Good morning.
Thursday in Whitewater will be sunny with a high of 77. Sunrise is 6:19 AM and sunset 7:30 PM for 13h 11m 25s of daytime. The moon is a waning gibbous with 99.6% of its visible disk illuminated.
On this day in 1939, Nazi Germany mounts a false flag attack on the Gleiwitz radio station, creating an excuse to attack Poland the following day, thus starting World War II in Europe.
There’s a common advertising pitch on the web that entices consumers with the promise that ‘One Weird Trick’ will produce a useful result. Here’s an example from Know Your Meme:
One Weird Trick / Doctors Hate Him refers to a popular culture trope that’s frequently used in online advertisements dating back to the late 2000s, especially with clickbait, chumbox or pop-up ads. This trope has been parodied in jokes across the internet in the form of countless memes and shares many similarities to the Trainers Hate Him format.
Click on the advertisement, buy a product or service that relies on that one weird trick, and purchasers are promised happier lives.
This libertarian blogger has no tricks, weird or otherwise, for Whitewater. Instead, some sensible advice for local organizations that have too few volunteers. A few actions, applied over a year or so, can improve recruitment and retention.
First, encourage younger members over the peers of older members. Organizations that are looking for friends or peers of older members are looking in the wrong place.
Second, young members should be given initially only moderate work assignments but prominent public placement. This is the only way to attract and retain younger, creative new members. Looking for younger people to do most of the work while older members hog most of the credit is why Whitewater organizations lack sustaining members of any age. The younger ones quit and the older ones eventually succumb to decrepitude.
People don’t join organizations to become indentured servants. People don’t join organizations to become indentured servants while older members sit in rocking chairs. People don’t join organizations to become indentured servants while older members sit in rocking chairs reading their own names splashed across press releases and websites.
Third, let the community see the new, younger members in press releases, introductions, announcements, and as emcees of events. These younger members should be the most prominent. The older incumbents in an organization should be unobtrusive, offering advice if asked but otherwise holding back. They should observe and encourage, not monopolize and dictate. (An aged organizational member can observe very well from the sidelines while peering over the cover of a large-print book or while enjoying a refresher dose of Centrum Silver.)
What will happen if an organization follows this advice — sticking with it — for a year? The hard work of a changed approach diligently applied will lead to easier work for everyone thereafter.
No tricks needed.
Funny but not funny true at the same time!!