There was, at one point, a discussion of having a new members “all about DMS” class where they would be given a more in depth overview of the space, and allow them to ask questions that didn’t (and can’t) be answered during a tour. Maybe run that once or twice a month. That would be an opportune time to let folks know about volunteering and how they can fit in.
Also, my 2 cents and how I operate, is befriend a few folks slowly over time. Once you have built enough rapport with them, then you can start getting them involved in teaching or volunteering. People are way more willing to help someone out they consider a friend, or at the very least someone who has spent time working with and helping them with projects, than they are a general call to arms over Talk. So everyone on this thread, go make 2-3 new friends in 2019 and by the end of the year we will have another 50 volunteers. By 2023 we should have about 4,050 people willing to come help out.
This isn’t true as I am constantly seeing new members step up and volunteer. The best way I know to get people involved is to stop and talk to them and get to know them. Then ask if they want to help with something small in their area of interest.
My personal observations mimics yours in some ways. I watched DMS for probably 2 or 3 months before joining. I wouldn’t say weren’t at the 100% Volunteer threshold when I joined. But, by the time I was an active member (I was the 42nd member of DMS for reference) the percentage of Core Supporters in the group was a strong 50% to 70% of the group. When I say Core Supporters, I’m not just talking about who volunteered at the space, I’m also talking about paying attention to the actual running of the DMS. This included the discussion of issues, the finding of information, and just the trying to understand the structure of DMS and it’s running.
I would guess general membership had a marked decline in the wanting to know how DMS runs during the decision process of moving to Monetary. There were multiple factors that I feel lead to this. A large one was the amount of opinions due to our membership numbers were very difficult to deal with. As well as the negotiation abilities of having a large group gather information. This lead to the cementing of a social change in our group, when the BOD at the time took some of the largest step to that date of separating not only the decision making on the move, but who is allowed to gather information for the decision.
From there we have continued to grow in our secrecy and limitation on input for decisions in DMS as well as our loss of the general membership wanting to be involved in the decisions. Committees at one point were the clearest example of this kind of secrecy and limited access, but there have been changes to the processes for committees to try and combat this structure in our group. We all saw a marked increase in volunteering as those changes took effect.
So people talk to me sometimes about the energy brought by Creative Arts and our wild hedonism of our volunteer hippies willing to always weigh in on what we do and dive down deep into dusty digs. They wonder how I do it and what quality of crack I put in the brownies. Here’s a secret - I do very little, and only the highest quality of crack a single public school teacher can afford.
The only thing I believe I’m talented at is over communication. Lots and lots of over communication.
I believe people want to help out, they just don’t know what to do. Most people thrive on being told what to do when they are looking to do something but just don’t know.
I’m a teacher, it’s in my guts to boss people around and make plans. I can apply this to every aspect of life except for my own personal housework.
Find peoples passions - help them do it to the best of your ability and they will always surprise you with the results if you let go and step back.
Like others, I believe an “on boarding” for new members or existing members helps - this could easily be done at member meetings but (from what I’ve heard) they aren’t well attended. Some members (me included) just DON’T know HOW to help but have the energy to help. Explaining the energy of DMS and the tasks needed would greatly increase interest and I believe increase turnout of volunteers for each area.
I also think monthly “work” days for committees will help. Getting your community together to communicate about goals is the best possible thing to do to figure out where you want to go together and who needs to drive and who needs to hold the map. This is something Creative Arts has failed at recently. We could benefit from a monthly cleanup but dang it I don’t have time lately.
A physical board and a way to communicate what needs to be done. A “to-do/to-done”. I believe this can be done in two different ways
Post a wall/board where tasks can be easily found/easily understood. We do a huge cleanup day in my classroom several times. I write specifics of what I expect. “Clean off the black counter, you can find the cleaner next to the sink, throw away anything that is crumpled, blah blah blah”
Create a remind (this is a one way text messaging service) specific for volunteer opportunities and bi-weekly (or whatever timeframe) send out a list (created by PR curated by committee chairs) of the big to-do goals of the two weeks. Things happen quick here so this would be reserved for big things, big plans, and big to-do’s not the “take out the trash”
Yep…indeed, it is expected, or used to be. I don’t remember who first mentioned/explained it to me, but I took it to heart: for-profit Makerspaces with employees charge 2, 3, 4 times what DMS asks for. We pay such a small amount of money for dues each month because we are the employees; if all you do is come in, make your make, clean up your mess, and leave, you are really not fulfilling the implicit bargain/social contract that everyone should understand exists here.
