PRESENT: William.Guindon, Lisa Morin, Julia Van Steenberghe, Thomas Meuser
Staff: M. Ashmore
Meeting started at 1:00 pm:
1. Welcome & Agenda adjustments
No adjustments needed
2. Surveying the Volunteer Managers Network
Group provided feedback regarding structure of survey (short, 6 to 8 questions. Longer surveys get fewer responses. Other feedback included idea to incorporate question that offered options for connection – Community of Practice, discussion board, interest in mentoring, but primary goal is to determine what length of experience participants have and what expertise they see themselves as having.
Suggested questions:
- How many years have you worked – paid or not – in volunteer management?
- How would you rate your expertise in this field? Choose the descriptor below which best fits for you.
- How important is informational and/or instrumental support from colleagues in your success as a volunteer manager?
- What aspects of volunteer management consume most of your time and effort?
- What aspects of volunteer management do you wish you could prioritize or learn more about?
- Do you have any formal education in volunteer management?
- Do you benefit (or might you benefit) from regular contact with other volunteer management professionals (i.e., via a community of practice)?
- Are you open to completing a brief follow-up survey about mentoring?
MA will draft and send to committee members for feedback
3. Fall Conference Planning Committee
Group reviewed prior year’s intro powerpoint for committee members. Input was to get a meeting on the books as soon as possible – early February if possible…TM and JS agree to be leads on conference committee.
Powerpoint needs updates. Involve other Commissioners as well, “more hands make light work”. Committee needs to start with idea generation to get momentum up. Also collect info on skills and interests that the community would value
LM pointed out that variety is a key to success, must meet people where they are – all levels of experience. She suggested offering multiple paths. TM suggested creating an online focus group or series of them. It was recommended that meetings be recorded and put up on YouTube to garner additional feedback.
TM noted that Tricia Mason, director of Service Learning might be a good keynote or plenary speaker
Goal is to move conference back to size it was in the past – target 300 participants. Also to move back to it being a signature event for Volunteer management Training. This includes finding appropriate space (Snow Pond seems workable for now, given improvements planned). Past sites are much more expensive, so early fundraising is a key factor.
Suggestion of Phyllis Segal as a keynote or contributor is worth following up on – Her recent research into cross-generational volunteerism is a great idea for Maine.
4. National Service Day at the Hall of Flags - Feb 6th
MA shared details of the schedule and the basic plan for program participation. E&E members are invited to participate if time permits
Meeting Discussion ended at 2:04pm