Greetings to everyone. This month’s letter will be a bit different. I usually use this forum to bring you all up to date on developments; the Move Task Force, led by Ellen Shubart, has been doing an excellent job of that via bi-weekly updates on The Bridge. Instead, this will be a State of the Docent Nation report in which I am going to put forth several requests to you.
The state of our docent nation is strong. To a person, we have responded with enthusiasm and determination to the challenges and opportunities that have arisen due to our move to a new Center. There have been unanticipated adjustments along the way, the most recent being the decision not to pursue a new historic rise-of the-skyscraper tour. To offset the possible diminution of docents’ repertoires of tours they are certified for, we have written to everyone who had signed up for “new historic” training, offering alternatives such as Treasures or Evolution (I am using current tour names here). As of this writing, we have not received replies from very many people. So my first request is that if you received such an email, please reply to Erin right away. We offer this alternative training to help docents, not put them out of their comfort zones. We simply want to ensure that everyone is certified for the number of tours right for them, a portfolio of certifications that will provide enough choice and variety to keep each and every one of you content in your docent role.
Because these alternative trainings can significantly bump up the number of people who need not just training but certification, we have also written to ask docents to step forward and volunteer to certify colleagues in both Treasures and Evolution. My second request is to reiterate that we need qualified certifiers and express the hope that many of you can volunteer to certify 3-4 people who are learning these tours. Certifying is not too time-consuming, and you can schedule certifications around other activities such as committee meetings or public tours for which you are already scheduled to give. Please consider helping out in this critical role.
Finally, I ask each of you to devote a slice of your time to contemplation. I’m not talking about meditation here, I am talking about reflection on our greater goals and your particular role in achieving them. Docent Council’s purpose is “to convey the interests of the docents to the Board of Trustees and staff and to provide governance for the docent body.” (from the Docent Handbook) We have the governance part down very well – that is a well-oiled machine. But what are the interests of the docents? Unlike the US Congress, we don’t have specific constituencies who elect us and ostensibly call us to account. Our Town Hall meetings are usually convened to present and discuss exigent matters, such as the move to a new Center. DC members can keep their fingers on the pulse of the larger community by hanging out in the Docent/Volunteer Library, but this back fence is not an adequate conveyor.
At the Docent Council meeting on March 6, I charged members with bringing to the April meeting two or three initiatives/ideas/proposals for our consideration. Docent Council cannot be a vibrant body unless it takes on an active and anticipatory role. At the same time, it cannot represent docent interests unless we know what those are. So, I am figuratively throwing open the doors and asking all of you to send me your thoughts. Radical reforms and heresies are encouraged. Caution: this is not the Complaint Department. If something is wrong, feel free to bring it up; however, please accompany a complaint with a suggestion about how to fix it.
Here is an example: one of our cohort just visited the Ringling Circus Museum. In addition to their nametags, some of their docents had another wearable tag that said “More than 1000 volunteer hours contributed.” How about that? What a great way to honor long-time docents who have given thousands of hours of tours over the years. This would be in addition to our milestones based on years of service.
I will collect everything and try to organize ideas in more general categories, so the Docent Council can use its time wisely. My hope is that we will have a New Business category that never ends. But this in only going to work if we hear from as many of you as possible. Democracy does have a future. I hope you will all participate in it.
Meanwhile, please be sure to stop in the Docent/Volunteer Library. Sandy Guettler and Leslie Clark Lewis have been decorating – our empty wall now sport renderings for the new Center. Be sure to check that out. Also reminding you that CAF staff will mostly be relocating to their new offices by April 1st. The model will also be going into temporary retirement. Don’t be concerned if you see a moving sticker on the library table: it’s there for the eventual move, but the table will be around until tour operations move later this summer.
Please fill up my mailbox: cr*****@st**************.com
Constance
Thank you, Constance. Your request for ideas will hopefully bear/bare some fruit. So here is a concern of mine about the new CAC. It seems that staff and docents will be even more segregated than they are at our current headquarters. Not good. What can be done in the new CAC that will allow the two groups to get to know one another and create good camaraderie, communication, and working relationships?
And how about having name tags for tour-takers so that docents can call them by name. Not that hard to do.
Constance, I plan to certify for Chicago Architecture – A Walk Through Time (new name for “Evolution of the Skyscraper) as soon after the training is done as is possible. And I plan to become a certifier as well. I have an idea: once we have some docents certified on new tours for which training remains available in the near future, how about we schedule tours for undecided docents so that they can see/hear one or more of the new tours. We could offer tour-time credit to the docents giving the tours while at the same time making the tours “alive” for our docents. It’s not easy sometimes trying to decide to learn a tour by reading a manual alone. This does not need to be elaborate or to take up the time of the otherwise busy Move Task Force. We could simply get a short-lived team together to hammer out a schedule, announce the schedule, and get people to sign up. Not sure if we’d want to (or could) employ VolunteerMatters for the docents giving the tours – but we could certainly find a way to have those wanting to take the tours sign up. I’m thinking in print here and clearly don’t have the details created – but how about we entertain the idea right away, and if it makes sense, get things moving – also right away.