The Impact Gup-shup Delhi Episode

For a long time, we had been struggling to find a nice place for the Impact Volunteer get-together in Delhi. Our criteria for the place was:

A new place- not very known to Delhiites
Should have ample space for activities
Should not be too noisy
Should be close to a an eating joint

So when we visited Ugrasen ki Baoli, in November (a historic structure at Hailey Road, New Delhi, consisting of single flight of 103 steps that culminate in a now dry water tank), we immediately selected it! To add to our joy- the place had no entry fee (inspite of being a heritage point) and we got permissions to organize this event for free (which included bringing in tea)!!! 🙂

From 6th Jan, we started calling all Impact Volunteers- personally checking their availability for the date- 11th January,time-2:00 pm to 4:30 pm. Once about 10 confirmed, we prepared an invite and sent it across to all registered Impact/Non-Impact/New Volunteers. We invited someNGOs as well to talk about their programs and volunteering opportunities. By 10th we had about 20 confirmations from volunteers. Immediately we put up the invite on Facebook. We have noticed that the feeling of a group comes out more on a Facebook event page- not to forget the many kind friends we have at work and other social circles who will “join” every event we put up, just to motivate our target audience! 😛

Next, we had to prepare the agenda for the gup-shup. After discussions with the team the following is what we came up with:

2:00 to 2:15 pm- Welcome and Introductions with fun energizers
2:15 to 2:30 pm- About iVolunteer- Impact Volunteering
2:30 to 3:00 pm- Can you act “still”? – A game
3:00 to 3:30 pm- Case Studies. How have we created Impact?
3:30 to 3:45 pm- Some more games!
3:45 to 4:00 pm- Felicitation of volunteers with completed projects
4:00 to 4:15 pm- Current Opportunities
4:15 pm onwards- Cleanliness Drive- Lets clean the heritage point together!!

Since I had a meeting in the morning at another end of the city, Priyanka (my colleague) reached the place at 1:00pm itself and made the place welcoming for every volunteer who stepped in. She also checked with a tea-stall nearby for the order we had to place. Unfortunately we were not allowed to put the iVolunteer banners/posters there and were also told not to take videos! We also realized that the place was really clean that day due to which we had to drop the cleanliness drive! 😦

By 2:30 everyone had arrived and we started off our event with the usual 2-min intros and the “Sepo” energiser. Next Priyanka brought a twist by asking our volunteers to list out our programs!! Some managed to name all! We talked a little in detail about Impact Volunteering and our idea behind the whole service. The “Act Still” game engaged everyone to depict a cause of their choice. We then had case studies where 4 of our Impact Volunteers Vikram, Ramesh, Shubhangi and Abhijit talked about the project they completed/are involved in. We also got a lot of inputs and links from the group on these particular projects.

We then felicitated few of our Impact Volunteers who had completed their projects, with a Thank You Post-card. Next, we had Pradeepji from Nai Umang to come forward and talk about the help he required from volunteers. Few volunteers immediately signed up for his opportunities. Once that was done, we handed out charts listed with current opportunities for which volunteers came forth and signed up. The event concluded at around 5-5:15 pm with volunteers interacting with each other, teaming up for an opportunity together, brainstorming on their current projects and of course catching up on each others personal lives. 🙂