By Tudor Barcan
We are always looking to show the world what the 180th Pacific Coast Scout Group (“Crew”) is all about! What better way to introduce Scouting than to dress up and have a social dinner? We found that our guests would have more time to get to know us in comparison to our monthly meetings where we have limited time to socialize and mingle!
Over the past month our Recruitment team worked hard to organize a dinner where we could introduce our friends to our Crew; it’s people and it’s program. With 9 guests attending, we were amazed by how far our influence had spread. Felipe, a design student who recently moved to Vancouver from Brazil, was drawn to our program because he was interested in finding out more about our personal development program. Sandy and Steve had previously been exposed to our Crew when we met them in their hometown of Davao, Philippines. That’s right. They were at our Climate Change Awareness programs we hosted in the Philippines while on our 2009 International Project and are more than eager to join our group now that they’ve arrived in Canada!
Throughout the night, many of our guests expressed interest in signing up to become involved with our organization. It was only at the close of the evening that we found out we had 9 new rovers with filled out forms, meaning 9 new volunteers for Pacific Coast Council.This is a huge accomplishment – we had 100% of our guests register for our group because of what we have accomplished and what our program offers. We left amazed knowing that every single guest we had invited had decided to join, and as our guest Matthew Kan had said, “it was a great experience and I’m stoked in the possibilities of joining!”
Be Prepared
We were successful because we had learned from past events and were prepared:
- We met in a private room at a local restaurant. The setting allowed for more privacy from the busy atmosphere of a restaurant and created an exclusive feeling for our event.
- Nametags were prepared for everyone before the event. This makes guests feel expected and welcomed.
- Registration forms were printed. If you’re there to recruit, there’s no excuse to not have forms there.
- We had a good representation of our Crew at the event; 22 members were out. This showcased to the guests our strong support for the program, and gave a 2:1 ratio of member to guest.
- We connected. Our members were encouraged to meet and connect with as many of the guests as possible. We wanted the guests to be able to walk away from the event feeling a strong connection to multiple members.
- Our speakers were prepared. They covered the Crew and it’s program in general, but were each able to give their personal story of how our program has affected their lives.
- We gave the presentation about the crew early in the evening. This sets the tone for the conversations for the rest of the evening. We’ve done the opposite before, and it didn’t work as well.
- We celebrated successes. Three of our members (who also happened to be there) recently obtained new jobs. Throughout the night we paused to explain to the crowd how each of the three has been affected by the crew, and how this lead to their new jobs.
- All of the guests showed signs of interest in what we do, some even verbally, but hadn’t necessarily committed. We asked them what concerns were holding them back from joining. It was only by bringing this to the forefront were we able to address any hesitations to close the deal.