Well I am mildly hungover, still terribly stuffed, and can’t wait to hit the gym today and feel like a normal human again.

My boyfriend and I went to a friend’s place for thanksgiving this year. This friend is a chef, by profession, and an amazing one at that. The food was incredible, the company was great, and I am blissfully thankful for my full belly and for this relaxing long weekend of not traveling and dealing with traffic and madness.

In other thankful news I somehow snagged a volunteer position at a hospital in the area. For whatever reason this is incredibly difficult to do here. I applied at every major hospital, nursing homes, the Ronald McDonald house, etc. and was told multiple times that positions were full and they had an abundance of volunteers (most likely due to many unemployed workers going mad without something to fill the time). Luckily, a position finally came through. I hope to start next month after getting all my vaccinations up-to-date. Hurray!

I hope everyone enjoys their turkey day weekend and eats and drinks and spends time with those they love. Gobble Gobble!

Do you have any volunteers who may be interested in volunteering for the Sport Relief Mile taking place on Sunday 21st march 2010?

Please see attached if you would like more information.

Have you heard of the Volunteer Managers Forum? It’s a great place for you to ask questions around lots of aspects of volunteering and listen to new things effecting the world of volunteering. 

The next Volunteer Managers Forum will focus on under 16’s volunteering. It takes place on the 16th of December. Please look at the poster if you would like more details and contact Chris if you would like more information on the Volunteer Managers Forum or if you would like to book a place.

Chris Wagstaff – Admin Co-ordinator South Derbyshire CVS

46 – 48 Grove Street, Swadlincote, Derbyshire. DE11 9DD

Tel: 01283 219761

Peru is a country with an amazing array of bio-diversity, Peru is considered as one big habitat for humans, flora and fauna. It is situated in South America and has the South Pacific Ocean on one side and the mighty Andes Mountains on the other. As a result of being close to the sea as well as the mountains, Peru enjoys several micro-climates like no other. Some of the main attractions apart from the famous Inca Trail and Machu Picchu include the pre-Columbian cultures, the cuisine, the natural resources and the exquisite colonial architecture.

Why Volunteer In Peru
Volunteering in Peru is like being the closest you can be to nature and civilization, both of which has supported each other well through millions of years. As a volunteer in Peru, you will not only get an insight into the lives of the Peruvian people but also get to enjoy the many colors of their culture and tradition. It is a unique experience that you will be able to re-live time and time again and the warmth of the people of Peru will not remain just as a moment in time it will become a timeless treasure.

Types Of Projects Available in Peru
As a part of volunteering in Peru, you will get to choose the kind of project you are interested in. The different types if projects available include:

- Conservation Project: When in Peru, you will be able to spend a lot of time trekking through the beautiful and captivating landscape as a volunteer in a conservation project. Peru has a wealth of natural resources and the variety of flora and fauna is probably more than anywhere else in the world and hence there is a huge responsibility of preserving the natural habitats. As a volunteer in Peru, you will play a definitive role in conservation of Amazon rainforests as well as the higher and lower regions of the Andes, the varied wildlife, and the historical sites. This is one of the most interesting volunteer programs.
- Internship: There are different types of programs available under volunteering in Peru. You can volunteer for a program for 2 weeks or work as an intern for 1 year. Under the internship program, you will be working with the local people and get to understand and experience their culture from up-close. You will get to understand their problems and find meaningful solutions that can be applied practically.

- Volunteer with Orphanages: There are several orphanages in Peru and as a volunteer in Peru, you can choose to work with any one of them. You will have to care of the children whose age can vary from 1year to 10 years or more. You will have to teach them languages, take care of their educational and health requirements, teach them sports and get involved in extra-curricular activities.

- Health Care: Most of the health care volunteer programs in Peru deal with curing preventable diseases. The medical or health infrastructure in the rural areas is understaffed and not well equipped. As a medical volunteer in Peru, you will be able to make contribution towards strengthening the Peru’s medical infrastructure in the rural areas. Health care can vary from technical areas like nursing and surgery to taking care of mentally ill or HIV patients.

- Sustainable Development Projects: These are specialized projects where some areas might require you to have prior experience and knowledge while in other areas, you don’t require any prior experience. Most of the sustainable development projects deal with four important sectors and they are Environment, Education, Health Care, and Business.

Volunteer in Peru Requirements
Age: The minimum age for volunteering in Peru should be 18 or older.

Some of the volunteer programs will require a 2-4 week training program before you start working on the project. The training will be provided by the volunteer organization.

Fee and Other details
There is a fee attached to each of the projects that you volunteer for. The fee is charged in advance and is charged for the following:

1. Accommodation: There are different types of accommodation available in Peru. This includes Host family normal, Host family plus, Host family matrimonial and apartments. Of course the type of accommodation varies from organization to organization.
2. Food/meals
3. Travel insurance
4. Transportation within the region
5. Emergency support

Conclusion
Volunteering in Peru has its own benefits as it will open your world to some of the most beautiful aspects of nature that you have probably seen before only in the National Geographic magazines. Projects can vary from 7 days to 4 weeks and depending on the type of volunteering work you are interested in, you can submit your resume with the respective organization and begin the journey.

As graduates you not only have access to the PCC’s services for up to two years after graduation but also access to many of its employer led events. December 1st (next Tuesday) sees the arrival of the International Careers Fair on campus. It caters not just for international students but for those interested in opportunities to work outside the UK or in the UK for international organisations.

Where: the Newton Room in the Hamilton Centre

When: from 12.30pm

Who’s exhibiting: check here

Keele University students got together with Newcastle Borough Council to help clean up an area in Wolstanton this week.

Student volunteers collected a total of 23 bags of rubbish, debris and overgrown vegetation from where two paths lead down to the back of Wolstanton Retail Park, which Community Warden Joanne Morris then disposed of safely.

Joanne also provided all the equipment, including litter picking sticks, bin bags and high visibility jackets. Residents using the path to access the retail praised the good work the volunteers were doing.

Keele Volunteer Experience Project Leader Becky Wardell said: “This was a great opportunity to show that Keele students are responsible and valuable members of the community, who really do care about the local environment. It was also a great opportunity for us to work in partnership with Newcastle Borough Council.

