Valuing Volunteers Policy: Fill & Download for Free

Conscription just about broke Canada during WWI, and the government had the good sense to delay it as long as it possibly could.It was more discussed a generation ago, the generation that was affected by it. Our foreign policy is better aligned with Canadian interests now, so there no risk of sending unwilling people off to die for “King and Empire"And frankly I am proud that we had enough volunteers to send considerable forces to fight fascism. But I also remember my uncle's words (he fought in Italy, France, and the Netherlands): “If I had known what I was in for, I would never have signed up.”

People volunteer for Tedx Talks for a variety reasons; for some it is a sense of community and friendship, and being part of something bigger, for some it's a thirst for knowledge and being close to the speakers, and helping them to develop the best version of their TEDx Talk, for others it's a way to enhance their skills and work experience, and to work in a nurturing environment, and there are also those who want to contribute their work skills to raise their own profile in their business or profession.The greatest challenge is managing people's expectations. It's very likely that when you first start out with your first TEDx event, you will start with warm, fuzzy intentions hoping to attract altruistic people who share your values and vision, and Ted's ethos of ‘great ideas worth spreading'.The reality is that people come in all shapes, sizes, personality types, and motivations, and unless you are an experienced HR professional it can be daunting when individual volunteers who take on key roles, then leverage their position to exert their own ideas, or threaten to leave at critical moments.As you go forward you learn to put in place systems so that people/volunteers adhere to rules of behaviour. http://Ted.com is very helpful in providing documentation to help write volunteer policies so that individuals understand rules of behaviour and processes to address challenges, and the TedxHub is an organiser forum which helps organisers to raise concerns and get other's experiences. There is also a Facebook page.We were also lucky to recruit a super-charged, cheery volunteer project manager who was instrumental in ensuring tasks were completed to deadline.All in all, whatever the challenges prior to the event, on the actual day of your event, it all fades into a distant memory as you listen to you speaker's talks, talk with enthused delegates, and get involved with the day which passes very quickly.Post-event it is useful to look at these challenges to ensure you put in place systems so that issues can be better handled.

I am an active duty veteran, the son of a Vietnam veteran, the grandson of WWII veterans and the father of a son entering the military.When you volunteer to serve, you volunteer to protect the VALUES and the PRINCIPLES for which this country stands. You do not volugnteer to further a policy or politics or an agenda. And one of the fundamental and unique American principles is the freedom of speech.If you start with the simple statement “I take a knee during the anthem to protest _____” then Americans should have the right to insert ANY reason.So I ask you - if another “Colin” took a knee to protest the assault on 2nd Amendment rights, our weak immigration policies, not allowing prayer in schools or even the fact we have a “Muslim” president not born in the US, do you think the same people complaining about Colin would be shutting off their TVs? Or would they be taking a knee?Let’s not lie to each other any more. The ones protesting are protesting the POLITICS of Colin’s message under the guise of values - but in doing so they are arguing that he should be punished for exercising his First Amendment rights. And that is an assault on the VALUES and PRINCIPLES that we all volunteered to protect.