Apr

Volunteers are the beating heart of the Smithsonian. COVID hasn’t stopped them.

Smithsonian volunteers have learned new skills, taken on new duties, and expanded the reach of the Smithsonian during this unprecedented time. Anne-Marie Gilliland shares just how important volunteers continue to be for the success of the Institution.

As a volunteer coordinator, I believe the Smithsonian we all know and love would not exist without volunteers. This edict remains true, even in our weird COVID-closure world. It may have initially taken us off guard, but as time has progressed, we have moved forward with our volunteers. We have found ways to adapt old roles and create new ones – a necessary virtual pivot. Through it all, Smithsonian volunteers have proven themselves to be resilient, adaptive, and remain the beating heart of the Smithsonian.

I’ve been able to have conversations with a few of my colleagues who have transitioned their volunteer programs to a virtual environment, and I wanted to share a few of the highlights… One thing is for sure, speaking with any volunteer coordinator about their job turns into a love letter and a thank you note to our volunteers!

Smithsonian Associates’ Volunteer Coordinator, Jenna Jones, went from managing volunteers who assisted with live programs, requiring concessions workers, ushers, and other in-person help, to recruiting and training volunteers to support virtual presentations. Typically, three volunteers assist with each live streamed program the Associates presents. They work “behind-the-scenes” of the program as they collect and organize the audience’s questions in Zoom, post chat announcements, and deploy the introductory slides and music. Their willingness to learn new skills has allowed Associates to adjust quickly and successfully to a new platform. Speakers no longer need to be in DC to reach a DC audience – and volunteers don’t have to be local either. Speakers, visitors, and volunteers can now be globally recruited into the Associates programs seamlessly. As Jenna succinctly put it, “It became a necessity as we pivoted to virtual programming that we needed volunteers.”

We are, as Jenna shared with me, “flying the plane while we build it.” That idea has rung true for me as well. The volunteers I have worked with this during this time have been let into my life in ways I never anticipated. They regularly see my 18-month-old nephew on screen during our meetings or hear my dogs barking at some suspicious sound. This unavoidable openness has led to a special kind of team building.

Zoom screenshot — National Postal Museum volunteers take turns leading a virtual tour of the museum. (Courtesy of National Postal Museum)

Maggie Sigle, Volunteer and Intern Program Manager for the National Postal Museum, has been exploring a way to expand that idea of team building through virtual tours. A traditional tour at the Postal Museum would be much like you would expect to see anywhere: a single docent guiding you around the exhibits. To engage as many volunteers as possible, and to avoid very real Zoom-fatigue, Maggie invited her corps to participate in something new for the virtual update. As she explains, “The format we have chosen, with a panel of multiple docents sharing highlights of the museum, grew naturally out of the fantastic volunteer meetings we have been having over the last year, in which volunteers have shared short presentations with each other. It has been a learning and community building experience, and we look forward to being able to bring that to visitors.”

Another museum that jumped into virtual tours was the Freer Gallery of Art and the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery—National Museum of Asian Art. Not long after the initial closures, the museum began training its 68 docents to lead online tours paired with PowerPoints. The tours were presented through Zoom. The first online tour occurred in June of 2020. By the end of March 2021, over 30 trained docents had led 211 tours to 4,277 virtual visitors! Tours have been offered in English, as well as, Chinese, Hindi, Japanese, Korean, and Turkish, with attendees from over 20 countries. Using their virtual tour success as inspiration, last fall, the museum decided to undertake the challenge of providing online programming for K-12 audiences. According to Education Specialist Jennifer Reifsteck, “Students learn from docents about daily life experiences through the arts of Asia, and compare and contrast these experiences to their own lives today to learn new perspectives, gain historical empathy, and make connections with cultures, and times, different from their own. So far, over 70 virtual field trips, serving over 1600 students, have been scheduled.”

Screen shot of virtual program — Children enjoy a virtual educational program offered by the National Museum of Asian Art. ( Courtesy of the Freer and Sackler Galleries)

While most of the volunteer programs were suspended with the initial closure, even if just for a limited time until a virtual adaptation was solidified, the National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute immediately asked (and was granted) to continue with some of their in-person volunteers (with COVID safety precautions in place, of course). Having volunteer Keeper Aides completing tasks, like ensuring the elephant enclosure is always well shoveled, allows the animal care staff to focus their attention on the health and well-being of all the animals. Volunteers have also been able to help with field research during this time—a very easily socially distanced duty. However, one Zoo assignment that did adapt to the virtual world was Panda Behavior Watch. The program we knew prior to the closures was in-person, with volunteers watching cameras in a room just off the panda enclosure, while taking copious notes on paper. As I discussed with a lot of my colleagues, COVID has soundly kicked aspects of all our programs firmly into the 21^st century. And the Zoo is no different. These volunteers learned how to do virtual data entry and watch these cameras from their own homes. This was “very, very important for the care of the [new] cub and mother,” Jessica Greensmith, the Zoo’s Volunteer Engagement Specialist explains. In fact, 20 volunteers have spent 4,000 hours since August watching the pandas and gathering data. Jessica was keen to “commend these volunteers” as their roles had them pulling shifts 24 hours a day during the first 2 months of the program!

Whether it is giving a virtual tour, supporting behind-the-scenes technology and research, or adapting to new on-site safety protocols, Smithsonian volunteers have been eager continue to serve the institution and its mission to “increase and diffuse knowledge.” When James Smithson wrote his will 200 years ago, he may never have imagined what an impact those words would have on the world, or on the volunteers who carry them through their service.