ALL VOLUNTEER SUMMIT - Sunday, November 5th from 4 to 5 pm - RSVPs needed!
Join your fellow Associates volunteers for a rare opportunity to gather together at the Ripley Center to learn how we did in our fiscal year 2017, and get key information for the year to come. This is not an appreciation party event - that will be next spring - but certainly you will "feel the love" we have for all of you who make our programs, bus trips, art classes and office operations run so well. Fredie Adelman, Associates Director, will address us, we'll hear about the Smithsonian Associates Legacy Society, and Jenna will have some brief remarks to share. One of the highlights of this Summit will be the distribution of the first Volunteer Photo Directory, a project that's been in the making most of this year. Be sure to RSVP with Jenna or in EVANS.
** You will receive 2 hours volunteer shift credit for attending this one hour Summit, which includes a mini-reception in the Ripley Quad after the brief presentations. Don't miss it!
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Annual Security Awareness Training is Here!
It's getting to be chilly outside again, so it must be that time of year to complete the annual requirement for our online security (computer) training. Most volunteers did the ISAT training from home last year and emailed your certificate of completion - so you already have an account in Moodle and can log in using this weblink and start from there. If you've forgotten your User ID or password, those can be retrieved. NOTE: You will be asked for an enrollment or course key, it is SI_ISAT. You will see this in these instructions to follow.
If you are an office volunteer, you have a slightly different training, called a CSAT which can be done during one of your office shifts.
Event/Studio Art/Bus/Concessions Reps: If you'd rather not take the training online, we do have a hard copy of the Power point slides in Jenna's office, for you to read through and then you can sign the attendance sheet, like last year.
This is a big undertaking to get everyone's completed by the December 31st deadline. The Smithsonian Institution stresses the importance of every volunteer being knowledgeable about how to protect information and our resources. Please do your part, it takes just 15 minutes or so to read through the training and it is good for an entire year.
If you have any questions, please contact Jenna at 202-633-8596 or email her at jonesjel@si.edu. Thanks!
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
An Inside Look: Vesna Gjaja
(This new series will profile Smithsonian Associates Staffers)
by Kiren Jahangeer, Guest Blogger
You see Vesna Gjaja at various Smithsonian Associates events throughout the year, but did you know that she previously owned her own retail business, took flying lessons, and that years ago she opened the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade? Vesna was kind enough to set aside time and share some of her experiences with me; I hope you enjoy learning more about her as much as I did!
Vesna grew up in former Yugoslavia (which is now Croatia), and came to the United States to finish her college education at SUNY Albany. She initially wanted to be a journalist, but switched majors upon moving to the U.S., and studied Italian Literature. Vesna is quite the polyglot; she has spoken Italian since she was 5 years old (her father spoke 6 languages!), and she also studied Latin. She lived in Italy with her husband prior to their relocating to Albany, NY. She has worked in public relations, ran her own business, and spent many years in development/special events at both SUNY Albany and Towson University. Eventually, Vesna decided to make a switch from higher education, and worked for a performing arts center in Saratoga Springs, NY (the summer home of the New York City Ballet and Philadelphia Orchestra). A warmer climate sounded appealing after many snow filled winters in upstate New York, and Vesna moved to DC in 2008 (just in time for the record breaking snowstorms of December 2009 and February 2010). She worked for the Washington National Opera before they became part of the Kennedy Center, and in 2011 she arrived at the Smithsonian Associates, to develop their fundraising program. Her role has evolved greatly over the years as new challenges arose, and she now oversees fundraising, marketing, membership, IT and customer service.
In 2010, a year before Vesna started, the Smithsonian Associates were given a mandate that they had to become self-sustaining in five years’ time, as they were going to lose Smithsonian trust funding. A lot of hard work by staff and volunteers ensured the Associates met this daunting challenge, yet this is still an ongoing issue. “People assume that the Smithsonian Associates gets federal funding – but that’s not the case. Our programming would not exist without fundraising,” said Gjaja. As you know, the Smithsonian Associates is the largest museum-based education program in the world. Educating members about the need for financial support was difficult initially, but new tools such as an expanded social media presence and savvier marketing helps get the word out.
