What makes you feel appreciated?

We all have different love languages! What are things that DMS could do that would show our appreciation?

Some ideas so far have been…
New Member Volunteer of the Month
Volunteer of the Month
Spirit of DMS Award
Comittee Trophy Wars
Volunteer Teacher of the Month
Teacher of the Year
Caught Being Excellent/Thank You card program
Brag/Shout Out board

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While picking the best volunteer sounds like a good idea, it also suggests that we are competing to volunteer. At DMS volunteering is not a competition it is part of being a member of our community. Instead of picking one person or a small group, it would probably be better to try and find ways to recognize the larger groups of volunteers around the space.

Imagine a committee trying to document every volunteer at the space rather than the best volunteer. They could post it on a thank you blog. Where you take a picture and make posts of the big volunteers and the small volunteers alike. One post being thanks for driving hours to pick up a tool, followed by a post saying thanks for taking out the trash. Make it super easy to post to this blog and have the blog be a ticker that scrolls on the front page of the DMS website, as well as TALK. Require a picture for each post and make sure to water mark that picture with a thank you from DMS. We could do the blog as an Instagram account, which gives many more options for integration in website or even our facebook page.

The scrolling widget here might work well.

It allows you to mouse over and read the post, while also bringing movement to attract attention.

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Comittee meeting is right before BoD. Looking forward to seeing you there. In the meantime have you added your name to the wiki?

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We have enough cosplay that if you need a train and it’s your month I’ll look into it

Personally doing the work and seeing it being used is the reward, accolades / praise / acknowledgement are not a motivating factor. I find the idea of creating a volunteer appreciation committee a huge waste of time

The whole segment from Feynman is good and communicates my general sentiment, here he is specifically talking about winning the nobel prize, but it still applies in general

I appreciate the work that I did, and all the people who appreciated it, and I noticed other physicists use my work, I don’t need anything else, I don’t think there’s any sense to anything else, I don’t see the point that someone in the Swedish academy decides this work is noble enough to receive a prize, I already got the prize, the prize is the pleasure finding things out, the kick in the discovery, the observation of other people use it. Those are the real things, honors are unreal to me.

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I don’t feel familiar enough with the space to get more specific, but I think any gestures of appreciation whether it’s something on the website or a display in the halls would be a good way of showing people that their work is noticed.

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hmmm

https://talk.dallasmakerspace.org/t/bod-agenda-4-15-19-finders-fee/54241/44

Lol while I’m sure many would love such a comittee to make it rain, cash gifts aren’t currently being discussed as a reward.

@Brandon_Green thanks for the positivity and encouragement. Finding a way to make note of how many members benefited from a certain act of volunteerism is a good idea.

No but there were 4 other choices there … mine was the best of course … snickers

You know … I know this is a bit off topic but Talk has a Wiki feature … I wonder if we can link to all the places and suggestions made in the past … people can find and add links to the post …

While I agree with you – I volunteer because it needs to be done, and little mentions and such do nothing for me – there are many folks out there who volunteer who appreciate some sort of a pat on the back.

I will admit that we probably should note/recognize everybody we can notice equally. In the SCA, I have heard folks whining that they’ve done X and Y and Z, and helped with A and B, and they haven’t been recognized!! (And I’ve always figured if you don’t get joy from doing the thing, sooner or later external rewards won’t be worth doing the thing.) Still – if it helps us keep more people volunteering, then it’s worth some effort.

We’ve been talking about how we turn consumers into volunteers – this may be part of that.

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Volunteering Comments

(Not just from one thread)

From @LukeStrickland

We can give them an awesome, clean, friendly and well stocked makerspace to create their projects, art and works. Nothing more is needed, nothing more should be required.

From @TBJK

I expect nothing here. We have the Makers fellowship fund just for this. We volunteer, I don’t do it to get paid. I can’t tell you how much I have given up in terms of money, I know its in the many of thousands of $ per year. I do it for the space, I do it to keep this place running smoother. I do it to pay it forward. I do it because I enjoy it, IT IS MY PASSION & IN MY BLOOD. I am a fix-a-holic/work-a-holic

I may not be the best teacher but by god I can fix stuff so others can teach.

From @LukeStrickland

My point is volunteers volunteer because they want to make the place better. I volunteered to work on lights because the place was dark and unappealing. I volunteered to go on the roof every month for an entire year to clean out the A/C.

I volunteered for these things because I only want to work in a well lit, well cooled environment. The perks of volunteerism are the benefits you’re making for yourself.

From @MrsMoose

I volunteer when it helps a comittee I feel connected with. There are certain tasks I used to volunteer on but after being gone I’m noticing I don’t know how to do many of them anymore. Where IS the titan blade stash now kind of thing. It’s easier to volunteer for areas that post their lists of 15/20 minute jobs as well.

