Volunteers needed for the NSS CDS workshop 2012

I was forced... hmmmm... volunteered ;) to be the volunteer coordinator for the workshop. WE NEED PEOPLE! It will be fun to help, get to meet everyone that is there, plus make this event a huge success! You can help for a few hours, then attend the sessions, then hold another shift...

So before I get desperate and start posting pictures of myself with a bikini to attract more volunteers, here's what we need:

For Friday, May 25th:
-- 4 volunteers are needed to greet and register people during the social event that will take place at Dive Outpost. BTW if you did not know, that means excellent food from Cathy! (yes you will get a chance to grab a bite or two!)
What these volunteers will need to do:
a. Stand at entrance, check for people that have registered.
b. Sell raffle tickets
c. Greet and be cheerful!
d. Mostly standing, duration 3-4 hrs

For Saturday, May 26th:
-- 6 volunteers needed to work on 3 different shifts (3-4 hours) at the registration desk.
What they need to do:
a. Check for registered participants
b. Register new participants
c. Sell raffle tickets
d. Register participants for door prizes
e. Mostly sitting, duration 3-4 hrs

-- 2 volunteers needed to work in 2 shifts (4 hours each) hovering around the exhibitions. What they need to do:
a. Hover around the exhibitions and let participants know about upcoming talks.
b. Mostly standing, walking. Duration 3-4 hrs

-- 1 volunteer needed to help with art show. What he/she needs to do:
a. Help art show exhibitors to setup
b, Provide or help them find tools, help they may need.
c. Duration: 4 hrs. Mostly standing. This should not be continuous
work, just be there when someone from the art show needs you.

-- 1 volunteer needed to help exhibitors. What he/she needs to do:
a. Help exhibitors to setup
b, Provide or help them find tools, help they may need.
c. Duration: 4 hrs. Mostly standing. This should not be continuous
work, just be there when someone from the exhibitors you.

What is in there for you: help NSS CDS to have a great workshop! Meet people (you are probably going to meet everyone being a volunteer!!). You can help either Friday, or Saturday, or both days for a few hours!!! Let me know by PM if would like to help.

Xenia

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Originally Posted by Xenia

So before I get desperate and start posting pictures of myself with a bikini to attract more volunteers, here's what we need:

Xenia

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Waiting for pictures....

If I'm in FL in May, will help. Waiting for pictures too ;)

:roll: I am not that desperate... yet! But as we will be getting closer to the event I will be, so be patient.

Thanks Ondrej for offering to help!!! JCDdiver is this an offer to volunteer I am sensing from your post???

I've seen you in a Bikini and it was worth the price of Admission but the "Dancing Bear" suit was the best!

you have a dancing bear suit!!!! :dancingbear I can schedule this as entertainment during lunch! Thanks!

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Originally Posted by cwick

I've seen you in a Bikini and it was worth the price of Admission but the "Dancing Bear" suit was the best!

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Since you have been privy to both we will mark you down for double volunteer duty, thanks we need the help. :D

Big mistake on my post!!
The correct website to register and check the scheduled activities is: http://www.eventbrite.com/event/2848418697
I cannot type to save my life!... but apparently I can wear a bikini and do a good undies dance. ;)

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Originally Posted by Xenia

JCDdiver is this an offer to volunteer I am sensing from your post???

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I believe it is an offer for him to volunteer while wearing a bikini. my move back to the US should be complete by then...I can help on the weekend.

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Originally Posted by whodunit68

I believe it is an offer for him to volunteer while wearing a bikini. my move back to the US should be complete by then...I can help on the weekend.

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Great! Another attraction for the workshop then: JCDdiver working as a volunteer at the registration desk wearing a bikini!

whodunit68, OH, and Scottj thank you for offering to help!! We need more, we need you!! You can still attend most of the sessions of this fabulous workshop and help for a few hours Fri. and Sat. Sunday you are allowed to do anything you like (see? I am that nice!). We do not need volunteers for Sunday.

Xenia, bless your heart for taking this on. I would love to help you, but I will be traveling in late May/early June and won't be able to attend the CDS event at all :(. Count me in for the next one.

