Directors of Volunteers in Austin will host its second Serving U Conference on Friday, August 10, at St. Edward’s University in South Austin. It’s an almost full-day of speakers and networking, all around the topic of managing and getting the most from volunteers.
If you’ve ever had a great volunteer experience, you were probably in the hands of one of these experts. There’s an art to taking advantage of volunteer energy and talent while also making sure they feel the rewards of the experience.
DOVIA member Jane Rose, who is also the volunteer coordinator for Ronald McDonald House Charities of Austin, told us more about Serving U Conference:
GC: What is DOVIA and who can join?
DOVIA stands for Directors of Volunteers in Austin. We are made up not only of volunteer directors and coordinators, but also other like-minded folks involved with organizations who feel they can benefit from the topics we offer and the networking we provide at our monthly meetings.
Anyone can join! Currently, our membership represents more than 60 Austin organizations.
GC: What’s great about being a DOVIA member?
Knowing I have a network of other folks in the same boat with me helps me quite often and I hope I return the favor.
I occasionally refer volunteers to other groups when someone may be a better fit with another group. Or just recently, I was made aware of a donation that we couldn’t take advantage of, but I was able to put the word out and found another group who could definitely use it.
The networking aspect for times like this is worth its weight in gold.
GC: This conference is primarily for volunteer directors, but who else should attend?
Everyone with an interest in the non-profit sector! Whether you deal specifically with volunteers or any other aspect of a non-profit, there are topics of interest for everyone.
Plus it’s going to be a terrific networking event, so it would be surprising not to meet someone else who fills a niche similar to yours.
GC: Well, you’ve got a great line-up: Aaron Bramley, Lou Serna & Paige DeLeon, Amber Fogarty, Sarah Jane Rehnborg, Scott Ingram… what’s the value in putting all these people together in one space?
The chance to learn so much at once place in one day!
Our presenters will be covering a wealth of topics, so it might be hard to choose between sessions. But we feel we’re offering something for everyone and are looking forward to the new lessons we’ll all be learning that day. It will be great to have so much to choose from.
GC: So the take-away from this conference will be…?
I hope that everyone is able to take away at least one lesson that keeps them from having to reinvent the wheel. Or to meet someone new who can share their war stories or give them a new way to consider doing what, why or how they do what they do.
Sometimes it’s just good to know you aren’t alone. Even if everyone voices the same question, there’s generally a great chance for conversation to figure out an answer – or answers – that might work in different situations.
Visit DOVIA to learn more, see the line-up and register for the conference.
