[mou-net] State Fair Booth
Fellow Birders THE MOU NEEDS YOUR HELP!!! The place we have to meet the greatest number of people to promote birding and the MOU is the Minnesota State Fair. For many years we have had a booth just outside the DNR building where for 12 days we have talked with birders and non-birders. The program depends upon volunteers to staff the booth for 12 hours each day. The Fair starts in 3 weeks and we are short of volunteers. We need you to step up. I have been an MOU member for 50 years and a birder for longer than that. Other than looking at birds and reading about birds, what I enjoy doing is talking with people about birds. For many years I have spent several days at the MOU booth at the State Fair, talking with experienced birders, those with a casual interest and those who are just curious. It is an opportunity for me to share my knowledge, interest and enthusiasm for birds with more folks than I do in the rest of the year combined. It is especially rewarding to talk with kids and help build on their curiosity and wonder. I will be doing my shifts again this year as will others. But we need more of you to join us. Kate Kelnberger and Jen Veith and their helpers do a great job of setting up our booth and assembling materials. But volunteers are needed to give us coverage for the 12 days of the fair. Please volunteer to cover at least one shift. You can be reimbursed for your admission ticket. Do not assume you need to be an expert. Most of the questions are not difficult. We have field guides to help them identify their mystery bird. Always popular questions are about hummingbirds, owls, hawks and wild turkeys. Given the widespread invasion of Snowy Owls this past winter, I would expect people wanting to tell us about the one they saw. With the recent news coverage about the glass walls of the new Vikings stadium and the threat to birds, I am sure there will be questions about that. It is always fun to talk with birding friends who stop by and to non-birding friends who are surprised to see you. But it is the kids who make my day. Watching their excitement as they spin the identification wheel or compare their reach to the wingspan of an eagle. These may well be the future leaders of MOU. The MOU reaches more people at the State Fair than it does in any other activity. Please join us in telling our story. The sign up contact kkelnber...@boreal.org There are always things for kids to do at the booth so bring them along. See you at the Fair! Thank you Manley Olson MOU Past President Join or Leave mou-net: http://lists.umn.edu/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=mou-net Archives: http://lists.umn.edu/archives/mou-net.html
[mou-net] State Fair booth visitor's
We would love to hear your comments, what worked, what didn't work, what do we do better next time, stories, first impressions, etc. you might have regarding your visit or staffing of the MOU booth this year. I am way to close to be able to have an unbiased opinion and I do see many areas that could be different. We only have one full day of experience with the spinning wheel, computer, new although temporary table covers, method to stretch out the handouts over the course of the entire fair, and every other aspect of the booth. First comments were that the booth was very busy, kids are flocking to the wheel, adults are engaged and entertained by the computer and, we would be more effective with at least three volunteers per shift and that the booth seems to be an easy opening to talk about MOU and what it offers birders, new birders, and unknown birders wanna-bes. Please share you insights, opinions, comments off-server-line to me at tho...@angelem.com or to Jen or Kate if you have their email addresses. We, the Education Committee of MOU, truly represent you with the intention of sharing what we do as a state-wide birding club, what we have to offer, as well as our passions and fun. Your opinion is important. I have a feeling we will get a wide range of often contrasting opinions, so please know we will hear them all and use our best judgement to implement and improve the booth for next year as well as for the rest of this year's fair. You do have a voice and we do have ears to hear what you think and say - actually eyes to read your emails (please don''t all rush to call me - my wife would like to see me come out of my home office occasionally). Thomas Maiello Angel Environmental Management, Inc. Maple Grove, MN Join or Leave mou-net: http://lists.umn.edu/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=mou-net Archives: http://lists.umn.edu/archives/mou-net.html
[mou-net] State Fair booth
If you are having any doubts about your ability to staff the MOU booth, trust me on this one - no experience necessary! No one has done the booth we are setting up and it is easy as pie to staff. You don't need to be a great or even above par or even below par birder - you just have to like birds and talk with folks who want to talk about birds. The visitors do practically all of the talking. Odds are you will be co-staffing with someone who complements you exactly so that no matter what questions anyone can come up with, you can throw out an answer of some sort. My favorite answer is I don't know! and actually for most I don't. But being a birder, I can come up with possible leads for them to find the answer - like the MOU web site, or the bird books at the table, or the other guy at the booth. The new spinning wheel part of our booth will have bird pics - common easy birds for the most part - and the folks spin the wheel to win a bird tattoo or a poster or something else. Not a very bird intellectual job at the base level. This is however not to say that you experts out there would be bored. Most folks love to hear the details and deeper look and