April is National Appreciation Month! And our new Secretary, Dr. Skorton has written a special message to Smithsonian volunteers, read it here.
Throughout each year, the Associates Volunteer Office aims to show appreciation for your work with us in a number of ways. Some of them include: announcements about exclusive offers for badge holding volunteers (Special Event access, shop and restaurant discounts, IMAX movie premieres, and more), free parking in two sites on the National Mall, and annual festivities such as the big picnic lunch at the Folklife Festival, and our annual recognition party each October, when pins for years of service are presented, along with special honors for “Excellence in Service.”
You are one of our 170 badged volunteers, and we are so happy to have your participation in such a wonderful group of people in the Smithsonian community! Thank you for your commitment to the Smithsonian Associates Program!
SLEEPOVER SEASON IS UPON US: NEW VENUE, UDVAR HAZY CENTER
Over the next 5 months, the Smithsonian Associates will host 14 Museum Sleepovers for 8 – 12 year olds and their chaperoning adults. The 3 locations needing volunteers and the dates are:
American History
Fri May 13
Fri June 24
Fri July 29
Fri August 5
Fri August 12
Natural History
Fri May 27
Sat June 18
Sat July 2
Fri July 15
Fri August 26
Udvar Hazy Center (Air and Space Theme)
Fri. 4/29 – Test Run of Activities - we have enough volunteers for this one
Sat July 9
Sat July 23
Sat August 20
Volunteers team up with a partner to engage the participants with a series of hands-on creative learning activities – games, crafts, relay races and more! Ask your fellow volunteers who helped us last year to find out how much fun it is.
We need between 20 (Udvar Hazy) and 40 (Natural History) volunteers for each one, and the shift is from 6 pm to 11 pm. That’s right – you get to go home and sleep in the comfort of your own bed, and you can sleep in the next morning!
If you would like to make Sleepovers a summer volunteer gig, please select 3 or more dates and email the dates and locations to Jenna and she will sign you up in EVANS. This is a great way to boost your hours, as each Sleepover counts as 5 hours, longer than the weeknight Ripley programs.
Please consider joining us in making a truly special childhood memory for hundreds of kids this summer! It wouldn’t happen without the enthusiastic support of our volunteers.
NEW WAY TO REQUEST PROGRAM, COURSE & TRIP ASSIGNMENTS IN EVANS
We are delighted to announce that EVANS has been configured for a new functionality that many Reps have suggested: You can now, with just a few clicks using a drop down menu, see the requests you’ve already made, view the available programs for you to request now, and your current assignments. All three of these are visible on a monthly calendar view, so you can see what day of the week it is, as well.
Many thanks to these Smithsonian EVANS experts – James Schmitt in the Castle and Ling Yu at OCIO (our IT division) for creating this new feature which you initiate from the “Dashboard” Screen by clicking on the Menu tab “Shifts: Requested, Assigned” Also, a special thank you to Catherine McClary, an Event Rep, who created a set of screen shot instructions on how to use this new EVANS feature. You can download them here, but below is one of the screens you will see to get started. This is a much faster way to make requests rather than using the "Search Programs to Request" tab.
EVENT REPS: PLEASE SET OUT THESE 4 ITEMS
FOUND IN THE DIVIDER TAB POCKETS OF THE PROGRAM PACKETS
- Several copies of this month's Program Guide
- The membership benefits flyers
- The World Art History Brochures
- Comment Cards
You will find all but the Program Guides in the tab divider pockets. (If you don't have enough of a supply, please go to the Event Rep closet off the lobby or to the top of the file cabinets by the side door to our offices and take some from there.)
Just pull them out and set them on your will call ticket table. Please wait until the program is over and all our patrons have left before you put these items back into the tab divider pockets of the program packets. It is important that our audiences have easy access to the comment cards in particular, so we don't want to put them away too soon.
Thank you!
