I volunteer at Dragonboat Regattas in Vancouver’s False Creek. Dragonboat racing is a popular sport in Vancouver with thousands of participants. This weekend I was driving race referees around the race course all afternoon. There was one other referee and boat driver and between the four of us we had no extra people on the water. Which meant that we spent the entire afternoon out on the water helping to run race after race.
On shore there were many other volunteers. There was an official race starter. And an official race finish officer. While volunteering for Dragonboating can be a pleasurable way to spend the day on the water, this particular day brought some of the worst May weather I have ever seen. We received downpour after downpour and it hailed not once, not twice, but three times. All the volunteers hung in there.
We felt sorry for the Dragonboat racers. This regatta had a high percentage of junior racers. Young people out for their first ever Dragonboat race. The racers raced for two or three minutes. Including time to get out to the start line, lined up, and getting back to the dock, they were out on the water for ten or fifteen minutes. Meanwhile, the volunteers stood in the rain, race after race.
Long after the racers had gone home all of the volunteers were cleaning up, putting away equipment, and tearing down the race site. I worked with the other boat driver to pull up the start line. Hundreds of feet of line, buoys, anchors, and markers. Then it all had to be coiled, taken to the dock, hauled up the ramp, and put away in lockers.
After the race, Wendy Eng, the race volunteer coordinator sent an email with these thoughts:
“In the 12 years I’ve been around False Creek during the race events I do not recall a day as wet as yesterday. I thank all of you for your hard work and positive attitude during yesterday’s race event. I hope all of you have had a good day and I’ll see you at the next race.”
A group of volunteers came together to create an experience for all those racing Dragonboats. In business, we need to come together to deliver on our marketing promises. Whether is setting up a trade show or working behind the scenes to deliver a project on time, great customer experiences are created by a team of people pulling together towards a common goal.
How have you come together?
Hi David,
Thanks for this post.
In volunteer or business situations, it’s always interesting to see how challenging conditions can make us focus on a greater goal, and drop any of our seemingly petty gripes and complaints, even if just temporarily. We seem to transcend or suspend our current disposition and initiate or contribute to a positive group dynamic.
I don’t think this works when the conditions are contrived, by management BTW. I have been on the receiving end of a trumped up crisis to many times!
Cheers,
Miroslav