I got into supering a Habitat for Humanity project that is coming up starting in june/july and looking for some input, words of wisdom or pitfalls to look out for.
I worked on a couple in the Noth Bay area about five years ago and they had a hard time with volunteers and thievery (not volunteers).
Anybody super one of these? On the last ones I showed up and banged walls together along with a couple other carps, only about three to four volunteers and the family.(hauled studs, nails, cord and hoses, misc.)
I am told to be expecting 30 volunteers ??? What the hell can I do with em all? If they show up.
I guess its the effort that counts, but the thought of some random dude hacking 2x4s with the Mag77 scares the heck out of me.
Any advice?
Replies
I was the occasional lead carp on a 4 unit duplex in CA. They got the word out and when framing began, they had 30 odd volunteers framing. It's up to you to sort out who's used a saw before and delegate accordingly. I was put in charge of plate/stud/header layout. My first time for that and I was the most experienced! I remember several studs being toe-nailed in later to line up with sheathing and rock joints.
Biggest errors I remember seeing on these on-slab duplexes: didn't run the rigid gas line before sheathing, didn't run all the I-joists same direction so some knockouts didn't line up, and didn't back prime the trim.
If you get all 30 volunteers, break them up into 5 person groups. put one lead person in charge and assign the group a task based on what that lead person knows how to do. Reduce the size or number of crews by the number of volunteers you actually get, but try not to have over 5 lead people to deal with.
Use any real carpenters for layout, lead men, quality control, and safety watchers. Just like any framing crew, you can have groups building headers, tees, os corners, etc.. Keep one crew in rotation for clean up. With that many people a site can get really trashed in a hurry. Keep it clean,keep it safe.
Your local Habitat chapter should have a building protocol written for you to use. They have done this thousands of times across the country and can give you plenty of guidance. Do your home work with their material, both written and actual job site stock. Be prepared before the herd arrives and you become a real leader. Show up a little behind the curve, and all you are going to do is lead a stampede :), BTDT.
Dave
Thanks Dave, Read the whole buider info pkg. from H4H it may be a local thing but there wasn't too much info. I am looking forward to it and had a great time on the last ones, just had tools stolen out of the back of the truck while working. Happens i guess.....
I lost some hand tools that I loaned out during the day on one job. Was pleasantly surprised when they were delivered by courier to the office complex I work the very next Monday. The other corporate sponsor had good people volunteer. A couple of hammers, a pinch bar, chalk line and 2' level all arrived with a cover letter saying thanks, and how much fun the users all had.
Dave
I make an effort to keep track of my tools, and stop every hour or two to collect those that have wandered off.The big problem comes near quitting time, when there's a mass scramble to get stuff packed up and put away. (Yeah, this happens on regular jobs, but not a tenth as frenzied.) It's best to plan ahead a bit and have gotten most of the stuff under control before then.
If Tyranny and Oppression come to this land, it will be in the guise of fighting a foreign enemy. --James Madison
We had so many volunteers on that job, that they only did 4 hours shifts. I was there two days, so my crew count went to almost 20 people over that period. The "fire drill" took place after the noon break, or was suppose to. It looked like a corporate family renuion, with people wandering in and out, finding their name on the crew list, sharing personal tools (and mine), and trying to get the "free lunch". Almost the same thing at the end of the day with a stampede to go home.
I just ask the super and a H4H rep to contact the people on my list to get my tools back. They never got the chance. All my stuff arrived early Monday morning by courier. Still kind of amazes me at the level of honesty, when I think about it.
Next two I did I limited the number of tools I loaned out, and ask the users to sign a tool list with the tool they had and their phone number. They all came home that evening,...no problem. I probably didn't need to do that, with only two differnt groups of volunteers, over two days, but I was a little nervous after the the big exodus earlier.
Most of the Habitat jobs here are done in urban renewal areas. It can be a whole block under going renewal, or just a few lots on a block. In either case keeping your truck locked up is a given. Everyone is told right away to look around them and try to remember the faces of those they don't already know. If they see a "new face" wander in, report it to the super. There were incidents reported of neighbor helping themselves to tools and material durring many of these inner city projects.
Dave
I don't usually take many of my own tools. I wear my small belt (with one pocket-cluster). Mostly just take small things like a hammer, tape measure, util knife, etc.
