Edmonton Outdoor Club - Volunteer Coordinator Manual

Introduction

This document outlines the policies and processes for volunteer coordination for the EOC, including recruiting, training, coaching, and so on. It covers only management of event coordinators, which is the scope of the EOC's Volunteer Coordinator position. Note that this document does NOT cover information about how to perform the required tasks on the web site. Please see the Web Site User Guide for that information.

In This Guide:

VC Commandments
Shared Volunteer Coordinator E-Mail Account
1. Volunteer Files (ie. "Labels")
Helping New Coordinators Through the Process
Automated E-Mails We Receive
1. Event List Update
2. Event Cancelled
Other VC Business
New Coordinator Info E-Mail Template

Commandments

Be fun... be friendly... be encouraging... be helpful. Our volunteers are the heart of the EOC and they are the reason why we are as successful as we are. The Volunteer Coordinator is an important part in keeping our volunteers happy and connected to the club - do what you can to make them feel welcome, informed and appreciated.
Uphold the high EOC standards. The EOC is very successful largely because our events are of a consistent high quality, and the information we post on the web site is also consistent. The Volunteer Coordinator is the gatekeeper to ensure that these high standards are met - through recruiting fantastic volunteers, and training and coaching them to coordinate events which follow our policies and procedures. Occasionally, it is necessary for Commandment #2 to override Commandment #1. If you have qualms about a volunteer or a volunteer hopeful and/or the quality of the events they're running, it is your first responsibility to address the situation. Coach the person to correct/improve the situation and if you cannot come to terms, or you continue to have doubts about their abilities to coordinate quality events, you must prevent them from coordinating. In the case of a volunteer hopeful, this would simply require putting an end to their training process. In the case of a starred volunteer, contact the club's Executive Team for assistance. It is not the Volunteer Coordinator's job to take disciplinary action of any sort - the VC's role is to coach, train and assist.
Maintain accurate and complete conversation details for reference by yourself and the other/future Volunteer Coordinators. All conversations should be properly labelled and archived in the shared gmail account.

Shared Volunteer Coordinator E-Mail Account

The bulk of the work of event coordinator management is done through a single gmail account, eocvolunteers@gmail.com. All Volunteer Coordinators should use this (and only this) account for volunteer management so that we have a clear conversation trail for all event coordinators. If volunteer management is done through our personal e-mail accounts then the conversations are not available to other volunteer coordinators, nor are they available for future reference. The EOC standard e-mail address, volunteer@edmontonoutdoorclub.com, forwards to eocvolunteers@gmail.com. This account was created in January of 2011, so that is the starting point of our conversation records.

The gmail account automatically inserts the "Volunteer Coordinator" signature to any e-mails sent. Please include your name so that people know who they're dealing with. It's also "friendlier".

For anyone not familiar with gmail, using the shared mail account has turned out to be one of the more confusing aspects of doing the job. Therefore, this instruction page includes details about how to use gmail. Just ignore those if you already know your way around gmail.

The types of e-mails that we receive most often in the in-box are:

Event List Update: Someone has added a new event to the calendar
Event Cancelled: Someone has cancelled an event off the calendar
New Volunteer Offer/Request: Someone wants to begin coordinating events
Event Detail Request: Someone who is in training but doesn't have their star yet is asking you to post one of their "probationary" events

How to deal with each of these types of e-mails is described below.

For any e-mail regarding a specific volunteer - active volunteer, wannabe volunteer, former volunteer, whatever, be sure to LABEL all e-mails. If you initiate an e-mail (for example, when checking references), click the "Sent Mail" label, select the e-mail you just sent and label it appropriately. To "label" e-mails in gmail:

To create a new label: Only create a new label when you're having a conversation with a brand new potential volunteer (ie. someone that you haven't already got a folder for). Instructions for how to do this are included in the "New Potential Volunteer" section below.
To apply an existing label (what you'll do most of the time): If you're in a folder view, select (click) the message(s) that you wish to label, OR, if you have an e-mail open, it is automatically selected. Near the top of the browser window, you will see several buttons including drop-down lists called "Move To" and "Labels". Both of these lists can be used to select the label you want. The only difference is that "Move To" labels the message and then moves it out of the Inbox (or wherever you are), where "Labels" only applies the label but doesn't move the message. If you're done with the message, you can use "Move To", or if you want to keep it in the Inbox for the time being, just use the "Labels" one.

