WHAT DO PEOPLE SAY?


WHAT DO PEOPLE SAY?


I'm always keen to know what people think (and what they say). No, I don't want to know peoples opinions on everything (and some things are better left unsaid!), but sometimes, things are too important not to know. 

At The OR Society we do lots of different activities and interact with lots of people; both members and non-members. We're always looking at improving the way we do things; can we make it easier, quicker, more efficient for members to do something? We're about to launch two new sub-brands (keep your eyes pealed) and this is a great example of making it clearer for people to recognise what part of the society does what. 

Within the OR in Schools (ORiS) initiative, I'm always keen to know how an event went. Did someone enjoy their day? Had I provided enough materials? Did they need more support? After every visit I ask volunteers to complete a feedback form; where they can detail the good, the bad and the ugly. 

The responses are really helpful, and it's always lovely to see positive response. This month, I wanted to share with you some of the feedback our volunteers have given:

Some lovely positive comments ... 

"(What I loved was) the opportunity to introduce students and parents to OR - just a shame none of them have ever heard of the discipline!"

"All the volunteers were really positive, energetic and hard working."

"(What I loved was) Engaging students"

"I think having Lego as a demonstration of an OR technique helped to get as many people to our area was really good."

"Sophie was really energetic and charismatic throughout and guided us to hep out as much as we can. "

We also got some comments about how we could improve things. To me, these are as important as the positive comments because it gives us a chance to make things even better! Here's what we're doing about it...

Points we're acting on ... 

"The OR Society have some good videos - could we maybe have a cheap tablet device that people could watch them on at a careers stand? " We have recently bought a tablet which is taken to large events, for smaller events we are encouraging volunteers to take a laptop with them to play the video in the background.

"Possibly the way the booth attracted the crows, maybe something like a TV showing cool stuff or something" For large scale events, we'll look to hire / buy a TV to showcase videos on (although these can be rather expensive..!)

"I think it'd be more engaging to have visuals of typical OR work. E.g. a simulation of foot fall / people traffic, optimsation problems etc. It'd make explaining OR a little bit easier." We're delighted to say we're working on a hands-on, large scale exhibition that can be housed and shown at various museums / educational centers. 

And my personal favourite ...

"Would have been a smoother operation with more volunteers and could of maybe reach a wider audience" We are trying to encourage lots more members to get involved; we're very flexible on timings and locations and only ask for an hour of their time!

I bang on and on about the need for volunteers! But it's not just me who recognises this need; this feedback comes direct from a volunteer - so who better to listen to then a fellow member?!




If you've read the above and are inspired to take get involved, drop us a line: schools@theorsociety.com.




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