One of the highlights of Vesna’s career prior to joining the Smithsonian include a very eventful November morning in Manhattan. While Vesna worked at Macy’s, she was enthralled by the Thanksgiving Day Parade festivities and wanted so desperately to be a part of them. One year she got her wish and went with other staff to a warehouse in the Bronx to get into costume – she was a clown – and lined up at 4:00 am on the cold city streets. One of her supervisors did not recognize her in makeup and a wig, and selected her to drive a little clown fire engine to open the parade! What a thrill this was. These career highlights in no way diminish her deep fondness for the Smithsonian. Vesna revealed that the best part of her job is the people she works with. She sees staff and volunteers consistently go above and beyond, and finds it very rewarding to be a part of such an organization. Visiting the Smithsonian museums is another great perk. Her favorites include the Renwick and NMAAHC, but NASM is at the very top of her list as there is nothing else like it.
Next time you see Vesna, ask her if she has any photos of the Macy’s Parade!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Adventures of a Bus Tour Volunteer
By Janet Hewitt, Guest Blogger
So what drove a serious scientist at the EPA to become a 30-year volunteer with the Smithsonian Associates bus tours? “I just learn a tremendous amount when I do them,” Carol Farris says. And on top of that, “I get to go to interesting places. I love that.”
Farris is clearly one of those life-long learners you hear about if you spend any time at all around Ripley Center. This particular life-long learner has acquired lots of skills on bus tours that she wouldn’t have picked up doing post doctorate research at NIH. For example, although it’s probably not on her resume, she has become really good at pouring sherry on a moving bus.
She says the key to mastering the moving pour is the special leg muscles she’s developed over three decades as a bus tour volunteer. Leave it to a scientist to arrive at an anatomical explanation for the skill.
At the urging of an office friend back in the eighties, she figured that volunteering would be a nice retirement "project"—but she didn't delay the decision after all. Her official start date as a Smithsonian Associates volunteer was September 18, 1982 - even before she had her first child.
She did walking tours at first, and after two years she tried a bus tour and the rest is history. Today, Farris is one of the true veterans of the bus tour volunteer corps.
Smithsonian Associates offers between 55 and 60 bus tours every year, according to Nichole Andonegui, program manager, study tours. She heads the unit that runs all bus tours, walking tours and overnight tours for Smithsonian Associates. Supporting the bus tour program are roughly 20 volunteers (including Farris), a second staff member, Leah Connolly, and one Leslie Boss, who volunteers in the office each week.
Andonegui told us recently during an interview, “There couldn’t be a more perfect job for me.” She says it combines learning and travel, with lots of logistics. She has been in this line of work for 23 years and counting. The photo below shows her during a photo "op" while working on the recent tour to Buffalo, New York to see Frank Lloyd Wright architecture.
She admits she doesn’t sleep that well the night before a trip, thinking about all the many small details of the trip. She says simple, uncontrollable things like a really rainy day can affect the mood of everyone on the tour. In a blue moon the bus breaks down. Then there is the issue of people missing the tour bus, which luckily does not happen often.
In all these instances, she depends on reliable volunteers who can help counter problems as they arise. She says reliability is key, because if the volunteer doesn’t make it on time for the tour, “the tour is done.” The level of commitment required is huge. “We appreciate all the work volunteers put into our tours,” she says.
What does she look for in a volunteer? Andonegui says, “The biggest thing is they are life-long learners and truly appreciate what we offer on tours.” She adds, “The best volunteers are detail-oriented and well organized, with great communication skills.” And one final thing: people who like people thrive on this type of volunteer gig.
As for Farris, what was it about bus tours that attracted her? Farris recalls, when she first started, she was single and it wanted a fun outlet. During those early days, she was doing a bus tour about every six weeks. But when her son was born she scaled back to one or two trips a year. It became a kind of “mom’s day off” for the new mother, she recalls. “A caregiver respite,” she says.
She thinks she’s done about 80 total bus tours over the three decades she has volunteered. She tries not to do the same trip more than once because she wants other volunteers to enjoy the experience. Only one volunteer is assigned to a bus tour along with the program-content leader and a bus driver.
Her favorite tours often go to places where the Smithsonian has special access not available to ordinary tourists. We asked her to name a few favorites and she said, “I have too many of those!”