Barbara

Is the entry fee waved for volunteers? If so I can help. The whole poor, starving, student thing you know.

I will be attending Inner Space in Grand Cayman so I can't help out this time :( but please let me know when the next event is, I would really like to help out ! Hoping for a great time for everyone who gets to attend !

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Originally Posted by tecterri

I will be attending Inner Space in Grand Cayman so I can't help out this time :( but please let me know when the next event is, I would really like to help out ! Hoping for a great time for everyone who gets to attend !

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Bummer Terri! We not only wished to have you as a volunteer but also have your happy and engaging presence at the workshop. Oh well, I hope you also have a wonderful time and will see you on the next one.

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Originally Posted by cavedivingwoman

Xenia, bless your heart for taking this on. I would love to help you, but I will be traveling in late May/early June and won't be able to attend the CDS event at all :(. Count me in for the next one.

Barbara

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Barbara, I would have loved to meet you in person! See you on the next event.

So I'm guessing the entry fee isn't waved...

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Originally Posted by mfsmith1964

So I'm guessing the entry fee isn't waved...

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Unfortunately the non-profit CDS relies on people donating their time and energy to offer all of the great services, dive sites, etc.. For the price of admission there will be a strong chance of getting a door prize that will easily be valued much more than the cost of the ticket.

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Originally Posted by Bobby

For the price of admission there will be a strong chance of getting a door prize that will easily be valued much more than the cost of the ticket.

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heck, I thought that *was* the reason to volunteer!! :)

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Originally Posted by mfsmith1964

Is the entry fee waved for volunteers? If so I can help. The whole poor, starving, student thing you know.

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According to the CDS minutes(I've been going through them), the 2010 volunteers got a free pass... so there's a presidence?

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Originally Posted by SuPrBuGmAn

According to the CDS minutes(I've been going through them), the 2010 volunteers got a free pass... so there's a presidence?

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You are correct and in 2011 they did not give free tickets, there is another precedent. The workshop coordinators as well as the board members and myself are buying our tickets. For me and the coordinators it is so they have an opportunity to win a door prize. We are trying to get enough daily volunteers so that everyone gets a chance to see the exhibitors, the art show, and make a few of the presentations. If we give free entry to everyone involved then it will seriously impact the revenue that the CDS much needs to provide the services that they do such as the workshop, journal, line for exploration, gold line, etc., etc., etc..

If free entry is a major sticking point I will offer it if the volunteers agree that door prizes are not part of the entry and they give at least 5 hours of time.

Matt,
If you want to step up and volunteer for the Co-Chair position this would fill out the needs for this year and give you direct interaction with the BOD to see what is happening with the non-profit organization that you support.

Since i may well be defaulting onto the bod i will be glad to help with some tasks....Bill Huth

Thank you Bill! PM sent.

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Originally Posted by Bobby

You are correct and in 2011 they did not give free tickets, there is another precedent.

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I know, I was one of them :P and I paid for the conference(and missed quite a bit of it).

All I was saying, is that its not unheard of that volunteers get free admission.

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Originally Posted by Bobby

Matt,
If you want to step up and volunteer for the Co-Chair position this would fill out the needs for this year and give you direct interaction with the BOD to see what is happening with the non-profit organization that you support.

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I'm willing to help out with setup, registration or whatever, like I said this weekend. I do not want to be Co-Chair, I'm renewing my NSS membership, but letting my CDS membership lapse. A huge reason for this is the lack of communication between the organization and its members. I truly feel that the CDS should be the best organization and it seems to just be trying to catch up with everyone else moreso than anything else. That and one of the BOD members basically said I don't do #### and shouldn't complain, which is a kick in the nuts considering I volunteer at several events a year, contribute to the UWS, actively create better cave environments by adding signage and goldline to popular sites.

I don't feel I have to be in direct interaction with the BOD to see what is happening with the non-profit organization that I support. I feel the organization should make its worth known to its members. I want to see results, or at the very least, the strive to obtain results. However, I'm just a member, so I'm completely in the dark.