“We are all responsible for the litter that we throw away, and hopefully, seeing a clean environment will encourage the litter bugs to be more respectful of the environment in future.”

If you would like to find out more about student volunteering at Keele, contact Becky Wardell at volunteering@kusu.keele.ac.uk or Tel: 01782 733626.

On Thursday I was in St Helens where Ian Brownbill, Director of Metal (the innovative, multi-disciplinary residency space in Liverpool for artists from the UK and overseas), and I were judging the Voluntary Arts Award nominations in the St Helens Council Cultural Awards. A variety of local voluntary arts organisations had been nominated for the award and we assessed them in relation to their achievements over the past year, quality, ambition and public profile. There were some very strong nominations but we found it surprisingly easy to agree on which stood out. The winners will be announced at a ceremony in February. Ian and I then attended a meeting of the St Helens Arts Network which brings together local arts professionals/ semi-professionals and voluntary arts groups. The idea of the network, which is organised by Owen Hutchings (St Helens Council’s Arts Engagement Officer), is that groups, artists and practitioners working together in St Helens can discuss projects, share good practice, share information, discuss marketing and talk about recruiting and maintaining membership etc. I talked about the history and work of Voluntary Arts and encouraged everyone to sign up for our free e-newsletter. There were about 20 people at the meeting including representatives of a drama group and a breakdance crew, a photographer and a visual artist, an artist working on activities for people with learning difficulties and someone running African drumming, Tai Chi and watercolour sessions for a group of older people, plus the council’s Dance Co-ordinator and the local Find Your Talent officer. It was a really interesting and varied group and is clearly providing some really useful networking opportunities.

Robin Simpson.

On Wednesday evening I attended the AGM of the National Council for Voluntary Organisations (NCVO). 2009 is NCVO’s 90^th anniversary and Chief Executive, Stuart Etherington, spoke about the origins of the organisation and how it grew out of a number of regional ‘Guilds of Help’. NCVO now has more than 7,500 member organisations ranging from small community groups to the largest charities. The AGM was followed by the annual Hinton Lecture which, for the first time in its eleven-year history, had an arts theme. Sir John Tusa’s lecture was titled ‘The arts and the voluntary sector: friends or distant cousins?’. Sir John (currently Chair of the University of the Arts, the Clore Leadership Programme and the Wigmore Hall Trust) started by saying that, in a dozen years as Managing Director of The Barbican, he had not consciously been involved with the voluntary sector: it had not occurred to him that it could be useful, necessary or natural. He examined the differences in purposes, relationships, responsibilities, beneficiaries and funding between the arts and the voluntary sector but he also emphasised their commonalities and interdependence. Sir John said “the arts are critical to civil society: they are the conscience of society” and “a civil society uninterested in the arts isn’t much of a civil society”. He thought the voluntary sector was ahead of the arts in the area of assessment and gathering evidence of effectiveness and felt the case for arts funding might be stronger as presented in the wider context of the voluntary sector. Sir John’s conclusion was that the arts and the voluntary sector are “side by side but not yet firm friends”. I was very pleased to hear Sir John Tusa emphasise that the organisations funded by Arts Council England “are only a small part of the whole arts sector” and delighted to hear him quote, as an example, some statistics from the National Operatic and Dramatic Association (NODA). In the question and answer session at the end of the lecture I suggested that arts organisations have much to learn from the wider voluntary sector about best practice in relation to governance, Trustee Boards, volunteering etc. Sir John agreed that there would be substantial benefits to both the arts and the voluntary sector from a closer relationship – presenting a stronger argument for funding and a more powerful lobby on issues of common cause such as tax reform. It was really useful to have the high-profile opportunity created by the Hinton Lecture to discuss how we might encourage closer working between the arts and the rest of the voluntary sector – and to see so many arts organisations represented at an NCVO event.

Robin Simpson.

Today, while taking a break from washing the silver place settings for 32, I looked out the door to see a man pushing a cart looking through the neighborhood garbage cans. “Hey Kat, do you have any food to give a homeless man?” I asked my erstwhile step daughter — my girlfriend’s daughter, but that only matters for honesty in blog writing (tautology or oxymoron?). Turns out the quarter piece of pumpkin was perfect. We had four pumpkin pies this Thanksgiving, one a yummy pecan pumpkin pie, so I got to feel good for being generous, and came out ahead by relieving us of the overabundance of pumpkin pie at our disposal. When I brought the pie out to the man with the cart, he was delighted. He was happily eating a plastic container filled with what looked like beef stew. I suspect a neighbor was disposing of her over full refrigerator in advance of the expected overabundance of Thanksgiving leftovers to come later in the day.

Thanksgiving was a success this year. My girlfriend, Elise, got to spend the day preparing a wonderful dinner with her daughter. Elise loves to prepare food for guests; the more the merrier. Kat, her daughter recently took up and then dropped the idea of becoming a chef. She loves preparing food as well. More important than the love of cooking they both share is the mother–daughter bonding. Elise said to me, “This is the best way to spend a holiday.” Kat told her husband that she is going to host Thanksgiving every year regardless of whether his relatives want to come. Thanksgiving is her favorite holiday, and she wants to share it with her mother as long as she is able.

As the Gourmand and Gour-Man that I am, I support both. As the loving boyfriend, I want nothing less than for Elise and Kat to have this time together.

The food was great, and the leftovers fill the fridge. We have deviled eggs, stuffed mushrooms, two half turkey carcases, a quart of gravy, 3/4 of a caviar pie, candied yams, creamed onions, 2/3 of a ham roast, two quarts of mashed potatoes, a half sheet of brownies, and — oh yeah — an entire pumpkin pie. I wish I’d asked the homeless man to come back for leftovers tomorrow.

