SociaBulls: The Walks Still Go On

So, thanks everyone for thinking of us during our unexpected hiatus. Things are fine with all of us (sorry to scare anyone), but we had to take on an unexpected project that has kept us working night and day and away from our computers.

While it has also kept us away from our last two  SociaBulls walks, long ago we developed a system where the walk planning and coordination does not depend on any single person. Even if something unexpected comes up, the walks still go on.

Board Members:

We have an amazing set of Board members who work behind-the-scenes to make sure everything flows smoothly. I work with Maize's person to set up the walks each week. Once members sign up on the site, we pull the information into a Google Document where we can see which dogs signed up for the walk, determine if we have enough dog less walkers (and send out a request if we don't), and set up the pack order. 

Zoe and Willie & Nabi's people are our amazing New Member Coordinators. They work with the new member applications, coordinating when they will be coming for their orientation walk and dog less walks, and finding them a current member partner to walk with when they attend the walk.

It sounds a bit complicated to explain, but thanks to all of us just filling in the information in Google Documents each week it has become much easier. We also know how to 'sub' for someone if they have things going on that week.

Dogless Walker Responsibilities:

In the beginning I thought I had to attend and lead every single walk, but now we've learned how to designate responsibilities to the dog less walkers on the walk.

Once we have designated the pack order in our Google Documents, I send out on email including the pack order, reminding everyone of the rules and designating specific roles for the dog less walkers.

Some of the roles include: coordinating a "dog less walker huddle" to make sure we have walkers spread out throughout the group, reading the pack order,  and deciding when/where to have the water break. We also assign back-ups for these roles in case someone is stuck in traffic or can't make the walk for some reason.

It functions really smoothly since everyone knows what's expected.

Weather Watchers:

One of the hardest things is deciding whether to call a walk off in case of bad weather. Each walk we rotate the responsibility within the group and we assign 2 people to become our "weather watchers". We include it in the main email, and we send them a separate email with one another's email addresses so they can determine the best way to communicate. They watch the forecast the night before and that morning they need to decide by a designated time whether they are canceling the walk and they email one of the board members so we can put it on our Facebook page to alert our members. 

Also:
Real life.

Overheard.
Join our Chicago SociaBulls  Facebook page for more photos and information about group walks.