Welcome back! I’m here for my next installment from The Volunteer Photographer’s Zone.
I owned my own photo studio in the 90’s. Today I work in ‘Corporate America’, and use my art and photography in many volunteer style capacities. I come to you sharing my personal thoughts and experiences (unless otherwise noted), in my own words (again, unless otherwise noted).
So… As for today’s installment in JJ’s blogging life, I’m brimming with excitement over the a larger launch of testing for Hand-off Captures! This is where Doobert photographer volunteers will be at relay transport hand-offs, to capture some professional images for the rescues, the transporters, Doobert, and all other stakeholders (like the adopters!). By having a photographer at some hand-off points, it will provide the shelters/rescuers/fosters with incredible pix for their social media pages and great pix help get the animals placed faster! We are also going to launch video short stories for the relays as well.
So our gal Rusty at Liberty Ride Transport: Happy Tails sent me a special request a couple weeks ago when she found out we were beginning this. She was setting up an intricate relay for 3 Olde English Bulldog puppies that were surrendered and are all special needs with Spina Bifida and Hydrocephalus. All 3 would have been euthanized if not for these two specialty rescues: Opie’s Special Needs English Bulldog Rescue (in MO) and Lily’s Pad Rescue (in WA) Opie’s & Lily’s Pad often work in conjunction with each other when one is full, or dogs being rescued are geographically closer to one or the other. Opie’s does a lot of lifetime medical care and even provides doggy wheelchairs at no cost to adopters when needed!
I was real excited we could launch a wider ‘beta test’, if you will. This was going to be the first ever “mass” mail to Doobert photographers to enlist help! I was beside myself, knowing how Chris must feel seeing one of his dreams get a boost out of his “ideas bucket” into a “started” bucket! I mean the scripts aren’t even written yet for the Doobert site, or anything! That angel Rachael, though was standing by to help in every way she possibly could. (Bless you!) Not only did she download some lists for me, but organized the MailChimp app in order to send out the notifying emails. So you are witnessing history folks this is what we have done to date to get this test going:
- Mapped out all the zip codes the 4 transports are passing through
- Crossed them to all the Doobert photographer profiles with those zips
- 204 initial emails to this list to introduce them to the request/test
- Answered the initial respondents (3)
- Developed and sent out a guidelines for our test phases sheet
- Received feedback from them and further developed some more info pieces
- such as “How the photos will be used” type sheet to give to drivers to provide awareness
- A 2nd set of emails was sent with the actual map and a “Meet the Pups” sheet
- Answered additional responses of photographers volunteering!
Well, Rusty orchestrated relays (4 total) to get Deuce, Gracie & Betty to their adoptive homes in VA, WA & ID (respectively) over the course of two weekends. Meet Deuce below!
Gracie kicks everything off in OH headed west, and they pick up dear Betty in MO on the way. Then the two will have a layover in CO with foster Savanah Henderson, before heading west again to eventually split off and complete their journeys. Deuce is a solo traveler that 2nd weekend going from MO to VA.
As of the writing of the blog, (a week before post date) we have 4 confirmed volunteers for this run! This is beyond exciting, because out of a pool of 204 emails, I noticed a good chunk were created years ago, so, who really knows where they all are in their lives at this time. Baby Steps! I’m so totally okay with that! Shhh don’t tell anyone but if too many volunteers jumped on board right now I would have been overwhelmed!!…but that’s between us. (wink wink)
Scripting is slated to be written over the next several months, for this to be automated on Doobert, where the photographers can sign up for legs in a similar fashion as the drivers do now. I’m grateful to be the POC lead for these initial testing phases; quite frankly I’m humbled at Chris’s and Rachael’s trust in me to lead a successful launch of this component.
The Doobert Photography FB Group is also being reinvigorated (mostly by me posting lots of stuff right now), but that also will grab hold eventually and we will have monthly round tables for photographers to share, learn and teach. Big task? YES! Exciting? YES! ‘er go “Eat, Sleep, Snap…. Repeat.” Golly, should “BLOG” be added in there, too? hahaha
Here’s a super fun side note Rusty messaged me with earlier today, with perfect timing since I was writing this tonight! This special needs bull named “Jagger” (with Spina Bifida) being rescued by Opie’s had never been diapered (but needed them) so poor fella kept pulling the diapers off! Well, with a little creative LOVE the pup had surely never known, this was drivers Deana P & Terri A’s loving answer to the diaper dilemma! A Walmart stop off! Nice job ladies!!!! See what LOVE can do?
