I’m hoping to gather some feedback on our Steward on Duty (SOD) program.
In case you’re not familiar, we offer weekly SOD times in both the woodshop and ceramics studio. During these times, a friendly volunteer is available to help with things like operating equipment, moving materials, or troubleshooting your projects.
Both programs have been running for a few months now, and I’d love to know if you’ve taken advantage of them and if they’re working for you!
Even if you haven’t used the SOD times, your thoughts are still valuable. Here are a few specific questions I have:
Does the day and time of the SOD shifts work for your schedule?
Do you know where to find the schedule for SOD times?
Is there anything we could do to make the program more accessible or useful for you?
If you’re new to the woodshop and/or ceramics studio and haven’t used the SOD times, what’s held you back?
While I haven’t used the SOD for Woodshop, I will say I don’t k is how to find out the information. I checked Skedda but didn’t see anything. This is just for feed back to your question.
All the SOD times are on the events calendar. We don’t book woodshop or ceramics spots for it, so I wouldn’t be able to put it on Skedda.
We talk a lot about the events calendar and the SOD in the orientation, but I think folks who have been around a while don’t check the events calendar.
There was one time that I needed to cut something that would have been a PITA to cut myself so I went to the wood shop during SOD hours and asked for a hand guiding a piece safely across the table saw.
I would have felt comfortable asking a stranger during any other time, but it was convenient to schedule it around SOD hours.
I’ve asked the Woodshop SoD for help a few times now, and it’s been really useful! Offhand, I think I’ve asked for help with the table saw, bandsaw, resaw, and the lathe.
I usually have a general idea of how to do what I want, but I don’t use the tools often enough or have enough experience to feel completely comfortable that I’m doing things the right way. Being able to go to the shop and have someone give me a 30-second refresher on how to use the table saw makes me a lot more confident that I’m not going to take my hand off.
I’m glad y’all are making good use of the SODs. Those are exactly some of the reasons we want to have them around.
@tomthm if there’s a way we can better inform folks on when these things are happening, please let Sid and I know. It’d be great if everyone felt that comfort of being in the shop when someone is dedicated to help out.