Conference noted::equitation

I belong to a club that although it is not a horsie-set club, it suffers 
simial problems.  They offered a graduated set of compensation for the 
amount of time donatied to the clubs events.  The biggest was getting to
go to the year end award banquet for free.  Some lower tier items were
club paraphernalia. 

Perhaps you could offer discounts to club sponsored clinics?

Dani

I've fence judged at many events -- a time-consuming, 
thankless job; however, I like to do it.  There are some 
events I wouldn't go back to if the sponsors paid me (which 
they don't).  However, Betsy Reeves at Shepley always has 
excess help, and without bribing anyone.  Her formula is 
very simple -- she's polite, treats you like the event 
couldn't happen without you (which it can't without fence 
judges), ensures you have something to drink at all times, 
and feeds you if you're there a long time.  More important, 
if you can be there for X amount of time, she makes sure 
you're relieved at X, not X plus 3 hours.  She makes sure 
everyone knows his/her job and puts experienced people with 
inexperienced ones.  She never allows her help to be put in 
awkward positions with competitors.  

Of course, Betsy has had to build up her reputation.  I'm 
sure she had trouble the first few times.  However, if you 
don't make a good impression on your volunteers the first 
time, you can be sure they won't be back again.  Everyone in 
the horse business knows events of any type take 
volunteers.  There are those that will help, and those that 
won't.  I don't believe in bribes because you'll then get 
those that are there for the gifts, not because of the love 
for the sport.  Advertise your need for help at local clubs 
(not just NEDA); people can't help if they don't know you 
need it.  And treat all your volunteers with respect or 
you'll never see them again.  Remember, they're doing you a 
favor not vice-versa.

>they don't).  However, Betsy Reeves at Shepley always has 
>excess help, and without bribing anyone.  Her formula is 


	I too have helped at the Shepley Hill Horse Trails - both setting,
   fence judging, and taking down.  Betsy is wonderful, but she never gets
   ENOUGH help!  She's always looking for volunteers!  She did tell me 
   during the fall event that she'd put a local event on every month if she
   didn't have to worry about getting enough voluteers. 

	I guess what I'm trying to say is don't assume a popular event has
   enough help... if you find you have extra time, please offer it!!  


					-Caroline	
  

    Our Gymkhana club gave nice gifts to the regular volunteers.  Each gift
    was suited to the individual (one boy likes racing model cars, so he
    got a gift certificate at the local store).  They figuered them into
    the costs of the trophys and awards for the year end banquet.  It was
    very nice and very fair!

	 Another thing that Betsey Reeves (see, another volunteer here!)
     is  require  that  competitors supply the name (and phone #) of one
     volunteer  with their entry.  You no give Betsey a name, you no get
     entered  in her horse trials.  However, she has said that you can't
     do  that  all  the  time.   The  volunteer  could  even be you, the
     competitor, volunteering time before the event.  If you submitted a
     name,  and  that volunteer didn't show up, then that competitor was
     barred  at  the  next event they were competing in.  (This actually
     happened to one person!)

	 However, to  qualify  all  the  Shepley Hill related responses,
     Betsey (or her mother) has been running horse trials for many, many
     years  (25?).   During  that time, Shepley Hill has built up a good
     reputation.    In  a  sense,  you're  dealing  with  a  chicken-egg
     situation  -  you  can't  be  good without good volunteers, and you
     can't get good volunteers if you're not good.

	 Maybe only  give  out the T-shirts _after_ the service has been
     rendered.   Yeah, it's harder to tell who is official, but...  Make
     the periods of service short, like only a few hours.  If you have a
     core  of  loyal  volunteers,  then  make  someone  responsible  for
     'overseeing' the new recruits, checking with them every 1/2 hour or
     so.   (A 'rover' in fence judging lingo).  Make a list of every job
     you  need  a  person  for,  how many hours for each shift, etc, and
     figure  out how many people you need.  Ask volunteers to find other
     volunteers.   (get  names and phone numbers) Confirm with everybody
     that  they  _will_  help.  Ask them to commit to one of the jobs on
     the  list.   Sign  them  up.   Just before the event, call again to
     confirm.  Yeah, it's a lot of phone calling, but this is the system
     that  Shepley  Hill uses to get volunteers most of the time.  Start
     early - no later than opening date.

	Enough rambling....


kmr

 Fyi: The requirement for supplying a volunteer w/Entry was for the Spring '88
      event.  I don't believe it was a requirement for either of the '89 events.

    Our local club tried requiring members to volunteer with limited
    success.  We have maybe 200 members and most of those compete so
    we ended up with either enough help and no entries, or a very
    hectic situation.
    
    What has turned out to be quite sucessful, is tapping the friends,
    husbands, parents etc of the competitors.  If treated with respect
    and made to feel indespensible, these folks really seem to appreciate
    the opportunity to participate.  Of course we give them commemorative
    stuff, food/drink, and sometimes a special volunteers hospitality
    tent.There is usually an article in the local horsey newspaper  which
    always mentions our volunteers- after all they like to see their
    names in print, too. We've also started to include a volunteers 
    division in the year end awards (with awards just like the riders get).
    
    -maureen
    

    The local dressage/eventing/driving club here in Western Washington has
    a monthly newsletter and they have a "Volunteer of the Month" article.
    They have a picture of the person and biography as well as recounting
    what they did as a volunteer.  It's pretty good publicity for someone
    in the horse business.  The club runs dressage shows, two 3-day events,
    and a carriage driving event, so people in one discipline can volunteer
    to help at one of the other types of shows.
    
    I like the idea of year end awards for volunteers.  I'll pass that one
    along out here, too.
    
    						Jan