Hot
Topic Archive
September
2007
Positioning
our Profession
By
OzVPM Director Andy
Fryar
Later
this month, 50 volunteer managers from Australia ,
New Zealand and the USA will meet in Tasmania for
the 3rd Australasian Retreat for Advanced Volunteer
Management.
If
the last two retreat experiences are anything to go
by, the three days we are together in Hobart will
be a time filled with energy, enthusiasm and a real
commitment to our sector. Not only will this be a
time to reflect and recharge, it will also be an opportunity
to create some tangible actions for the profession
of volunteer management that collectively, we can
all work towards.
At
the very first retreat, held in Canberra in 2005,
the delegates adopted the catchphrase of ‘Not just
50 / Not just three’. This identified the desire of
participants that the retreat experience should never
just be about the people who are lucky enough to attend
(there were 50 at the first retreat) or the three
days they are all together. Rather, it should be an
experience which has a ripple effect within the profession
right throughout Australia and New Zealand and even
further abroad.
As
we prepare for the third retreat, there is a sense
that much has been accomplished since that time. There
is an ever growing core of volunteer management professionals
in our region who are committed to growing the work
that we all do. AAVA, the Australasian Association
for Volunteer Administrators, continues to develop
and grow and become more focused on their mission.
Resources available for volunteer managers, both online
and physical, continue to be developed.
At
the same time, reliance on volunteers to deliver critical
services continues to grow, often without even a sideways
glance for the needs of volunteer management practices
within that spectrum. The red tape continues to get
thicker, technology is getting faster and volunteers
themselves more fickle about who, why and when they
will give their time.
So
for this month’s hot topic, I wanted to pick up the
‘Not just 50 / Not just three’ mandate and give those
of you who will not be at this year’s retreat the
opportunity to put your hot topics and issues on the
table for us to discuss in Hobart. This is your chance
to be involved, even though you can’t be there physically.
So,
what are the issues you would like to have considered
as a part of our Hobart deliberations?
Remember,
the theme of this year’s retreat is ‘Positioning Our
Profession” and our discussions will largely focus
on this topic. Are there issues about the way we are
(or should be) positioned that you would like to air?
Your
comments may be in relation to:
- How we are positioned in
response to the changing needs & availability
of volunteers?
- Our self image
- Available resources and
training for volunteer management
- The role of AAVA as your
professional Association
- The role of Volunteer Centres
- The role of government
in positioning our profession
- The direction you think
we should be heading in
- Dangers and perils you
think the profession should avoid
Whatever
your thoughts, we would love to hear them and invite
you to share them through this month’s hot topic column.
We certainly promise to take them on board as we prepare
for the Hobart event.
It's
not too late to...
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- 2007 OzVPM.
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