What makes you volunteer?

DMS General
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What makes you volunteer?

What can we (Makerspace)do to help you volunteer?

What will help you push you over the edge from “ehhh I really don’t know if I can help” to “I can help”

I ask these questions to try to nudge those who feel like they cant volunteer to volunteer.

I will also say that all of the Current chairs/Vice-chairs per our discussion last night do not want out teachers/instructors to quit. We want to embrace them, keep them relatively happy. There will be more to follow on that later.

Let’s keep this very civil discussion. I get it people are passionate & opinionated. This does involve all of us, if we do not get more people to volunteer & spread the load, we are DOOMED to fail as an organization.

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I think one of the big things is knowing what should or shouldn’t be done, and by whom.

If someone reports that a door lock is busted, who fixes that? Can anyone just show up and start taking it apart? Likewise if the Haas is down, can anyone just start trying to fix it?

A division of responsibilities doesn’t really exist here, I really like that, but it makes it a very different atmosphere to work in than other volunteer organizations.

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I joined the Dallas Makerspace because I wanted to make stuff, learn to make stuff, and teach others to make stuff.

I volunteer at DMS, over time in several different ways at different times, because I joined a charitable organization, not because I became the customer of a business.

I made an implicit agreement when I joined, knowing I was paying a low amount of money for the value I would be getting, and I understood that the only way it works in the long term is if I give back in some way more than I take out. And so I keep my word and honor that agreement and try to make sure I don’t leave the ‘Space any worse than I found it on any particular visit, and that I volunteer enough to offset the difference between the value I get and what I pay in each month in dues.

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Mentorship would really help interested and enthusiastic newer members transition from “I don’t think I can add value.” to “sign me up for duty!”.

Will add @richmeyer, @yashsedai, @PearceDunlap to this discussion as they are often of the front lines of volunteerism, along with our Committee Chairs, Vice Chairs, and SIG Leaders.

In addition to mentorship, I think (a play on) the Kennedy adage is warranted “Ask not what DMS can do for you; Ask what you can do for DMS.”

Replenished human resources and a strong bench of able-bodied, able-minded members are the life-blood of any volunteer organization, including Dallas Makerspace.

You who want to make a difference and contribute to our Makerspace, but you don’t know how you can help? All you need to do is contact anyone listed above, or your Committee Chair/Vice Chair.

See a need, fill a need. Simple as that. :grinning:

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Why people do volunteer:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Group_cohesiveness

image

DMS - god willing and the creek don’t rise - will never be a small group again.
But we can hack group cohesiveness (we are Makers, aren’t we?)

  • reduce anonymity with name tags, potlucks, social events, classes, even social media, old school bulletin board recognition.
  • create small populations within our larger population (large churches do this): committees, SIGs, group projects.

@TBJK - weren’t you the mastermind behind the last potluck? Definitely had the aura of group cohesiveness.

EDIT: Group Cohesiveness SIG…has its time come?

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Why people don’t volunteer:

See also: diffusion of responsibility, the volunteer’s dilemma, tragedy of the commons.

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Also, people will stop volunteering when they are treated like crap while they are doing it.

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this. or they feel like the cant help because they are yelled at by members who arent getting their way.

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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.

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I have two general recommendations for people volunteering in metal:

  • don’t mess with training required tools if you are not signed off the use them (i.e. don’t mind a welder trying to clean something out but do not want someone untrained to)
  • if it involves a change that is difficult to undo, or affects the shop as a whole, then just ask first.
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  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 pissy 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.

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You’re right on that. We could do better about how we recognize volunteers

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I’m sorry you have had that experience. Thank you for volunteering.

I hate hearing people treated that way. We should all be welcomed without the hate. We should treat each other as we would like to be treated.

Now those who I get to know better, I will give people a hard time. Not meant in anyway to be taken the wrong way.

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Wow, I’m sorry, that absolutely should not have happened to you. People like that have no place at the Dallas Makerspace.

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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.

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This is a totally different topic, and has nothing to do with why anyone volunteers. Is it worthy of discussion? Perhaps. But not on this thread.

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Wow! I can’t even see my previous post. It must have really struck a nerve because now it is invisible.

In defense, I never meant to wound, only to shine a light.

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Discourse, the software behind our Talk forum, has a flagging system. If enough people flag your post as off-topic, inappropriate, etc. it will be hidden. Hidden posts can still be read, you just have to click on greyed out area to bring them up.

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Time to move back to the subject at hand.

My main reason for joining DMS after retiring from an IT career was to learn and to use the tools. As it turns out, I have taken a lot of classes but have not used the tools much. On the other hand I have been a fairly active teacher on the old PlasmaCam and now with seven Arduino classes. The honorarium funds have allowed me to stock up to furnish all parts for the classes except for the students laptop and to keep adding more classes. (I never expected women to be active as steelworkers until they outnumbered men 4:2 in a PlasmaCam class and told me about their jobs.)

This led to mentoring a number of folks including a young Eagle Scout who, after a year, I gave an Arduino class to. Moving a class through design, development, posting and presentation is a challenging thought to many people. I have become a cheerleader for Electronics teachers as I encourage, push, ask when they will teach, help with scheduling and ultimately I try to attend their first two classes. Its been rewarding to see success in this area.

An unexpected reward is hearing, often after months, about students successes with the little microcontrollers. Sometimes they train their kids or monitor a greenhouse. One student got interested in using an Arduino to control motors and developed his own DMS class that is offered occasionally.

Don’t think you need a final goal in mind. Just get involved and see where it takes you.

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In JSM we are hoping the core teachers will
Volunteer to fill out our 101s for the month.

At BnB I brought up most don’t know how to volunteer. Don’t care to get on talk either. It needs to be easy and accessible imo. I suggested a volunteer committee or calendar tag. Being able to fill the calendar with volunteer items, would entice more ppl to get involved and help out all over space.

According to my data pizza is a big factor. Anyone that found tools in pizza boxes can attest to this. :wink:

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