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Originally Posted by SuPrBuGmAn

I'm willing to help out with setup, registration or whatever, like I said this weekend. I do not want to be Co-Chair, I'm renewing my NSS membership, but letting my CDS membership lapse. A huge reason for this is the lack of communication between the organization and its members. I truly feel that the CDS should be the best organization and it seems to just be trying to catch up with everyone else moreso than anything else. That and one of the BOD members basically said I don't do #### and shouldn't complain, which is a kick in the nuts considering I volunteer at several events a year, contribute to the UWS, actively create better cave environments by adding signage and goldline to popular sites. I don't feel I have to be in direct interaction with the BOD to see what is happening with the non-profit organization that I support. I feel the organization should make its worth known to its members. I want to see results, or at the very least, the strive to obtain results. However, I'm just a member, so I'm completely in the dark.

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Typically members in an organization are similar to shareholders in a corporation (not a publicly traded one where you get a daily update as to how things are going via the share price). The shareholders delegate responsibility for running the organization to a management group, in the case of the cds a board of directors (BOD) with the expectation that the management group will take actions in the member’s best interests. When that fails it is known as an “agency problem” and there has been a good bit of effort put forth trying to understand that problem along with how to incentivize management to avoid it and act in the best interest of shareholders. In the case of a volunteer management there are few incentives that can be manipulated other than relying on the good judgment of the membership to engage in the election process and push forward candidates whose interests are aligned with the membership. So in the case of the CDS it is a member driven election process that results in the agencies management and if there is an “agency problem” then the way to fix it is through the election of BOD members and that is a “membership” issue not a BOD issue. Members should both volunteer to run for election and members should support and encourage other members who are like minded to elect BOD members whose interests are aligned with theirs.
In this last iteration of the CDS management process, a call for candidates for BOD membership went out and interested members were asked to come forward and put together platform statements so that members could judge how well that candidate’s goals and objectives aligned with their vision for the organization and then vote accordingly. I put myself forward as I felt that it was time to give back to the agency in a meaningful way and I put together a platform statement only to find that I was running unopposed as no one else came forward. Observing the internet based public crap that many BOD members endure it is not surprising that there are few stepping forward as members like you are actually discouraging members from involving themselves. As the organization moves forward (I guess without you since you are cancelling your membership) I would be happy to bring forward member issues and would hope that everyone engages to make the CDS the force that it should be in aquatic cave management/access, diver training, conservation, research, and education.

Paraphrased, join the BOD or shuddup, got it.

I guess I'm just not happy with how my share prices are going(this IS a publicly available agency), so I'm selling out.

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Originally Posted by wingman

As the organization moves forward (I guess without you since you are cancelling your membership) I would be happy to bring forward member issues and would hope that everyone engages to make the CDS the force that it should be in aquatic cave management/access, diver training, conservation, research, and education.

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Goodluck Bill, I'll happily rejoin when I see that the CDS is a force striving to be the force it should be(the best) in "aquatic cave management/access, diver training, conservation, research, and education". Thats all I want. Unfortunately, as just a member, I don't see the action, nor am I in the position to to hear about how the governing body is striving to achieve any of these goals(atleast moreso than the mediocrity level) aside from very vague(and seemingly empty) promises.

If I can't see results, I atleast want enough transparency to see that results are being sought out.

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Originally Posted by SuPrBuGmAn

Paraphrased, join the BOD or shuddup, got it.

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That was not the intent of what i wrote and sorry you took it that way.

Jus sayin...let a BOD member know your concerns and ideas for improvement. I think that you communicate very well and i certainly hear (in a G. Saunders Megaphone kinda way) what you are saying about communication and transparency...I will try to do what can be done to help communicate what's happening. What do you think about putting together a "Member Comment" process? Also would be glad to hear of any additional information transfer ideas you or others might have. Thanks for wishing me luck, hope I don't need it though.

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Originally Posted by SuPrBuGmAn

Paraphrased, join the BOD or shuddup, got it I guess I'm just not happy with how my share prices are going(this IS a publicly available agency), so I'm selling out.