But we got a few out of her anyway. She recalls a favorite visit to plantation houses and historic homes not open to the general public. A recent favorite combined a behind-the-scenes look at a water purification plant in DC and a water treatment plant in Arlington, VA. “I thought that was really a kick,” she says. (Remember that she worked in new chemical regulation for the EPA, and is a biochemist, so there’s that.)
Another Farris favorite was a bus tour to a special Civil War crossing of the Potomac River. The group actually waded across the river in thigh-high water, but not everyone chose to cross, Farris recalls. She says the tour was done in August so the river currents weren’t bad. She fondly remembers it as “the day I attacked Virginia from Maryland.”
But what about those uncontrollable elements that bus tour volunteers encounter? That’s part of the go-with-the-flow attitude these volunteers need to possess. Or as Farris says, “Bad traffic happens.”
Most of the time it’s smooth sailing with bus drivers, who are all first-rate, Farris says. She gives them excellent marks in the reports she fills out at the end of each tour. Andonegui also says the bus company the programs use has delivered excellent drivers and very reliable service, but even so the contract gets revisited every 4 to 5 years.
Sometimes the challenge is keeping track of patrons who get so wrapped up that they can wander off. Both Farris and Andonegui underscore they have never lost a patron on a tour.
But Farris recalls one tour to a railroad yard when there was a real “train fanatic” who kept wandering off. She says, “I missed a certain amount of the tour following him around, but I didn’t lose him.” This was somewhat early in her bus tour volunteering days. So afterwards she asked some experienced volunteers how common it was to have to chase patrons down. She said the bottom line was, “This wasn’t going to scare me off.”
Andonegui says the biggest trait she looks for in new volunteers is the ability to remain calm. The weather is going to do whatever it does and people will be people. And that can run the gamut from delightful to challenging.
Which brings us back to pouring sherry on a moving bus. Farris recalls one trip where a very well-dressed couple was part of the tour. It came time for refreshments to be served and the exceptionally polished and kind woman came forward and asked if she could help. Farris politely declined, explaining she had perfected the skills needed from doing it for so long. One of those skills, she said, was pouring sherry on a moving bus. Undeterred, the woman explained, “In my day job, I’m a flight attendant.” Clearly, she had the skills. So Farris gratefully let her pass out the snacks while Farris poured the drinks.
Which goes to show you that great customer service can be mastered by both pros on moving planes, and volunteers on moving buses.
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Where Am I?
By Janet Hewitt, Guest Blogger
No, the Smithsonian did not build a new Automotive and Vehicular History Museum while you were away on vacation. The sweet ride pictured in the accompanying photo is definitely sitting inside one of the Smithsonian’s existing museums. The gorgeous set of wheels was donated by rock and roll royalty. So where is it parked?
First, let’s do it justice by sorting through the particulars. It’s a candy apple red, convertible, Cadillac Eldorado (yes that’s the correct spelling), vintage 1973. That particular model has a top speed of 117 miles per hour and gets 9.4 miles per gallon, in case you were wondering. The car was donated to the museum on November 11, 2011, along with an early Gibson electric guitar.
So if you were to try to guess where this nice Caddy currently resides here are some hints that might help:
Hint One: The musician who gave this beauty to the museum hails from St. Louis and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1986. Reports are that he had trouble parting with this prize from his fleet of Cadillacs when the museum curator came to collect it. But ultimately it all worked out.
Hint Two: The car is displayed in an exhibit hall that carries some other amazing bling and outfits worn by musicians from Jimi Hendrix to Cab Calloway.
Hint Three: When the car’s original owner turned 60, Keith Richards of the Rolling Stones organized a special birthday concert that was turned into the 1987 documentary Hail! Hail! Rock’n’Roll.
Hint Four: The museum where the car lives now has some noteworthy founding donors, including a few great professional athletes, such as Michael Jordan to name one.
ANSWER TO LAST ISSUE’S Where Am I?
The wooden tennis racquet featured in the last Where Am I? never belonged to Billie Jean King. Nor does it reside in the International Tennis Hall of Fame in Newport, Rhode Island. It’s actually located in the National Air and Space Museum.
The racquet belonged to Sally Ride, the pioneering female astronaut. The display case where you can find it is tucked away in a far corner of the Boeing Milestones of Flight Hall. Ride played tennis in college at Stanford. She was one of six women selected in 1978 to be Space Shuttle astronauts. You can see her flight jacket and NASA astronaut license also in the display case.
