Digital Arts Service Corps - advice

The First Week

Michael Ewing — Tue, 03 Aug 2010 23:40:47 +0000

So it begins again.

My VISTA position here at Chicago Access Network Television (www.cantv.org) is actually my second year as a VISTA? Why did I sign up again? Did I just enjoy living in poverty THAT much? Let's just say that the combination of public service and media work was just too tempting for me to resist.

Things are a bit different here at CAN TV than they were at the last organization that I served. The first, most noticeable one is its size. The Volunteer Center had only a handful of employees, and really had more VISTAs than staff. CAN TV is a medium sized organization with access to a (somewhat) steady source of income, thanks to a Chicago ordinance that mandates all cable stations in the area dedicate funds to public access television. There's quite a few more employees, and all of them have pretty concrete job responsibilities, instead of slashes (my job was marketing/communications/tech support/social media coordinator at The Volunteer Center).

But when you're a VISTA, some things do remain consistent. The paychecks are consistently small, no matter where you go, but that's something you adapt to. And I think that the initial period of "discovery" is always an interesting one, where you learn about the organization and they learn what you can really do for them. I'm looking forward to finding out more about CAN TV and how I can make an impact on the community through my year of service here.

If anyone is looking for advice from a grizzled veteran VISTA who's still out in the field, feel free to contact me at miketewing@gmail.com.

Passing on our knowledge

Denise Cheng — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 17:36:24 +0000

Our year's coming to a close, and not all of us are staying on with the CTC VISTA Project, but wouldn't it be nice if we could pass on our wisdom to the incoming class? I propose we create a hashtag on Twitter and tweet advice up till July 27 (I think that's the official start date). The field reports are a rich resource but take a significant amount of time to sift through. Probably several of us will be kicked off the listserv come July 11.

For anybody who's up to it, let's go with #ctcvista. Invite any former CTC VISTAs you know to tweet, and let's keep it constructive!

UPDATE: Twitter's great for bite-sized advice, but for those who don't use it, the Facebook discussion thread would be an accessible place to leave advice.

Advice for new CTC VISTAs

Ben Sheldon — Wed, 06 Jun 2007 18:09:07 +0000

The CTC VISTA Project's Pre- Service Orientations is the only time during the year when all of our new VISTAs will be in one place together. Passing on any knowledge the current CTC VISTAs have is important.

Please leave your additions in the comments or if you would like to remain anonymous, email them to me.

Don't immediately take on new responsibilities - Your workplan and job description are designed to be a 40 hour a week committment. Your year of service will often start of slow though and many VISTAs will take on additonal commitments ("Sure I can help answer the phones"). These commitments may later hinder your ability to complete your primary duties--and may not be capacity building. Take the time to learn about your organization and plan, you'll be swamped soon enough.

Take advantage of your "outsider" status - Most VISTAs are a fresh face at their organization and bring considerable outside experience. If you see something that can be improved, try to help.

Frame what you're doing - VISTAs are not "interns" or "work study students", and most people think of "volunteers" as part-timers with minimal responsibilities (VISTA even calls you "members" not volunteers). Let other staff know that you are consulting and are there with a specific contract that you must complete in the time allocated (your workplan). Don't sell yourself short.

Take advantage of your VISTA Leader - The VISTA Leaders are your #1, go to person for everything related to your VISTA service: successes, problems, questions. You probably won't see them face-to-face, but call them or send them an email. That's their job (err... service).

Nonprofit Technology Sandwich

Ben Sheldon — Fri, 10 Nov 2006 03:42:03 +0000

I don't know if it's my empathy for the myriad of people I know stymied in technology quagmires for good causes or a desire to combine my love of good food with my job, but this is the result.

Download a printable PDF perfect for tacking to your wall or the wall of whomever makes technology decisions at your organization.

UpdateThe sandwich is on Unmediated.org

A Simple Reminder

Andrea Collopy — Wed, 18 Oct 2006 22:44:56 +0000

A local organization here in San Diego, called Nonprofit Management Solutions, offers management and technology consulting, training, and information resources to nonprofit organizations. On Tuesday I attended a workshop on Customer Service Skills. Most of the concepts we covered were common sense and things I had heard before, but it always helps to be refreshed. One of my favorite things that I took away from the workshop was the idea to create a clear vision of your organizations goals, if they do not already exist. Then you are supposed to read this vision everyday for 21 days (apparently the number of days it takes for you to really learn something/commit to memory) and it will help you maintain your focus, and allows you to better serve your orgs community.

I have our "Vision" typed up and hanging on the wall above my computer monitor so I can look up and read it to remind myself of what our overall goals are. With all of the projects that I am working on sometimes I lose focus of what my purpose here is, and this helps. It's kind of cheesy, but I like it!