How to avoid burnout

How many times each day do you read someone is going off grid, meaning they plan to push away from the computer and do something else only to see them return in a matter of days or sometimes hours?  I've seen a few individuals be successful at escaping the social media time suck, but I'm in the category that I like to be connected and I try to manage my online time appropriately.

Last Friday, Katya Andresen addressed the topic in "How to Avoid Social Media Time Suck" and gave three simple steps: plan ahead, use technology to align your social media networks, and empower your staff to develop social media content.

Yesterday, Philanthropy magazine addressed burnout, and raised a similar caution when Nathan Hand, Vice President, School on Wheels said, "You must be purposeful about unplugging." Hear his 60-second suggestion here.



We have busy and challenging lives. As I continue to encourage Optimist Clubs and other service clubs to blog and connect through Twitter and Facebook, I also want to caution their leader, don't let the medium run you. To stay enthusiastic, be sure to take time for yourself, your family and the typical activities you do with your friends at your club events.

Make it easy to join

The Optimist Club of Waterloo, Illinois has a new website. It was built with a WordPress theme by a professional web designer and allows visitors to not only see what activities the club engages in, but also to register online and buy tickets for the large events. It is organized in a way that gives you every opportunity to be a participant in the activities offered by the Optimist Club.

Take a look at the Activities page as an example. There is something for participants to do every month of the year.

Next, head over to the Scholarship page and you are able to download an application for you or your child to complete.

Scroll down on any page and you'll even see a widget asking you for a donation to the Waterloo Skate Park and a thank you for JV's Bar and Grill for years of great food and service. There are also widgets displaying videos from Optimist International and optimistic quotes and thoughts of the day.

However, with all of these wonderful calls to action, they have perhaps missed some of the most basic elements of engagement:

• When does the club meet?
• Is there a cost? 
• How do  I join? 

To be fair, there is a contact page where one might ask such questions, but it is an impersonal form with a pesky captcha phrase needed in order to complete. It seems a shame to have created such an informative website and yet still be unapproachable.

Monday morning tip: Please take a look at your website today and make certain that your club is as welcoming to new member volunteers as you are to participants in your activities. Make it easy to visit and join your Optimist Club.

Your fellow members will thank you for the help and future generations will thank you for the legacy of service. 

If you would like to visit the Waterloo Optimist Club, they meet on the 2nd and 4th Thursdays, 6:30 p.m., JV's Downtown Bar and Grill, 117 N. Main Street. 

Information overload!

 I'm not sure if I'm shocked, thrilled or in awe about the Jacksonsville, Maryland Optimist Club website.

It is packed full of information about their club projects,where they meet and how to join. Plus it has dozens upon dozens of back pages opening up to more information about the zone, district and Optimist International than one can digest in one viewing.

Imagine this, the landing page is three home pages in one or more specifically, 12 pages when printed on legal size paper. Wow!

Kudos to the club and their very passionate webmaster who has taken on the task of promoting the club's activities and preserving their history. With a couple additions, you can make your site even more enjoyable. Please consider these suggestions:


Navigation is a good thing. There is nothing wrong with giving your readers some directions as to how to best get around your site and find the information they need. Very simple tabs for Home, About Us, Projects, Membership, Optimist International, and District would make it so much easier to find information and much less overwhelming.

Bullet points rock. Pictures and stories are interesting, but online people are busy people. They want fast, concise information and often less is more.

It is good to have choices for your prospective new members; however information overload can cause indecision if it is difficult to figure where one might fit in or how they can make a difference. Make it easy for others to participate by helping them sort through the information you provide in a timely manner. Make it easy for everyone to say, "Yes, I want to be involved."

The pictures represent approximately one third of the Jacksonville Optimist Club home page. 

Optimist Club website is authentic

It's not the prettiest Optimist Club website, but it's effective.  I reached the Optimist Club of Weatherford, TX by accident. Qwest for some reason gave me five choices from a mispelled URL and with one click, I landed on a club website that I might not have otherwise seen. 

So what makes the Weatherford Optimist Club website effective?  Authenticity!  Meet Randall Grissom.  He is the 51st president of this Optimist Club that was chartered in 1958.  They pride themselves on being friends of youth.  They conduct youth projects and provide a link to all of them along with pictures and contact information and you can see a list of other people who are proud to call themselves Optimist Club members.  It is the real deal. 

Slick, professionally built websites sometimes lack the heart and passion that can be found in our smaller efforts.  I enjoy seeing both, but given the choice, I'll take passion anytime.

Great website: Piper Creek Optimist Club of Red Deer, Alberta

Sometimes I run into websites that tell the Optimist Club story in an unique way.  Today I found one of those and I invite you to take a look at the Piper Creek Optimist Club of Red Deer, Alberta, CA with me. 

Beginning at the home page, you will know that you want to be an Optimist Club member if you want to take a positive approach to life.  They have kept an older tagline for Optimist International as their centerpiece: the Optimist difference...it's all in our name.  I like it!

Next, they have organized their site very well:

Events = fundraising activities that you will want to attend.  Click on the more buttons to find out why.

Projects = the activities the Piper Creek Optimist Club conducts or supports in their community.  Again, the more button will let you find out all about them individually.

About = shares the purposes of an Optimist Club and links you to more information about Optimist International, the formation of the Piper Creek Optimist Club and the Alberta, Montana, Saskatchewan , and N. Wyoming District and the Optimist Creed.  Again, click the more button to learn more about each topic.

Members = You guessed it!  Information for members, but such information is relevant to the community at large.  Kudos to the web designer for not password protecting it and allowing everyone who cares to know what the Optimist Club of Piper Creeek is doing.
Contact = Yes, contact information seems pretty simple, but they have even included instructions for how to request funds as well as how to join. 

Yes, this is an approachable club. If you live near Red Deer, Alberta, please join, for the Piper Creek Optimist Club looks like an engaged, well-organized, professional asset to the community.