California District Proposal

[RoboMom]

Wow. Usually bringing up the role of the Volunteer Coordinator is a thread killer.

There is actually an "official" role for Districts with the title of "Senior Volunteer Coordinator". The position description from HQ leaves a lot to be desired (doesn't take any planning into account for starters). Attached.

I spent hundreds of hours doing this role.

What I discovered going into the roll out of FIRST Chesapeake this past season was that documentation from other areas was sparse, other District VCs were generous to share, and that everyone was doing things a bit differently. What works for a single Regional doesn't for Districts. Communication and "pitching in" around volunteer coordination to help across each of the events to benefit the District as a whole is vital. The VCs really do need to work together.

I recruited and trained 4 VC's (3 local events and District CMP) for Maryland/DC which was my assigned territory. Truthfully not sure how it was done in VA where I had a counterpart. Merging MD/DC/VA this year had a lot of positives, especially for the teams. And some major heartache for those of us tasked with planning HOW to do things, organizing, documenting and especially communicating across 2 regions who had been doing their own thing quite capably for years. (Shout out to Anne Shade who documented the whole process for roll out of our District events in MD/DC.)

I brought all the VC's together once in-person and we had phone meetings on a regular basis. The VC's worked in partnership with other "Senior" positions for their assigned District event- Senior Head Ref(s), Senior LRI, Senior Judge Advisor(s), FTA pool. Recruitment was a team effort between me, the Seniors and the VC's. The Seniors signed off on any key position before any assignment was made and we utilized shared document files and lots of color coding as we moved along. And like MAR we had "Equipment/Logistics" role - someone designated to be the lead for all the stuff. For MD/DC events we also had Event Managers who worked together on some things across the events - like a common caterer for volunteer food.

I have a lot I could write here. I learned a tremendous amount this past year. In Maryland, I am the overall Volunteer Director where I work with all 4 programs and cross-program volunteering is something I pay attention to. (Note: one of the VCs actually came from the FLL world where he was a VC. Two were FRC alumni and the 4th had worked with me on the Chesapeake Regional and agreed to cover the District CMP.)I do lots of broad level recruitment with companies and organizations, and I offer the total "buffet" of programs. There are so many factors that go into a decision where/when/what to volunteer and we need to think outside of the current pool.

I think it is important to have a Senior VC(s) for a District. Sometimes it is hard keeping up with all the conference calls and updates coming from HQ and the job starts in Sept. so good to have one person covering. And I dealt with all the issues with the VIMS/VMS.

It is also important to have one person be the "heavy". For example, one of the unexpected challenges was gearing up positions for 7 District events all leading into one District CMP meant not everyone could have the job they wanted/deserved at the CMP. I had to turn away over 30 volunteers. It was very stressful, and there are volunteers who yelled at me and criticized me in public and in feedback. I took this on, but it was hard. My idea of the perfect volunteer is the one who checks their ego at the door and says "assign me as needed". And means it. You will get the adult beverage of your choice from me and my gratitude. I have stories! About team players and about prima donnas (definition: a very temperamental person with an inflated view of their own talent or importance".

But I digress.

We used the offseason Battle O'Baltimore last year to train a VC as well as some other key positions.

It is gratifying to see this conversation. Happy to answer any questions.