Connecting Lives, Sharing Cultures: A New Beginning in Hosting
From AFSWiki
After unexpected travel delays for many due to snow in Houston and mechanical problems, about 115 volunteers and staff gathered this past weekend, December 4-6th, in chilly but beautiful San Antonio, TX for the National Hosting Meeting. The tone of this meeting was very different than those in years past; the focus of the weekend was not on training (although there were basic Global Link sessions) but rather on discussing and determining processes and procedures for 2010 and beyond.
The meeting started Friday night with a welcome from Kristen Bates, Chief Program Officer -- Hosting, and Gerry Bair, Chair of the National Hosting Advisory Group (HAG). Wearing bright orange t-shirts with the tag line "Connecting Lives, Sharing Cultures," the Marketing Department launched the international branding campaign for the Hosting Department; orange is the color that represents host families in the campaign. Other new and exciting marketing plans were shared, including plans for promoting hosting with social networking. Colleagues from other departments such as Sponsored Programs, Volunteer Development and the National Council had tables with materials.
International Volunteer Day was Saturday and Hanna Lee Betz, member of the Volunteer Recognition Committee, thanked the volunteers for their hard work and commitment with a small thank you gift. Jorge Castro, Interim Partner Director, and Mary Porterfield, National Council Chair, shared the vision for AFS-USA in the 2009 Business Plan. Meeting participants then had a chance to do hands on training in Global Link, and also learn about what's new in hosting for 2010. Afterwards, HAG members Sharon Held and Kathy Good spoke about the development of the hosting application distribution pilot and answered clarifying questions. HAG members Susan Rowley and Nancy Wadley presented information about the history of our goal setting process and left participants to discuss how the system could be changed during an interactive session. Participants also discussed the hosting study and best practices in these sessions.
Sunday was all about volunteer development. Scott Hume, Director of Volunteer Development, gave volunteers a chance to select the top 4 topics that are most pressing to their teams; 9 themes in total were identified in the Team Self-Assessments gathered before the meeting. The volunteers then brainstormed specific strategies the department could focus on in 2010 to address the topics. Over lunch, outstanding hosting teams and volunteers were recognized for their work during the previous hosting cycle, to view the list of winners click here. The meeting concluded with a "Newlywed" type game show; 4 host parents and their students from the San Antonio area played. Questions ranged from "What is your favorite restaurant?" to "Which family member spends the most time in the bathroom?"
Next week, the HAG will discuss the suggestions given for the national distribution process, and will communicate the final pilot once revisions have been made. The HAG will also determine next steps for the national goal setting process. Your teams will be invited to conference calls shortly to receive updates. The Hosting and Volunteer Development Department management teams met Monday after the meeting to finalize which strategies identified during the meeting will be focused on in 2010; these updates can be viewed here.
As Albert Einstein said, “We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them." This meeting was a testament to this statement. Thanks to the HAG and the planning committee, as well as the meeting participants for making this happen! Because of the engagement and discussion by volunteers and staff during the weekend, we have the framework in place to have an improved hosting cycle which will lead us to on time quality placements for our 2,500 students. Woo hoo!
Note: Background papers and presentation materials are available for review on the Wiki.
