it more familiar and better understood. Missouri Area Leaders Nikki Simmons, Pegeen Barr Blank, Belinda Bohnert, and Kathryn Major talked about some of the things they’ve been learning. Nikki explained that the Area was offering many opportunities for Leaders to meet and discuss the new ideas, because the learning curve is steep and it’s important that Missouri Leaders understand what they are being asked to consider. While many Leaders want to know exactly where this path will take them and how long it will take to arrive at the destination, Kathryn emphasized that “this isn’t a map we’re following—we’re building the path stone by stone as we go. If something isn’t right, we’ll pick up the stone and move it.” After the session, many Leaders expressed relief and excitement at seeing the progress that’s been made in actual examples over the past year.

• Heartland's "Ideas Behind the Core Agreement" (to inspire others who are forming Core Agreements)
• Heartland's Bylaws
• A "Glossary" of terms helpful in understanding the Heartland agreement
• Exhibits associated with Heartland/Distributed Areas
• Powerpoint presentation about Heartland organization