Programs Coordinator

General Description:

Plan a one hour program (usually a speaker) for the monthly Docent/Volunteer meetings. Since June and December are potluck luncheons, and we don?t meet in July, you need to organize nine meetings.

Duties:

Ideally, confirm all speakers/programs for the year before you even begin in January.
Send a one or two sentence summary of the programs to the Education & Events Coordinator before the quarterly Quail Tracks deadline. The deadlines are:

• November 1: for January, February & March programs
• February 1: for April, May & June programs
• May 1: for July, August & September programs
• August 1: for October, November & December programs

Communicate with the speakers several times!! Ask them to arrive about 10:45 and be prepared to speak no more than one hour. If they want to sell something, that is usually okay. Determine if we need to provide any audio/visual equipment. Sometimes they will cancel at the last minute. Be prepared for this. For example, I have a beautiful DVD called ?First Flower? (about the search for the first flower) that you could use at the last minute.
We provide a $100 honorarium for the speakers, which you can mention when recruiting speakers. Inform the Director of Operations a week in advance that you will need the check on the Wednesday of the program, and get it from the Director that day.
Ask the speaker to provide (in advance) a short bio which you can use when introducing the speaker.
During the meeting break, help the speaker set up. If a projector is being used, put shades on the door and close the window shades.
Introduce the speaker using the provided bio.
Stay after the program and help the speaker return items to their car, if necessary. Return audio/visual equipment and shades to their storage areas.

Specific Skills:

Have gratitude, gratitude, gratitude for the wonderful people who come and make our programs so interesting!
Always be on the lookout for interesting speakers. The Docent Executive Board meetings are helpful.

Helpful Hints

It really helps to do this with a partner; two heads are always better than one!
Find out what equipment, if any, the speaker needs. Ask the Education and Events Coordinator to help you with the projector, tables or whatever.
Last year we had two ?show and tell crafts? programs. I think once a year is enough. We have so much talent at Quail that perhaps you could ask one of our own artisans to do a demo. A docent once spoke and showed slides of a Quail trip to South Africa; this was a big hit.
The former Program Chair, Mary Friestedt, is happy to assist her replacements in any way!

Time Required:

One hour per month, plus meeting set up and take down time.

Recommended Term:

Two years. After the first year, it gets a lot easier.