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Dear Colleague,

Thank you for your interest in presenting a concurrent session at the 2008 Pegasus Conference, which will be held November 17-19, 2008 in Boston, Massachusetts. Below is material about the theme, the conference, and the application process. In order to facilitate consideration of your proposal, please read this material carefully before submitting your application by February 8.

Conference Theme: Synergy at Work: Gathering Momentum for Meaningful Performance.

From launching a new Operations Center in record time to eliminating polio worldwide, how can groups come together to create new realities rather than replicate the status quo? What shifts do we need to make to move from hopelessness and conflict to commitment and action in the face of such daunting challenges? At this year’s conference, we’ll build on the themes of interdependence and collaboration to explore what distinguishes a transcendent performance from a merely excellent one—and how we can work together to produce an effect greater than the sum of our individual contributions.

Systems thinking and the disciplines of organizational learning provide both a way of being and a practical toolset for understanding and leveraging the dynamic relationships of which we are a part. At this year’s event we’ll explore ways to reach across differences, at work and in the public arena, to find shared purposes that transcend our individual intentions.

We are looking for presentations, both application case studies and skill-building workshops that explore how we can expand our capacity for effective performance in the complex human environments that comprise our work and our world. Please consider the following questions as you prepare your application:

Audience
The Pegasus Conference serves managers and teams from all industry segments, not-for-profit organizations, governmental agencies, consultants and trainers, and educators. Approximately 50 percent of the attendees are relatively new to the fields of systems thinking and organizational learning.

Sessions
Skill-building workshop proposals should demonstrate how your session will help attendees develop a specific skill set related to the conference theme. Your proposal must clearly identify the insights, processes, and/or tools that people will be able to take home with them and start using immediately.

Case study proposals should also include clear takeaways while demonstrating an organizational issue that is recognizable to a broad audience. The actual organization story should represent only a small part of the session. The majority of time should be spent on learnings, outcomes, practices, and methods that are transferable and highly useful in a variety of settings. Case studies should also support and reference the conference theme.

Case studies are most relevant when they are delivered by individuals who were actually employed by the highlighted organization. For this reason, external consultants must partner with a co-presenter from the organization where the project took place. Case studies presented by managers from their own organizational experience are strongly encouraged. We are actively seeking applications from the corporate arena.

The Application Process
Submit a preliminary proposal by February 8. If your preliminary proposal is selected, we will notify you by February 22 and ask you for a more detailed proposal, which is due on March 7. Because of the tight timeframe for the second stage, be sure you can meet the March 7 deadline before you submit your preliminary application. Please be aware there are a limited number of session spaces available.

Evaluation
Proposals will be evaluated based on the following criteria:

Please note the following:
• Preliminary Application deadline is February 8, 2008.
• Notification of first-cut acceptance or decline will be sent by e-mail no later than February 22, 2008.
• Final Applications are due by March 7, 2008.
• Final acceptance will be made by March 21, 2008.
• Since only complete applications will be considered, please provide all information requested. If you have already presented at a Pegasus Conference, references are not necessary.
• At least one of the presenters must have attended a past Pegasus Conference.
• No more than two submissions will be considered per presenter.
• All sessions are 90 minutes in length.
• We will provide a complimentary conference registration for one accepted presenter per session and invite this primary presenter to make a voluntary contribution of $200 to support scholarship applicants*. A second registration for a co-presenter (if applicable) will be provided at $495. Presenters are responsible for their own accommodations, travel arrangements, and expenses. Should you feel that your session requires additional presenters, they will be charged $895 per person as a registration fee.
• If presenting a case study, external consultants must partner with a co-presenter from the organization where the project took place.
• The conference design team may rename sessions and edit descriptions as necessary.
• Acceptance of a proposal is based on the information provided in your application. Should a change in presenter, format, or content occur, Pegasus must be notified immediately and may reconsider whether the presentation should still be included in the conference.

We look forward to the possibility of partnering with you to create a dynamic program for the 2008 Pegasus Conference!

With warm regards,
The Pegasus Conference Design Team

*Throughout the years we have received a lot of feedback suggesting that our learning community would benefit from more intergenerational diversity. We share this vision and are interested in achieving a more diverse range of age and experience. Pegasus has consistently offered a limited number of conference scholarships that have resulted in greater representation from students and practitioners in the nonprofit sector. But our desire to add to the number of young adults present requires an increase in the number of reduced registrations we offer. A number of individuals have stepped forward to underwrite the participation of one or more students. We invite your contributions to help us offer a special rate for additional high-school-aged youth. This year we hope to accept about 20 young people at these extra low rates.