Project HQ biz

Thought I'd fire off a quick Project HQ report from the 'field' of UMass Boston. Right now I'm gearing up to start the NTEN Webinar series for non-profit tech training in about an hour. It's running for several weeks so I'll have some more in-depth information coming next time.

Project-wise, we've been focusing on a lot of intern and service-learning recruitment to aid the Project continue to build its capacity. Thankfully without another Pre-Service Orientation (PSO) running until next summer, there is ample time to get the Project's ducks in a row to do some great things. For VISTAs looking for interns or volunteers to work on more 'capacity building' projects, I definitely suggest investigating local colleges and universities to see if any offer Service-Learning programs. Service-Learning is basically a way for students to utilize course work in real world situations. Students apply what they're learning in class to improve a specific aspect of an organization or program. From what I've come across, this includes everything from marketing to volunteer recruitment programs to Board of Directors development to systems development.

I've also been getting out of the office a little more these days thanks to you CTC VISTAs and the video doc project. I've been traveling around, doing site visits and interviewing CTC VISTAs about their work on-camera. The project is chugging along and will hopefully continue as an indefinite part of Project communications and marketing. Details can be found at www.ctcvista.org/node/1008. There's a very brief promo up on the ctcvista homepage now too.

Lastly, a big thanks to everyone keeping up on field reports and staying in contact with the Project. Seeing the sheer variety of VISTA projects and the hard work you're putting into them is easily the best part of being a VISTA Leader.