This is an essay I wrote for my Strategic Design Thinking class. It is a reflection on four assignments that we did that I will post as soon as I get them scanned. The first assignment that we did is described pretty well in the essay, but the second assignment is somewhat glossed over. Basically, the second assignment was to take four recently completed projects, describe them, give them a success rating from 1 to 5, with 5 being the best, analyze our motivations for doing the project, and then analyze what we could have done to make it more successful. The third assignment was to plot a knowledge, network, and skill development strategy to attain a goal in 2012. The fourth assignment was to map our project process. And without further ado…

“It’s… a bit hippy-dippy for my tastes,” I wrote home after my first Strategic Design class. “We were given these big sheets of paper and told to write our definition of “ethnography”, what an ethnographic perspective is, and the ten key skills of an ethnographer. Then we hung our sheets up on the walls and talked about them. Like show and tell, only I’m paying thirty grand for it.” My skepticism dissolved, however, as soon as I began to read the other papers hanging on the walls. My first impulse was to envy the works posted around me. Two of my fellow design ethnographers had included “fearlessness” on their lists of key skills and I wished that I had thought to incorporate that in my own list. As I continued reading, though, even the envy dropped away. After all, the purpose of the exercise seemed to be to learn from each other’s perceptions. I could pick and choose my favorite viewpoints and presentations from my classmates’ papers and fold them into my own, a variation of the theft that Picasso attributed to great artists.

I had come to Dundee having only the vaguest of notions what an ethnographer was, and an even vaguer perception of what a design ethnographer did. It was the topic of discussion in our first Design Ethnography lecture of the semester, held the day before we wrote our definitions. My own increased clarity was apparent in my definitions, and the similarity of our papers spoke volumes about the information relayed the day before. As I walked around the room, moving from ethnographers to designers, the interaction between ethnography and design became much more apparent to me. I was stunned by how similar the definitions were. Design, it seems, is for a purpose. It solves a particular problem. Ethnography, by contrast, is about locating purpose from the environment. Designers see the world as it should be–ethnographers see the world as it is. Design is beautiful, but ethnography is real–and it is at the intersection of those two, this place where design ethnographers sit, that a particular kind of magic can happen.

But while the definitions exercise provided me with clarity, it was the Drivers exercise that impacted me the most. I had chosen my most recent projects, which were completed under a great deal of stress. In fact, the period of their completion was among the most miserable in my entire life. While I wonder if there is a correlation between my perception of the success of a project and the motivation for that project, it was the drivers themselves that gave me most pause. Often I take up projects to prove that I can do them, or to prove that they can be accomplished at all. I will do projects simply because I think I can do them better than they have been done. I will do projects because no one else is willing to take them on.

These motivations, I have concluded, are not a good reason to do anything. What am I trying to prove, after all, and to whom? This is clearly a problem in my project adoption process, which was further illuminated by my process diagram. When presented with a new project possibility, I am often inundated with ideas–each more exciting and promising than the last–that tumble over each other in a hurry to get out and implemented. This excitement often cools some short while later, when the realities of the workload of a project sink in. It is generally at this point that I realize that I have taken on a project that I have no real interest in beyond that I wanted to prove something.

This insight has led me to implement a few new measures in my life. The first of these measures is a time management data collection system, so that I can develop an idea of how much time I am presently devoting to specific tasks and therefore how much time I have available to adopt new projects. The second is a mandatory project incubation period of at least 24 hours, in which I assess my motivations for taking on a project as well as the necessary resources that project completion will require. Those factors will be balanced against the benefits of successful project completion before a project is accepted. Hopefully, this process will prevent me from over-committing myself and will allow me to devote myself to projects that truly resonate with me.

This is an essay I wrote for my Strategic Design Thinking class. It is a reflection on four assignments that we did that I will post as soon as I get them scanned. The first assignment that we did is described pretty well in the essay, but the second assignment is somewhat glossed over. Basically, the second assignment was to take four recently completed projects, describe them, give them a success rating from 1 to 5, with 5 being the best, analyze our motivations for doing the project, and then analyze what we could have done to make it more successful. The third assignment was to plot a knowledge, network, and skill development strategy to attain a goal in 2012. The fourth assignment was to map our project process. And without further ado…

“It’s… a bit hippy-dippy for my tastes,” I wrote home after my first Strategic Design class. “We were given these big sheets of paper and told to write our definition of “ethnography”, what an ethnographic perspective is, and the ten key skills of an ethnographer. Then we hung our sheets up on the walls and talked about them. Like show and tell, only I’m paying thirty grand for it.” My skepticism dissolved, however, as soon as I began to read the other papers hanging on the walls. My first impulse was to envy the works posted around me. Two of my fellow design ethnographers had included “fearlessness” on their lists of key skills and I wished that I had thought to incorporate that in my own list. As I continued reading, though, even the envy dropped away. After all, the purpose of the exercise seemed to be to learn from each other’s perceptions. I could pick and choose my favorite viewpoints and presentations from my classmates’ papers and fold them into my own, a variation of the theft that Picasso attributed to great artists.

I had come to Dundee having only the vaguest of notions what an ethnographer was, and an even vaguer perception of what a design ethnographer did. It was the topic of discussion in our first Design Ethnography lecture of the semester, held the day before we wrote our definitions. My own increased clarity was apparent in my definitions, and the similarity of our papers spoke volumes about the information relayed the day before. As I walked around the room, moving from ethnographers to designers, the interaction between ethnography and design became much more apparent to me. I was stunned by how similar the definitions were. Design, it seems, is for a purpose. It solves a particular problem. Ethnography, by contrast, is about locating purpose from the environment. Designers see the world as it should be–ethnographers see the world as it is. Design is beautiful, but ethnography is real–and it is at the intersection of those two, this place where design ethnographers sit, that a particular kind of magic can happen.

But while the definitions exercise provided me with clarity, it was the Drivers exercise that impacted me the most. I had chosen my most recent projects, which were completed under a great deal of stress. In fact, the period of their completion was among the most miserable in my entire life. While I wonder if there is a correlation between my perception of the success of a project and the motivation for that project, it was the drivers themselves that gave me most pause. Often I take up projects to prove that I can do them, or to prove that they can be accomplished at all. I will do projects simply because I think I can do them better than they have been done. I will do projects because no one else is willing to take them on.

These motivations, I have concluded, are not a good reason to do anything. What am I trying to prove, after all, and to whom? This is clearly a problem in my project adoption process, which was further illuminated by my process diagram. When presented with a new project possibility, I am often inundated with ideas–each more exciting and promising than the last–that tumble over each other in a hurry to get out and implemented. This excitement often cools some short while later, when the realities of the workload of a project sink in. It is generally at this point that I realize that I have taken on a project that I have no real interest in beyond that I wanted to prove something.

