2011 ANNUAL REPORT Destination ImagiNation, Inc. 1111 S. Union Ave. Cherry Hill, NJ 08002 Destination ImagiNation, Inc. is an extraordinary global non-profit organization that produces educational and cause- based programs for students to learn and experience creativity, teamwork and problem solving. Destination ImagiNation, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) Nonprofit Education Organization. Copyright ©2011 by Destination ImagiNation, Inc. All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America. No part of this publication may be reproduced or distributed in any form or by any means, or stored in a data base or retrieval system, without prior written permission of the publisher. TABLE OF CONTENTS Updates Global Finals A Letter from Chuck Cadle, CEO // 4 Overview // 20 Our Staff // 6 Explore the Uncharted // 20 Our Board // 6 Awards // 20 Our Affiliates and their Directors // 7 Innovation Expo // 21 Core Program Special Projects Overview // 8 Summer Camps // 24 Research Papers // 8 Student Ambassador Program // 24 DI University // 8 Construction Challenge // 24 Thanks to Our Sponsors // 9 SEED // 24 US Affiliates // 10 US Affiliate Team Counts // 12 International Affililates // 14 International Team Counts // 16 Numbers Canadian Affiliates // 18 Canadian Affiliate Team Counts // 19 Statements of Financial Position // 27 Statements of Activities // 28 Statements of 2011 Functional Expenses // 29 Statements of Cash Flows 31 Notes to Financial Statements // 32 2011 Annual Report // www.idodi.org // © 2011 Destination ImagiNation, Inc. 3 UPDATES • Global Finals 2011 was the biggest Global Finals ever, attracting 1,155 teams. • The Destination ImagiNation program grew to 15,210 teams. • A study performed by researchers from the University of Virginia Curry School of Education found that Destination ImagiNation participants were ahead of others in important skills like creativity and critical thinking. • After ten years of support and dedication, 3M became our Strategic Sponsor. A Letter from Chuck Cadle, CEO Dear Friends of Destination ImagiNation, I work with many of our alumni, and I can tell you from experience Kevin’s story is not unique in DI. So I was pleased When daily work demands become overwhelming, I read to learn that 15,210 teams registered for our program Destination ImagiNation (DI) success stories. The stories this year—a 14% growth over 2010! I hope to hear of their are uplifting reminders of the value of DI to the lives of our personal successes for many years to come. participants and volunteers. For the past two years, I have had the opportunity to work with Kevin Ponziani, an alumnus who At DI, we teach the creative process by enabling children to helps test and improve our Instant Challenges. Outside of his be creative. I believe creativity can, and should, be taught volunteer efforts, Kevin is an electronic engineer at Northrup to children throughout the world. I define creativity as Grumman, where he works on amazing engineering projects. the mind, body and the environment working in sync to Here is a quote from Kevin’s own story: resolve disequilibrium. Effective thinking, a healthy brain, environmental awareness, imagination and the Creative One of the biggest reasons I’m an engineer today is Problem Solving process work together. Elements of our because I got to try it out in DI. At the time, it was just program guide children to have fun and take risks, to focus the most fun ever, but pretty soon I realized that I could and frame challenges, to learn patience and persistence, be happy doing this for a very long time. DI helped me to respect others and their ideas, to learn ethics, to learn develop my teambuilding skills, which I use extensively in Creative Problem Solving, to gain insight into their problem coordinating continuous improvement activities with cross- solving style and the styles of teammates, to play creative functional teams. games, to follow a healthy lifestyle, to think flexibly, to use A Letter from Chuck Cadle, CEO positive self-talk, and to reflect on the DI experience. The DI our Affiliates to launch the season by August 1st. We hope program focuses on the whole child. these efforts will allow us to meet our vision and mission this next year and beyond. The world of our past is not the world our children will face when they graduate. We want DI youth to understand In closing, let’s work together to make it possible for more creativity from a global perspective – to be ready to interact children to learn about and experience DI, so they, like Kevin as world citizens. Our Program Materials are translated Ponziani, will have a success story to add to our library of into five languages for children with different cultural successes. Thank you to all who have