Comments on: First Impressions Don’t Always Count http://www.volunteermaine.org/blog/first-impressions-dont-always-count Maine Conversations about Volunteer Management Mon, 6 Oct 2008 16:38:59 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.3.2 By: Joan Bailey http://www.volunteermaine.org/blog/first-impressions-dont-always-count#comment-553 Joan Bailey Wed, 23 Apr 2008 17:26:49 +0000 http://www.volunteermaine.org/blog/first-impressions-dont-always-count#comment-553 What a fantastic post. We talk to and meet with folks each day who are interested in our organization either for the housing we offer or an interest in volunteerng with us. They come in all shapes, sizes, and states. This post is a great reminder of their humanity - as a volunteer or an applicant or both - which is sometimes easy to forget as we burn out in our work or approach them from the context of our own lives. I'll be sharing this with our staff here. What a fantastic post. We talk to and meet with folks each day who are interested in our organization either for the housing we offer or an interest in volunteerng with us. They come in all shapes, sizes, and states. This post is a great reminder of their humanity - as a volunteer or an applicant or both - which is sometimes easy to forget as we burn out in our work or approach them from the context of our own lives. I’ll be sharing this with our staff here.

]]> By: Anne Schink http://www.volunteermaine.org/blog/first-impressions-dont-always-count#comment-541 Anne Schink Wed, 23 Apr 2008 00:55:47 +0000 http://www.volunteermaine.org/blog/first-impressions-dont-always-count#comment-541 What a wonderful reminder about the kinds of blinders we all have at times. What a great gift you gave this man! I also remember a time when a member of a board shared her dismay with me when I had appointed a person to the board that 'we don't like'. When I asked what she meant, she acknowledged that the new board member 'was very smart' and 'spoke her mind', but 'she's just not part of our group'. I was very young, so I persisted. As it turned out, the new board member was a strong voice, did whatever she was asked to do, and held the rest of them to a new high standard. It may have been naivete on my part, but it was a good lesson for that group too, in that there is room enough for all. What a wonderful reminder about the kinds of blinders we all have at times. What a great gift you gave this man!

I also remember a time when a member of a board shared her dismay with me when I had appointed a person to the board that ‘we don’t like’. When I asked what she meant, she acknowledged that the new board member ‘was very smart’ and ’spoke her mind’, but ’she’s just not part of our group’. I was very young, so I persisted. As it turned out, the new board member was a strong voice, did whatever she was asked to do, and held the rest of them to a new high standard. It may have been naivete on my part, but it was a good lesson for that group too, in that there is room enough for all.

]]>