Monica,
I'm sorry you're having trouble applying to be a volunteer. I'm
forwarding
your message to Janice who is currently handling applications for
volunteering. Let me know if you fail to hear anything from Bookshare in
a
few days, and I'll give Janice a call. I haven't talked to her in a few
weeks, so it's possible that she still isn't back or caught up from the
holidays.
Gerald
-----Original Message-----
From: bksvol-discuss-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:bksvol-discuss-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx]On Behalf Of Monica
Sent: Monday, January 09, 2006 6:19 PM
To: bksvol-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [bksvol-discuss] Re: Number of books
Hi, Jake. I'd like to comment on something you said here, and I'm
not sure how to do it without sounding overly confrontational. My
aim is to give direct feedback rather than to assign blame
anywhere. I am new here, so I know that I don't have the same
background as many of the people on this list.
On Sunday 1/8/2006, you wrote:
Yes, getting more people involved is a big goal for 2006 I think at
least. That not only means more volunteers, but more subscribing members.
I would like to respectfully submit that the process for gaining
volunteers is not working. I think Bookshare would get more help
from its members if the process for signing up as a volunteer were
standardized. I have spent the past 2 weeks trying to get a response
regarding my application to volunteer and have not seen any response
at all. For all but the most persistent of people, this would be
enough to cause potential volunteers to spend their time and efforts
elsewhere. The application for volunteer approval dumps members with
an error message about not being able to apply because we're already
members. The email address does not acknowledge receipt of email,
and there has been no response there either. For growth to occur,
these issues need to be addressed so that there is no confusion about
a person's next step and the status of their application.
The web site needs to be fixed to detect that a current member is
filling out the volunteers' user agreement and leave them at a
submission page at the end instead of taking them onto the new member
form as it seems to now. If the approval process takes time to
complete on the Bookshare side of things, it may be helpful to send
new applicants a confirmation email, perhaps a template-style email
notifying them that their application has been received and will be
processed during the next week or month, however long it
takes. These 2 steps could improve the rate of volunteering among
current members and help new members become active in the community
as soon as possible.
Again, please understand that I am not writing this to blame
anyone. I believe that problems have to be defined before they can
be solved well. I hope my feedback is of some use.
Sincerely,
Monica Willyard
Visit my blog at: http://plumlipstick.livejournal.com
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