You are currently viewing President’s Letter, July, 2024
Ross Wirth, Docent Council President

President’s Letter, July, 2024

 (500) Days of Summer

My fellow docents – My goodness I’m behind on sharing a note with everyone – where has the time gone?! 

As I write this it’s going to be a HOT weekend – stay hydrated out there and grab the shade where you can – great time for extra stories about your favorite buildings from your favorite shaded spot on your routes! 

Starting with DAN – my thanks again to the committee and staff for such a lovely evening in such a beautiful space.  It was lovely to see so many of you gathered together to recognize our fellow docents for their accomplishments and contributions to the CAC!  And don’t worry, your feedback was heard – there will be more chairs next year. 

Busy season is in full force, ticket sales and attendance on both Walking and River tours are up from last year, keep up the great work! 

The taskforces coming out of The Docent Council Strategy Workshop are moving forward as well.  Building on the work that last year’s Defining the Docent Experience and Volunteer + Staff Collaboration taskforces set in motion is this year’s Developing a Culture of Mentorship & Stewardship taskforce.  This taskforce is particularly dear to me as it’s all Docents making Docents better, and Docent’s making the CAC Docent program and offerings better.  How does everything I do as a docent make the CAC docent program just a bit better than it was before?  That’s helping my fellow docents tell better stories, and better engaging their audience.  That’s developing new content tied to CAC exhibits, or events in the city. 

We all have different reasons for being docents, but as we saw in last year’s Defining The Docent Experience interviews, we’re all doing it for a love of city and architecture – and what better way to show that love than making mentorship and stewardship part of our core culture!  If you have experience in developing mentorship or stewardship programs, or have had experience being a mentor, please reach out to Amanda Lewis (am************@gm***.com), committee chair, or me. 

A friend and I recently took the Macy’s on State: The Legacy of Marshall Field’s tour for the first time (thanks to Donna for such a lovely tour).  What a treat to see the Tiffany vault up close, and a unique perspective from The Oak Room looking up into the new office space above.  A reminder to everyone to get out there and enjoy a new tour – and take your friends! 

See you on the streets! 

-Ross 

rw****@ar**********.org 

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