This insight has led me to implement a few new measures in my life. The first of these measures is a time management data collection system, so that I can develop an idea of how much time I am presently devoting to specific tasks and therefore how much time I have available to adopt new projects. The second is a mandatory project incubation period of at least 24 hours, in which I assess my motivations for taking on a project as well as the necessary resources that project completion will require. Those factors will be balanced against the benefits of successful project completion before a project is accepted. Hopefully, this process will prevent me from over-committing myself and will allow me to devote myself to projects that truly resonate with me.

Forthcoming research from the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council will highlight the abundance of volunteers working within local museums and galleries.

Given the increasing interest in the role of volunteering can play in keeping people ‘job ready’ during the recession, this finding may well attract interest from beyond the heritage sector.

Along with a detailed look at the profile of the workforce, Fast Forward 2008 will provide an update on a range of variables, including levels of visiting and average service standards (disability access, audience development, and so on) within West Midlands museums.

The 2008 publication will include an Excel workbook containing the raw data behind the findings. This move will no doubt be welcomed by researchers keen to understand trends in more detail.

Indeed, the publication of the complete dataset is something English Heritage has also trialled in their latest Heritage Counts publication, which has several accompanying datasets.

The move towards making cultural data available in this way is likely to make data more useful to more people. With a consistent evidence base, for example, local cultural providers may choose to refer to data in their business planning and monitoring activity.

Fast Forward 2008 is due to be published in January 2010 and will be available to download from the MLA website, where you’ll also find past Fast Forward publications (2002-2006).

For more information about the role of culture and volunteering in the region’s post-recession recovery, see the recent briefing from the West Midlands Cultural Observatory (Nov 2009) (pdf, 140kb).

Photo by houghtonabout

When people think of the Thanksgiving holiday they often think of traveling, food and family. But for some policemen in the Baltimore City system Thanksgiving is a time to give back. In the Baltimore Sun article, “From the prisons comes a Thanksgiving feast,” by Peter Herman, police used the vans that are used to transport inmates to prison to bring Thanksgiving to the needy.

Myra Wooten was on the receiving end of this generosity. She is a single mother living in East Baltimore who did not know how she was going to provide a meal for her children. The officers also set up meals for homeless shelters. And even inmates cooked turkeys for the needy.

This is a unique and beautiful way to give back. It almost seems ironic that police and prisoners work together at the holidays to make sure that everyone has a meal. That is the beauty of volunteering; it brings everyone together no matter who they are.

Photo from: casasugar

Starting a series of podcasts from across Lancashire Wildlife Trust’s reserves, here are a couple from Freshfield on Merseyside’s Sefton Coast.

First, Dan Flenley takes us out to record all kinds of wildlife as he introduces the Trust’s Wildlife Counts project:

He also spends a windy morning finding out about the reserve’s volunteer group (the beginning of the track is again rather ambient, so please, soak it all up until the fun starts).

Enjoy!

This post was contributed by Cindy Battles, a freelance writer based in Rutland, VT who’s been diagnosed with and managing bipolar disorder for many years.

Recently a family friend died.  We sent flowers and food over to their house in the pouring rain.  Last night we came home at 6 o’clock in the pitch dark from the wake.

All this reminds me that time is short and it really matters how we spend it.  Today is Thanksgiving and I give thanks for a warm home to come to with people who love me and I love.  But silent prayers sometimes aren’t enough.  Action is called for.

I heard from the United Way this week about jobs I can volunteer for.  I remember delivering hot lunches for Meals on Wheels and how it was one of the most satisfying things I had ever done.  The elderly, some of whom wouldn’t see another person that day, thanked me for my smile.  I left with an even bigger one.

Some ideas for you this season of giving thanks:

1. Keep a Gratitude Journal and write three things a day in it.
2. Make a list of those who have helped you the most and do something kind for them.
3. Offer friends who have stuck by you a Coupon good for leaf raking, chores or babysitting.

You want to be generous and grateful this Thanksgiving, but if your finances are past limited and stretched to the breaking point, why not, if you are unable to budget money for donations, offer your time to give back?  Do something to help others and find out how empowered and alive that makes you feel.

Best wishes,

Cindy

Grateful is good. So here’s a rundown of some of the things I’m most thankful for today.

Live music at dance and theater performances. Gracious performers who pause for a smile, an autograph and a photo. Arts teachers who also mentor and muse. Poetry that doesn’t rhyme.

Arts organizations that play nicely together. Scented flowers. Ugly metal cabinets that scream for magnets and children’s artwork. Thespians.

Red eyeglasses. Red shoes. Red pens. Red party dresses.

Parents who honor their children’s performance work by volunteering behind the scenes. People who do what they love despite being obscenely underpaid.

New friends. Longtime friends.

Co-conspirators who help me hide holiday gifts from my children. Public radio and television (and the people who donate to keep them going). Laptops with long battery life. Late night runs to In ‘N’ Out Burger.

The piano I bought after losing my mother to cancer. The friend who was there when it got delivered and really understood all it meant to me. The music my three children have made through the years. The piano teacher with a forgiving heart.

Every teacher with a forgiving heart.

Patrons who remember to bring cough drops to the theater. Artists who continue to grow and evolve (even when others prefer they go unchanged). Baristas who remember my name. The barista who remembers, but still calls me “drama mama.”

The woman who mentored me as a teen before I discovered that my mom was actually the coolest person on the planet. Teens who advocate for causes they believe in.

Sunroofs. Climbing roses. Newspapers. Existentialism. The Northern Lights.

People who stay and applaud instead of hightailing it to the parking lot. Fellow arts enthusiasts who smile and stand when I need to get through the skinny little aisles by their feet. Venues with two inside aisles.

Kristen Wiig. Tina Fey. Gilda Radner. Mandy Patinkin. Alan Rickman. Gabriel Byrne.

Performing arts venues with ample women’s bathrooms—or ushers who at least look the other way when we dart towards the men’s room. Free parking. Arts advocates.

Rainman. Phenomenon. Little Miss Sunshine. Surprise endings. Land lines. Books with spines.

Dishwashers. Rock gardens. Erasers. Fingerpaints. Free shipping. Letters with stamps. Real pens.

