Are you ready for the huge influx of new members?
Most people are used to the idea that if a business grows too slowly, then the expenses outrun it. The business goes bankrupt. But few people really get their mind around the idea that if a business grows too quickly, it also is at high risk of going out of business. The necessary infrastructure , supply lines and key personnel are not in place.
Take that over to Civilian Defense Force. CDF headquarters is certainly building the infrastructure for the Unit Commanders to draw in highly qualified new members. Unit Commanders..are you attracting key personnel that will support a future huge influx of members? Are you building reliable supply lines? Since this is public access forum, I am not delving into specifics..that needs to take place on secured area of the forum. I am sharing that here because I want members and prospective members to see that we are not a haphazard group of wannabes playing a civilian defense organization. We are serious. We are planning and preparing for success .
Yes i used my magic wand to get the exact ppl i need. 😉
the short answer is you get the ppl that show up. Ive had very qualified ppl who are very needed who are not that intrested.
Its like well once you have 30 ppl and are super well organized then i might show up.
Also ppl have been out of work. They need money to pay bills.
So the answer is you get whoever shows up and thats the unit.
Can I borrow that magic wand? LOL. Getting in the unit who shows up to the meetings makes sense. I am mentally prepared for a low turnout in our first meeting here in a couple weeks. I am counting on it being frustrating like you said your experience was in having a meeting. But post election , there will be likely tons of folks looking to join us . That is what I am encouraging people to be ready for.
The great thing about this is it’s “scaleability” (if that’s a word) meaning only that if we can get a unit started with 2-3 members, we can keep growing it until we reach a critical mass.
We should draw on how SF organizes their units, specifically the ODAs (operational detachments) that are designed to operate independently of the army and are more or less self sufficient...
Strider has hit on a big part of the mentality that has to go with it, and so have the OP and CB85, in a sense. Here's what I mean, and this is important for everyone to wrap your head around.
You are going to get what you get. There's no getting around that. And with no offense meant to anyone, you'll probably get a higher percentage of the--I hate to put it this way because it's going to sound WAY worse than I mean it, but it paints the picture properly, so--"idiots". You know the kind--gung-ho types who want to just jump in the truck with the deer rifle and go "kill us some commies". This type is MUCH more likely to be early adopters of our message. The problems with this are obvious, if you don't handle it right, right from the beginning. What may be less obvious, though, is the huge advantages to this if you do handle it right. Here's where the term "useful idiots" comes into play...
Now keep in mind that I'm not disparaging anyone. I often refer to myself as a "useful idiot", and right now every one of you is a "useful idiot" for the organization because you're doing the organization's bidding with enthusiasm and without pay. It can be a derogatory term, but it isn't always. And you need useful idiots. Every organization does. These are folks who can be pointed in the right direction, given basic instructions, and they can get work done that would otherwise bog you down.
That's what you need to be doing with whoever you get through the door.
The thing is, most of them aren't idiots, and as they work the task list three things are happening--first, you're getting stuff done; second, they are showing you what they're capable of; and third, they're developing the skills they need to be leaders in their own right--which is what we need. We're taking on new members at a pace of about ten per day right now (though they're not all showing up here, yet). I fully expect that pace to double every week from here to the election, and expand exponentially after that. We need to be training the leaders who will lead the new recruits that come in that crush. We do that right now, by working with whoever you get through the door.
That said, don't put up with nonsense or attitudes that violate our Mission and Guiding Principles. That mistake will kill your organization and could mortally wound us overall. We don't tolerate racism, bigotry, etc. Shut that shit down immediately. But gung-ho doesn't mean Gomer Pyle, necessarily. And there's often a place for Rambo, if you can just keep his pig-sticker in the sheath long enough. Put them to work. Build a leadership team out of the first few you get through the door, delegate responsibilities to them, and get your unit moving forward.
Once you have that momentum, you'll be surprised at how easily the rest of it comes together, and how quickly the "good" recruits start showing up.
I think one thing that would help any organization would be to ask any new applicant to list at least one good thing they can do to help out, from there you can separate, those who can help, those who might help and those you want to keep an eye on.
It would also be a good idea to ask what they cannot do ans slot them as before.
For example if you asked me those questions my answer would be.
I can design a communications system of most any level and scale it up or down as required.
I can also cook at most any level for a few or for many.
What I cannot do.
Well I'm not, mil-spec, for me those day are in the rearview mirror, yes I can put on a 70 pound back pack and heft a good two miles down the road, that is if someone can carry me and the backpack at least 98% of that distance.