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Daily Contacts wztn the UMAUI net Zo When you first become a CBM, you are ,ple-a;antly surprised at the people who stop and congratulate you. Everybody likes to be congratulated. Take advantage of every resident contact to .sk what they like and dislike about the Park Rec in the community. This is how you serve your constituency. And, thank them for their comments. Never argue with the residents. If you get questions, either answer them or tell them you will check into it and come back to them. Do this within 24 hours and you will be surprised at how quick your reputation grows as a CBM. Remember a CBM travels a routine path. Your circle of contacts are limited to your neighbors, your church, where -you work, and where you play and the majority of the residents are not in your routine path. You can talk with this group easily; take advantage of every additional contact you make. Home Telephone Calls As a CBM you will get phone calls from residents at home; during normal times like when you are taking a quick nap, when your team on N is marchin&for the winning score, or when you have just waxed the floor, and it is still wet between you and the telephone. Welcome to the club. The rule often applies here— ten people thought about calling, but only one finally does. So, this is where you make your community reputa- tion as a CBM. Always get the name of the person first. If they tell you they do not want to give their name consider what we do; say that we do not take anonymous phone calls and hang up. It works for us. We like to know who we are talking to, don't you? LISTEN TO THE QUESTION OR COMPLAINT. It is never a compliment. The last CBM who got unsolicited compliments over the phone from a stranger did so in 1921. If I tell the administrator that one of his staff told a girl in the Memorial Park (200 acres) that she couldn't do something, etc. some time last week, it is not going to be easy to get an answer for the caller. If I say to the Administrator that a girl on a bike was stopped about 3:00 pm near the children's playground Tuesday by a girl in a Park Rec tee-shirt with a whistle around her neck and carrying a clipboard and a name tag that said JULIE, I get an answer back FAST. Remember, you are only hearing one side of the story in any phone call. Your State Park Rec Association All 50 states have a State organization. This is composed of primarily administrators and staff. And together they accomplish much in training, education, and communication. Some have a CBM branch composed of people like yourself who have taken some time to learn about Park Rec. In addition to State meetings, some hold area meetings. Your administrator can give you information about these. The National Recreation & Park Association (NRPA) This organization, located in Washington, D.C., is composed of all those involved in Park Rec. NRPA has an Annual Congress every fall and it is well worth attending for CBMs. We recommend it. One of the branches of NRPA is the Citizen - Board Member Branch composed of CBMs from the 50 states. They have special training sessions each year at the conference that help every CBM do a better job in his or her own community. Every Park Rec Board should be an "agency" member of NRPA. The publications alone are worth many times the dues. Again your administrator can get you infor- mation on NRPA. If foe can't, you shouldn't have hired him/her in the first place. 32 33