Essay: I Don't Get No Respect
"Last Christmas I got no respect. In my stocking, I got an odor-eater." - Rodney Dangerfield

Mark Richards, K1MGY, (Littleton, Massachusetts) writes:
Arriving at a certain public service event for the first time and on time, I dismally found our team "organizer" absent. We had been instructed to arrive at 0630. He arrived at 0730, unprepared and scrambling, offering no apology, explanation, or guidance. I then realized our fate as volunteers was tied to an unfolding human disaster. Those of us who gave up a Saturday and arrived on time (everyone else), had been standing around shivering, checking our calendar (maybe the event was actually tomorrow), and checking our watches. What we should have been checking for was a plan.

What was our mission and role? Who do we report to?
Not even cursory answers were provided by our leader. "He's always like this," one frequent volunteer told me. He added this advice: "Just work around him and make lemonade from the lemon." Still, I couldn't get the phrase "I get no respect" out of my head.

Cables lacking proper connectors and no mains power hampered his setup of "net control" (another term used loosely in this grim context). I'd have thrown a life ring, but he was totally unapproachable. Amidst all the foundering he exhibited a strutting self-importance, guffawing with a small minded group of enablers, and ignoring the rest of us.

The rest of us decided to stick it out to offer what we could to the event officials, staff and volunteers. I befriended volunteers at a water stop who didn't expect me nor had any idea what my role was, but I enjoyed the day cheering everyone on, while resolved to dial 911 should we need help. (The "net control station" was useless).

Fast Forward to the present:
Considerable experience as a volunteer and now as a leader have cemented in me the importance of approaching each and every volunteer with the greatest of respect and appreciation. It means not just showing up on time, but paving the way for success long before the event morning briefing. I tell my teams that a successful Amateur Radio effort on event day is a reflection of many months of pre-event communications.

Our mission and role should be no mystery to the organization we are serving.
We need to abandon the often-seen and never loved "know-it-all" attitude, and approach event officials and other volunteers as our teachers. We are there for them, not us.

When volunteers report for duty, they have a plan in hand.
They know what to expect. They are trained, follow a communications standard, recognize and support an ICS structure, know the boundaries, and therefore feel confident and - most importantly - respected for the communications quasi-professionals they truly are. "Anyone can push a button," I tell our teams. "We're communicators first, not operators. It is this distinction in which you should take great pride."

Ultimate success is a safe event, where those we serve - participants, staff and officials - have benefited from our presence.
As this happens more and more, and as I encouragingly see it in the work of others, I lighten up and have some fun. As a team leader, express your respect and appreciation for volunteers through organization, planning, keeping your commitments, communication, delegation, trust, and by expanding your own knowledge and technique. As a volunteer, work with your leaders to bring these and other concepts into practice.

With every event served, up your game.
If you're in a position of authority, remember that you represent not only yourself, but all of us. Don't blow it. Aim high and our unique and valuable Amateur Radio service will greatly benefit, and so will you.

- Mark Richards, K1MGY, Littleton, Massachusetts
[Richards serves as a member of the Boston Athletic Association Communications Committee, which supports the Boston Marathon.]

Source: www.arrl.org/ares-el?issue=2016-02-17