Thank you x 1,000 to all our Sleepover Volunteers!
What an amazing season of 11 Sleepovers in 3 Museums – all made possible by 138 volunteers! A special shout out to Associates badged Volunteers who shared their time and enthusiasm:
Sara Batts Judy Castagna
Martha Cogdell Dori & Woody Davis
Arthur Edmunds Joy Erdman (& sister Jan)
Carol Farris Christopher Fletcher
Katherine Griffin June Gallagher
Judd Kessler Ruth Herman (& daughter Susan)
Marilyn Jacanin Kiren Jahangeer
Shirley Loo (& her niece) Catherine McClary
Laurie Nakamoto Mary Jo Rubino
Marie Pogozelski Lyn and TJ Sinnamon
Sherri Watkins Isabelle Zsoldos
Lee Downing (12 times) Nate Clark
All our Sleepover Volunteers truly excited the learning in the kids and their adult chaperones (a whooping total of 1,766 overnight guests!)
Together they…
- Traveled to pre-historic times and made 733 cave hand prints
- Blasted off to the moon and collected rocks
- Recorded over 170 cicada symphonies
- Competed in a food plate race
- Designed a car and gave it a test drive
- Planted seeds for a victory garden
And much more!
All told, the volunteers and Associates staff gave huge
crowds of many ages a very special, not-to-be forgotten Smithsonian experience. The
kids will truly recall their
Sleepover with a sense of awe.
Hope to see our trusty volunteers back next summer!
These smiling volunteers had fun with Sleepover participants
at the American History on August 14th.
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Studio Art Rep Gatherings: November 2 or 14
The Studio Arts Programs are growing, GROWING in two distinct ways: first, Kathy Fuller, who became its Program Coordinator in April, has introduced several new art class offerings, so the number of courses per semester is steadily increasing. The second growth pattern has been in the number of newly trained Studio Art Reps - 14 have joined us since Oct. 1 of last year, making our total group now 30 Reps.
All this growth makes this autumn a good time to gather together, assess how the volunteering aspect is going, and re-double the efforts to bring even more Art Reps.
Please join your volunteer peers this November for a time to evaluate, share stories and suggestions, and enjoy some fellowship. The new volunteer handbooks will be distributed to those who started assisting with classes before January 2013. At the gathering some key parts of the handbook will be briefly reviewed.
All Art Reps are encouraged to sign up in EVANS for either
- Monday, November 2, from 6:30 to 8:00 pm
- Saturday, November 14th, from 10:00 to 11:30 am
Before these dates, Studio Arts Reps will receive an invitation to complete an anonymous survey online. The responses will guide our discussion, so please participate, even if you do not attend either meeting!
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New Short term Volunteer Opportunity:
Concessions – Test-Run this new offering in Ripley,
week nights in October
Our Programs Department plans to “test-run” a special added offering on weeknights for Ripley patrons; some snacks and beverages will be available for purchase. This is something that was suggested at our spring meetings, and staff have wanted to try this out as a way of better serving our customers.
We aim to have SI ID badged volunteers to staff the concessions table, and we prefer ones like you, who already know all about The Associates and can answer the patrons’ questions about things, such as membership.
For October only, we will schedule 2 – 3 volunteers at the concessions tables on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays, from 5:30 pm to 8:15 pm. NOTE: this volunteer position does not permit attending the rest of the evenings’ programs as does Event Rep volunteering.
Please look over this Concessions Sales Volunteer Description and email Jenna if you would like to help us this October for 2 or 3 times (or more) with any of the 24 total shifts (6 x a week, 4 weeks = 24 total shifts.)
This is ideal for those who are great with customer service (welcoming, attentive) and comfortable with handling cash and keeping a tally of the sales made. It is also a great way to boost your hours AND be part of something new and give us feedback on what works and what doesn’t come early November.
Also, we will provide a brief 1 hour or so training in September to prepare you and go over how it all will work.
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Summary of Spring Event Rep Meetings Just a Click Away!
One of the 8 Event Rep Groups that met in April and May to evaluate how the volunteer program is working and where we can make improvements.
Event Reps! Please read this Summary Report of 2015 Event Rep Spring Meetings. Thank you to all who came and shared their feedback. We had a 74% participation rate over the course of the 8 sessions, and a 64% participation rate on the annual survey. We have already begun to implement many of the ideas expressed at the meetings. For details, contact Jenna.
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Ruth Robbins on the Popular New
“World Art History Certificate” and
How You can Benefit from It!
Photo of some of the Event Reps who came to the small group meetings this spring, with Programmer Ruth Robbins, on the right, who wrote the article below.
Last January we launched a brand new certificate program in World Art History. More than 300 current participants have enrolled, a sign of a successful start.
As an art historian I am thrilled to see such interest. To me, art is the conduit for understanding other cultures. It is a visual language that allows us to peer into and learn about what others, both past and present, consider compelling enough to share. It opens the world.
Because I consider volunteers such an important and integral part of the Associates, I look for ways to include you in programming beyond the usual responsibilities. With this in mind I opened up the core world art history courses for credit to those volunteers who agree to staff them. Every time you volunteer for a core course you get to take it for FREE. This is a tremendous savings! The electives however are not included in this offer.
How does this work? To join the certificate program you register online. This gives you access to the invitation-only Facebook page where you can read articles, find out about exhibitions and interact with the faculty and other certificate members. In addition, certificate only members get invited to free guided tours, often led by our lecturers throughout the year. And we offer periodic get-togethers in the Ripley center where you can mingle with others who share your interests, and enjoy the chance to chat with at least one lecturer at each gathering.
To complete the certificate you are required to take four core courses, each worth one credit, and six points of elective credits. You’ll find flyers about this in the Event Rep Program Packets, which describe the certificate program and there are frequently asked questions on the reverse side. Please have these available at all programs for participants to pick up if they are interested. We are working on designing this as a brochure and will have those available soon.
The Associates volunteers have a thirst for knowledge which is "seriously amazing" so I hope to see more of you at the art certificate classes!
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Talking Up the Value of Smithsonian Associates Memberships:
You are our Best Spokespersons!
by Kiren Jahangeer, Ambassador Volunteer
As you know, Smithsonian Associates does not receive any funding from the federal government and relies on membership and donations to continue bringing high quality programming to the public. As volunteers, you are already equipped with an arsenal of tactics to promote membership in your daily lives – with friends, family, coworkers – and have the unique ability to get these individuals excited about what we do, because you already are! It is clear that you see the value in Smithsonian Associates membership, and are in a vital position to share your passion with others, and get them to donate!
Here are some quick tips and talking points to get you started:
Find out how many times your target audience has visited Smithsonian museums and tell them about your experience volunteering, and why you do it! Your colleagues will enjoy hearing your stories, so don’t be shy!
Next, see if your target audience is familiar with Smithsonian Associates, and if they aren’t, give them a brief synopsis of what we do, such as a 15 second “elevator speech.” Have a few copies of the monthly Program Guide available and offer a copy to our prospective supporters.
Remember to familiarize yourself with the great variety of different programs that Smithsonian Associates offers. A good rule of thumb is that the more you know about the organization, the easier it is to convince others to support it.
And finally, know your audience. Vesna Gjaja had this important reminder,
“Always try to address the person’s interest – if they are interested in studio arts, tell them that we offer hands-on classes suited for all levels; if they have children, you may want to highlight Smithsonian Summer Camp or Smithsonian Sleepovers; Civil War history buffs may be interested in our study tours, etc.”
Stay tuned for our next installment with additional membership talking points!
Special thanks to Vesna Gjaja for her assistance with the content of this article.
