Production Manager's report: Spring 2003
Hey guys,
Here is the first ever garden manager's email. So even though Jean and I had no charisma at that meeting today I thought it went really well. The Garden has gotten big enough that just Jean, Chris and I can't handle it. We need everyone's help, so we really wanted to breach 3 topics: Leadership positions, Workgroups and Projects. And we did! We've got a start. I have put together a rough draft plan of what our management structure will look like.
So the way I see we have two major objectives in the garden. 1)To have fun 2) To keep it going. And 1 will take care of itself if we take care of 2.
Let's start off with what we volunteered for.
-Akong and Jon volunteered to be our Facilities Boys. That means they will generally oversee the construction and maintenance of our infrastructure. That includes Shed, Greenhouse, Water System, Compost Bins, Root Cellar, Tools, Chairs etc. anything that helps us do what we do out there. Your job is to make sure everything works. This means you.
-take some of it on yourself (compost bins, water system)
-help "project gurus" do what they do (Chris Ahern on Chairs and Rich Root on Root Cellar) without taking the projects over (I think that mainly means answering questions about how to do this or that)
-Harvest Manager for the rest of the Fall is Jean. Amber volunteered to take that on in the spring for next year (I think that's what she meant). The Harvest Manager's duties include:
-Keeping the Garden Growing and Nice to Be in.
-Also s/he takes orders from customers and prods them to buy what we have ripening.
-Delivery, invoices etc.
-Volunteer Coordinator is Susannah Patty! This will be a constantly evolving job but the way I envision it, the duties include:
-Cataloging and maintaining Rolodex of Garden Friends.
-Contacting Specific volunteers when we need them.
-Generally overseeing the Workgroup system (very low-maintenance at best) This means just getting it set up in fall and spring. It will run on its own.
-Coordinating Large Volunteer sessions that we need beyond regular workgroups.
-General Manager is me. I do things like send this email. I make sure all of our bases are covered.
-Making sure the "organization" works smoothly and tweak it when it needs it.
-Pitching in wherever and whenever it's needed
-Major Student Liason between College Administrators and The Garden as an Organization. Teams up with Farmer Advisor on this count.
-Making sure all projects follow vision as outlined in our Constitution
-Keeper of Constitution and Vision
-Keeps the Grand To-Do list
-Recruits people for management positions and makes sure they're filled.
Positions we need but haven't Filled:
Public Relations
-Website maintenance
-Press Releases
-Makes us Visible
-In charge of invitations and thank-you's
Business Manager
-Manages our accounts and makes projections for future costs/incomes.
-Records and maintains hours-worked count at Garden
-Collects receipts and submits them
-Manages Payments of other Garden Managers jointly with SGA-FC and CCAL
-Consults on garden investments
Capital Campaign Manager
-charged with creating and growing our endowment to pay for wages for farmer advisor and student managers and growth of garden that isn't covered by SGA Finance Comittee.
Spiritual Liason
-communicates with Spirits who make our garden grow.
-keeps, prepares and conducts spiritual matters at garden. Ie. initiates circles at meetings, says general prayers for garden at meetings, sings
Don't forget theFarmer Advisor
-Helps out in the garden, giving opinion on everything from how to plant garlic to greenhouse construction.
-Advises on all matters in and out of garden.
-Acts as a Liason between Garden and College Administration.
-Ultimately a Paid Gig.
So that's what I see our management structure looking like. Ultimately we will function as a flexible ring of folks who know how to get stuff done and just do it. We will get paid for our time. We lean on each other heavily, but come up big when it's needed. We create something amazing, together. We talk.
Beyond these positions we have lower obligation, unpaid positions that are the
Workgroup Captains
-organizes groups from 2 to 200 people to work in garden on their day. Mainly that means emailing the management team (us!) with requests for work, relaying that to their workgroup a day or two before they go out via email or phone or snail-mail and keeping them pumped. Could include team name (ie. the gazelles) and song, tshirts, nudity, mud, double digging competitions vs. other workgroups etc. Will definitely be fun. Tells Harvest manager how many people to expect.
Workgroup Members
-makes a loose commitment to come to the garden on a regular basis with a group of folks. (generally once a week- could be biweekly, could be more)
-receives emails from workgroup captain day before going out with jobs in the garden to be done.
-Gets pumped to be a part of the Coolest Club on Campus
-involves lots of the stated above ruckus.
-tells manager if he can make it
The Workgroups are how we understand organizing 50-100 people who want to pitch in regularly. We are all a part of it because we all work out there. In addition to this simple organization of labor, we have Project Gurus who are in the workgroups but have a specialty they want to work on. Anyone can be a project guru.
Project Guru
-Takes on a project that thrills them.
-makes it happen with help of garden managers
-Gets friends to help out or talks with volunteer coordinator to get people to help with the project.
General notes:
-CSA management seems like a lot to take on and I don't know who will want to do it. So why don't we just make a very specific arrangement with each commons when we sign contracts that outline the responsibilities of both parties. Ie. The cook commons pumpkin arrangement was a step in the right direction but still too vague. How many pumpkins and on what date? (if possible) We should specifically say: you must contact us 2 weeks before your event to check on availability of produce and to allow us to prepare and plan. That will keep it simple. Then they only need to contact the harvest manager and it's mediated that way. Not with us running around catering to them or in the dark about what they want. Then if they don't call us, it's their fault. Just another donation for us.
-Should we have an Events coordinator? Or will we all pitch in on that?
-We don't have to get stuck in our own management cubbies. I expect we will all end up helping in each other's projects as we go along. It will be fun! We're a real team!
-It seems like we've got a lot of spaces to fill, but I'm confident that we have the people power to fill them. People love the GARDEN!
Well Rock on. This is a Draft. Positions will become more clear as we continue. Email me suggestions.
Peace! Excitement! I'm off to Saugerties. I'll bring back some Garlic.
Bennett