Re: Recruitment

That title has fortunately been flooding my inbox all week.

Admittedly, it was and is a bit of a gamble to try and put our alumni on the the task of recruitment for the seminar.  It has traditionally been a task handled by a recruitment director, and doled out to a team of volunteers.  However, the reality was that with no director, we couldn't just ignore the large task of recruitment, and we needed to find a way to make it possible.

At the same time, this seminar off season we have done a very positive job of engaging our alumni.  Between a successful summer reunion, and a big opportunity to be on the radio at NPR, our alumni were wanting to be engaged, and have stayed involved as they truly want to return to the seminar to be on Team Alumni. Throw these factors together, and we are currently looking at potentially our largest ever class of applicants to Team Alumni with more than 40 applications.

The direct result of that is that if these individuals wanted a place on Team Alumni, we were going to ask them to work for it.  They were going to have to distinguish themselves.  We only have 25 spots on TA, and that means some are going to have to stay home disappointed.  Being on TA is not just a free pass.

What we have done is I have taken on the task of breaking down the recruitment list.  At 364 schools and programs in the state of Maryland, that's an awfully big challenge.  But, I asked for help from those alumni, and they have responded in force.  Each is taking on at least 5 schools to recruit, and even some alumni who are to old to be on TA still volunteered to help.  Then, throw in a few adult volunteers who have longer lists, and we have put together quite the effort.

It is now a week from when I initially created and began to implement this challenge and we are off to a wonderful start.  But, now the truly hard work of recruitment begins.  Calling and emailing schools is not easy: people at the schools often have no idea what HOBY is, or how magnificent an opportunity it can be.  They don't know if it's worth the $150 it costs them, or if they have the money even if they believe in the program.  They become increasingly difficult to get a hold of, not returning messages, and even flat out ignoring your calls and requests.  Yet, all we want to do is making the lives of their young people better.  You would think it would be an easier sell.

Now all those volunteers must put in countless hours, phone calls, and emails to try and get just a few students to sign up.  And every day, all I can do is give them assistance and wait, as I watch the recruitment tally sheet, watching as each school comes in, one by one.

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Unpaid Hours

Including the recent meeting on Sunday, over the last two days I've spent between 15 and 16 hours on HOBY volunteer work.  Particularly for October, so early in the season, that's a fairly large chunk of time.

These are the moments that at the end of the year I have to remind myself sometimes that people thank me for.  That when they say their thank yous, I can be humble, and be sure my team gets praised as well, but the pat on the back is not a bad thing:  I have worked hard, even when others' projects had not necessarily yet begun, and people want to make sure that you know that work doesn't go unappreciated.

Most of my work these few days was meeting follow up:  writing the committee minutes, sending emails, etc.  But the largest part was organizing our new recruitment drive.  This year, we're asking every high school age alumnus who wants to be on Team Alumni to take on the challenge of helping us recruit.  For each person, they're only being asked five schools, but that can go a long way.  Already, about 20 have taken on the challenge, meaning that's 100 schools that will be called by alumni and encouraged to attend.  To put that in perspective, there are 364 potential schools or programs within the state of Maryland.  Our recruitment goal is 201, and last year we got 180.  Having the alumni contribute for the first time this year will be a big boost for us as I have not had any luck getting someone to take on the task of recruitment director.  It's meant the rest of us have had to split up that task.  But 100 is no small number and certainly nothing to scoff at.  It will have an enormous impact on our efforts if those alumni are successful.

My job as Seminar Chair is to direct others:  that's what the recruitment challenge is all about.   I direct the resources, push them in the right direction, and help the task get to goal.  But, it's the moments like this that I try to remember to also be a role model.  That I cannot ask my team to do what I am not willing to do myself.  That literally thousands of unpaid volunteer hours will be put in by my team and I this year towards accomplishing our task.  We will try to give everyone a "pat on the back," a thank you, and of course, a HOBY Hug.  It's a small token of thanks for all those hours.  But in the end, in order to get there, we must motivate and inspire them, so that the literal hours put in themselves feel like their own intrinsic reward.


I am frequently asked why I do HOBY.  My answer is always the same:  I'm trying to give back to HOBY what it gave to me those years ago when I was an ambassador in 1996.

I learned something a long time ago though:  I already gave that part back.  The "problem" now is that every time I give, HOBY in its intrinsic reward gives a little bit more back to me than I can give to it.  At this rate, I will never catch up.

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