From @so_creative

  1. What needs volunteering for?
  2. Feeling wanted and useful without being used helps inspire me to volunteer.

What has happened in the year I have been a member…

After having a door held for me, and telling the person “Thank you,” I was told I wasn’t welcome. Immediately, I asked for clarification of what this person said, the reply was that I was not welcome here. I took the hint and flat tire and stayed away a few months. I thought maybe the person was just having a crappy day and I caught the flack of it.

Since coming back I tried to pitch in when I have been at the space. I have tried to clean up things I knew were out of place. This lead to people being upset with me in my perception, because I was told that “wasn’t my job” to clean up after others.

I’ve unclogged the women’s toilets more than I can count and disinfected the basin of the crappers afterwards… no place to file that I have completed this task, but it needed done. I’ve cleaned poop off the floors and walls in there since I’ve been a member and no one noticed or cared… I say that because I’ve cleaned poop off the items in there more than once.

I have tried to come on work days and stayed as long as the body will hold out and excused myself when I knew I had to leave.

I have been available just to be an ear, a friend or shoulder to a community that seems to talk trash about my hair twirling behind my back.

When attending another teacher’s class, I’ve been gopher and had class mates seem to make comments to the instructor that couldn’t have been too nice, because after the whispers the teacher looked at me differently because of whatever was said; and even more confused when I cleaned up, replaced supplies and apologized if I had been annoying to them in the class.

What I thought I was getting in joining Your makers space was a perspective group of working friends. It’s not exactly what I have found. I have taken more classes than I have hosted and donated in the boxes when I have used supplies.

So, what kind of volunteers are YOU looking for?

I know 90% of what I have typed sounds ■■■■■ and snarky; but after all the reading I have done of the most prolific posters, all I am seeing is a push to be rid of those who didn’t find a click to become a part of.

Someone recently posted “Headphones in, head down, get my project done.” I have to agree with that sentiment. Being nice up here is not the way to make friends it seems. You’ve got to be pushy, into everyone’s area, nosey and brash. All things I am not.

So my thoughts are out there now. Not that they fully answered your question or even stayed with in the topic, but this was the most relevant area I have seen to post things I have sat on while trying to decide if volunteering here is worth the pain and humiliation.

From @richmeyer

My main reason for joining the Dallas Makerspace was to give back to the community. I am retired and had a very successful career in Electronics. Time to give back and volunteer as much as I can.

Volunteer where? Just look around and find something that needs to be done! Ask questions. I joined DMS over 2 years ago and immediately saw a need for someone to interface with City officials whether it is the City Inspector, the Fire Marshall, Permit Department, or just City Hall in general. In my past career I worked as an Electrical/Safety Inspector for Underwriters Laboratories (UL) and worked with all these inspectors in a 4 state area. Finally, something I can do to give back to the community. I am now donating my time as the General Contractor with the Expansion Group as we build out the new addition.

Personal projects? So far I have not had any time to build up my own projects. I am just too busy doing the things that I love to do.

From @sroriginals

I enjoy teaching classes in areas I have worked for years. I like to share my experiences and see someone else light up with “I can do this!”. I can help them avoid mistakes I made when I learned things on my own with no help.

There are some things I do not volunteer to do because I am no longer physically able to do them.

There are some things I will never volunteer to do because I do not wish to be a target, especially for all the BS I see on TALK and sometimes in meetings. This kind of ugliness makes me reluctant to volunteer at all. Generally, I don’t see a lot of support for our volunteers.

From @denzuko

Culturally not supported. The rhetoric may be in favor but after discussing with several members over the years its just not something they care about. Bulk of our membership are “makers” with due slips, ie only renting tools/toys they can’t have at home.

We as a group may preach volunteering, but do nothing at the outset to promote the mind set for it. This maybe a culture shock thing fro someone that didn’t grow up in Texas, but we put out there that its all a good 'ld boy network whereby rhetoric we say people “should” volunteer not “can” or “will” because by action we tell people “only x person will do it for you”.

To give an example when anyone needs help with anything infrastructure or badges the answer is go talk to Stan. But if Stan is not there then people just walk away without getting any help or knowing to ask anyone else for help. Don’t get me wrong at all, we all love stan and appreciate all he does for the space, myself included.

Now, the correct answer is badges are self service and any/all members can do that themselves. There’s even wiki articles as how tos. And any technical support is either on talk, wiki or a reach out to Team infrastructure, of which there are several on that team.

The kind of culture that would get more people to volunteer is to actually engage them as a member of a team, ask them what they are passionate about and why they are apart of the Makers Movement because if all we do is keep getting due slip makers and donors then we’re being an adult daycare for profit instead of building up our existing members or being apart of a larger community of makers.

From @Kriskat30 replying to someone else

I agree with several points you make. One of the most valuable things leadership can do is be right there in the trenches with volunteers. Talk to people and find out what they love doing and suggest a volunteer opportunity that matches up with their interests. There are always going to be the grunt work that no one wants to do. Leadership helping out with those is always effective. Burnout is rampant unless leadership mitigates it. I request that most of our most active volunteers keep it to 3 items/projects they are working on at one time. It’s a balance to keep our core members and encourage our latest member to step up.

Get involved. It’s awesome here!

