Working with friends.
Working with friends is the secret that makes time banking successful. And fun. At least, that's been my experience so far.
See, I'm most interested in developing a social network, knowing who can do what and having meaningful exchanges with locally based friends. And while I socialize and get together for personal, professional and community purposes, I do believe that time banking offers a fresh approach to deepening connections and Living Locally. Here are some examples of how I've done this. I hope they get your mind a-tickin'.
Heather Kirk-Davidoff.
I met Heather at a friend's party and liked her right away. A relatively new Columbia resident, she noticed that I offered hyper-local marketing strategies through time banking. See, Heather has a community blog for her church, and she was looking for ideas about how to increase her local readership. I wanted to get to know Heather better and the time banking connection provided a convenient and valuable way for both of us to get what we wanted. We met at Orinoco Coffee House, bonded a bit, talked strategy and tech tips, and got to know each other better. Yay.
Frank Hecker.
I met Frank first online through his thoughtful comments on Hometown Columbia and other Hoco blogs. Frank came to some of the salons I co-hosted with a friend, including the ones where we invited people to come and learn about time banking. He eventually became a T-B member. Since then -- and more than once -- I've turned to Frank for help with technical questions on my
Cherie Beck.
Cherie is my best friend, Thinking Buddy and partner in a number of Living Locally activities. We see each other several times a week, talk on the phone often several times a day, and turn to each other for help with just about anything under the sun. We're best friends. We also use the time banking system with each other, mostly for "Yo, I'm not your secretary" tasks, but never for, "Hey, I really need some help right now" things. For example, I needed an audio file edited and a digital photo manipulated. I paid Cherie with T-B dollars. When I take her to the airport, I demand payment ... in T-B dollars, of course! It's a fun and easy way for us to support each other without stepping uncomfortably on our friendship. Yay.
Laura Smit.
Laura is the HC DrugFree exec director. One day she called me and asked for some help in reviewing a website a volunteer had designed for her. Now, I've known Laura for years, mostly through relationships I have with other folk in town. I told Laura I'd be happy to work with her ... through time-banking. She became a member, I helped her with her situation, and it was all good. Yay.
Working with organizations.
You can also have the good people at T-B (CCE) add a local service organization as a T-B member. That way, service hours that you provide can be tracked in the T-B system. Yay.
Think about it. Perhaps you can sign up for the time banking system along with a few of your friends, maybe even some friends you know from a particular group or organization. Then use the system together. Half the battle is remembering to use the system. But it's fun, and it's a valuable way to deepen relationships with people you already know and like. Yay.