They lock everything up in a POD at the end of the day (I take mine home).jt8
"The difference between greatness and mediocrity is often how an individual views a mistake..."-- Nelson Boswell
To All, I got swamped with calls and work stuff this morning, I 'preciate all input and will respond tonight. Just checking email during lunch and got fifteen BT messages! BTW, dropped in a phone line and cable modem line to the jobsite with one of the small wireless MAC things. Man this is nice, mobile truck office and I can turn service over to the HO when done, seamless install and they love it!
I take a load of tools, since I prefer using my own, and since they're often lacking the ones I need. I also take my bucket of screws and nails, and that saves a lot of time vs digging around for the right fastener.
Of course, I keep the stuff I'm not using locked up, or within sight.
If Tyranny and Oppression come to this land, it will be in the guise of fighting a foreign enemy. --James Madison
Edited 5/12/2006 5:19 pm by DanH
I like your "prep before" comment instead of leading a stamede, good point. I am doing so and am a planning freak so things generally go well. I used to work for a GC who did his own framing and when I showed up on a mon after reviewing plan over the weekend with a cutlist for windows/doors/headers/posts/specials and rake, at the end of the day he bumped me up 5bucks an hour. Plan good, show up and ask what are we doing, bad. Thanks
The trick is to quickly sort out the folks based on competence and ability to follow directions and/or ability to work with minimal direction. You can usually tell a lot by watching how confidently people work, and how much care they seem to be putting into things. Just don't assume that because someone is slow they're incompetent -- they may be simply putting more thought into the work (plus of course most do not have the experience/skill to allow them to work as pro speeds).
There will inevitably be some screwups, but the labor is "free", so the problems can always be fixed if you catch them soon enough. Just make sure that someone competent is checking that everything is square/level/plumb.
Yeah, trying to avoid the "running around like a head with my chicken cut off" (pun intended).
Keeping an eye or everything and keeping safety in mind is a huge concern for me.I have tought a lot of Red Cross and Heart Assoc. CPR back in the military so the different speeds of people learning and understanding is something I have worked with before and don't mind it actually. I hated it at first but it was a weekness of mine so it forced me to deal with it and learn patience and communication on different levels.
I've done a few (not as super). Pick your projects for the day (install windows, build front deck, roofing, painting, etc.) Ask for people with experience to step forward and lead a group, I usually volunteer for this. The unskilled people usually know their weaknesses and volunteer for a task that they can handle. Make sure the groups are small enough so that there isn't a cluster**** which can get dangerous when the circular saws come out. BTW: I leave my worm drive at home for these projects. You circulate and offer tips and make sure everyone is working safely.
This is all great advice. Dave had it right....divide up the mob into smaller groups with anyone with experience as a leader. Our houses are built on slabs so wall layout is first. This should be done 1 day before build. If you have the time, lay out some plates. Very few volunteers can correctly layout a plate and this causes many problems later. As Dave said, one crew to make corners, one crew to make returns, one crew to make headers (watch the layout here).
If you are lucky enough to have premade walls (or unlucky as the case may be), have the walls clearly laid out on the slab.
But most of all...keep it safe. The house may not be built in a day but it will get done.You get out of life what you put into it......minus taxes.
Marv
Maybe I'll whip out my rebuild handsaw....LOL. I am a lefty so wormdrives are comfortable to me so that's all I own 'cept for a Panasonic cordless.
First HFH project I was on I heard a racket and looked and saw a guy in a fight with a 2x10 using my milwaukee sidewinder as a weapon. I had to stop and set up a cutting area and show the guys how to support the piece and set the saw depth and all that basic stuff. I put one guy in charge of cuts and things got better. I'm not a professional but I learned to use tools at a young age. It's incredible how dangerous some guys are. Be careful.
"With every mistake we must surely be learning"
You've already had some good advice. I've volunteered for a few Habitats and have seen everything from a couple people showing up to a crowd of probably 30 or more. Especially good turn outs on the weekends (obviously). I think the biggest factor to turn out depends on who the sponsors are. Some sponsors get the word out better than others.
You're going to get the full range of folks, and I mean that in just about every sense of the word. When the big groups show up, I'm guessing 20% are probably just there to say they were there. That 20% won't do crap..just stand around, talk, and eat the free food. This is the only group I dislike. As for the other 80%, find something for them to do. You will have people who have never picked up a hammer in their life, but are real eager to help. Put them to work.