From @leasha

  1. Organize a system that makes it easy for the volunteer and for DMS.
  2. Consider each new member a possible volunteer and recruit anyone interested.
  3. Reach out to the entire membership rather than relying on the relatively few members already on site and/or participating on talk.
  4. Be specific about how the volunteer’s work will be beneficial and is in alignment with our mission.
  5. Show genuine appreciation for the volunteers ensuring they feel like they want to do more.
  6. Have reasonable expectations and respect their time.
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Certainly. There is a wiki page for the VRC as well that folks can add proposed projects to, and their names if they’ve got even a slight interest in the work we would like to do :slight_smile:

I believe that recognizing volunteers is a very good thing, and many people thrive on it. It is worth noting, however, that there are also some people who dread the spotlight. If any such program is implemented, it would probably be worth giving the recipient a chance to reject the recognition, if desired.

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Absolutely. I actively campaign against being teacher of the year because of all the hoopla that comes with it.

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  • Accepting the task the way it was done - not being criticized for the way I did the volunteer task, or what I “should have” done.
  • Letting me volunteer - not assuming I’ll do a particular task just because it seems to be in my skill set or “wheel house”
  • Not assuming that I’ll do the volunteer task again and again just because I’ve done it once or more
  • Having even one person notice what has been done, thank me for it, or use the results.

I agree with the people who think that an elaborate recognition program is too much. A key part of the challenge is that if DMS recognizes some people but overlooks others then a new problem has been created.

I think the bigger challenge is opening the eyes of members to the volunteer tasks that are being done because they’re easy to overlook. For instance, we notice and thank the volunteers when a 10,000 square foot warehouse gets painted, but do we notice when someone takes out the trash, or empties a dust collector? More likely we don’t notice unless it isn’t done.

Catch someone doing something good - and thank them for it!

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I’ve been trying to think of the best way to explain my take, without sounding negative. Chris’s post does it best. I absolutely don’t discourage the effort, but don’t want to participate because honors, awards, and formal recognition can be fraught (never imagined I’d use that word) with the complications that become part of every effort at DMS. Volunteerism, like…ahem…Virtue, is it’s own reward.

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Absolutely agree. One of my favorite things is the look on someone’s face after seeing them being thanked for even the smallest of jobs at the space.

Volunteers are the reason we run.

Edited to add something I think is very important:

Being a director for this organization is a challenge. Please thank those that have taken on the role. No one takes that on because they don’t care for DMS. It’s born from love of the space. If you agree with them or not, they have taken on a difficult role that is incredibly time consuming and they deserve better than they get from many members. Please remember to help them feel appreciated as well.

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I think one of the best things we can do to encourage volunteers is to notice when somebody is doing something else. And I’m going to say this the more unpleasant and grunt work a task is the more they need someone to say thank you. You see somebody with a mop thank them for mopping up whatever they’re mopping up. You don’t have to know whether it was a toilet that overflowed our someone spilled the drink. I’ve been having a problem with bringing a dr. Pepper from home and when I unscrew the cap it decides to send me explode. I don’t know how many several times Chris is went and got a paper towel and help me clean it up Kris with a k I appreciate that and I hope I told her thank you if I didn’t I’ll say thank you now. It’s little thing

I volunteer because I love DMs. I teach because I love to teach. And now with my eyes going I feel I really do need to share my skills was eilers since I might not be able to keep doing it all the time. Saying thank you and little things are also quite helpful.

I sort of work worried about even trying to recognize who volunteer during a month because it’s so easy to miss someone.

The worst thing I have seen recently ears nasty statements made on talk toward volunteers. I’ve seen the convention committee attacked I’ve seen many attacks on our teachers and heck there was even attack on the bylaws committee. That is absolutely the last thing you want to do. If you think there is a problem with why someone is doing something don’t go hang it on the clothesline out in front of the house. You can send it to the board you can ask a committee chairman you can do it in private. Attacking volunteers is a way to chase them off. And I’m going to share Chris Marlow’s comment about if you don’t like the way a volunteer does something keep your mouth shut come back and do it the way you want it.

One problem that I’ve seen if we seem to have a lot of people that are used to have working with employees and not volunteer. I know I’m an oddity don’t ask me anything about the corporate world and how employees work cuz I don’t know anything about that. But I have been working in groups that depended primarily on volunteers and often volunteer members ever since before I was a teenager. I was active in my church, I was active in a whole slew of dog clubs even to the point of organizing some. I was active in the sca and Mensa and a space activist group. All of those were member driven volunteers primarily. Even work with other nonprofits may not adequately prepare folks for the member volunteer. Because many nonprofits have a core I’ll pay the employees and then they use volunteers to supplement when they have a large event like are one or a walk or whatever they do. We depend on volunteers for practically everything.

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Everyone is different. For example, I’m a recognition driven creature.

I think pics with a description of what they did on a wall under a banner of Star Volunteers for the Month of would suffice.

Anyone that particularly goes way above and beyond can be recognized through the maker fund.

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