We are not Volunteer managers! We are secret agents!

I remember the time I first attended the Australasian Retreat for Advanced Volunteer Management. It was held in Canberra and was without doubt one of the best volunteer management events I have ever been to.

I remember on the second or third night I ventured out with a few colleagues to hit the nightspots of Canberra. We eventually found ourselves at a very interesting nightclub. A group of American tourists got chatting with us. They asked us what we were doing in Canberra. I, being mischievous, informed them that we were attending an international conference for Interpol and that we were all Interpol operatives. They didn’t blink an eye.

I informed them that I was joking and that we were in fact volunteer managers attending a conference. They all burst out laughing at this revelation.

In fact they thought it was hilarious. They didn’t really believe we were volunteer managers. They gave us the impression that they had never heard of volunteer managers hence their jocularity. It took awhile to convince them that I was serious about what we were doing in Canberra.

True story. I still recount it. Very funny..but you had to be there! 