Well organized inexperienced folks mulitiply the effectiveness of the experience folks. They can feed materials to more experienced people, they can clean up the site, they can move supplies, they can hold the other end of something, and if you have someone to show them, they can do basic construction stuff. You'd be surprised at how rewarding Joe Never-picked-up-a-hammer finds it when someone actually shows him how to do something (doubly true for women).
Don't be afraid to use them for mundane things...they are there to help and would rather fill a hole with sand than stand around. Also don't be afraid to over-man jobs. If you've got the bodies, go ahead and use them. For instance, I can remember one where they were doing the roof (1 story ranch with about a 4-in12 roof). I would guess they had about 12-16 no-experience folks, 1 roofer, and 1 handyman type. On either side of the roof you had 2-3 no-experience people laying out chalk lines. Meanwhile on either side of the roof you had a crew of 4-5 putting down shingles. IIRC, 1 nailed it, 1 slapped it down, 1 fed the slapper, and 1-2 fed him/her. The handyman was on one of the shingle crews and the roofer bounced back and forth between the groups to make sure everything was going down right. Occasionally there was a glitch, but for the most part those pancake compressors had a hard time keeping up.
If you're supervising, then don't get bogged down in one spot. I've seen supervisors who started working as if they were a crew chief...meanwhile they've got 1/3 of their people standing around looking for something to do.
As you can probably tell, I like Habitat. I think of it as a "hand-up" rather than a "hand-out" and wish we had more things like it.
jt8
"The difference between greatness and mediocrity is often how an individual views a mistake..."-- Nelson Boswell
I didn't realize you were a fan of H4H. (Or I'd forgotten it)I've worked on a couple of the houses in Springfield. I enjoyed it, but everything was awfully disorganized. I was involved in an effort to get a H4H chapter set up in Macoupin county. But it fell through, as we couldn't get enough people interested.If you ever work on a house again, let me know and I'll see if I can make it up there.
Does the name Pavlov ring a bell?
I've worked on a couple of the houses in Springfield. I enjoyed it, but everything was awfully disorganized.
I've seen both disorganized and organized. Times when I was the most experienced guy there (that's pretty scary) and other times when I was the least experienced.
If you ever work on a house again, let me know and I'll see if I can make it up there
I usually volunteer on 'em when I'm not working on my own projects. I'll fire off an email at you the next time, but it will be a while. :)
jt8
"The difference between greatness and mediocrity is often how an individual views a mistake..."-- Nelson Boswell
Edited 5/12/2006 11:33 am by JohnT8
Too bad not to much interest in your area... I am really getting along with the H4H staff and the nice people. I especailly like that the future HO participates and it doesn't feel like your giving a handout. The couple I have met seem like real good folks in some hard times in life and it feels great to help out. They really appreciate it for the most part.
Yeah, always assign one or two "helpers" to an experienced guy, even if he's "working alone" (though obviously consider the personalities involved). Lots of times you have some small tasks that need an experieced guy (especially common when rehabbing vs building new), but two experienced guys would be a waste, as one would be standing around picking his nose while the other figured things out. But the inexperienced guys generally don't mind just standing and waiting as much, and in any event it's not costing anything.Maybe that's the big difference from a "real" job -- you have to get over the mentality that having people sitting on their hands is costing money. Certainly you don't want to waste their talents, but you should be optimizing around the experienced guys and self-starters and let the others kind of fill in the cracks.
If Tyranny and Oppression come to this land, it will be in the guise of fighting a foreign enemy. --James Madison
Some sponsors get the word out better than others
Man, are you right.
I have worked on 4-5 H4H jobs over the years. Tried to keep a low profile on the first one, but got I.D. by a guy I worked with many years earlier (one of those I think I should know you moments). I got tagged as a crew leader that day, and every time our company sponsors one I get a call from our people and H4H. I can't say no. It is just too rewarding a day or two to pass up.
DW and her daughter did one with the Catholic girls high school. H4H saw the first initial and last name, thought they had me again, and had a full crew waiting for her when they arrive. Fortunately she had hung enough drywall with me to step right in a direct the all male crew they had lined up. She came home pumped from the challenge and the experience and her crew left with a new respect for women and young girls in construction.
Even a "Chinese Fire Drill" can be fun if there is really no danger from a fire.
