Round One 10:30 a.m. – 11:45 a.m.
Caring! It’s Our Nature: A Guide to Volunteer Recruitment, Recognition, and Retention.
Staff from the Brookfield Zoo will share their approach to recruitment, retention and recognition of their volunteers. They will highlight their comprehensive recruitment and onboarding process and will share the variety of ways they recognize and appreciate their volunteers including an annual banquet, service awards, and continuing education and training opportunities. Participants will learn best practices of volunteer recruitment and how investing in life-long learning supports appreciation and volunteer retention.
Mark Freedlund, NatureStart Supervisor, Hina Sowinski, Operations Manager, Volunteer Engagement, & Jason Theuman, Docent Program Manager
Connecting with Your Volunteers from a Distance
This session will discuss the benefits of using social networking and technology in connecting with volunteers in a disconnected world. The presentation will also discuss best practices for individuals coming fresh into the field - or their position, and how to quickly connect with their volunteers amid the hustle and bustle of the rest of the job in volunteer administration
Bethanie Albrecht, Assistant Program Coordinator - Medical Reserve Corps, Cook County Department of Public Health
Creating Win-Win Corporate Partnerships: Elevate the Employee Experience through Volunteering
This session will discuss the benefits of using social networking and technology in connecting with volunteers in a disconnected world. The presentation will also discuss best practices for individuals coming fresh into the field - or their position, and how to quickly connect with their volunteers amid the hustle and bustle of the rest of the job in volunteer administration.
Michaela McGill, Director, Workforce & Corporate Partnerships, One Million Degrees and Cynthia Jones, Manager of Charitable Contributions, W.W. Grainger, Inc.
Goal Setting for Real
We are all taught that goals need to be SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and Timely) but we aren't taught how to create goals that are meaningful to us as an individual or our unique professional life. We also aren't taught how to create movements on goals every day. In this session participants will identify one goal they wish to accomplish and use specific tools to create the action plan as well as the beliefs needed to accomplish the goal.
Jennifer O'Grady, Project Director AARP Foundation RSVP Chicago & Founder, A Life All In
Keeping Programming Fresh for Volunteer Retention
In this session, Shedd Aquarium's Guest Engagement Department will share various strategies they employ for volunteer retention and ongoing learning. This range of strategies can be applied by large or small organizations who rely on the support of volunteers. This interactive session will also allow for attendees to offer their ideas and best practices to the discussion.
Ali Behrens, Guest Engagement Supervisor & Bethann Kosiba, Engagement Specialist, Shedd Aquarium
Like. Share. Engage: How to be Social on Social Media
Social media is the one thing that you love, but also hate. As volunteers become more and more social media savvy, our organizations must keep up. But where to do you find the time? Learning how to use your volunteers’ generated content is the answers to your prayers. In this session we will explore ways to not only engage your volunteers, but help you get stories, photos and video that tell the story of your organization’s work better than you ever could. This session will cover some basics, but will focus on how to identify your organization’s social media voice so that you can begin to cultivate user generated content that will lighten your social media workload.
Tyrone Dobson, Volunteer Manager & Kirsten Ballard, Digital Communications Coordinator, Alliance for the Great Lakes
Preparing for Difficult Conversations
When working with volunteers, sometimes it becomes necessary to have a difficult conversation. Whether it be around feedback or enforcing policies and procedures, how these conversations play out can have important consequences for an organization. In this workshop, participants will learn to listen for understanding and explore perspectives different from their own. Tools to manage internal responses to conflict triggers will be presented and explored and participants will have a chance to practice framing difficult conversations.
Pari Karim, Training Director, Center for Conflict Resolution
Caring! It’s Our Nature: A Guide to Volunteer Recruitment, Recognition, and Retention.
Staff from the Brookfield Zoo will share their approach to recruitment, retention and recognition of their volunteers. They will highlight their comprehensive recruitment and onboarding process and will share the variety of ways they recognize and appreciate their volunteers including an annual banquet, service awards, and continuing education and training opportunities. Participants will learn best practices of volunteer recruitment and how investing in life-long learning supports appreciation and volunteer retention.
Mark Freedlund, NatureStart Supervisor, Hina Sowinski, Operations Manager, Volunteer Engagement, & Jason Theuman, Docent Program Manager
Connecting with Your Volunteers from a Distance
This session will discuss the benefits of using social networking and technology in connecting with volunteers in a disconnected world. The presentation will also discuss best practices for individuals coming fresh into the field - or their position, and how to quickly connect with their volunteers amid the hustle and bustle of the rest of the job in volunteer administration
Bethanie Albrecht, Assistant Program Coordinator - Medical Reserve Corps, Cook County Department of Public Health
Creating Win-Win Corporate Partnerships: Elevate the Employee Experience through Volunteering
This session will discuss the benefits of using social networking and technology in connecting with volunteers in a disconnected world. The presentation will also discuss best practices for individuals coming fresh into the field - or their position, and how to quickly connect with their volunteers amid the hustle and bustle of the rest of the job in volunteer administration.
Michaela McGill, Director, Workforce & Corporate Partnerships, One Million Degrees and Cynthia Jones, Manager of Charitable Contributions, W.W. Grainger, Inc.
Goal Setting for Real
We are all taught that goals need to be SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and Timely) but we aren't taught how to create goals that are meaningful to us as an individual or our unique professional life. We also aren't taught how to create movements on goals every day. In this session participants will identify one goal they wish to accomplish and use specific tools to create the action plan as well as the beliefs needed to accomplish the goal.
Jennifer O'Grady, Project Director AARP Foundation RSVP Chicago & Founder, A Life All In
Keeping Programming Fresh for Volunteer Retention
In this session, Shedd Aquarium's Guest Engagement Department will share various strategies they employ for volunteer retention and ongoing learning. This range of strategies can be applied by large or small organizations who rely on the support of volunteers. This interactive session will also allow for attendees to offer their ideas and best practices to the discussion.
Ali Behrens, Guest Engagement Supervisor & Bethann Kosiba, Engagement Specialist, Shedd Aquarium
Like. Share. Engage: How to be Social on Social Media
Social media is the one thing that you love, but also hate. As volunteers become more and more social media savvy, our organizations must keep up. But where to do you find the time? Learning how to use your volunteers’ generated content is the answers to your prayers. In this session we will explore ways to not only engage your volunteers, but help you get stories, photos and video that tell the story of your organization’s work better than you ever could. This session will cover some basics, but will focus on how to identify your organization’s social media voice so that you can begin to cultivate user generated content that will lighten your social media workload.
Tyrone Dobson, Volunteer Manager & Kirsten Ballard, Digital Communications Coordinator, Alliance for the Great Lakes
Preparing for Difficult Conversations
When working with volunteers, sometimes it becomes necessary to have a difficult conversation. Whether it be around feedback or enforcing policies and procedures, how these conversations play out can have important consequences for an organization. In this workshop, participants will learn to listen for understanding and explore perspectives different from their own. Tools to manage internal responses to conflict triggers will be presented and explored and participants will have a chance to practice framing difficult conversations.
Pari Karim, Training Director, Center for Conflict Resolution