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http://www.darron.net/forum/images/ban_him.jpg

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Originally Posted by SuPrBuGmAn

I'm renewing my NSS membership, but letting my CDS membership lapse.

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Maybe they'll let us join in tandem - I want to belong to the CDS, but I don't like being forced to pay an even higher amount to belong to the NSS, in which I have no interest.

Seems like a thrice a year member's newsletter sent via email, or posted on various forums (and the cds website of course) that lists the activities of the past four months would increase member awareness. clean-ups, workshops, money donated to causes (if any), BoD meetings that took place, etc. could be included. Just a short one-page thing even. Perhaps add it to the UWS. I realize the UWS publishes reports, but sometimes that takes an author and one page list is sometimes better at getting the message across. it also look ahead four months and list what is coming up. At the very least members would not be able to say the BoD was not telling them what they were doing. and it does not hurt to sometimes say "nothing done these past 4 months." but i doubt that would be the case.

skip

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Originally Posted by wingman

That was not the intent of what i wrote and sorry you took it that way.

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I have no qualms with trying to understand what you replied, help a brotha out?

I read, the CDS is organized in a way that the members entrust the BOD to make all the decisions. If you don't like something, you either become one of the BOD or vote another member into BOD with a similar viewpoint. You said yourself that our options are few, for BOD, and as a result you ran unopposed. I'm not currently willing to put in enough time to be a worthwhile BOD member myself, just way too much going on. Later? Maybe. Just not right now. I volunteer when I can and spend the rest of my free time diving or whatever else.

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Originally Posted by wingman

Jus sayin...let a BOD member know your concerns and ideas for improvement.

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The answer I get is overwhelmingly, join the BOD. I don't mind quoting several instances of this :)

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Originally Posted by wingman

I think that you communicate very well and i certainly hear (in a G. Saunders Megaphone kinda way) what you are saying about communication and transparency...I will try to do what can be done to help communicate what's happening. What do you think about putting together a "Member Comment" process? Also would be glad to hear of any additional information transfer ideas you or others might have. Thanks for wishing me luck, hope I don't need it though.

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This is the age of electronic communication :) An email once a month would seem to be incredibly easy to formulate and would be far more widespread than 4 isolated BOD meetings a year in person(and 4 month old minutes on the CDS website for anyone who couldn't make it) or quarterly UWS magazines. I would greatly like to see a monthly email letting folks know whats cookin at a bare minimum.

I'm not sure why this hasn't been adopted. Even a Facebook page for the organization(it had one at one time I thought) would seem to be a helpfull way to show the members the value of the agencies continuing persuit for its goals(unless of course there is nothing going on, in which case, it looks bad). Twitters popular now too.

I believe the only thing that stands in the way of any of the suggested plans, is a volunteer willing to commit (regularly, and for an extended period of time) to the time and work involved in doing this. I believe space on the website is no longer an issue.

Hell, I'll do a once a month email for the CDS, but whoevers actually doing anything within the CDS will have to come off it, so it can be communicated to the rest of the membership.


IMO, this would go a long way with the CDSs strategic goals for summer of '12 by "increasing caver outreach" and increasing membership renewal rate(by showing them the value of their membership). Also it will "increase the scope and quality of Member Services", by including them in whats happening and not keeping them in the dark. All in all, that increases "organizational effectiveness" and ensures "long-term success and viability as a membership-based non-profit".

Quotes are from BOD minutes, if anyone is interested...

All great ideas, but is anyone moving on it?

With that zeal and time to spare, the only thing missing is a renewal ! ;-)

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Originally Posted by Skorpiov

With that zeal and time to spare, the only thing missing is a renewal ! ;-)

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Sounds to me like we might have something here, i can give up my position to MAtt and he can move the org forward, else we might be able to collaborate, i will develop a blog and Matt can provide social media feeds and a monthly summary. Members will literally have their fingers on the pulse of the organization, oh brave new world.

You take the position, I'll put out a news letter/email(given some content?), and I'll renew if there ends up being content...

