Thank you for participating. Your input is valued.

Thank you for taking time to participate in this survey. The purpose of the survey is to assess demand for a community that connects face-to-face and builds trusting relationships. This future community is for people just like you, who desire real, authentic connections, and your opinion matters to help make it something valuable and special. 

While Facebook groups have been a great place to support each other, share struggles, and celebrate wins, there are many gaps and downsides that come with social media. I enjoy the groups where I'm a member where I learn from reading other's posts as well as posting occasionally myself.

But there are many drawbacks to these groups:

• First of all, and maybe it's a boomer thing, but social media can be an intimidating place to be yourself and to be vulnerable. Sharing an opinion, struggle, or a case that went south takes guts and sometimes the response isn't kind, which is evidenced by so many anonymous posts.

• I also see a lot of well-meaning advice given quickly, but advice is easy to give when you're not accountable to the outcome and you don't have to look the other person in the eye.

How do you filter through all of the varying advice when people only know a small part of your story? How do you act upon it?

As for the people giving the advice, who are they? Are they experienced, successful, and credible? (I was recently given advice about recovery for a surgery I needed to have, only to discover that the giver of the advice had yet to have the surgery themselves! Buyer beware...)

• I also know that there are experts in these groups who share advice, but who can't tell you they're experts because of non-solicitation rules, and I think that's a missed opportunity to learn and connect with somebody that could truly help you.

• One more thing. Did I forget to mention all the advertisements, and how about  doomscrolling, and how it steals your time away from being present and making meaningul connections?

The veterinary community needs and deserves something more. Someplace more intimate and psychologically safe, where we can build relationships at a deeper level, talk to each other again, and hear each other's voices. Before the pandemic, people had communities, but now we live in the virtual chat world and are more isolated than ever.

The Veterinary Leadership Network could be the catalyst to move past that culture by bringing leaders together in small groups that meet face-to-face to build trusting relationships; by bringing experts into the open with transparency about who they are and what they do; by bringing community, resources and expertise together for those that want it and those who know how to provide it. The opportunities are endless.

To begin, there will be two to three pilot cohorts of 12 - 15 people, depending on interest. The vision is that it will turn into a robust, self-sustaining community over time, filled with numerous cohorts with various interests. If you would like to provide input, please continue.

To be transparent up front, this will become a membership site. As my accounting professor said repeatedly, "there's no such thing as a free lunch." Putting this network together will have administrative and labor costs and I want to keep the space insulated from distracting advertising and pop-ups. There is plenty of that in the world. I also know that where you put your money is what you pay attention to, so participants having skin in the game is important for commitment and attendance.

At the end of the survey, if you want to be involved or receive updates, provide your name, email address and zip code.

Moving forward, I can only provide updates through email, so if you don't sign up, this will be the end of your involvement for now until you find us again. For those that do, I'll be in touch once the systems and processes needed to make this work are in place.

Thank you for joining me on this journey. I believe we're going to end up somewhere special.

Sincerely,

Kelly Cooper, DVM

drkellycooper@realityvet.com (please feel free to email me if you have other questions or input)