This, the last Move Task Force update for 2017, is really a look forward to 2018 – the Year of the Move (note the capitals, it’s important) and the beginning of training for the Class of 2018 – all 320 of us.
Looking back to last June (2017), it is hard to believe how much we have accomplished: We are poised now for the implementation of plans we began thinking about six months ago. Last summer, the Task Force reported that we would either re-route or re-conceive our core tours. That has been accomplished.
- We have re-routed Treasures of Culture and Commerce, the L, Hotel Boom, Millennium Park, Tiffany and Food and Architecture 1893;
- We have re-conceived Historic (from the new Chicago Architecture Center), Chicago Modern, Art Deco Riverfront, Masterworks, Must See Chicago and Evolution of the Skyscraper.
- We also have re-categorized two tours to become neighborhood routes: Historic and Art Deco LaSalle St.
Following that, in the fall we began all the manual rewriting to reflect those reroutes and reconceptions. That reflects a tremendous amount of work by the Tour Directors involved, followed by lots of work by the Tour and Education Committee members in marching along with first tentative/possible routes and then Tour Committee members participating in demonstration tours.
Following a highly successful Docent Day in November, we all learned about our new neighbors, about the new building to which we are moving and, most importantly, about how to participate in 2018’s proposed training schedule. Remarkably – and we do mean remarkably – the survey was filled in by about 320 docents. Of those who did not participate, most are river cruise docents who make their tour quotas on the river, or those who do only neighborhood tours.
Believe it or not, only two people had to have special accommodation to create days when they could take the requisite training because of their travel schedules. But Caroline made it work for both of them
Most of the tour re-do work was completed by Dec. 31, 2017. As we head into 2018 we only have two tours still needing demonstrations: Historic from CAC and Treasures. Both will be accomplished by the time we begin trainings and refreshers for all the tours.
Surprisingly to all of us, and perhaps mostly to Caroline, Delta Greene and Lance Friedmann, the people responsible for the training, classes are remarkably even in number of participants – with the Historic from CAC hosting classes of 47, 44 and 40, respectively. Other tours, like Masterworks and Art Deco Riverfront are in the 40 range, too. We didn’t have to change many people’s schedules to make things work. The classes we are all enrolled in will be filled – filled with friends, filled with lots of learning and filled with eager docents willing to continue to give tours.
Each docent will, at one time or another, have to participate in what we are calling EYA training, Engaging Your Audience training. For most of us that will be covered in the training for a core tour, but a few, 33 or so, will have to take a special session. EYA is being incorporated in all CAF tours, the result of the Project Fresh Project of last year which indicated that some new techniques will enhance the audience experience for CAF tours.
By June 10, 2018, everyone will be trained in whatever tours they want to be trained in and we’re hoping most everyone who needs certification – those are the folks in the full, two-day trainings and those learning the new Treasures tour – will have gotten certified.
And, then, on July 1 we should be ready to move and embark on our new tours in our new neighborhood.
Overall, this is a phenomenal event for a number of reasons:
- We are training 300 or so people in one year. Since CAF usually trains 35, this is a massive increase. But, because we all have architectural basics under our belts, it will likely be much different from what we all had when we began. Fear not, though, it will be work. We all appreciate everyone’s effort to make this happen.
- We had little to no drop off in the number of docents who are participating in this endeavor. While the Move TF members had feared some docents would simply withdraw, no one did. That means being a docent is a prized title/job that few of us want to give up.
- We have had little disquiet in all of the settings up of this program. Docents understand what had to be done and stepped up to do it. For that we are all grateful.
Perhaps it is only an apocryphal story, but it is said that if have a job to do, the way to get it done is to ask a docent to do it. The Move Task Force knows that; everyone stepped up and together we are moving forward.
Thanks a lot for all your effort and Happy New Year, Class of 2018. We have lots to go, but much has been done. We’ll just keeping asking the docents and it’ll get done.
Move Task Force
Tom Carmichael, Kathleen Carpenter, Caroline Duda, Lance Friedmann, Delta Greene, Michael Malak, Jen Masengarb, Ellen Oberhart, Constance Rajala, Hallie Rosen, Ellen Shubart, Shera Street, Lisa Voigt