Orient Your New Members

Be kind to the newbies.

by Tom Roberts March 2017

It should come as no surprise to anyone that new a member accepted into any market does not know that market as well as do the long time market veterans. This is hardly the new member’s fault, since many of the details of how the market runs during the course of the year are not spelled out in the market rules, nor in any other documents that a new member is likely to have access to.

The fact that most market members ignore this predicament which new members find themselves in means that new members are hesitant and stumbling when trying to participate in the management of market. They have a hundred questions and hope not to offend by doing something unacceptable to the other market members, or miss out on opportunities other members take advantage of. The blame for the existence of such problems can be laid at the feet of the existing market members. But so can the solution.

Of course not every new member will have the same questions. A new member may wonder if they need to contact anyone before attending their first day. They may be unsure of just how much setup space they are allowed, and whether they should set up in a certain spot. They might wonder how to get their farm’s info into the market’s newsletter, brochure, or Facebook page. Does the market produce its own promotional literature and how can they get some? What does market schedule look like around holidays? Do they have to use a canopy and how do they keep it from blowing away? When are the market’s general meetings and what can be discussed at them? Does the market expect anything of them besides showing up and selling their stuff? What is the culture of this market and how does that relate to the market’s shoppers? Does the market have gift coupons that need to be honored? Does it have a twitter account? How long has the market been here and how did that come about? Who do they talk to if they have a question about the market?

To bring new members up to speed, I suggest someone in each market write an exhaustive description of what the typical market season will be like, what special events there are, and answer all of the above questions and any more that are particular to your market. Pay special attention to any questions that new members ask, and answer such questions in that description. And don’t forget to include a “Welcome to the market!”.

I did this recently for the Orono Farmers’ Market. It evolved because for years I have been the one who contacts new members to see what they want said about their farms in the market brochure and website. This means I am often one of the first people in the market to contact them in an interactive way, which often results in getting other questions about how they should relate to the market in some particular way. After going through this procedure for several years, I decided to “write it all down” so, by golly, new members wouldn’t have any questions left unanswered. I wish someone had done this for me when I joined my first market.

The result was the Orono Farmers’ Market’s New Member Orientation, a five page Google doc that I shared with the new members this year (and with last year’s new members as well). It covers just about every aspect of the market that any member might run into during the course of the market year, talks about meeting schedules and topics, and is studded with links to other documents that the market uses either publicly or internally.  

Many new members may not realize that the market is a self-organized, democratically run, volunteer-powered group of farmers just like themselves. There is no one else in charge; we are all the ones in charge. If a new member is ever going to step up to help run such an organization, getting them familiar with the intricacies of the market is an important first step.

So far, the feedback I have gotten from the new members has been very positive. Writing it was quite an opus, but now it’s done and next year it will be a simple task to share it with any new members.

Meanwhile, it also seems like quite a good descriptive overview of the market, one which I expect may come in handy for folks from other markets to review and perhaps do something similar for their own market. Because it is written from the perspective of a veteran member talking to a new member, it has a high granularity of detail and a comprehensive scope that includes what a market member needs to know.

Be kind to the newbies, they’ll make up tomorrow’s market.

～∞～