People who vote—every time. People who call and write their elected officials. People who write letters to the editor.

Chocolate. Espresso. Ice cream. Carbs.

Parent participation preschools. Theater teachers who invite me to join the fun. Academic teachers who integrate the arts.

Feather boas. Snow flakes. Running rivers. Pine trees.

Peanuts. Pearls Before Swine. Mid-week crossword puzzles.

Shoe sales. Book sales. Indie stores. Human spell checkers.

Real tea parties. Topiaries. Piggy banks. Telephones answered by actual people.

Theater that makes me forget. Theater that helps me remember.

Board games. Museum gift shops. Climbing ivy. Will call.

English gardens. People who have zero tolerance for zero tolerance. Laughing kookaburras. The fact that all of the world is a stage.

And my hubby, who understands the incredible lure of e-mails that beckon me to volunteer (even on holiday weekends).

–Lynn

I am very thankful for my life these days.  I have a great wife and two fantastic kids.  I now have a career/business that I am proud of and am very excited about getting up and running.  I like doing volunteer work.  Sometimes…running my business seems like volunteer work, especially when I look at my bank account…but I digress.

Tonight Robin and I did some volunteer work.  We help worked Bingo downtown.  It was to help raise money for our Community Center.  Somehow my preconception about Bingo was a bunch of bluehairs smoking  Salems, drinking coffee and whatnot from a themos and playing for a $10 giftcards to Dennys.  Was I surprised!!  Personally, I handled over $2,000 in cash.  The other workers also handled at least that.  People were spending money hand over fist…literally pulling Jacksons out of their underwear to have a chance to win a $400 “instant”.  I hope for these people’s sake, their credit card balances are $0.  Momma (and my wife) always said, don’t spend money you don’t have.  I hope that applies to Bingo.  My father was, and still is a gambler.  Sometimes it bothered me but we never had any problems making the rent and we never longed for anything (except for those AMF racing cars that I still haven’t gotten)

Yes it was eye opening but I enjoyed it.  I learned a little about sales…a little about leaving your preconceived notions about people and things at the door…and mostly…but mostly…I really hate cigarette smoke.

I’m out!

If you’ve been wondering what I have been working on like a madwoman, now is your chance to see. These are the fruits of our efforts to make Capability Scotland’s volunteering more sustainable.

Here is our group presentation, which I presented.

I haven’t made a true slidecast with audio or anything yet, but here is what I planned to say with the slides (only reviewing the video will tell me how close I got!)

Slide 1:

Good morning, everyone! Thank you for coming out in the face of such fierce weather to be here for our presentation. On behalf of the 2010 Design Ethnography program, I want to thank you for opening up your organization to us and offering us this tremendous opportunity for learning and growth. It has been a month long wild ride and a great pleasure coming to know the volunteers, staff, and service users of Capability. Thank you for that. Now, I’m going to give a broad overview of what we all did–our initial brief, how we approached the project, and the highlights of our findings. Each individual team will be giving a more in-depth look at their segment of the project in short order.

Slide 2:

You asked us to make it easier to recruit and retain volunteers. This is a significant challenge for an organisation as diverse as Capability. To ensure that we addressed the issue in appropriate depth, and to avoid redundant work, we decided to have each team focus on a subsection of the volunteer force. One group is focusing on the young volunteers–17 to 25 year olds. Another group is focusing on best utilizing the corporate volunteers. We have a group focusing on older volunteers, who make up the bulk of  Capability’s volunteer force and name recognition. Finally, we have a group looking into the assessment volunteers, the MIND panelists and 1 in 4 poll takers who help steer capability in disability issues.

Sustainability means something different to each of these groups.

Slide 3:

For young volunteers, sustainability requires making the benefits of volunteering very clear.

Slide 4:

For corporate volunteers, it’s about finding the right volunteer at the right time.

Slide 5:

For older volunteers, sustainability requires facillitating usefullness within the Capability community

Slide 6:

For the asssessment volunteers, sustainability requires inspiring and motivating volunteers to continue to contribute their ideas.

Slide 7:

We all made these discoveries using similar methods–the standard toolkit of an ethnographer. After our brief four weeks ago today, we dove into fieldwork. We interviewed and observed volunteers, staff, and service users in their natural environments at Capability. We did a little talking, and a lot of listening. We then took all of the information from that distilled it. This part of the process involves a lot of Post-It notes. Secretly, they’re kicking us money for product placement. Once we have the insights down, we
organized them, and reorganized them. We used the POINTs brainstorm that we did with you several weeks back, among other methods, until the themes and patterns that emerged in our interactions fell out into insight.

Slide 8:

While each group has insights that are specific to their volunteer subset, four broad insights were constant across all groups. We found that all volunteers need awareness–about what Capability does and what their role and responsibilities are within Capability.

All volunteers need support from Capability, in the form of unified training and consistent supervision and feedback.

All volunteers need recognition for their vital contribution to the organization.

And finally, volunteers need to understand the impact of their contribution. They want to see how what they are doing is furthering the mission of Capability Scotland.

Those are the broad strokes, the big four needs that Capability volunteers have. We’re going to follow that up, now, with an in depth look at the needs of each of the four groups of Capability Volunteers. So fasten your seatbelts, ladies and gentlemen, and let’s rock and roll.

And here’s what I presented for my team. I don’t have a completed speaking plan written out for this assignment, but I have part of it.

Slide 1: Sustainable Youth Volunteering

Our group, Neha, Ilya, Leanne, and I, focused on young volunteers. 17 to 25 year olds. The iPod generation. The Facebook status updating, blog writing, youtube video uploading generation. One would think, with all the me-focused communicating that these young’ens do, that they are all about themselves. And in some ways, they are. If they can’t see the immediate benefits of an action, they often won’t take it. But inside the technology bubble, this generation is tremendously empathetic. They want to make a difference. They want social change. They just need some help seeing how their work has impact.

Slide 2: Why Capability Scotland Needs Young Volunteers

So why invest the time? Why does Capability need these volunteers?