Dave
John, Thanks for taking the time for your imput, I appreciate it. I like your comment on the 20%/80% guys standing around for the free lunch, I can see it happening. Not too worried though, It's all for a good cause and I am sure I'll have a blast doing it. I am trying to get involved with the local community in ways I can and hopefully this will qualify for the "community Project" merit badge : )I knew a female tilesetter in California that ran circles around the boys. Skilled and efficient and gave kind of a kick in the pants to younger guys on the job to hustle up a bit.Yeah, sometimes I get tunnelvision on my task at hand and see two laborer kids having a dirt clod battle because I A: Didn't keep an eye on em. B: Let them run out of things to do.
I did a day on a habitat build once. They got large groups from different industries, studios, bankers, etc., plus a few with some construction experience. We were told beforehand not to bring personal tools, and the tool situation was pretty chaotic, stuff getting borrowed all over the place. Kinda like a third world army doing drill with shovels because they don't have enough rifles to go around. There were probably about 50 people per house. For starters, I'd suggest that you only bring tools that you can attach to your body on a tool belt. See how it goes, and maybe bring more the next day.
There was an experienced guy in charge, a building inspector from Florida who had worked a lot of habitat jobs. He had a good comfort level with the chaos. And there was a guy who wanted to be in charge, but wasn't. He was the one who brought the circular saw, and he liked to wedge the guard. With dozens of accountants working their first day of framing, that had me worried. But I figured it wasn't my place to say anything.
Given my level of experience, they had me doing punch list stuff. I sawzalled some nails to make room for a Simpson strap that had been forgotten, and I finished up sheathing a gable.
-- J.S.
Yeah, thanks for the heads up. I was wondering how much crap I should really bring. Bags, Saw and Gun probably ought to do it. We'll see the first day/weekend what happens.
"I was wondering how much crap I should really bring."
I'd suggest taking a lot of stuff - But leaving it in your vehicle unless you need it.
Sometimes on volunteer jobs you have a boatload of tools, and everyone wants to use their own. Other times everyone assumes there will be a boatload of tools and doesn't bring much of anything. Or they bring "toy" stuff that they got a wally world.
I like to keep my options open. That way I can either use the tools or leave 'em out of sight.
Black holes really suck.
BH
Mixed thoughts on this. Probably bring the "Air Smasher", snakes, gun, some knails and other tools. Leave em in the Snaak box on the truck just in case. Keep it light till I finger out what I really need.Marv:read above
LJ
You'd have to check your particular place but we didnt allow any air nailers with all the volunteers around.
Circular saws were kept to a minimum(like maybe just one) and make sure that if someone says that they know how to use it that they really do. You'll get some macho guys that dont want to admit that they dont know how to use a power tool!
I've had situations where I didnt have anything to do on the Friday before the big build so I would go over and lay everything out, even got the center beam(wish I knew the terminology better), floor joists set and ready to deck. Thats a good project to get the troups warmed up and I could focus on the next step.
A lot of what you might have to do, depending on the # of volunteers you have, is figure ways to keep everybody working. Once the work slows up(figure of speach, the work will already be slow), espcially if its in the afternoon, people will start drifting off, going home.... gotta keep em interested!
Doug
"Probably bring...some knails...."
I've never tried knails.
Are they something like toe nails?
I stayed up all night worrying about why I've been so tired
K-nails??? What? nobody esle pronounce it that way?
LOL, I didn't know the "K" was silent?!?!So, I guess it's not a "K-nife" or a "K-naack" box either?
: )
Just as a odd side note:
One of the local judges must be friendly to habitat. We've had construction guys serving their 'community service' get assigned to HfH houses. Some times they work with the crowd and sometimes they come in and just do a certain job (as if they were a sub).
The minimum security prison (or is it just the county jail?) will sometimes make bits. On one house they pre-framed all the exterior walls, which were then trucked to the site and raised.
I just thought that was an interesting usage of 'community service'. Sure beats having them pick up trash along the highway. And as for the prisoners; teaching 'em how to frame sure beats making licence plates. As far as I know, not a lot of call for licence plate makers in the 'real' world. ;)
jt8
"The difference between greatness and mediocrity is often how an individual views a mistake..."-- Nelson Boswell
We've had construction guys serving their 'community service'
We've had the same thing. Last year, we had a guy who owned his own roofing business (drivers license problem). He did only slate, tile and Standing seam (copper, stainless steel) roofs! One of his guys would drop him off in morning and pick him up at night. He would get calls thru the day with problems to fix. He was a great guy to work with.You get out of life what you put into it......minus taxes.