Volunteer Files (ie. "Labels")

Within the gmail account, you will find a "file" (actually a label) for each person who has been involved in our volunteer processes - either as a volunteer hopeful, an active volunteer, or a former volunteer. The files are organized into folders:

Active Volunteers
Applicants
Banned - Not Appropriate Volunteer
Cold Leads - Applied but did not Follow Through
Past Volunteers
Volunteer In Training

All folders are named just according to the volunteer's name, however, in the "Applicants" folder, there are some extra "codes" added to the front of the label to help you remember what is still outstanding for that person to qualify as a volunteer. The codes are:

C: Needs Confirmation of Policies and Rules
R: Needs References

Each person will move through the various statuses during their time volunteering with the EOC. As their status changes, move their file into the appropriate folder using the "Manage Labels" page.

Helping New Coordinators Through the Process

New Potential Volunteer

When someone e-mails the VC e-mail indicating an interest in coordinating for us, you'll need to do a few things to determine what to do with them:

Search through the existing folders to see if there's a folder for them anyplace. You can also do a search on their name and/or e-mail address to check.
If you find an existing file for them, and review their previous conversation history (by clicking on their name to find the previous e-mails), and, if necessary, move their file into the appropriate folder. Unless there were past issues (ie they're in the "Banned" folder), you should be able to just start up where they left off, wherever they were in the process. When we find an existing file for a person, we do NOT want to create a new file, we just want to re-open their existing file.
If you do not find a match, you must "qualify" them to see if they are eligible to coordinate events for the club:
1. Use the "Complete List" page under "Member Reports" to look up how many events they've attended and how recently. As a general rule, they should have attended at least 10 outdoor events with the EOC, preferably at least three within the past three months.
2. Use the "No Shows" page under "Attendance Reports" to review their "No Shows". If they have any "No Shows", determine if their history should be a hindrance to their coordinating - they should show a consistent respect for others in their attendance to be considered as coordinators. You may choose to ask them about their "No Shows", or you may choose to follow up with the volunteers who logged them, or you may choose to follow up with the EOC officers depending on the situation to get perspective on the "No Shows" before making a decision.
If you determine that they meet these initial criteria, proceed with step 1 of getting them started, as follows:
1. Reply to their e-mail, including the "New Volunteer Info" message (see the very bottom of this page), and personalize it appropriately. Sure it's a form letter, but try to make it seem less like a form letter, at least in an introductory paragraph acknowledging specific things they've said in their request.
2. Once you've replied to the e-mail:
  1. If there's already a file ("label" in gmail-speak) for them, apply that label to the e-mail. To do so in gmail, while you have the message open, click the drop-down list at the top called "Labels", scroll down in the list to find their existing label and select it
  2. If there isn't already a file for them, create one in the "Applicants" folder. To do so in gmail, while you have the message open, click the drop-down list at the top called "Labels" and look at the bottom for "Create New". Select that, enter a label for them as follows:
    - R: Add the "R" code if they still have outstanding references
    - C: Add the "C" code if they haven't yet confirmed they've read and agree to follow the club rules and policies
    - Last Name, comma, First Name
    - Nest the label under the "Applicants" folder
3. Follow up with the person's references (who should be current EOC volunteers). Here's a sample reference check e-mail (switch out the stuff sandwiched in *'s):
  
  I am in the process of getting *NAME* started coordinating events. You have been identified as *his/her* references. Can you please tell me:
  1. Are you willing/able to co-coordinate one event with *NAME* within the next month or two?
4. Once references are confirmed and the person has confirmed the commandments, safety policy and waiver process:
  1. Move their file to the Volunteer In Training folder in the gmail account
  2. Enter a Member Notation on their account on the EOC Web Site that they are an approved "Coordinator In Training".
  3. Notify them that they're all ready to start. Sample letter:
    
    Thank you. Please keep this letter for your reference - you might want to come back to it if you have questions.
    