Our desired culture of volunteerism should be made excruciatingly clear during tours (start and end tours with this statement of our ethos, in fact); in the onboarding email suggested by @indytruks138 and other onboarding efforts; at the beginning of Membership, BoD, and committee meetings (think pledge of allegiance, but basic statement of our ethos instead); and it couldn’t hurt to have a set of “take-one” card stands around the place, maybe at or near every pay or information kiosk, that pretty much says “you are expected to give back/volunteer.”
Behaviors like these are the beginnings of how a culture of volunteerism can begin to be inculcated in membership as a whole.
While I strongly agree with volunteerism, I think we are setting unrealistic expectations for ourselves.
When a group is small, the opportunity for social structure and harmony is great. As the group grows it becomes harded to maintain. You reference an implicit bargain/social contract that everyone should understand exists. I’m not seeing it.
I think it is terribly unrealistic to expect we are going to see the level of engagement with 2000 members in comparison to 200. The issues I see are, someone else will help syndrome, its not a big deal its just some dust disease, this is my personal workshop illness and the final and dreaded I paid my money and don’t care contagion.
Communication of needs is the #1 issue.
Not everyone can walk in, identify a problem, generate a solution and execute. This is ok. To see problems you have to have some frame of reference. To generate a solution you have to have some experience in the subject. To execute a solution you have to have motivation. To expect people to complete the lifecycle is unrealistic. I do however believe we can help jumpstart this process, this to requires manpower, a framework, etc. I realize that not all our problems require this, lots do however. The nature of people is such that many are not comfortable being proactive. The lack of comfort is for many reasons, afraid of doing it wrong, afraid of criticism of job, lack of knowledge, etc.
While that is one possibility, I don’t think it plays nearly as large a factor as you might believe. I would surmise that more than 3/4 of our members do not use talk.
I am not downplaying the possibility, I just think that we have confirmation bias on the issue.
We could have a video camera aimed at a whiteboard on site. Setup a live camera feed online similar to our security cameras for automotive and metal shop. Folks at home could monitor the board for tasks that they feel capable of doing.
Camera resolution will be important and I don’t know how that works, just spitballing a cheap method.
I never even got the tour part of the equation. My significant other had joined the space to learn more about and use the PlasmaCam. He invited me go along one day when he wanted to measure something for a project is friend Bill Epps was going to help him with. He didn’t know what most of the space was for, but it looked intriguing. I was drawn like a moth to the lasers, because I had been trying to figure out how I could get some one-off templates made with acrylic for cutting shapes or quilt block piecing. I spent a month or so thinking about it, and decided to pull the trigger on my own membership.
My first class was the intro to laser class (of course!) aught by @tomthm. Because i had joined in the middle of the night on a Sunday, i didn’t have an entry key, so i borrowed Larry’sso i could get in for the class.
He talked about TALK and “The WIKI” like they were things everyone knew about.i did not. So I asked for clarification. Hmmm. Interesting… As it happened, Tommy was having a laser lab class immediately following the intro class that I stayed for During the break, I was introduced to Stan, and got my keyfob.
After class, I went home and got myself signed into TALK. And fell down this rabbit hole. Populated by several kindred spirits and some grumpyass characters, but collectively carrying a lot of passion and knowledge. So I would be on the side of “staying for the community” more than the stuff. (Note that I haven’t passed the 90 day probation period yet, so don’t even have voting privileges.)
I was raised in a family where volunteering was part of the fabric of our family. As my grandmother was the executive director of a local hairstylist for handicapped children, I was helping stuff Easter Seal mailings when I was about five. I was a “marching mother” for the March of Dimes when I was about ten. Always something. It’s pretty amazing to me what has been accomplished here with only volunteers. I’ve mentioned before my involvement with the Quilters Guild of Dallas. A few of my peeps and I had peered into storefronts and fantasized about establishing a big space where people could eat together and make stuff. In our case, mostly sewing, but we knew there are scrapbookers, polymer clay enthusiasts, knitters, stitchers, and more that liked the community aspect. But the number crunching for rent, utilities, etc combined with ongoing management questions pretty much scuttled the concept. But Y’ALL HAVE PULLED IT OFF.