Marv
Bags, Saw and Gun probably ought to do it.
Leave the Guns home. Too many amatuers around for power nailers.You get out of life what you put into it......minus taxes.
Marv
Leave the Guns home. Too many amatuers around for power nailers.
We've had nailguns at all of the houses I've been on. Although I will grant you that overall there were a lot of hammers in use too.
But they haven't been shy about letting the newbies handle the guns. Give 'em about a 1 min run down on how to use it and away they go. As far as I know they haven't had a problem. I guess you just need to ask what the rule is in your HfH group.
jt8
"The difference between greatness and mediocrity is often how an individual views a mistake..."-- Nelson Boswell
Edited 5/16/2006 9:59 am by JohnT8
Edited 5/16/2006 10:01 am by JohnT8
Just don't set the guns to autofire.
If Tyranny and Oppression come to this land, it will be in the guise of fighting a foreign enemy. --James Madison
Don't know that I can add much to the sage advice already presented. The local Habitat chapters up here in our area (Oregon & SW Washington) are very active and extremely well organized. I acted as a volunteer temp super for their "Operation Home Delivery" project, which involved support of the post-Katrina Gulf Coast reconstruction effort. At the end of the day, it's all about EXPECTATION MANAGEMENT. Be clear on what they (not just Habitat staff, but day volunteers)expect from you, and vice versa. Couple critical protocols that paid big dividends for us:
1) Gently but diplomatically insist upon a competent full-time Habitat staffer to act as a liason for you. This person should have enough knowledge, horsepower, & authority to answer almost any question you could/would throw at them, while also having the requisite chutzpah to crack the whip & move things along when necessary. Although they needn't be attached to your hip, there will undoubtedly be times when you'll want the person close by your side. You don't want to waste any valuable time clarifying details or looking for equipment or blueprints or wondering what time lunch is or whom should refill the water jug; the Habitat staffer should be your reliable resource for stuff like this. Part assistant, part secretary, part liason, part partner, part second-in-command (term used loosely!), this person should be comfortable with the inherent vagueness of the role, and well-versed enough to be emminently successful in executing any/all tasks that might arise throughout the day. The whole idea here is to have a single point of contact through which to funnel everything. On your first project, you can't be expected to know the who does what, and what the internal Habitat chain-of-command looks like, & whom to ask for what, etc. Your liason should know all this, and more, & be able to help you maximize your time and abilities, and exercise your duties in the most efficient and appropriate manner possible.
2) Decide upon some method to properly & efficiently recognize individual volunteers, & use it. Maybe it's nametags (which are admittedly very useful), maybe you have a photographic memory, maybe you'll know many of the folks. Whatever the situation, nothing slows down progress amongst new faces quite like having to traipse halfway across the jobsite simply because you can't remember the name of the lady that went off to grab the nail keg or the compressor or the extension cord, etc etc. I split everybody into small teams, & then assigned each crew a color for ID, which made it super simple. That way, regardless of the task at hand, you can immediately identify people by the association with color. We've accomplished this by applying a large temp "X" on shirts in the appropriate color (colored masking tape), and also by using cheap throwaway colored sweatbands from the dime store. During the cold months, I spent about $40 at the dollar store and picked up a few dozen colored knit pullover caps. You get the idea. Easiest method is to use colored t-shirts, but that takes a bit more planning, & obviously costs more. The point here is to remove the inevitable delays caused by shouting "Hey you!" across the roof :)
3) At key points throughout the day, after you've had a chance to observe everybody in action, take a moment with the slowest or least-experienced individual on each team, & (perhaps with the support and involvement of the team leader) offer a quick unobtrusive hands-on lesson. This could be something as simple as displaying proper techniques for holding a hammer and driving a nail, or how to transfer dimensions from blueprints to materials on the job. Your ability to effectively supervise and act as the "boss" while also taking time to closely interact on a more personal level with volunteers will do more to engender a positive experience for everybody than almost anything else you can imagine. It's one thing for a volunteer to go home at the end of the day and say "I built a house!"; it's an added dimension for them to also claim "I also learned how to frame a wall!". Those are the things that people remember for a long long time.