    You are now an EOC "Coordinator In Training" which means that once you've coordinated three events for us you can have your star and officially join the team - yay! :)
    
    You should strive to complete your three "probationary" events within three months. If you think you won't be able to do that, please discuss your circumstances with the Volunteer Coordinator. Generally speaking, we want your first two events to be co-coordinated with each of your references, and your third event to be coordinated independently (set up on the web site by the Volunteer Coordinator). The Volunteer Coordinator will help facilitate the process of getting your first two events set up, but it is more up to you and your co-coordinator to take care of that. If, for some reason, one of your references is not able to co-coordinate with you, the Volunteer Coordinator will try to find another EOC event coordinator to assist you.
    
    Once you've done your three probationary events, please send me a note, along with your bio and photo so that I can set you up with your star. Please don't wait for me to remember that it's time for your star - I will do my best, but please be pro-active and request it when you've completed your probationary events.
    
    Note that social events do NOT count towards your star... you will have to complete three outdoor or sport events to get your star.
    
    Please let us know if you have any questions and have fun!
NOTE that people often begin co-coordinating their first two events prior to confirming our commandments, safety policy and waiver process (and sometimes before supplying references). This is perfectly acceptable because our starred volunteers can have anyone they wish as a co-coordinator on their event, and if they wish to take the time to train someone up, then great. However, they should not be allowed to proceed beyond co-coordinating events (ie. to their independently coordinated third training event, or getting their star) until they've satisfied all those requirements.
If you determine that they DO NOT meet our initial criteria, advise them of what they need to do before they can begin coordinating for the EOC. Often people step forward to coordinate before they have attended a minimum number of events with the club, or before they know any of our volunteers well enough for them to provide a reference. These people should be thanked for their interest, but turned away until they meet the requirements. For example:

Dear *name*,

Thanks very much for your interest in coordinating events for the EOC. It sounds like you have some great event coordination experience and would be an asset to our team.

Please review the following page for information about the first steps in becoming a coordinator for the EOC: http://www.edmontonoutdoorclub.com/events/leaderchecklist.asp

Note that we do require that you attend a few events with us before beginning as a coordinator. This is because it is just as important that you be familiar with our policies, procedures and culture as it is that you be able to coordinate events.

Once you've attended a few events, please contact me again so we can get you started.

These conversations can then be added to the "Inquiries" label and filed.
If you determine that they are not appropriate to volunteer for the club (for whatever reason), tell them so in an appropriate and sensitive fashion. Ask for assistance with this task if necessary. Each situation will probably be different and require a slightly different approach, but here is a sample template to refer to:

Dear *name*,

Thank you for your interest in coordinating events for the EOC. Unfortunately, at this point in time, we have to decline your offer to volunteer for the EOC as you have not demonstrated all of the skills required of an event coordinator. While planning, organizational and technical skills are important, we also look for soft skills such as how volunteers can be as ambassadors for the club, how positive and welcoming they are, and so on. This is not to say that you do not have these skills, but perhaps other members have not had the chance to see those skills in action.

We hope that you will continue attending events and perhaps at some point in the future we may again discuss the possibility of you joining the volunteer team.

Sincerely,

*Your Name*

Posting Events for Coordinators in Training

Before getting full volunteer access, the new coordinator must complete a three-event probationary period. The three events must be of an outdoor (or sports) nature - not socials. Encourage the hopeful volunteer to co-coordinate their first two events with each of their two references. The co-coordinators should post the event and walk the hopeful through the web site functionality at the same time. If their references are unable to help out in this capacity, you may have to try to find another member of the volunteer team to help out. After they've co-coordinated a couple of events, and satisfied all the requirements (policy confirmation, references) they can/should coordinate their third probationary event independently. You will have to set this event up for them in the database because they will not have access to do that on the web site yet.

When posting an event for someone, get the person to provide you with the event details. If they want to copy an existing event, they can simply tell you which event to copy and any details to change. If it is a new event, be sure they are explicit/clear with all details. You can send them the "Event Draft Form for Trainees" from our "Files for Coordinators" to help in this process.

Once you've created the DRAFT event (without posting it to the calendar), send a link to the draft event (get the address for it by clicking the title of the draft event in the "Future" list) and ask them to review the event details and advise you of any changes required. Once they've confirmed that the event looks good, you can post the event to the calendar.

Upon completion of their third event, they are usually eligible to get their star. They can start this process by e-mailing us, or we can start it (if we realize they've finished their third event).