Because if you build a solid relationship with them while they are still forming their identities, they will incorporate Capability into themselves. They will internalize their experience here, make it a part of their identity, and then stick around. They will finish school or university and become corporate volunteers, or perhaps even staff members. They will eventually retire and become part of Capability’s formidable older volunteer force. They will stay around and play many different roles as the grow and change alongside the organization.

Young volunteers also bring with them fresh perspectives. They are steeped in the latest technologies, and can pass on those technologies to Capability to harness. They are also unafraid to take risks. Young people are doing a lot of exploration at this point in their lives, and Capability can benefit from their risk-taking.

Finally, young people are the best advertising engine you could hope to harness for free. If a young person really loves something, they’ll share it. With one Facebook status update, you can reach hundreds of other people–a pool of potential volunteers. This generation is globally connected. They crave travel, and develop international connections that they utilize to pass on their thoughts, ideas, and experiences. Young people are connected in a way no previous generation has been. If you hook a few vocal young people, you have open access to hundreds of their friends.

Slide 3: Young People Need Capability So They Can Contribute

But now why do young people need Capability?

In spite of the seeming self-absorption that young people you may have met or raised seem to exhibit, young people desperately want to contribute. One only has to look at Facebook pages for causes to be convinced of that. They are hungry for ways to make a difference, correct injustice, help the helpless. They’re just not sure how to do that in a way that actually has impact, so instead they sign Facebook petitions. They enjoy helping people–they just have to be shown how their help has impact.

Slide 4: Young People Need Capability So They Can Gain Experience

Young people also need Capability to gain experience. They need to learn skills that can help them later in life. They need to try things that will challenge and stretch them and cause them to grow. Your teenager is not going to come to you and say, “Mom, what I really need it so be challenged so that I can grow as a person,” but all the exploration that young people do speaks for itself. Capability can help young people with that growth.

Slide 5: Young People Need Capability So They Can Build Community

And finally, young people need Capability to help them build community. They want to meet new people, make new friends, and have a vehicle for connecting with old friends in new ways.

Those are the reasons why young people need Capability–now let’s talk about what they consider when they’re thinking about volunteering.

Slide 6: Volunteering Considerations

There are 4 key areas that young people contemplate when they’re thinking about volunteering. They are concerned about time commitment. Young people have a lot of demands on their time, from their school to their work to their Facebook farm. So they are looking for engagements that are flexible and conventient.

Young people want to work for causes that resonate with them. They want to feel connected to a mission, something greater than themselves. Whether it’s a personal connection to the cause, a general belief in the mission, or just a convergence of opportunity and personal interest, young people want something that fits them.

Career benefits are a huge issue for young people. They want to see how their volunteering will further their career goals.

Finally, they want it to be social. Everything about this generation is connected, and they want their volunteering to be rich with connection as well.

Slide 7: Overview of Fieldwork

How do we know all this?

We talked to a lot of different people. We talked to Capability volunteers and staff. We talked to volunteers from other organizations. We talked to people who had volunteered, and those who had never volunteered. We talked to those were looking to volunteer, and those who couldn’t be bothered. All told, we interacted with 49 people in our quest to understand the youth perspective on volunteering.

Slide 8: Personas

All of their stories, however, are too much to present here. We wouldn’t just be here all day–we’d be here for three weeks. So we’ve taken all of that information and condensed it into personas. A persona is a tool that vividly demonstrates the themes and patterns in our data. We create characters from our rich fieldwork that illustrate the key points that we came across. So we’re going to introduce you to a few of our personas, and walk you through their process of considering capability.

The presentations themselves went well. There were some technical difficulties with my presentation of the iVolunteer project–the projector cut off the right edge of the slides and the mouse I was using as a clicker ran out of battery halfway through the presentation, but all in all it was all right. I do not feel that I put on my best performance, but I was certainly solidly in the adequate territory.

It was what happened after the presentation that was really glorious. We had a structured workshop in which we brainstormed with our clients the ways in which they can implement our recommendations. It was amazing to see them incorporate everything so quickly. It was a glorious thing to behold, their new ownership of our ideas. I feel that we really revolutionized their organization. It was a totally different high than a computer science project high. We have just set in motion changes that will impact thousands of volunteers, staff, and service users, that will in turn improve the lives of the people they touch… It was very cool. “Bloody magical,” was the phrase in my head at the time.

I will have a full run down of my thoughts on the subject later, as well as a comparison of the computer science project emotional curve to the design ethnography emotional curve. This was my first real project, and dang it all, if I don’t really love it.

If you’ve been wondering what I have been working on like a madwoman, now is your chance to see. These are the fruits of our efforts to make Capability Scotland’s volunteering more sustainable.

Here is our group presentation, which I presented.

I haven’t made a true slidecast with audio or anything yet, but here is what I planned to say with the slides (only reviewing the video will tell me how close I got!)

Slide 1:

Good morning, everyone! Thank you for coming out in the face of such fierce weather to be here for our presentation. On behalf of the 2010 Design Ethnography program, I want to thank you for opening up your organization to us and offering us this tremendous opportunity for learning and growth. It has been a month long wild ride and a great pleasure coming to know the volunteers, staff, and service users of Capability. Thank you for that. Now, I’m going to give a broad overview of what we all did–our initial brief, how we approached the project, and the highlights of our findings. Each individual team will be giving a more in-depth look at their segment of the project in short order.

Slide 2:

You asked us to make it easier to recruit and retain volunteers. This is a significant challenge for an organisation as diverse as Capability. To ensure that we addressed the issue in appropriate depth, and to avoid redundant work, we decided to have each team focus on a subsection of the volunteer force. One group is focusing on the young volunteers–17 to 25 year olds. Another group is focusing on best utilizing the corporate volunteers. We have a group focusing on older volunteers, who make up the bulk of  Capability’s volunteer force and name recognition. Finally, we have a group looking into the assessment volunteers, the MIND panelists and 1 in 4 poll takers who help steer capability in disability issues.

Sustainability means something different to each of these groups.

Slide 3:

For young volunteers, sustainability requires making the benefits of volunteering very clear.

Slide 4:

For corporate volunteers, it’s about finding the right volunteer at the right time.

Slide 5:

For older volunteers, sustainability requires facillitating usefullness within the Capability community

Slide 6:

For the asssessment volunteers, sustainability requires inspiring and motivating volunteers to continue to contribute their ideas.

