We are pleased to announce that the 2016 Hawaii Volunteer Leaders Conference was a huge success! Check out the feedback from some of our attendees:
“Out of all the volunteer management conferences that I’ve been to locally, this has been one of the best!”
– Pauline Kawamata, Hawaii Nature Center
“Thomas McKee of Volunteer Power was very relatable and very informed about the problems we face in regards to volunteerism.”
– Kiele Tabbal, Maui Historical Society/Bailey House Museum
“I also loved Tom and Jonathan– what a gift to us that you were able to bring them. It speaks volumes about them that we hardly noticed the lack of air conditioning. They held our attention like crazy.”
– Rachel Hecksher, Maui Children’s Museum
[bctt tweet=”“Out of all the volunteer management conferences that I’ve been to locally, #HVLC2016 has been one of the best!””]
The conference took place at the King Kamehameha Resort on a typically beautiful day on Maui. We did have one hiccup: the water main at the venue broke, leaving all of us without water or air conditioning. A big mahalo to our speakers and attendees for your patience and understanding. Even the best laid plans (or conferences) can get tripped up, and everyone’s cooperation is another part of what makes the Hawaii volunteer leadership community so great!
Jonathan and Thomas McKee traveled all the way from the mainland to speak about the “New Breed” of volunteers, and their engaging presentations made learning about volunteer recruitment easy and fun. Their signature recruitment strategies, including “ECHO,” focusing on your cause, and asking (rather than announcing) for help with volunteer events, are all part of a new revolutionary approach to volunteer leadership that every organization can benefit from. Mahalo Jonathan and Tom!
In the afternoon, Jillyn Dillon, owner of Technology Aloha, spoke about the importance of strategically applying social media marketing, and the many ways that volunteer leaders can use it to recruit and retain volunteers – especially members of the Millennial generation, who we have all learned are an important group to get involved with our organizations.
We know that all of the information presented at the Volunteer Leaders Conference was a lot to take in, so that’s why all attendees were given a copy of Jonathan and Tom’s book, “The New Breed,” and Jillyn’s “Social Media Strategy” guide. Don’t forget to reference them when you’re planning your next volunteer event!
A special thanks to the County of Maui, Department of Housing and Human Concerns Director, Carol Reiman, for her warm welcome, and Deputy Director, Jan Shishido for her after lunch motivation message “All Heroes Don’t Have to Wear Capes.”
Many thanks again to our speakers, Jonathan and Tom McKee and Jillyn Dillon, and of course to all of our attendees!