We should not post more than 5 events for someone - if they're not ready for their star at that point they probably shouldn't be coordinating events for us.

The Giving of the Star

BEFORE you give anyone their star, you must have their bio and photo on-hand. Our Volunteers page looks terrible with missing photos or "Bio coming soon" notes on it and if we give someone their star before we have these things, it can take months for us to get it from them. Best to get it up-front before a star is granted.

New volunteers may write their own bio or send you the answers to some questions from which you can write the bio. Use HTML tags to format the bio (ie. with line-breaks and such). See Basic HTML for information on how to do that.
Use a photo which can be cropped to a face-shot, size it to exactly 100x100 pixels and save it as a GIF. NOTE that both of these details - 100x100 pixels, and GIF - are crucial. If you're unsure of what to do, ask the Webmaster for help.
Use the web site to add the new volunteer. See "Example 1" in the Web Site User Guide for how to do that.
Click Volunteers and confirm that the person shows up properly on the volunteer list. Check their title, photo and bio.
Invite them to join the EOC Volunteers group on Facebook
Send them a "welcome to the team" e-mail, for example:
I have given you your EOC star. The next time you log on to the web site you'll see a bunch of new navigation items, including the Web Site User Guide, the Event Coordinator Manual, and the Files for Coordinators. Please use these as your first source of information, and let us know if you have any questions.

We have volunteer meetings every couple of months. All EOC volunteers are encouraged to attend, and we do ask that you not post events on the evenings of our meetings.

The EOC provides yellow EOC ball caps to event coordinators to assist with people finding them at events. We also have small first aid kits available for event coordinators. Let me know if you want a first aid kit, and I will bring your items to the next volunteer meeting.

Welcome to the team and have fun!
In the gmail account, move their file to the "Active Volunteers" folder.
Make a note to announce them in the next VC Newsletter.
On the EOC Web Site, remove their "Coordinator In Training" Notation.
Give them some (approx 50) EOC business cards IF THEY WANT THEM. Don't give these out if they're unlikely to use them.

Coordinator Review

Event Coordinators must remain current in order to keep their volunteer status. See "Staying Current" in the Coordinator Manual for more information. Note that this applies only to Event Coordinators who do NOT have another EOC job besides event coordination.

Every couple of months or so (for example, a week or two before the volunteer meeting), review coordinators and contact the ones who are inactive.

Note that some coordinators are "Seasonal" - they only coordinate during a specific season. In the gmail account, these coordinators are noted with their season at the end of their file name, for example, "Bob Smith, SUMMER". These coordinators should be skipped over during review if it is during their off-season and reviewed only if they do not become active again during their on-season.

You can use the "Volunteer Activity" report (under Member Reports) to easily identify who has not coordinated in 3 months and doesn't have any events posted. If someone hasn't coordinated in approximately 3 months, we ask them to confirm that they're planning on coordinating again soon, and if the answer is 'yes', we can keep them on the team. If the answer is 'no', they can be removed with a promise of future reinstatement. If they haven't coordinated in 6 months or more, and are not likely to coordinate anything soon, they should be removed with a suggestion of future reinstatement. We sometimes make exceptions to this rule if a coordinator informs us that they are "seasonal" (ie. they only coordinate in summer or winter).

Before e-mailing any coordinator, check their past conversation history to see if there's anything to indicate that they'll be absent for a while and returning at a specific time, or prior "review" e-mails.

Sample 1
I see it's been since July that you've coordinated an event for EOC. I am currently working on ensuring our volunteer list is up-to-date, with people who have intentions of continuing coordinating events for us in the future. If you are planning on coordinating some events again soon, please let me know when I should expect to see an event on the board. If there's anything I can help with to make your volunteering experience easier or more enjoyable, please let me know - I'd be glad to help. If you don't think you'll be coordinating anything over the next while, please let me know and I will suspend your star until you're ready to start up again. Don't worry - it won't be hard to get your star back. If you are actively attending events, just let me know what you want to coordinate and when and I'll re-instate your star. If, in the meantime, your attendance drops off, please attend a few outdoor events with the club and then let me know you'd like to start coordinating again.