I dont mind him sending a news letter, or being a dive buddy, but represent me? Matt? Seriously? ;-)

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Originally Posted by SuPrBuGmAn

You take the position, I'll put out a news letter/email(given some content?), and I'll renew if there ends up being content...

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Content can definitely be generated...i think we have a deal.

I think Mat will do an excellent job in this position. He is motivated to know the information himself and has enthusiasm. I look forward to his emails.

While he will have to take some initiative to get the information, I truly hope the officers and committees make an effort to help make this successful. It is a great thing for the CDS.

Thanks Mat

Good for you Matt stepping up.

It's easy to complain but to actually do something about it takes work. I'm sure you will do a good job with it.

Thank you all that volunteered to help so far! It always amazes me how cave divers are such a great community (I don't care what others say) and volunteer to help a non profit organization without looking only at the returns (which are great in my opinion! )

Here are the people I have so far:
Screen name Name Days to help
1. scottj or Scott -- Sat.
2. whodunit68 or Steve -- Sat.
3. BobK or Bob -- Fri., Sat.
4. moody or Moody Shwales -- maybe driving from Canada?
5. wingman or Bill -- Sat.
6. sandy or Sandy Robinson -- Sat.
7. Sludge or Russell -- maybe?? please join! you are going to miss out!!

I will need a few more... at least 4!! So please step up, make this workshop great and enjoy yourselves... and get your name on the program for the valuable help you offer.

Oh and as I promised, here is a bikini picture:
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-y...0/100_1621.JPG

Nice! I just may have to volunteer now.

Dave

I volunteered to help Bobby. Please don't let him post a picture... ;-)

Bobby is a lucky SOB ;)

Why thank you Shirley! ;-) Should I post a bikini picture now?

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Originally Posted by sskasser

Bobby is a lucky SOB ;)

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The depths of which most don't know and will never understand... :D

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Originally Posted by Skorpiov

Why thank you Shirley! ;-) Should I post a bikini picture now?

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Absolutely!

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Originally Posted by Bobby

The depths of which most don't know and will never understand... :D

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Braggart! ;) She is awesome, no doubt!

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Originally Posted by Xenia

7. Sludge or Russell -- maybe?? please join! you are going to miss out!!

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It's killing me, but I'm going to have to miss out this year. I've never made three workshops in a row, and I thought this would be the year I did.

I'll catch as many of you as possible at the CDF Social in July!

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Originally Posted by Slüdge

It's killing me, but I'm going to have to miss out this year. I've never made three workshops in a row, and I thought this would be the year I did.

I'll catch as many of you as possible at the CDF Social in July!

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Would posting a picture of Skorpiov or Loquat help?

So loquat149 is there some volunteering in your post??

Thank you jcook and bcpfire for offering to help! We have seven now, still need another 3.

I think the picture helped... the things I do for the NSS-CDS... :roll:

PS. Maybe to attract ladies volunteers I should post a picture of Bobby with a speedo wrestling GI3 on jello... or jelly? hmmmmmmmm

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Originally Posted by Xenia

So loquat149 is there some volunteering in your post??

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Sure, PM sent.

Dave

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Originally Posted by loquat149

Sure, PM sent.

Dave

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Hey if you're going to be up there the entire weekend we can do a little diving. I need to get the side mount rig out and play with it. Let me know if you are up for it and we will set it up.

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Originally Posted by K Mejean

Hey if you're going to be up there the entire weekend we can do a little diving. I need to get the side mount rig out and play with it. Let me know if you are up for it and we will set it up.

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Sounds good, Ken.

Dave

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Originally Posted by Xenia

I will need a few more... at least 4!! So please step up, make this workshop great and enjoy yourselves... and get your name on the program for the valuable help you offer.

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I think I mentioned a few times already that I'd help, am I suddenly not wanted? :)

Awww Matt, of course you are wanted! Especially since you were voted Mr. May!!

Sorry I missed your offer to volunteer. See you at the workshop.

Sent from my SCH-I510 using Tapatalk 2

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Originally Posted by loquat149

Sure, PM sent.

Dave

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cool, see you there.