Resource Sharing for Low Volunteer Communities David L. Caruso - @dccd – GreaterPittsburghSTC@gmail.com

1. Connections a. Geographic - Are there other communities within driving

distance? b. Employment

i. What are the top employment sectors within your region? Education, Health Care, Energy

ii. What other communities share these? How can you leverage that shared domain?

• Energy – Houston & Pittsburgh • Education – Austin & Pittsburgh

iii. Specific employers with multiple locations c. Competition/Mentoring d. Special Interests/SIGs

2. Resource Sharing a. Speakers

i. Live in home location – virtual in remote location ii. Exchange – speakers travel to each other’s city with

costs covered in kind iii. Collaborative – speakers work with each other to

present live with the other on line (or phone) to answer questions.

b. Web hosting/development/WordPress implementation c. Software/Tools

i. Adobe Connect ii. Survey/email marketing

3. Honesty with Members a. Prepare a “State of the Chapter” email once or twice

a year i. Keeps in touch ii. Provides honest appraisal of the level of

services you can provide with the amount of volunteers you have

iii. Opportunity to ask for volunteers b. What/Why are we “worth saving!” Answer a few

questions to see why your chapter should not only survive but thrive!

i. Does your city/region have a tie to a key piece of tech comm history?

ii. Does your chapter have a rich history of notable STC luminaries?

iii. Are there job markets expanding in your city/region who could potentially be hiring communication professionals?

4. Volunteers a. Break up larger formal roles into tasks or collections

of tasks to make volunteering easier for those who don’t want a title or too much responsibility.

b. Roles become needs based – what does the chapter need to survive? Key roles (need to have) and then optional ones (nice to have).

c. Volunteering = experience. Emphasize the resume benefits of volunteering and working with others in their profession.

d. Intangible benefits – soft skills: networking, relationship building, knowledge exchange. These are all important in the workplace and are not being taught in any classroom.