Update from Australia
15:29, 19 March 2010
.. Posted in Volunteerism and Volunteer Management.. Link
Greetings from Australia, where I've just presented and participated in the Australasian Retreat for Advanced Volunteer Management near Adelaide. Earlier, I lead an all-day training in dreamy Hobart, Tasmania. Next up, trainings for Northern Volunteering here in Adelaide, Volunteering Western Australia in West Perth and Albany & Regional Volunteer Service over towards the West Coast, and Volunteering Victoria in Melbourne.
While most gatherings of people who call themselves "volunteer managers" in North America and the UK seem, to me, to be focused primarily on what good centerpieces could be for the tables at the volunteer "thank you" dinner, those who coordinate volunteers in Australia are having very high-level discussions on how to build higher profiles and greater buy-in internally for volunteer engagement and how to promote quality volunteer management as a fundamental requirement for any volunteer engagement scheme and a requirement that must be funded.
Ofcourse those other basic conferences need to be happening, but the lack of higher-level discussion elsewhere, particularly in the USA, can be really frustrating (hence why I found the first NetSquared conference in the USA so galvanizing -- a conference of coordinators of volunteers who would never think to call themselves "coordinators of volunteers" or "volunteer managers" but are doing amazing things regarding volunteer engagement nonetheless). It would be terrific to see this style of retreat -- bringing advanced coordinators of volunteers together for intense debates and discussions -- happening in other countries.
This Australasian retreat keeps evolving, based on what those who work with volunteers in Australia and New Zealand are saying. Next year's retreat could focus on entirely different themes -- it's all up to the participants! And could we start seeing more people from Asia participating in the future at the Australasian retreat? Keep checking the web site!
It was fun to hear so many people say things along the lines of, "Hey, Jayne! I know your face! I saw you on a great big screen here a few years ago!" I've presented twice in Australia live via web cam, even making the news in a local newspaper here as a result. I don't understand why so few organizations ask me to do that... it's so easy!
I'll be posting photos from this adventure, I promise. But I prefer to do that after a trip, so I'm focused on the experience in front of me while I'm traveling, not my computer screen.
A reminder of volunteer management topics on which I love to train:
- Emerging Trends in Volunteer Engagement (what everyone who works with volunteers should know)
- Raising the Profile of Volunteers --- and Yourself -- at Your Organization (for volunteer managers)
- Helping All Staff To Involve Volunteers
- Involving the Highly Skilled Volunteer/Pro Bono Consultant
- Using the Internet to Support and Involve Volunteers (virtual volunteering)
- Volunteer Management 101 for the 21st Century
- Recruiting for Diversity
- Working and Collaborating Together Online
- Using the Internet for Professional Development
- Communications Activities for Volunteer Coordinators
- More than a web site: What Volunteer Coordinators Should be Doing Online
My schedule fills up quickly (usually suddenly -- I've had a free month fill up in just a few days), so don't wait to contact me to discuss your training needs and how I can help!
