Where Did the Volunteers Go?

The importance of participation

April 16, 2024

I believe in the ASHI Chapter. Chapter participation is the primary means by which I have, for nearly 25 years, gleaned value from my ASHI membership. I owe significantly to the volunteers who came before me who ensured I was able to incorporate a steady flow of valuable, pertinent information into my business since the early days of my career. The wheels of time, however, always roll forward into uncertainty.

There is much to learn by watching trend lines. Chapters are shrinking. The average age of ASHI members is increasing. Volunteers are less prevalent.

What’s going on? It seems to me that we are experiencing a change of attitude and expectation.

Changing Times

I grew up in a time when volunteerism was expected. We got things done by rolling up our sleeves and working together for the common good. The upcoming generations have different expectations. It’s not that they’re unwilling to do their part. Rather, they want to participate, but they also value their time. It may seem more efficient to them to pay a specialist than to do what they realize they are ill-equipped to do themselves.

Some in the younger generation don’t keep their own books; they hire a bookkeeper. Some don’t cut their own grass; they hire a landscaper. Similarly, the chapter board of directors is disinclined to delegate tasks of running a seminar to its members.

The chapters who continue to rely on volunteers are folding. Those that are innovating are growing.

Why Do Chapters Matter?

A lot of what home inspectors need to know is not geographically specific. Some of it, however, is. There is not much call for training on boilers in Southern Florida, for instance. Equally important are matters of local regulations. We have not only state license laws but county regulations as well. These matters are very much geographically specific, and understanding them is critical to the inspector’s business. Who is better equipped to be aware of and understand these issues than people who live and work in the jurisdiction? What better vehicle than the chapter to synthesize and disseminate this critical information?

What is the OMG?

In January 2016, a handful of ASHI members, recognizing the value of the chapter, collaborated on a mission to share the chapter experience with inspectors who, for whatever reason, found it impractical to attend in-person meetings. They leveraged the power of web-conferencing to bring the best-known speakers to the “lectern” and attendees to the “room.” They named this innovation the Online Meeting Group. It’s better known as the OMG.

At that time, webinars were rare, and public awareness of web-conferencing was limited. Covid changed all that. Presenters embraced the efficiency, and attendees appreciated the convenience. “Zoom” became a verb. As the pandemic wound down, though, some welcomed the opportunity to return to normal. Others chose to push this new model. Out of this came compromise—the hybrid meeting.

Those who wanted to press the flesh showed up at the location, while those who enjoyed the convenience logged in.

As pioneers of this evolution, the OMG took it a step further. They invited local chapters to share the OMG training as part of their local meetings.

It seems to me that we are experiencing a change of attitude and expectation. The chapters who continue to rely on volunteers are folding. Those that are innovating are growing.

What about MAC ASHI?

Consistent with the individuality of the chapter model, each chapter that has adopted this model has done it differently. Let’s take MAC ASHI as an example.

Much discussion and experimentation went into MAC’s search for the new normal. The first compromise was a decision to hold fewer in-person meetings and more online meetings. For decades MAC held its meetings in person, with food served. Presentations (organized by volunteers) were informative, and the food was good. Some members wanted to go back to that. Others—not so much. MAC is now holding 11 monthly online meetings and four quarterly in-person meetings. They provide two hours of training at each meeting. That’s 30 hours of training each year. Dues are $145 each year. Cost of gourmet catered meals at the in-person quarterly meetings are covered by the chapter.

How do they do all that? They collaborate with the OMG. Here’s how it works. The OMG starts at 8pm ET. The first 10 minutes is a routine introduction of the process and welcome of new attendees. That rolls into a 15-minute session on a basic but important topic. That is followed by a 60-minute presentation, usually presented by a well-known expert.

The MAC ASHI meeting starts at 7:30pm in a breakout room. They have a quick five or 10-minute business meeting and then roll into a 30-minute presentation delivered by a local member. Remember, we said above that the OMG starts at 8, with training beginning at 8:10. The local meeting runs from 7:30 to 8:10. That allows for a 10-minute business meeting and 30 minutes of training. At exactly 8:10, the breakout room closes, and the chapter members join the OMG meeting already in progress, just as the training is about to start. OMG attendees get 75 minutes of training, and chapter members get 105 minutes.

Other chapters run their own local meetings in their own individual breakout rooms. These sessions are organized by the local chapters, so each one has its own local flavor. All participating chapters, though, enjoy the professionalism of the OMG speakers.

This may be difficult to envision. Think of it this way. The OMG is about to take place in the main auditorium. The chapters meet in individual rooms down the hall. Local issues are presented for and/or by local figures. At a predetermined time, all the local chapter attendees leave their individual rooms and walk down the hall to the auditorium to hear the keynote speaker. Except all this happens electronically. There is no physical building and everyone, including the presenters, is at home.

The OMG starts at 8pm ET, and it’s free. Check it out at cyberashi.org.

Opinions or statements of authors are solely their own and do not necessarily represent the opinions or positions of ASHI, its agents, or editors. Always check with your local governmental agency and independently verify for accuracy, completeness, and reliability.


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