THE BUSINESS OF VOLUNTEERING (part1)

This is the first in a series of discussions that we will be having on The Business of Volunteering (TBV).

A few months ago when I signed up for an international event as a volunteer, the first thing I told myself was "don't expect to get paid". Of course volunteering means offering your services toward a cause without necessarily getting paid for it however, you may sometimes have the privilege of being given an allowance.

My first day on the job, I had high expectations on the level of organization as such I expected everything to be and fall in place. Little did I know that for my hub, a lot of initiative would be required from the part of the volunteers? Firstly, my hub manager appeared more of a project person than an events person and this was evident from the day before when we went for the volunteers meeting and there was no volunteer brief nor anything until a different hub manager came to the rescue. Interacting with her taught me that it is important to know each person's abilities in the event chain and assign roles to individuals based on that. While she is a more detailed person, my hub manager is a more pragmatic manager and this showed when an event partner did not show up for their event for which there were already guests. If my manager had followed-up with them, he would have been able to monitor them and know if and when they would be coming.

Other areas of the event at my hub showed gaps for example, the guest list was not provided which meant guests came in anonymously but for the creativity adopted on the part of my team and I at the registration point. I was assigned there because, after interacting with me, she ascertained that I would be the ideal person for that team and was she right! Though the day ended well, I never stopped wishing I had worked with the other lady instead. Though we might have to do more work and be on our toes for most of the period, it would have sharpened us however, where I thought my lessons would be wasn't where I found them.

The major lessons I learnt today have to do with first identifying skills and abilities of people you are working with or assigning duties to; being detailed in your work and planning yet, flexible enough to adapt to change while being pragmatic on a solid foundation of proper planning is not a bad idea in itself. Also, I learnt to identify opportunities for tutelage and encourage same though I admit I must learn to be more patient with people under tutelage. Finally, I learnt that different personality types exist and human resource is the most difficult and dynamic of all resources to be managed thus, wisdom is profitable to direct.

What exactly is volunteering and what does it entail? Look out for TBV2!

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'Now That #SMWLagos is Gone'

18th - 22nd February, 2013 will forever go down the annals of history as a week when the city of Lagos hosted the first Social Media Week to ever grace the African continent. The event brought together thought leaders, creatives, entrepreneurs and everyday citizens from Nigeria, Africa and the diaspora thereby creating avenues for a global conversation which critically examined the social, cultural and economic impact of the New Media on different sectors of society. The event also explored how people and organizations are connecting to share new ideas and information.

Founded by Toby Daniels in the United States, the Social Media Week was conceived as a means to find out how technology has been changing the way people connect and communicate. It started in New York City in February 2009 with over 2,500 people attending over 40 events and many more participating online. This fifth edition was simultaneously held in nine other cities around the world.

Themed "Open and Connected: Principles for a Collaborative World", the duo of Obi Asika, founder of Dragon Africa and Ngozi Odita, founder of Society HAE submitted a bid and eventually had their proposal accepted for history to be made and so over five days, about 110 events held in the city of Lagos with the private sector fully participating through headline sponsorship and partnerships.

Though having the privilege of a serving minister and commissioner in attendance, an event of this importance requires more participation from the public sector as certain issues relating to governance and social media were top of discussions. In fact, our tertiary educators must involve themselves in such global event as researchers now beam their search light on the impact of social media on various aspects of our education both in theory and practice.

It is no surprise therefore that at the PEGS (politics, education, governance and society) hub of the SMWLagos, academics spotted at the event were from the private tertiary institutions which understand and thrive on a strong chord of town and gown relationship.

SMWLagos has come and gone, lessons have been learnt and though Jason Gilbert of the Huffington Post writes that the SMW is a conference in which "people with a lot of Twitter followers brag about how many Twitter followers they have to a room full of people with fewer Twitter followers", April Rudin, founder of The Rudin Group is of the view that the joy of the SMW world over, is in the synergy created between the corporate sector and the social media world.

For Nigeria and her world of communicators whether students, professionals or academics, the SMWLagos especially that of 2014 is one event that we should embrace with a view to achieving our journalistic goals of promoting social media ethics and etiquette.