Sample 2
I see that it's been since July that you've coordinated an event for EOC, although it's great to see you're still actively attending our events. I'm going to suspend your volunteer star at this time. We would love to have you back on our volunteer team as soon as you're ready to start coordinating again, and I hope that time comes very soon. Getting your star back will be very easy, especially if you continue to actively attend club events. When you're ready, just contact me directly to let me know what you want to coordinate and when and I will re-instate your star. If, in the meantime, your attendance drops off, please be sure to attend a few outdoor events to re-familiarize yourself with the club and our processes and then contact me at volunteer@edmontonoutdoorclub.com to get re-instated.

Sample 3
I see that it's been since September that you've coordinated an event for EOC, and that it's been since November since you've attended anything. It is very important that our volunteers be very familiar with our policies and procedures (especially since they tend to change over time). I'm therefore going to suspend your volunteer star at this time. We would love to have you back on our volunteer team as soon as you're ready to start coordinating again, and I hope that time comes very soon. When it does, please be sure to attend a few outdoor events to re-familiarize yourself with the club and our processes and then contact me at volunteer@edmontonoutdoorclub.com to get re-instated.

Inactive Applicants
When you do the volunteer review, check the Applicants and Volunteer In Training folders as well. If there are folks who have gone inactive (ie. haven't contacted us in 3+ months), move them to the "Cold Leads" folder.

Remove a Volunteer's Star

If a volunteer resigns or is removed, move their file to the "Past Volunteers" folder in the GMail account
Use "Volunteer Admin" and click "No" for "Volunteer?" to remove their star. Leave all the other information intact in case they return to the volunteer team at some point.
Advise the webmaster so that if they have access to club e-mails, or any other club items, they will be removed.
Remove them from the EOC Volunteers group on Facebook

Re-Instating a Volunteer

Sometimes, a volunteer leaves the team for a while and then decides they want to come back. The process for re-instatement is different depending on the situation of the person. For example:

If it's been less than three months since they last coordinated an event, you can probably just re-star them, send them a "welcome back" message, and let them resume activity.
If it's been less than six months since they last coordinated, there have been no significant changes to club policies or procedures, and they have attended at least one event per month since they last coordinated, you can probably just re-star them, send them a "welcome back" message, and let them resume activity.
If it's been longer since they coordinated and/or attended events, use your judgement as far as what criteria they need to meet to get their star back. If there have been significant changes to the policies or procedures, you should get them to confirm that they've read the key parts that have changed in the manual. If it's been a while since they've even attended anything, get them to attend a few events, then set up one or two events for them before re-starring them.

When you re-instate a volunteer, move them back to the "Active Volunteers" folder. Make a note to announce them in the next VC Newsletter.

Automated E-Mails We Receive

Event List Update

When any new event is posted to the calendar, the VC e-mail account receives a notification called "Event List Update". Each of these should be reviewed to ensure that we catch any mistakes that the volunteer may have missed on posting. In the e-mail, click the Audit link and review the event details:

