Host an elder fraud prevention network-building convening
A convening will help introduce your stakeholders to one another and give them an opportunity to discuss goals, priorities, and next steps for your network.
Before the convening begins
Consider arriving at the venue early to prepare the meeting room and brief the core planning team and the facilitator on the day's activities and responsibilities.
Some ways to prepare for the meeting include:
- Reviewing the agenda with your team
- Preparing the meeting room and setting up the materials from the supply list
- Assigning team members certain tasks to keep the day on track, such as timekeeping or notetaking
Convening kickoff
Welcome remarks
At the start of the convening, a member of the planning group should:
- Thank everyone for attending
- Go over logistics (such as bathroom location)
- Explain the purpose of the convening
- Acknowledge any planning partners
- Invite the welcome speaker to kick off the meeting
A speaker should then provide opening remarks.
Introductions
Each stakeholder should briefly share their:
- Name
- Position
- Organization
- Interest in being part of the network
Background information
The facilitator or another designated person should share a presentation that may provide:
- An overview of networks
- A summary of CFPB research on networks
- A description of promising practices related to combating elder financial exploitation
- A list of local or regional success stories
We suggest taking a short break before moving into the network-building group exercises.
During the break, consider projecting a PowerPoint slide with a guiding question that stakeholders are encouraged to discuss as they mingle. For example: "How can elder justice stakeholders collaborate to increase awareness and improve response to elder financial exploitation?"
Network-building group exercises
These group exercises will help your attendees engage with each other to explore network goals and opportunities, identify priorities, and create post-convening action steps. Before conducting the exercises, your facilitator should:
- Break attendees into small groups of four to eight people, making sure that each group has a variety of stakeholder expertise
- Ask each group to choose a notetaker and a spokesperson
Explore network goals and opportunities
This activity will help your stakeholders develop a sense of current successes, challenges, and opportunities for growth in addressing elder financial exploitation in your community.
Identify network priorities and next steps
This activity will help stakeholders determine network priorities and then rate the difficulty and importance of each priority. Attendees will then use the priorities and ratings to discuss next steps.
Other convening activities
Consider additional team-building activities to make the most of stakeholders' time during the convening.
Communal meal
If time allows it, offer a lunch (brown bag or sponsored) to break up the meeting while allowing stakeholders to build relationships.
Cross-training
You can offer a cross-training session as an optional activity following the morning convening. This could include co-presentations from certain stakeholders to help attendees understand the capacity and challenges that certain organizations face when addressing elder financial exploitation.
Q&A session
It's helpful to provide time and space for stakeholders to share any thoughts they had outside of the scope of convening activities. At the end of the convening, consider allowing stakeholders to participate in a Q&A session.
Convening follow-up
Before the convening ends, your team should announce the date of the follow-up meeting, which should take place four to six weeks after the convening.
Send a thank you email
A thank you email after the convening encourages further engagement with the stakeholders who invested their time and expertise during the convening. Use the contact information from the sign-in sheet to send out a thank you email that includes attendee contact information, the date and agenda of the follow-up meeting, and other resources to use in the future.
Develop a convening readout
A readout summarizes the network priorities and next steps discussed at the convening. Send the readout to convening attendees and any other stakeholders with an interest in the network or elder financial exploitation. Make sure to send the readout to everyone no more than two weeks after the convening.
Plan the follow-up meeting
After the convening, you should meet with your core planning team to plan the follow-up meeting as well as future network meetings for the next six to 12 months to keep the momentum going. If you haven't already selected a network coordinator, discuss a potential candidate to approach, or appoint an interim from your team.