Pet peeves for organizers (my first poll!)

[eileen from OH]

Poll question: Pet peeves for organizers (my first poll!)

Political or not. . .You're trying to get something set up, everyone is fired up, all swear to support and then. . . What's your biggest gripe?

eileen from OH

[EstimatedProphet]

1. I'm an old hand at organizing events

Whenever you do, you WILL get people that do all of the above. It will be frustrating until you realize that the job is worth doing anyway, and it's its own reward.

[Earth_First]

6. I wholeheartedly agree...

being in an integral position that is for the common good of everyone is such a positive experience that I wouldn't trade off for anything that anyone could offer...the end result is simply the icing on the cake.

[Earth_First]

2. I was the New York State Dennis Kucinich Student Coordinator

for the campaign leading up to Super Tuesday, and I cannot express to you the amount of frustration and stress that I went through as a state-wide coordinator for the youth demographic. I understand that alot of students juggle full schedules, myself included, I'm working on finishing up my bachelor's degree in Forestry, however, if you are going to commit to something, please follow through. No excuses later. This isn't running for chairperson of your student environmental group or student council, this is a NATIONAL PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN!

End rant.

[eileen from OH]

3. Well, congrats to you!

For hangin' in. Yup, it IS frustrating when this kinda thing happens. You get tempted to throw up your hands and just do it yourself which is sometimes almost easier - but can also lead to Major League Burnout.

eileen from OH

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

5. But thanks for doing it and stepping out

and treating it like your life depended on it..our forests will be lcuky to have you...no...WE WILL BE LUCKY TO HAVE YOU!

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

4. All of the above but it always turns out

[Piltdown13]

7. I was the IU Clark volunteer coordinator

I ended up in the position because I gave my occupation as IU grad student on my meetup form; a few days later I checked out the indianaforclark.org website and found that I was listed as the IU coordinator! I figured, well, at least if I do it, things will get done.

So I got us recognized as an official student group and all that jazz; I think we had about 50 members by the time the campaign ended. There would always be people volunteering for the various events, but I learned real fast that I better plan to be present for the ENTIRE time, because there would always be folks who wouldn't show up. What really would chap my ass was that half the time they didn't even e-mail to apologize after the fact!

We have much the same problem getting people to actually do stuff for the grad/professional student organization, too. I'm on the executive committee this year, and I had no idea -- everyone SAYS they'd love to work on various issues, but it's the same 10-15 people or so (out of a membership well over 100, and there are THOUSANDS of grad students here, all of whom are invited to help on projects) who end up doing most of the work. I kind of wish I'd gotten involved sooner, now, because the issues we're now working on would have been much easier to address before the current budget issues hit the state. But yeah, everyone loves to bitch, but when it comes time to put your time where your mouth is, so to speak, suddenly everyone's way too busy.

[Lady President]

8. All of the above

I definitely voted for all of the above, but here are a couple of my "favorites."

The people who are only willing to attend events. These are the people who complain constantly that we should have several fundraisers or meetings a month, but will not do any planning. (A subset of this group will only volunteer when there are cameras present.)

The "idea" man is my biggest pet peeve. We have one very vocal volunteer who comes up with the most convoluted plans and becomes absolutely furious when I can't make it happen. For example, he wanted 6+ Meetups in our city, specified the venues he thought were best, and gave them each a theme. For one of the venues I was supposed to supply t-shirts, decals sheets, and an iron and ironing board. WTF?!? First, I can't afford all that stuff. Second, Starbucks was not going to let us hold a home economics class in their store.

In general, I love the other volunteers, but thanks for letting me vent. :)

[eileen from OH]

9. OH, yeah. . .I can SO relate

My fave is woman #1 who loves to tell us how everything MUST be done except that it's woman #2 who is doing it all and making it happen. #1 actually got PISSED because #2 wouldn't do it her way. I kid you not. (Not picking on women - hell, I'm one myself but in this case it was.)

Definitely should have included this phenomenon in my poll. Thanks for reminding me!

My feeling is if someone is taking something on, then line up and help her/him or organize your own damn thing the way YOU want to do it. Or shaddup.

eileen from OH

[UrbScotty]

10. Not doing their job is the biggest thing. (nt)