“Cheers to a new year and another chance for us to get it right.”
-Oprah Winfrey
It seems appropriate to ring in the new year with the words of a famous Chicagoan. And with apologies to Oprah (and anyone reading this), my customized sentiment for the CAC Volunteers is that 2019 will be another chance for us to get it “even more Wright.”
Before I move on to looking forward, let’s harken back to December to celebrate a wonderful achievement. As announced in Constance Rajala’s Docent President’s posting, the Docents and Volunteers achieved their goal of raising $100,000 for the “Meet Your City” fundraising campaign.
Hats off to all of you who contributed and to Tom Carmichael and Constance for leading the Docent-Volunteer collaboration on behalf of this worthy cause. A special thank you goes to the Docent Council and to a very generous anonymous donor whose year-end contributions allowed us to reach our goal. Our efforts will be acknowledged by a sponsorship plaque on the Guest Services kiosk and by moving the “Docents and Volunteers of the CAC” donor listing up to the $100,000+ level on the Wall of Honor in the CAC lobby.
Building on that success, what’s new for the Volunteers as we transition into 2019?
1-Our Education Guide team members have begun leading two new tours inside the CAC. Tuesday through Saturday at 11:45 AM, guests are being hosted on the 45-minute “Insider Guide to the Galleries” providing an overview of the exhibits in the Chicago and Drake Skyscraper Galleries. This tour has already proven to be quite popular and an afternoon start time will likely be added in the coming months.
And you will soon be seeing fresh-faced groups of fledgling architecture aficionados in the house as the Education Guides are currently being trained to lead 90-minute “Explore the CAC” student field trips inside the galleries. These modular tours will provide guided observation and hands-on activities customized for Kindergarten through 12th grade age levels and learning standards.
2-I am elated to pass along the news that our great friend Angela Esposito will be expanding her role in interacting with the Volunteers. Angela’s new title of Senior Manager of Experience & Education acknowledges her additional responsibilities in leading strategy, training, and the implementation of plans for all CAC and Design Studio guest experiences.
Angela will now be engaging not only with the Education Guides but also the Exhibit Hosts in managing training, coaching and professional development for our Volunteer team. In the coming weeks, Angela will be spending more time in the CAC as she looks forward to meeting more of the Exhibit Hosts. My fellow Education Guides will join me in endorsing the value her increased role will provide to all of us. Congratulations, Angela!
3-In my posting last month, I welcomed the 73 new Exhibit Hosts and Guest Services Volunteers who joined our team during 2018. I now want to further welcome you by extending an invitation to attend our monthly Volunteer Steering Committee meetings. The Steering Committee comes together on the fourth Tuesday of each month, sharing information, feedback and ideas with CAC staff about plans and processes relevant to our roles as Volunteers.
The meetings are extremely conversational and casual and we are committed to getting through our agenda in 90 minutes or less. Our next meeting will be at 1 PM on Tuesday, January 22 in the Sears Volunteer Library in the CAC. At this meeting we will set our course for the year and will welcome the ever-energetic Chris Montanari to the festivities as he takes on the role of liaison across the Docents and Volunteers. We would love to have new Volunteers join us on the 22nd to bring fresh perspectives to the dialogue. If you are you interested in attending, please contact me at bo****************@gm***.com and I will provide additional details including the agenda for the meeting.
Happy new year to everyone,
Bob