Is the difficulty rating consistent with our rating system? If you know for sure that it is not, update the event and send the coordinator a note. For example:
I noticed that the difficulty rating for your *event name* event was not consistent with our rating system, so I updated it from D? to D?. Let me know if you have any questions - thanks. :)
If you're not positive, do not update the event - rather, send the coordinator a note asking them. For example:
I noticed that the difficulty rating for your *event name* event does not appear to be consistent with our rating system. I think it should be a D? instead of a D? (see http://www.edmontonoutdoorclub.com/events/difficultyratings.asp for info). If you agree, can you please update your event? If you do not agree, can you please advise for my own information as to why you believe it should be a D? Thanks!
Have they got the payment information set up properly? If the event requires some kind of payment, check to see how people are expected to pay. If the coordinator is managing their own payments, they should NOT check the "Participants Will Make Payment to EOC Prior to Event" - they should just put payment instructions in the itinerary. This is because on the screen where it says "Participants Will Make Payment to EOC Prior to Event", what it really means is "Participants Will Make Payment to Donna M, Our Treasurer, Prior to the Event". Donna M, naturally, prefers that coordinators manage their own payments if they can, and the club does encourage that. If the coordinator is managing their own payments, they should NOT check the box. Yes, yes, sure, the coordinators are part of EOC, just like Donna M is, but what happens in the web site will be dramatically different if you check the box vs not checking the box. If you check the box, the web site will do all kinds of things to facilitate people paying Donna M... showing them screens with information about how to pay Donna M... sending them reminders to pay Donna M... and so on. If you don�t check the box but enter a Member Cost, the web site will know that people need to pay something to someone, but it will leave it up to you to put in the itinerary how and whom to pay. If you notice that the coordinator has checked the box for people to pay Donna M, check their itinerary. If they�ve indicated in their itinerary that they want people to pay them directly, e-mail them to un-check the box.
Is the carpool location appropriate, and clearly described? For example, sometimes a coordinator may copy an event from a weekend with an LRT station as their carpool location, but the new event is on a weekday. LRT stations shouldn't be used on weekdays because of how busy they are. Watch out for this and ask that the coordinator choose a new carpool location if necessary.
Has the coordinator provided enough information about how to find/recognize them at carpool (for example, the yellow EOC ball cap, or some other distinguishing feature)?
Are there clear and thorough directions provided for how to find the trailhead/venue, the meeting place, and to recognize the coordinator (for example, the yellow EOC ball cap, or some other distinguishing feature)?
Is the event start time appropriate relative to the carpool time? For example, sometimes a coordinator may accidentally set the start time and carpool time as the same, which does not take travel time into consideration. This can cause problems for "meet at event" people. Ask the coordinator to update their times to correctly reflect travel time.
Is the round-trip kms accurate? This is very important for correct calculation of carpool amount. For example, sometimes a coordinator may only list one-way kms resulting in the carpool amount being only half of what it should be (and distressed carpool drivers as a result). You can update the event yourself and inform the coordinator, or ask them to correct it.
If the event is a winter (mountain) event, check to make sure the event isn't going to cause damage or conflicts from doing an inappropriate activity for the area (ie. hiking on cross-country ski trails).
If the event is a multi-day event (whether a weekend trip, or a recurring, ie. weekly, event), has the coordinator used the "Dates" page to select all dates that the event falls on? See the Multi-Day Events info if you're not familiar with that.
Review the "Event Conflicts" and make sure that the exact same event isn't already set up for the same day. If a hike (or whatever) is set up for the same day, but the start times are at least an hour apart, don't worry about it. If not, though, follow up with the coordinator of the new event to get it changed (either change the start time, or the location). See Splitting Off a Second Group in the Coordinator Manual for more info.
Does the event fit the EOC "scope"? If the event appears to be out of scope, contact the volunteer immediately to resolve. The event may need to be removed, or it might be able to be tweaked to get it within our scope.
Scan all other event details to make sure everything makes sense.

Event Cancelled

When an event is cancelled, the VC e-mail account receives a notification called "Event Cancelled". Check the event, and if it makes sense to try to find a new coordinator for it, contact the coordinator to discuss. Generally speaking, we don't worry too much about these - our volunteers rarely cancel an event when an alternative to cancelling is available.

Once you've reviewed the event, delete the e-mail message.

Other VC Business

Coordinator Business Newsletters

Approximately once per month, send out a Volunteer Business Newsletter (via the "E-Mail All Volunteers" page) informing all club volunteers of any important changes or announcements, and announcing team changes such as new coordinators, returning coordinators, and departing coordinators.
When you are ready to send out the newsletter, change the e-mail address (temporarily) on your account to volunteer@edmontonoutdoorclub.com so that that is the address that it comes from.

Fun stuff that you can include in the newsletters:
- Number of events we have completed for the month (and compared to past months). See the "Event Count/Mo" report right near the very bottom of the left nav under "Webmaster".
- If we just had our biggest event day ever, you can find that on our stats page and send it out (Most Events Held in One Day).
- Who are our most active volunteers and how many events have they coordinated in the past three months? See the "Volunteer Activity" report under "Member Reports" near the bottom of the left nav.
- Have we just added a new activity to our calendar that we've never had before?
- How many new members do we have signing up per day (find on Stats page), or per month (find on "Sign-Ups by Month" report under "Member Reports" near the bottom of the left nav.