Slide 7:

We all made these discoveries using similar methods–the standard toolkit of an ethnographer. After our brief four weeks ago today, we dove into fieldwork. We interviewed and observed volunteers, staff, and service users in their natural environments at Capability. We did a little talking, and a lot of listening. We then took all of the information from that distilled it. This part of the process involves a lot of Post-It notes. Secretly, they’re kicking us money for product placement. Once we have the insights down, we organized them, and reorganized them. We used the POINTs brainstorm that we did with you several weeks back, among other methods, until the themes and patterns that emerged in our interactions fell out into insight.

Slide 8:

While each group has insights that are specific to their volunteer subset, four broad insights were constant across all groups. We found that all volunteers need awareness–about what Capability does and what their role and responsibilities are within Capability.

All volunteers need support from Capability, in the form of unified training and consistent supervision and feedback.

All volunteers need recognition for their vital contribution to the organization.

And finally, volunteers need to understand the impact of their contribution. They want to see how what they are doing is furthering the mission of Capability Scotland.

Those are the broad strokes, the big four needs that Capability volunteers have. We’re going to follow that up, now, with an in depth look at the needs of each of the four groups of Capability Volunteers. So fasten your seatbelts, ladies and gentlemen, and let’s rock and roll.

And here’s what I presented for my team. I don’t have a completed speaking plan written out for this assignment, but I have part of it.

Slide 1: Sustainable Youth Volunteering

Our group, Neha, Ilya, Leanne, and I, focused on young volunteers. 17 to 25 year olds. The iPod generation. The Facebook status updating, blog writing, youtube video uploading generation. One would think, with all the me-focused communicating that these young’ens do, that they are all about themselves. And in some ways, they are. If they can’t see the immediate benefits of an action, they often won’t take it. But inside the technology bubble, this generation is tremendously empathetic. They want to make a difference. They want social change. They just need some help seeing how their work has impact.

Slide 2: Why Capability Scotland Needs Young Volunteers

So why invest the time? Why does Capability need these volunteers?

Because if you build a solid relationship with them while they are still forming their identities, they will incorporate Capability into themselves. They will internalize their experience here, make it a part of their identity, and then stick around. They will finish school or university and become corporate volunteers, or perhaps even staff members. They will eventually retire and become part of Capability’s formidable older volunteer force. They will stay around and play many different roles as the grow and change alongside the organization.

Young volunteers also bring with them fresh perspectives. They are steeped in the latest technologies, and can pass on those technologies to Capability to harness. They are also unafraid to take risks. Young people are doing a lot of exploration at this point in their lives, and Capability can benefit from their risk-taking.

Finally, young people are the best advertising engine you could hope to harness for free. If a young person really loves something, they’ll share it. With one Facebook status update, you can reach hundreds of other people–a pool of potential volunteers. This generation is globally connected. They crave travel, and develop international connections that they utilize to pass on their thoughts, ideas, and experiences. Young people are connected in a way no previous generation has been. If you hook a few vocal young people, you have open access to hundreds of their friends.

Slide 3: Young People Need Capability So They Can Contribute

But now why do young people need Capability?

In spite of the seeming self-absorption that young people you may have met or raised seem to exhibit, young people desperately want to contribute. One only has to look at Facebook pages for causes to be convinced of that. They are hungry for ways to make a difference, correct injustice, help the helpless. They’re just not sure how to do that in a way that actually has impact, so instead they sign Facebook petitions. They enjoy helping people–they just have to be shown how their help has impact.

Slide 4: Young People Need Capability So They Can Gain Experience

Young people also need Capability to gain experience. They need to learn skills that can help them later in life. They need to try things that will challenge and stretch them and cause them to grow. Your teenager is not going to come to you and say, “Mom, what I really need it so be challenged so that I can grow as a person,” but all the exploration that young people do speaks for itself. Capability can help young people with that growth.

Slide 5: Young People Need Capability So They Can Build Community

And finally, young people need Capability to help them build community. They want to meet new people, make new friends, and have a vehicle for connecting with old friends in new ways.

Those are the reasons why young people need Capability–now let’s talk about what they consider when they’re thinking about volunteering.

Slide 6: Volunteering Considerations

There are 4 key areas that young people contemplate when they’re thinking about volunteering. They are concerned about time commitment. Young people have a lot of demands on their time, from their school to their work to their Facebook farm. So they are looking for engagements that are flexible and conventient.

Young people want to work for causes that resonate with them. They want to feel connected to a mission, something greater than themselves. Whether it’s a personal connection to the cause, a general belief in the mission, or just a convergence of opportunity and personal interest, young people want something that fits them.

Career benefits are a huge issue for young people. They want to see how their volunteering will further their career goals.

Finally, they want it to be social. Everything about this generation is connected, and they want their volunteering to be rich with connection as well.

Slide 7: Overview of Fieldwork

How do we know all this?

We talked to a lot of different people. We talked to Capability volunteers and staff. We talked to volunteers from other organizations. We talked to people who had volunteered, and those who had never volunteered. We talked to those were looking to volunteer, and those who couldn’t be bothered. All told, we interacted with 49 people in our quest to understand the youth perspective on volunteering.

Slide 8: Personas

All of their stories, however, are too much to present here. We wouldn’t just be here all day–we’d be here for three weeks. So we’ve taken all of that information and condensed it into personas. A persona is a tool that vividly demonstrates the themes and patterns in our data. We create characters from our rich fieldwork that illustrate the key points that we came across. So we’re going to introduce you to a few of our personas, and walk you through their process of considering capability.

The presentations themselves went well. There were some technical difficulties with my presentation of the iVolunteer project–the projector cut off the right edge of the slides and the mouse I was using as a clicker ran out of battery halfway through the presentation, but all in all it was all right. I do not feel that I put on my best performance, but I was certainly solidly in the adequate territory.

It was what happened after the presentation that was really glorious. We had a structured workshop in which we brainstormed with our clients the ways in which they can implement our recommendations. It was amazing to see them incorporate everything so quickly. It was a glorious thing to behold, their new ownership of our ideas. I feel that we really revolutionized their organization. It was a totally different high than a computer science project high. We have just set in motion changes that will impact thousands of volunteers, staff, and service users, that will in turn improve the lives of the people they touch… It was very cool. “Bloody magical,” was the phrase in my head at the time.