“On boarding” is a challenge here, because of the very nature of the space. People are here at varying times, with various interests, etc. But, I think more established members assume a lot. I hear “that’s on the wiki” a lot. But there’s a lot of really outdated crap on the wiki as well. Not to mention, speaking for myself, wikis are kind of a geeky thing that isnt exactly the first place the average person is gonna look for info. How would a new person weed out the facts from the (now) fiction? I knew nothing of TALK until Tommy mentioned it. Yeah, there’s a link on the website, but I would not have even clicked on that. Why is the WiFi info only posted on the side of the refrigerator? That is about the LAST place I would go looking for something like that. Seems like it oughta be posted in the common room and the three classrooms, at the very least.
There’s a lot of extorting (like this thread) of the need for all members to do their small volunteer contribution of time. Cleaning is one. I have no qualms about sweeping or cleaning up or putting stuff away. But how do I know where stuff is supposed to be stored? How do I know if a mess is abandoned or simpt took a quick break? How do I clean this or that without breaking something? I’ve got a couple hours to kill between classes. I’d like to sit and do something Iike sharpen woodworking tools. But I have very little clue how to do that. And I’m smart enough to know that woodworking tools are like fabric scissors. You don’t wanna f**k them up.
Maybe we need is mass quantities of super-sticky postit notes and pencils available in a small wall mounted bins by the doors to different work areas. And begin requiring people to leave a note indicating who they are, where they’ve gone and how to contact the them. (Not unlike the device now connected to one of the lasers, but much lower-tech.) if no note, anything left that remains untouched for say 30 minutes gets put away and/or trashed.
I’d like to see version of the intro classes, that doesn’t include signoffs, but does include an overview of all the tools Including more mundane things like power drills. What is this tool? What does it do? There’s a plethora of stuff outside the wood shop that is a mystery to me. The entire machine shop is fascinating yet mysterious. Didn’t attend @jast’s “safety in the metal shop” class earlier this week, but I suspect it was very similar to what I would envision. No signoffs on anything, but building a healthy respect for not burning out your retinas or sizzling your limbs. Listing the name of a tool in the depths of a wiki doesn’t really help me out.
Another head scratcher to me is hearing “if you need help, just ask a committee member”. But how the heck would I know who is or isn’t a committee member? Despite being quite familiar with emojis and TALK handles, I wouldn’t be able to pick most people out of a crowd. I doubt that @mblatz really looks like JoJo the Dog-faced Boy. @jast probably isn’t that jaundiced.
And really, y’all need to develop a plan B for when Stan isn’t there. While work continues on 102, the sign on the door says access through 104. But… if Stan isn’t there, whaddya do?
I actually joined with Wayne about a year and a half ago. I never had a tour, but I love message boards. Talk educated me and scared the hell out of me. I was in and out of the hospital for a while so all I could do was read Talk.
Like Judy, I was raised to help, but wasn’t sure how. I travel with Wayne so I can’t always make events and I still have some physical issues. The best thing someone told me was to take classes and go to the committee meetings of my favorite area. I went to CA meetings and Nicole had tasks for me to do sitting down. Ta-da! I’m helping.
I’ve been on the boards of three non-profit groups with one bigger than DMS. There are some things I see:
Cherish the volunteers.
Praise in public and criticize in private. Little presents help a lot such as a pin/key chain/little button (that we can make) for volunteering for certain events. Or, track hours or work days attended and get a badge for attending more than half. People just want to feel appreciated
Onboarding.
The member manual should mention volunteering several times. We really need a class. Taught by enthusiastic people that really love the place. Pictures of the important people. Standardized points to be covered in all classes. Give them many ways to volunteer (a to-do list, work days, if you see a mess). What may seem obvious to old-timers is not to new people afraid of making a mistake.
Clone Nicole
Nicole has an infectious spirit. She encourages us all to help, but not overdo it and get burned out.
/ramble off
Addition: I forgot to state the obvious. Clone Stan several times.