4) This has been mentioned in virtually every previous post, but can't possibly be emphasized enough: BE SAFE. Begin the day by ensuring that every team leader and each individual volunteer fully understands that SAFETY IS JOB ONE!, and that nothing (not the perceived schedule, not the opinion of the homeowner, nothing) is as important as safety. It is incumbent upon you as the "boss" to set the tone on this crucial issue.
5) Have fun! Do your part to occassionally separate yourself from the drudgery, and go around and inject humor and levity into the ongoing commotion. Last thing you want is people frowning and stressing. There should be an infectious enthusiasm and sense of adventure and learning that pervades the atmosphere all around the job. Not suggesting that you wear Groucho glasses or a clown nose (though I have!), but simply that you share the love and spread some good cheer :)
Ultimately, the event should be about collaboration, cooperation, community, and fun, not about nails & studs & sheathing. It's your job to use your professional expertise to ensure that an acceptable product is turned out, while the volunteers enjoy themselves and smiles abound. It's Habitat's job to provide the proper framework for all this to unfold, and to ensure that you and your liason are invested with the necessary resources to make it all happen.
Good luck, be safe, have fun!
Globe Trotter
Oregon
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Wow! You must be one of them "No look at the keyboard" types. I agree with the scope/gist of your post except for the colored shirts and X's thing... Generally good with names and faces so it shouldn't be too much to figure out. I have pretty much got the reins on this one to run and I do have a POC for the entire project who has been super nice and helpfull in all regards. I Asked her some questions on the plans today and she got me in touch with the Architect in ten minutes on the phone (A record time for any job). So far planning has gone smooth. I will meet with the concrete guy doing the slab next week at the jobsite and another GC is working the slab plumbing/elec. rough in then it drops into my lap(Good guy, reputable and don't expect problems there)Thanks fdor your input
LJ
I've ran about 4 builds for HFH, along with installing all the cabinets and a lot of the trim work in 5 or 6 houses yearly.
You've gotten some very good advice so far, I especially like JohnT8's, and just to reiterate, dont be afraid to overman the operations, ya gotta do something with all the bodies!
I'm no framer and these houses were very simple in terms of complexity but I would still get there early so that I could lay stuff out, didnt want all the volunteers to see that I didnt know squat! Gotta fool em to keep em interested!
As the guy running the job dont forget that you may have more workers then you know what to do with, so you cant just go off and do your own thing while they stand there playing pocket pool, gotta give em a task.
Dont expect the workers to know how to do much, although most people can swing a hammer, even 65 year old ladies can drive a spike.
I ran one job/house that was sponsered by the Catholic Nuns group, man that was a trip. Brought back some bad memories from my childhood, had to watch my P's and Q's, didnt want to get a ping-pong paddle to the back side! It was a fun job though, those old nuns did some pretty good work.
Dont worry about how fast you get the place done, think of it as teaching some of the uneducated the fundamentles of home building, that in and of itself is kinda rewarding.
Have fun, thats the main thing.
Doug
Edited 5/12/2006 6:24 pm ET by DougU
Went to Catholic school myself and still have night mares about the Nuns and their yardsticks... I would have hauled outa there real quick LOL. From what I gather there are a few church groups and schools, sports teams and community orgs. that do ####lot of work so I am looking forward to it. I'm hoping for the UH girls volleyball team.... : ) doubt it, but you never know.
Be sure to check back in and tell us how it went.
Based on what houses cost out there, I'm surprised everyone making less than $500k/yr isn't a HfH candidate.
jt8
"The difference between greatness and mediocrity is often how an individual views a mistake..."-- Nelson Boswell
The organizing and delegating will be your challenges. Note there are different kinds of HFH "groups." Some are ad hoc church/civic groups who are usually leaderless and often limited in skills though overflowing with enthusiasm. There are other groups that are longstanding: often composed of oldsters/retirees, they either had skills to start with or learned a lot over their years of HFH service. This latter group usually has its own leader/convener, someone who knows how to reach everyone and who has a pretty good knowledge of who can be trusted to do what. Sometimes such a group is just being redepolyed to your site, so welcome them with open arms. Incidentally, I've found that the latter group usually provides their own eats. The "free" goodies are usually supplied by more firmly sponsored organizationis.
> organizing and delegating will be your challenges.
A friend of mine has a trick for learning to delegate instead of doing stuff yourself: wear the "ice cream" suit. He would start a job with brand new bright white shirts and pants. The cleaner they stay, the better you're delegating.
-- J.S.