Members ID Cards Problems

[AirDX]

You are doing your new members a great disservice by sending them an email link and wishing them the best of luck.

Take the time and print out everything a new member needs to get started, put into a binder and hand it to them. Include all the CPPT material, foundations and a copy of Great Start. List instructions on how to establish an eServices account and take OPSEC and EO on-line.

With all due respect....

You are wrong.  This is the year 2010.  We are supposed to be getting away from killing trees, not doing more of it.  The people we have coming in to my squadron are computer literate and do not need more paper to clutter their lives.  In the working world today, you are not handed a pile of paper to look at.  Things take place online, from timesheets to e-mail conversations to electronic files to computer-based training.  For better or for worse, and mostly it's better, that's where we are.  The world is mobile and we need to follow suit.  People are NOT impressed by being handed a ream of paper.

Next you are assuming this is all taking place in a vacuum.  I'm e-mailing folks that I've already spent a couple of hours talking to, about CAP, about what our squadron and Wing does, and about the process of becoming involved in the squadron, and exactly what and why I'm e-mailing it to them.  I have their e-mail addresses and phone numbers; they have mine if they have question or need other help.  I can follow their progress on e-Services; I'll be seeing them at the next meeting they attend.

What I'm doing is cutting the snail-mail wait time out of the loop.  The level of people I am getting and want to keep interested will not respond well to me and CAP sitting on our hands waiting for the mailman.   

[AirDX]

In the interest of not reinventing the wheel...can you post a copy of that email?

Not really... other than a couple of boiler plate paragraphs about Level one and some links, I write it individually.  These are people I've talked to and I address their interests.

If you write something personalized and from the heart, it will go a lot farther than a form letter.

[a2capt]

I too, tend to write that kind of stuff individually, nothing fits each situation exactly, and something that feels like a form letter .. sucks.  As well, aside from a paragraph or two that may be the same and I may go and retrieve a past message and by the time I'm done with it, it's been all replaced but it served as a template.

..and nothing wrong with email and links, individualized. National sends out a packet of stuff. They can print what we give at the unit level if they wish, or.. leave it stored in the clouds.

In my 'short' time in CAP, I have amassed so much paper.. that I was certain it really meant Compile A (lot of) Paper. Time to start eliminating that madness.

[EMT-83]

You are doing your new members a great disservice by sending them an email link and wishing them the best of luck.

Take the time and print out everything a new member needs to get started, put into a binder and hand it to them. Include all the CPPT material, foundations and a copy of Great Start. List instructions on how to establish an eServices account and take OPSEC and EO on-line.

With all due respect....

You are wrong.  This is the year 2010.  We are supposed to be getting away from killing trees, not doing more of it.  The people we have coming in to my squadron are computer literate and do not need more paper to clutter their lives.  In the working world today, you are not handed a pile of paper to look at.  Things take place online, from timesheets to e-mail conversations to electronic files to computer-based training.  For better or for worse, and mostly it's better, that's where we are.  The world is mobile and we need to follow suit.  People are NOT impressed by being handed a ream of paper.

Next you are assuming this is all taking place in a vacuum.  I'm e-mailing folks that I've already spent a couple of hours talking to, about CAP, about what our squadron and Wing does, and about the process of becoming involved in the squadron, and exactly what and why I'm e-mailing it to them.  I have their e-mail addresses and phone numbers; they have mine if they have question or need other help.  I can follow their progress on e-Services; I'll be seeing them at the next meeting they attend.

What I'm doing is cutting the snail-mail wait time out of the loop.  The level of people I am getting and want to keep interested will not respond well to me and CAP sitting on our hands waiting for the mailman.   

We might be talking apples and oranges here – I'm talking about completing Level 1 once membership is approved. The folks I talk to in training and at conferences (as well as comments posted here on CT) indicate it can be like pulling teeth to get people through Level 1. I've heard of it taking 3 to 6 months.

Except for OPSEC and EO, Level 1 is done with pencil and paper. Until NHQ changes the process, why not hand them the paper instead of pointing to a link and asking them to print the material? My experience shows that it consistently works.

[arBar]

Sounds like there's a fine line between being too hands off vs. too hands on with a new member.  In my case, even before joining, two of the senior leaders of our squadron strongly emphasized the need for personal drive/motivation as opposed to waiting around for someone to tell me what to do.  They spent alot of time with me answering questions and gave me materials to read, but referred me to the CAP website for further info. 

I feel pretty good about their approach, and appreciated the honesty.