I will have a full run down of my thoughts on the subject later, as well as a comparison of the computer science project emotional curve to the design ethnography emotional curve. This was my first real project, and dang it all, if I don’t really love it.

So last Thanksgiving I posted 25 things I am thankful for- a list enompssing all of the easy gratitudes including family, friends, music, work, my apartment and more.  I have decided to make this  a tradition, so each year it will get increasingly difficult but hopefully more meaningful as well.  To aid in this endeavour I have also been posting a “Today I am thankful for..” facebook status each day for the last month or so.  Here goes!

I am grateful for…

1. Anna being in Utah.  We have spent a ton of time together and I’ve enjoyed all of it!

2. Festival of Trees- I love the opportunity I’ve had this year to volunteer.

3. Visits from and with friends- this year I have been able to see Raelene, Emily (3 times!), Julia and Camille to name a few.

4. Visiting teachers- Mine come and it is great!

5. Hot tubs. Nothing more relaxing.

6. Creative movies- this year has been particularly rich with Up, 500 days of summer, and Where the Wild things Are.

7. Literacy- I can’t contemplate a life without reading.

8. My computer- sometimes I feel glued to it but its hard to imagine life without it.

9. Great teachers- I had some fantastic ones growing up and in college.

10. Financial security with an uncertain time.

11. Priesthood blessings. It is a power that is so comforting.

12. Greek and Icelandic yogurt. Delicious, creamy and low in calories.

13. Cute accessories- I love making an outfit special.

14. My Madame Alexander doll collection.

15. Reality Television- I know it is scripted and ridiculous but I still enjoy it.  Particularly Project Runway.

16. Great Roommates- I have been blessed this year with Sunnie and Jenni.

17. A perfect starry sky. Now I just need to find someone to share it with!

18. Successful parties.  I have had enough bad ones to be grateful for the ones that work!

19.  Board games- favorites are Cranium, Scategories, Scrabble and Boggle.

20. Flu shots and antibacterial gel/lotion.  I hate being sick!

21. Loving Grandparents that I have had the privilege of spending time with and knowing.

22.  My cousins- particularly the ones I am closest too.  My parents always made it a priority for us to spend time together.

23.  The Ocean.  I will live by the ocean sometime in my life.

24.  The Prophet- President Thomas S. Monson.

25. Temple covenants and the comfort of knowing I will be with my family forever.

There are so many blessings I can’t begin to list them all.  Next year I am sure I will have a whole new set!  I love you all and am thankful for your support this year.  Happy Thanksgiving!

Special information session on Friday, December 4th, 2009!
A presentation will be made by Richard Montoni, a BU Alum and CEO of Maximus. Mr. Montoni is offering at least one internship to qualified BU students for the summer.

Location: Boston University School of Managment (595 Commonwealth Ave.)
Feld Career Center Conference Room (Rm. 114)
Time: 12:00 pm (Lunch will be available)

*We request that you RSVP in order to attend the information session.
Please email Deborah Halliday at dlhallid@bu.edu if you plan on attending

About the internship:
MAXIMUS is an extremely dynamic and complex organization that offers government and industry a range of unique services, products, and solutions. Please join BU Alum Richard Montoni, CEO of MAXIMUS, for this presentation. He will talk about the MAXIMUS internship program.

The diverse services and products that MAXIMUS offers may be categorized into two groups: Government Operations and Government Consulting. Government Operations focuses on having a measurable impact on the lives of the citizens we help government serve. The insights of MAXIMUS Consulting and our technological innovations help government gain program efficiencies and pursue improvements that in turn benefit citizens.

MAXIMUS Internships are now listed on BU CareerLink, and open for your application. Please log on, read the descriptions, and apply. As a BU Alum, Mr. Montoni is very interested in seeing BU students take advantage of all that MAXIMUS has to offer.

Requirements:
Must be a US Citizen
Student status: undergraduate – either Class of 2011 or 2012.

Education Preferred: MAXIMUS seeks current undergraduate students of any major, but will but will give preference to the following:
• Accounting
• Economics
• Finance
• Marketing
• Public Policy

Technical Skills / Knowledge Required: Advanced level expertise in MS Excel applications

Personal/Soft Skills: Excellent organizational skills, exceptional interpersonal, written, verbal communications skills, demonstrated multi-tasking abilities, ability to work effectively within project teams and independently, ability to perform comfortably in a fast-paced, deadline-oriented work environment, and extensive leadership experience in either work or extracurricular activities.

Corporate Finance: Possible duties may include:
• Provide functional support to MAXIMUS external auditors.
• Test for Sarbanes-Oxley compliance.
• Process day-to-day general ledger transactions to gain exposure to standard accounting principles.
• Provide support to segment finance teams for billing and contract information.

Corporate Marketing/Proposals: Possible duties may include:
• Perform research of best in class materials from MAXIMUS document repository in response to proposal requests from potential clients.
• Perform quality checks on facts, figures and data through interaction with consultants and managers.
• Write summaries on this data for use in current and future proposals.

Human Capital: Possible duties may include:
• Perform analysis functions such as compensation, benefits, new hire on-boarding, recruitment, employee retention and training.
• Contribute to annual budget planning cycle through forecasting and financial modeling.
• Contribute to the development of collateral marketing materials for recruitment purposes.

About Richard A. Montoni:
Chief Executive Officer, President and Director of MAXIMUS

Richard Montoni has served as Chief Executive Officer, President and board member since 2006. Mr. Montoni is responsible for the transformation of MAXIMUS into the leading pure-play provider in the administration of government health and human services. As CEO and President, Mr. Montoni is charged with driving the MAXIMUS mission of Helping Government Serve the People®, while leading the strategic vision of the Company. Prior to his appointment as CEO, Mr. Montoni spent four years as Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer of MAXIMUS.

Mr. Montoni has served as Chief Financial Officer and Executive Vice President for CIBER, where he also served as a director. Before joining CIBER, he was an audit partner with KPMG, where he worked for nearly 20 years.

Mr. Montoni holds a B.S. in economics from Boston University and an M.A. in accounting from Northeastern University.