Candidate Question – Skills

[Jen920]

Thank you for running for the board! Good luck to all the candidates.

There are 9 members on the WGA Board. Everyone has a different strengths and weaknesses. What are some of your strengths/areas of interest? What area would you find the most challenging?

The views expressed here are that of myself only and do not necessarily represent that of the WGA board

[2 book lovers]

As I mentioned in my bio I was involved with Girl Scouts for over 25 years. I worked as a leader, adult trainer, NASA Program leader and community organizer. In these various positions I learned to lead, empower others to lead and to delegate. I planned and ran programs for girls and their families for small groups to groups of over 100. In my professional life I was a librarian for over 40 years. I had to work with people from all walks of life, ages, backgrounds and skill levels. One of the skills I developed was the ability to ask questions in different ways  and then listen to their answers to determine exactly what the patron wanted or needed. I am very detail orientated.

I am an avid cacher and love geocaches of all types. We have placed over 150 caches and Adventure Lab stages. I have helped plan and host events from a coffee meet and greet, our Annual Woodland Wander event, to CITOs.

I would say my greatest weakness is delegating. Though I have learned how to delegate and ask for help, my personality type leads me to just do it myself. This can lead to taking on too much. I have to make a conscious effort to reach out to others to take on parts of a project.

I have a passion for geocaching and believe the mission of the WGA is vital to keeping geocaching vibrant and growing in Wisconsin.

[carda1]

I worked with the public for over 30 years (retail and pharmacy tech). I encountered all kinds of people and personalities. I had to interact with people who were angry, upset, confused and still maintain a professional persona. One of my best skills is listening. I found if I listen carefully there is something to learn from most people.

I also enjoy planning events. From geocaching events to family gatherings to vacations, I really like figuring out the details. It’s so fun to see it all come together at the end.

My biggest weakness would probably be the WGA website! I couldn’t figure out how to edit my profile after it was published. I do well on most technology but this one has me stumped. Hopefully, Justin will be able to get me up to speed on that.

[chevyole]

I think I have a lot of good event planning / series organization and cache hiding skills.  I definitely think that public speaking and leading have been challenging, but its something that I’m hoping to do more of this next year.

Please note: my comments are mine alone and may not necessarily reflect an official stance of the WGA Board of Directors.

[Acre_and_Dale]

I would say that a strength of mine is public speaking, as contrary to most people I love to do it! I am extremely outgoing and can make friends with almost anyone, and I really work hard to make sure that I see people are included and having a good time at any event I am at. I really enjoy being artistic and creative, which gives me a good eye for designing things from communications material, logos, to geocache hide ideas. I am decent with social media (as is evidenced through my @acre_and_dale Instagram), though not as perfectly curated as some out there. I also have a degree in writing where I focused on creating organizational and technical documentation, so documentation organization is my strong suit! I am also good at coming up with ideas for things, as I am usually pretty good at sharing what I think. I am also someone who will try to make sure I understand the main ideas of what a person shares with me so I know we are both on the same page.

 

I would say some a notable area of struggle for me is responding quickly to email or texts. I also tend to struggle to be mindful that I don’t bite off more than I can chew with the projects I take on. I tend to dream big, and sometimes the execution requires more outside help or a more realistic timeline than I give myself. I can also struggle when it comes to choosing one direction for a project and committing to it 100%, because I hate the opportunity cost that comes with it. I tend to like having a second opinion on things, but I am learning that sometimes you just have to try something and see if it works. 🙂 I have been working on improving in these areas though through thoughtfully considering what it takes to get a project off the ground, and I have seen solid growth in those efforts.

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