UPDATE ON VOLUNTEER MEMBERSHIP RENEWALS
As has been mentioned in past issues of the Associates Advisory (side bar on the right), maintaining an annual membership is part of being an active volunteer with us. We offer both a $10 discount, and upgrade the level of benefits to “Resident Enthusiast” – which permits you to purchase up to 6 program tickets at the lower member rate, meaning you pay just $35 for a $60 benefit level.
When it is time for you to renew your volunteer membership, you will now receive a reminder email from Jenna, instead of a boiler plate notice in the mail. This will give the Volunteer Office an opportunity to check in with you and get some feedback on your volunteer experience.
Thank you for your continued support of our programs. Did you know that all the annual memberships (some 28,000 households!) collectively account for a full 30% of our operating revenue? We appreciate your time, talent and financial support. They all keep us going!
OFFICE VOLUNTEERS: They Keep Us Going
by Kiren Jahangeer, Guest Blogger (also a Special Events and an Ambassador Volunteer with us)
Although our 30 office volunteers do not directly interact with the Smithsonian Associates Members on a regular basis, they do a wide variety of tasks each week to keep operations running smoothly. In the Ripley office, our volunteers assist many of our 44 staff members by extracting opt-in data from our customers for online marketing reports, preparing program packets and signage for events, maintaining the class calendar, searching for articles to post on our Facebook accounts, handling database entry, copy editing our monthly program guide, and creating website content. Some of these volunteers have just begun their work in 2016, while others have over twenty years of experience. Although their years of service vary, everyone shares an impressive level of enthusiasm for the work they are doing as part of the Smithsonian Associates team. They tell us they enjoy contributing to the Smithsonian’s Associates success. Some of our office volunteers were kind enough to share their thoughts on the work they do every week.
Highlights from our e-interviews:
“I am truly grateful for working with this spectacular staff and it has been my privilege to serve as we carry out this awesome mission of educating people old and young.” – Kareen Reis, began volunteering in February 2016
“Since retiring, it has been hard to continue to maintain and develop computer skills. This position helps me with that both because I’m working with “youngsters” who know the computer very well and I am given assignments that allow continued reinforcement of the skills.” – Leslie Boss, 10 years of service
“Mostly I love the people I work for and associate with here. It makes me feel that I am contributing in some small way to the wonderful work of the Smithsonian. Who knew that volunteering could be such fun!” – Judy Clavelli, 9 years of service
"I love the Smithsonian and have always wanted to make a modest contribution to their good work." – Bill Wittelsberger, Associates member turned volunteer in March 2016
“I love coming in every Monday and finding out what’s new at the Smithsonian Associates. It gives me great joy to be able to share information with visitors and help answer their questions. Also the staff in the Smithsonian Associates’ offices are always pleasant to work with and take what they do very seriously.” – Kimberly Griffin, 7 months of service
“The best part about being an office volunteer is being able to be of assistance to the whole organization by doing my part and being made to feel like a part of the team. The Smithsonian Associates is a wonderful organization to volunteer with.” – Jo Anne Missal, 23 years of service
“My favorite part of being an office volunteer is meeting the great people here and learning something new every week.
It has been a fabulous experience that I have thoroughly enjoyed.” – Pamela Sanderlin, 5 years of service
PROJECT SEARCH Intern, Adrian Forsythe
Provides Office Help for Two Semesters
In February we welcomed Adrian Forsythe to our office as an intern with the Smithsonian’s Project SEARCH Transition Program. This program is for students with disabilities and is targeted to those whose goal is competitive employment.
This video, narrated by Former Secretary Wayne Clough, explains how the SEARCH program is working at the Smithsonian. The Associates is pleased to be one of the placement agencies for SEARCH since last fall.or more details about the SEARCH program, visit their website.)
Adrian was so helpful with both handling membership and ticket mailings and special projects in the Volunteer Office, that he was invited to continue his internship with us this spring. He is learning how to do data entry and using the postage meter, and has been a key person in the reorganizing of the Volunteer Office’s bookshelves containing handbook materials. We feel very fortunate to have his help two days a week. He is increasing our productivity and we wish him the very best at the conclusion of his extended term with us on June 8th.