Coordinator Recruiting

Recruiting new coordinators for the EOC is done a few different ways:

Volunteer Social/Info Sessions: We often hold volunteer social and info sessions at a local pub, with any club volunteers (current and former) welcome to come out and socialize, and those who are interested in coordinating to come out, meet some volunteers and get some info. These events are very popular, but they do serve an important purpose (recruiting) for the club, so non-volunteers who are NOT seriously interested in volunteering for us are discouraged from attending. See Volunteer Social for an example.
Encourage members of our volunteer team to refer interested/qualified members to us.
Review the "Active Members" report and contact the active members who may be interested in coordinating. Be sure you know the person (or know of them) before making contact, and look for an existing file in the gmail account to see if they have any relevant history.
Wear your "Volunteer Coordinator" hat on events. Talk to people - ask questions - do they think they would be interested in coordinating?

When Something Goes Wrong

The VC is responsible for addressing complaints about events and event coordinators. If you become aware of issues with one of our event coordinators, the VC responsibility is to coach and train to ensure that that coordinator's future events better uphold the EOC standards. If disciplinary action becomes necessary, escalate that to the club's executive. The VC's responsibility is for training and coaching only. Complaints about other volunteers are to be sent directly to the club's executive.

New Coordinator Info E-Mail Template

NOTE that you can copy and paste directly from this web page into a new e-mail message - do NOT re-type everything!

Subject: New Coordinator Info for *person's name here*

Dear *person*,

Thank you very much for your interest in coordinating events for the EOC!

Please refer to our New Coordinator Info page at http://www.edmontonoutdoorclub.com/events/leaderchecklist.asp for complete details on the process of getting started as an EOC Event Coordinator, then write back to me with the names of your two (or more) references, and your confirmation on our policies and procedures.

Once we have everything from the "Requirements" list, you will become an official "Coordinator in Training" and can begin coordinating your three probationary events. If you're going to co-coordinate your first events with your references, work directly with them to get your events set up. If, for whatever reason, your references are not able to co-coordinate with you, I will help set you up with another volunteer who is able to assist you.

Once you�ve successfully completed your probationary events, you will get your star. If I neglect to realize that it�s time (which can happen...) then please be proactive and remind me when it�s time. A great way to do that is to send me your photo and bio!

Before I can give you your star, I will need:
1. A digital photograph of yourself that I can get a clear head-shot from for our volunteer page (the photos are important for people to recognize you at events, especially new people who are a bit uncertain about how our club operates). Try to send this in around the time that we're setting up your final probationary event so we'll be all ready for your "starring" ceremony (the ceremony being when I flip a switch on the web site... that's not really much of a ceremony). The photo should be of you in some kind of outdoor situation, and the most recognizable head-shot possible (ie. no sunglasses and other gear which interferes with people being able to recognize you. Even better if you're wearing the yellow EOC ball cap!
2. A bio of yourself for our volunteer page (the bios are important for people who are considering signing up for your events to decide if they will be a good fit). I'll need this around the time of your third event as well. If you would prefer that I write the bio for you, that is fine - you can answer some/all of the following questions for me and I will write the bio: How long have you been in Edmonton?
- Where did you live before and what brought you to Edmonton?
- What are you outdoor interests?
- What are your other interests?
- What do you do for a living?
- What kinds of events do you think you'll coordinate for the club?
- What are your events (ie. hikes) like as far as pace? Are you a fairweather outdoors person or a determined die-hard?
- Do you like to explore and go on side trips, or stick closely to your planned itinerary?
- What are your all-time favorite trips (through the club or otherwise)?
- Anything else you can think of that may help people understand what to expect when considering one of your events.

Coordinator Manual: Please be sure to familiarize yourself with the content in the Coordinator Manual. Even if you don't want to sit down and slog through the whole thing, please at least skim the Table of Contents so you know what information is available to you. Here are some of the more important areas:
Setting up a New Event: http://www.edmontonoutdoorclub.com/member/portal/manual/newevent.asp
Managing Upcoming Events: http://www.edmontonoutdoorclub.com/member/portal/manual/upcoming.asp
Running Your Event (including Carpool Management): http://www.edmontonoutdoorclub.com/member/portal/manual/run.asp
Completing an Event: http://www.edmontonoutdoorclub.com/member/portal/manual/completing.asp
Helping Others (ie. if you want to help train someone to get their star): http://www.edmontonoutdoorclub.com/member/portal/manual/mentoring.asp

I am always happy to answer questions and help out, but if you ask me something that is in the Manual, I will probably refer you there rather than answering the question directly.

Thanks again and have fun!