contributed time and upbringings, various ethnicities and culturally different talents to this wonderful organization. approaches to solving challenges. This year, for the first time, China and Korea took home top awards from Global Finals. As DI expands internationally, such awards serve as reminders that we are now a global organization with global responsibilities. Chuck Cadle We are also working to foster growth. In the coming fiscal Chief Executive Officer year, we will test some new marketing strategies to fine tune our message and reach new audiences. Global Finals 2012 will see the launch of a new brand awareness campaign enabling 2011 Annual Report // www.idodi.org // © 2011 Destination ImagiNation, Inc. 5 Our Staff Administration Accounting/Finance Team Chuck Cadle // Chief Executive Officer Joe O’Brien // Controller Rusty McCarty // Chief Operating Officer/Creative Director* JoAnne Quinn // Senior Bookkeeper Steve Flaa // Assistant Controller Human Resources Maureen Donovan // Director of Human Resources/BOT Administrator Development Heather Gaskins // Director of Institutional Advancement Operations George Jacob // Editor Art and Graphics Britt Dyer // Director of Special Projects and Events Kate Wise // Art Director Kevin McDonough // Purchasing and Warehousing Director Christie Casselring // Graphic Designer Mike Marcasciano // Shipping/Warehousing Brendon Luci // Technical Illustrator/Graphic Designer DI Program Information Technology Team Sheila Swanson // Director DI Program Charles Bell // IT Administrator/Programmer Andrew Whitmire // Assistant Program Director George “Mickey” Buckno // Web Developer Roger Garriock // Managing Director of Canadian Operations Lynn Macey // IT Consultant Emily Panasowich // Int’l Coordinator & Director of Asian Operations Steve Greenwood // IT Consultant Peggy Middendorf // Recruiting Director* Ginger Green // Domestic Affiliate Coordinator* Affiliate Operations Team Jennifer Batchelor // Service Director Marketing & Public Relations Delilah Passero // Data Entry Operator Drew Coburn // Branding Consultant Darlene Courter // Service Leader* Wayne Kurtzman // Social Media Consultant *No longer an employee of Destination Imagination, Inc. Our Board Board of Trustees Chair Board Members Susan Oclassen Nancy Wingenbach Brownie Mitchell Karen Anderson Rick Rand Eric Wolff Rosemary Bognar Pinney Nina Schwenk Charles R. Cadle, CEO and Board of Trustees Vice-Chair Valerie Conroy David Thomason Ex Officio Non-Voting Board Pamela Schroeder Michael Kelly Bruce Urban Member Louise Liddle ** Johnny Wells **Term began Sept. 2011 Our Affiliates and Their Directors Alabama Illinois Mexico Newfoundland/ South Carolina Gary Brown Steven Bute Erika Ugarte Labrador Pat Wuzzardo David Thomason Jan Darnell Sharon Whalen Donna Gowdy Michigan Alberta India Silinia Horne North Carolina South Dakota Karen Shepherd Sreepad Gopalarao Cynthia Kirby Cozy Dorton Ravindra V S Minnesota Arkansas Pamela Schroeder North Dakota Tennessee Brownie Mitchell Indiana Max Kringen Linda Chambers Mike Mitchell Melissa Branham Mississippi Ralph D. Carter Nova Scotia Texas Brazil Iowa Jerry Thibeau Sue Shanks Debbie Peter Jay Swords Missouri Alisha Heisterkamp Chuck Good Ohio Turkey British Columbia Cinda Weisgerber Joseph Welch Faith Garriock KACE - South Korea Montana Cuneyt Erkol Oog Hwang Heather Geiger Ontario California Connie Ackerman Mary Jo Smith Utah Richard Pinney KASI - South Korea Noel Grabl Sun Hwan Yang Nebraska Oregon China Kim Bejot Karen Anderson Vermont Li Xiao Kentucky Pasquale DiLego Kim Halwes New Brunswick Pennsylvania Colombia Jason Humphrey Reggie Bunis Virginia Barry Gilman Louisiana Carole Murphy Laurie Abeel Nancy Farley Poland Colorado New Hampshire Theresa Kosiarek Washington Kristine Beisel Maine Kara Swedlow Katarzyna Stozek Barbara Sailors Kate Donelan Richard Fernald New Jersey Quebec West Virginia Connecticut Manitoba Beverly Webb Andrea Caulfield Karen Beckman Eric Wolff Lonnie Liske Potoula Locken New Mexico Rhode Island Wisconsin Delaware Milton Moreno Katie Jones Steven Cormier Sally Gold Maryland Margery Nichelason Sally Gold Saskatchewan Wyoming Georgia New York Alan Nunn Jerri Maulik Dave Lohrmann Massachusetts Dee Urban Doug Maulik Barbara Mann-Retired 2011 Bruce Urban Scotland Guatemala Regina Zaskey Della Martin Jose Luna 2011 Annual Report // www.idodi.org // © 2011 Destination ImagiNation, Inc. 7 CORE PROGRAM Overview The Destination ImagiNation program was strong this year, engaging 15,210 teams worldwide. Each year, Destination ImagiNation staff work with domestic and international volunteers to develop and test our seven Team Challenges and many Instant Challenges. In 2011, for the second year, our International Challenge Masters also worked with a Quality Review Panel to ensure