Hot
Topic Archive
June / July 2010
It all started...
A challenge set by
guest Hot Topic author Shane Fisher
This month we welcome yet another guest
Hot Topic author, Shane Fisher, to the fold.
Shane's impact in the volunteer sector started
back in 1998 leading the development of Curtin Volunteers! into Australia's
largest and most active student-run volunteer organisation. Since then Shane has
also established, rebuilt, led and developed a number of other not-for-profit
youth organisations and programs ranging from one that engages 300 "at-risk"
young people each day, to incubation and mentoring for young business and social
entrepreneurs, to an international foundation.
In his
professional life he runs his own software and management consulting businesses
and is also responsible for the enterprise management systems and processes for
a global market research company spanning more than 60 countries.
Shane is passionate that all
young people deserve access to the same opportunities he has been privileged to
have had and he is an active promoter and practitioner of the "youth-led"
philosophy in regard to effective youth engagement and development.
Shane's is a Hot Topic with a difference because rather than
being an essay, Shane places a challenge at the foot of every reader - to
reflect on and share their own experiences
Thanks Shane
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
IT ALL STARTED...
… when I offered to help out a colleague who was running a large
multi-cultural festival and eventually I slotted into managing the 150
volunteers on that day.
Up at 5am erecting marquis, fencing, signage, dealing with food
stalls, staffing the green room, welcoming every one of the 20,000 attendees,
coordinating in with security, and meanwhile running an enormous book sale to
raise money for a charity.
One of my most vivid memories was trying to lead about 50 of the
volunteers to pick up and shuffle a massive marquis several metres towards the
stage to protect the kids from the sun. Something so simple but having so many
diverse people needing to be like one was a sight for all and got a cheer from
the audience on par with lead act Yothu Yindi. And it was at the end of the
night when we all sat down and poured sugar into our lemonade for that last
energy hit to survive the packing up process that I reflected and realized that
volunteering and volunteer management is simply amazing.
And from then on I wanted every young person to experience what
I had that day.
THE CHALLENGE FOR
THIS HOT TOPIC
I thought it was about time we had a
simple challenge on this forum to encourage some of those “ lurkers ” out and
also so we can hear about the diverse reasons that people get involved in this
sector – who knows it might give us some extra ideas of how to attract more
volunteers and volunteer managers. So you are all now challenged to share your
own story.
THE RULES
1. Everyone has a story and everyone’s
story is of interest to others on this forum so everyone should feel comfortable
to share it
2. Your “It all started” story should be a single paragraph
with around 100-250 words – so preferably not a novel!
3. Your fundamental reason for becoming involved in the
volunteer sector should come out in your story. Your story doesn’t have to be
an entertainment piece , I suspect most of us are just personally interested in
others’ stories . But if you are keen you do have creative license – so feel
free to exaggerate for dramatic effect , add humour even if it isn’t actually
that funny , or perhaps set yourself a creative challenge (eg every sentence
should contain at least one reference to a movie or TV title) . Do whatever you
want to – it is your story!
4. Refer again to Rule 1 and get
started writing your story. We want to hear (read) it …
Let's hear what you think
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not too late to...
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