Thanks to Deb, our Events Goddess, we all enjoyed an amazing "Novemberfest" feast. She even saved the chicken during the evacuation! From the starters of freshly made pretzels and dips to the hearty fare for dinner, a good time was had by all.
We asked folks to form groups and tell us what they hoped to gain from time bank membership, what they appreciated about the time bank and what worked/didn't. As you can see from the photos below, people hope for community and that's what they appreciate about our time bank, too. Those of us who manage the time bank rely on our talented members for all magical happenings - including quarterly events like the last one and everyday exchanges! We're beginning to think the magic is inevitable, like Death & Taxes.
Many thanks to the Moonlight Brewing Company for helping to put the fest in our Novemberfest!
The feedback about what was and wasn't working was discussed at our Admin Team meeting today. Things that work: events, reaching out directly to get help through Timebanker Talents or connecting at events. Things that don't work: difficulty getting replies to requests, help for writing attention-grabbing posts, not enough people who want to weed or do massages. We're looking to the community to help us find solutions, but we know one thing - events connect people and then requests and offers are more personal. So, it all comes back around to connection and our hopes: more casual social meet ups for coffee, games, movies. It's easier to help each other when we know each other.
You can help! We encourage our members to initiate ways to connect. One great idea was gardening groups: 4 people get together and work for a couple of hours each week in one person's garden. Voila: 8 man hours of work in one day and then you get to see/learn/help in 3 other gardens. Another one was a window washing team. So much can get done in a couple of hours! It's a lot more fun than going it alone, too.
Go ahead. Start something!