Presidential Thoughts...

As President, I encourage all of our committees to expand volunteer involvement and share responsibilities, not to be the work of just one or two people. Each committee should develop backup personnel who could keep things running in the event of an emergency or incapacity of a chairman or key volunteer. The files and knowledge base of each committee should be available to those who would volunteer to step up. It is advantageous to include multiple ideas and viewpoints in planning, booking, and operations. For long-term security and improvement of process, it would be beneficial for each of our committees to keep several people actively involved.

The Folk Project's volunteer base, including our officers and board, is our most valuable asset. Attraction of new volunteers and development of existing volunteers is a most important determinant of our ongoing success.

From this perspective, here is a suggested Core Analysis of our organization:

The Folk Project is a cadre of highly motivated volunteers working together to manage, coordinate and staff a board and committees that perform large and small tasks necessary for the operation of our venues. These venues, staffed by volunteers, and with operational support from other committees, attract attendees (along with money the attendees bring to fund our operations). This ever-changing and slowly expanding pool of attendees provides a source from which we attract and develop new volunteers. Development and expansion of our volunteer base provides the critical 'currency' needed to continue and develop our ongoing venues.

The Folk Project should do everything and anything we can to keep our volunteers satisfied, happy and content. FP committees should continuously search for ways to provide respite for volunteers when they begin to feel stretched and tired. We should encourage task coordination and job sharing. We should be careful not to 'burn out' our staff (and ourselves) by keeping people in single positions too long or by overworking them. Each committee should strive to provide challenging growth and learning opportunities for its volunteers, keeping them engaged and productive. We shouldn't be afraid to carefully expend some of our hard-earned dollars on tools, equipment, software, supplies, recognition, and food to empower our volunteers to be more productive.