What I can contribute to this conversation are some facts and numbers from the volunteer recruitment perspective. (This will be too long to read for many folks.)
Here’s what went into our in-person meetings before the pandemic. A dozen+ volunteers were involved to:
– Identify potential halls, scout for availability, view, compare, vote on, sign contract, and pay.
– Identify and research potential guest speakers for Program, solicit, schedule, coordinate including ferries, accommodation reimbursement, thank you card, etc.
– Advertise meeting on website, social media, and by email
– Purchase snacks and beverages
– Print nametags for new members (outdoor clubs have reusable nametags)
– Coordinate announcements of club business and safety topics to make sure appropriate people are in attendance to do it and nobody gets their toes stepped on
– Prepare Safety Talk some months
– Arrange last minute logistics (if a volunteer can’t attend, finding someone else)
Night of meeting:
5:00 pm: Volunteer(s) meet out-of-town guest speaker for dinner.
6:15: Volunteer(s) pick up the hall keys, unlock doors, turn on heat, set up chairs and tables
6:45: 6+ volunteers arrive to set up AV equipment, screen, make coffee and tea, set up library, set up snacks, set up welcome table with nametags
7:00: Members arrive, socialize, snack, use club library
7:30 -8:45: Announcements, and/or safety talk and guest speaker
8:45: Program ends and members stack chairs
8:45 – 9:00: Socializing with many leaving by 9pm and some lingering
9:30: cleanup by 4+ volunteers – coffee urn, mugs, plates and cutlery washed (outdoor clubs don’t use disposables), AV equipment and screen taken down and stored, library put into crates and stored, floor swept, trash taken out
10:00 pm: volunteer(s) lock hall and return key
Driving costs and time vary depending on where in the Lower Mainland people are coming from. Of course some of these tasks are done even if we meet over Zoom. And sure in-person meetings could be simpler (but what exactly would we eliminate?)
I currently don’t see anyone, much less a dozen people, volunteering to do all of this every month or even every 3 months as has been suggested. For example, this year the Nomination Committee solicited another assistant to our Programs Officer and nobody would commit. We also don’t have Safety or Outreach officers for 2024.
Our Programs team has found excellent guest speakers for our virtual meetings but it’s clear that some folks are uncomfortable with Zoom or tired of screens. So to address this, in addition to trips, workshops and courses, our volunteers planned many social events and are working on how to make them better. There were small pizza lunches in the winter plus:
May: Spring Fling dinner
June: New Member Welcome paddle and lunch
July: Locarno picnic
August: Locarno picnic
September: Fall Fling dinner
December: Christmas party
Between 5-45 participants attended each of these. We’ve been begging for people to turn out — so please start attending if you don’t already. All of these events could be made even better. For example, we’d love it if members would volunteer to offer enhancements like presentations, equipment demos, games, gear swaps, or whatever they’d like to share.
About hybrid meetings, I don’t think they are a good option for an organization where members are spread out geographically and attendance is optional. Personally, I would be disappointed if I drove into Vancouver on a rainy night for a hybrid meeting and the only in-person attendees were the dozen volunteers who had to be there.