understanding of birds they have seen or have questions about. They might whistle a bird call or give a vague description that with your years of experience can figure out. They love it and quite honestly I did to for the times I worked it out. When I do the booth, I love putting tattoos on the kids or adults that come by and the only requirement before was for them to say the name of the bird. For many it was the first time they had ever said the words. It is a huge joy to see their face when they get Ruby-throated Hummingbird out instead of just hummingbird. You make the booth by being whoever you are - as a person who likes birds. That is actually the only requirement. Except maybe a willingness to be with other birder or folks who might be interested. And perhaps it could be a requirement to have fun, to revel in connecting with a child about birds, to give a eager ear to someone's bird story, to let someone be heard about a bird they saw, to people watch till your eyes get tired. OK so that was more than just one possible requirement. Trust me here, you know more about birds than you think or you are more capable of connecting with other birders than you think. Every time I have staffed the bird booth at the fair, I have at least one life experience that I get to savor and tell others about for years. I get to smile again about it. I get to feel warm again about it. I get to feel like I give for the sake of giving again and I get to feel like I make a difference in other people's life in my own way - again. Please join me in this experience. I look forward to seeing you there and hearing your stories of your experiences. Not to mention all the new stuff we have added to make our combined experience - visitor and staff - sweet. Did I mention how good this looks on a resumá½³? Here's how: 1 Go_www.google.com_ (http://www.google.com) 2. Click Sign In on the top right hand corner of your screen. 3. Sign in using mouvolunteer as your email and ilovemou as your password 4. Click the more drop down menu item located at just about the G in Google along the top of your screen. 5. Click Calendar from the drop down menu. 6. You will see a calendar centered on today's date. Scroll through until you get to August 26th 2010 where you will start to see the MOU booth shifts in red. 7. Click on the shift that you want to sign up for. I find that clicking on the actual word Shift 1(or 2 or 3) is the quickest and easiest. 8. Write your name after shift 1, 2, or 3, in the what box at the top of the form. 9. Click save 10. Log out (on top right hand corner of the screen). OR email Jen or Thomas and tell us what shift you want. Jen Vieth: jenni...@carpenternaturecenter.org Thomas Maiello: tho...@angelem.com Thomas Maiello Angel Environmental Management, Inc. Maple Grove, MN Join or Leave mou-net: http://lists.umn.edu/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=mou-net Archives: http://lists.umn.edu/archives/mou-net.html
[mou-net] State Fair booth cheerleading
If any one is concerned that they don't know enough about birds, aren't smart enough, aren't experienced enough, wouldn't be a good representative of MOU, aren't a member of MOU so I can't, can't ID all birds yet or ID them by call, or might look stupid, or whatever other misconceptions we all share, please give me a read on holding down a shift at the MOU booth this year. I meet all of the above criteria and I love staffing the booth. I am an introvert by nature - believe it or not. No one puts me under the gun at the booth. They ask questions and if I can't answer them, I try to get the person with me to help or even another person visiting the booth. The opportunity is to share your passion for birds - not necessarily your knowledge or skill. I bet the best birders in the world sign deeply when someone asks them to ID a bird based on another person's observations. Very difficult to do and best to just say we can only guess or would need to see it ourselves to be sure (even that is often stretching the truth for me!). Staffing the booth is a hoot, just a real hoot. The greatest people in the world drop by - people who share your interest and likely your passion for birds. There were free handouts when I was there and people loved them. I got to see kids get passionate about birds just from hanging for a few minutes with adults telling bird stories and radiating their passion. Plus you get in free! There is a great fruit smoothie booth within 75 feet of the booth that I hit hard after my shift. Then there is a great coffee and chai tea booth within 125 feet that I hit before my stint. Often, depending on where the booth is, the crowds who just watched the raptor show come by with awe in their eyes and I could warm my hands and read a book by their glow! This is a wonderful opportunity to be with other birders, meet new people, share you passion, get in the fair free, and be a contribution. I enjoy birds year round and use the bird servers to share my experiences and learn and hear others share their bird experiences. This is a great way to contribute to this community and enroll others who just might make a huge difference in your life just as you might make a difference in their lives. Four hours fly by - trust me. That is why I sign up for several. I go early to visit the barns especially when the FFA kids are there. I go real early to see them tend their animals. I stay late to see the fireworks. And I eat healthy - (it is possible). Please sign up. I will join you if you wish. Or take a chance and staff with someone you get to meet. Don't miss this opportunity again. Thomas Maiello Angel Environmental Management, Inc. Maple Grove, MN Join or Leave mou-net:http://lists.umn.edu/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=mou-net Archives:http://lists.umn.edu/archives/mou-net.html
