This week, Mike Miner wrote about WBEZ and the new “Chicago Public Media” strategic plan. It’s a plan that charts our direction for the next few years. Torey, staff and the board have been working on the plan since March 2008. It got leaked to the Chicago Reader and subsequently picked apart. So I thought I would ask Daniel Ash, our VP of Strategic Communications, to set the record straight.

Our strategic plan is a work in progress. Most staff and board members have participated in at least one meeting since March 2008. I’m one of the lucky ones, having participated in at least five discussions. In each meeting the discussion was wrapped around this question: How do we continue to accomplish our public service mission?  The good news is that lunch was usually provided.

I did not plan to release this plan this way, but since it’s been posted without permission on another site I figure why not ask you directly what you think. Warning: when you put creative people in a room and ask them to imagine the future, you get BIG—sometimes wild—ideas. Hint: we’re still working on the practical translation of what we’re actually going to do over the next three years.

Here’s the deal: if Chicago Public Radio is not relevant to our audience—our community—we’re not doing the right thing. This document provides a broad framework for us to ask even more questions about what we’ll do and how we’ll do it. If you’ve got a moment, please read it and tell us what you think. This is just the beginning.

And without any more stalling, here’s the Strategic Plan 2010-2013.