Volunteering or recreating?
Thu, 9 Dec 1999, 07:53 amGrant Malcolm8 posts in thread
Volunteering or recreating?
Thu, 9 Dec 1999, 07:53 amWhen you commit to working on a community theatre production, are you volunteering or recreating?
We don't generally expect that volunteers should have to pay for the privilege of donating their efforts to the community.
On the other hand, as the user-pays principle permeates every facet of our society, recreation has been commoditised and we're paying more and more for it.
How would you counter an argument that community theatre companies are providing recreation opportunities not volunteer services and as such members should be paying fees commensurate with membership of a health club?
Cheers
Grant
We don't generally expect that volunteers should have to pay for the privilege of donating their efforts to the community.
On the other hand, as the user-pays principle permeates every facet of our society, recreation has been commoditised and we're paying more and more for it.
How would you counter an argument that community theatre companies are providing recreation opportunities not volunteer services and as such members should be paying fees commensurate with membership of a health club?
Cheers
Grant
RE: Volunteering or recreating?
Thu, 9 Dec 1999, 03:41 pmJeff Watkins wrote:
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> Where'd this one come from Grant?
Some time back i reported on the comments of ex-Festival of Perth director, David Blenkinsop to the Graduate Dramatic Society - try a search for Blenkinsop and you'll find the post.
My recollection is that Blenkinsop told the Grads' committee they were kidding themselves if they thought that what they were doing was voluntary work. In his view, the staging of plays at an amateur level was purely and simply recreation - no different to belonging to a health club. As such, members should expect to pay very substantial fees for the privilege of being able to undertake this past-time or hobby.
> As regards to the Recreational aspects of you posting, Well yes, Local Theatre is
> providing a Recreation of sorts, but not so much for those involved as for those
> watching.
Certainly, from an audience point of view, watching a show constitutes recreation or leisure and they pay for it.
But is being directly involved in producing the show recreation or voluntary work?
Why am i making the choice black or white, rather than allowing that it might be a bit of both? Read on...
> I'm not sure where you are heading in terms of Health Membership Fees. To my
> knowledge, they are really high. Local Theatre Membership fees aren't that much
> are they?
Exactly.
Activities undertaken at health clubs yield personal gratification and no direct benefits or enjoyment to the rest of the community. As the activity is practically entired self-centred and no enjoyment passes beyond the person undertaking the physical activity, it's easy to say "user pays" and charge a fortune for health club memberships.
In the meantime, participants at the local theatre company are a having a great time producing shows. Meanwhile the theatre company is claiming that what they are doing should be subsidised because it is voluntary work. But is it?
Where do you draw the line? Plenty of influential people are prepared to say, like Blenkinsop, that the distinction between voluntary work and recreation is not blurred in community theatre. That the people directly involved are gaining more enjoyment than the audience, therefore it is recreation and you should be paying for it.
I've seen the training and activities the State Emergency Service volunteers undertake; it looks like great fun. Are they recreating or volunteering?
Cheers
Grant
-------------------------------
> Where'd this one come from Grant?
Some time back i reported on the comments of ex-Festival of Perth director, David Blenkinsop to the Graduate Dramatic Society - try a search for Blenkinsop and you'll find the post.
My recollection is that Blenkinsop told the Grads' committee they were kidding themselves if they thought that what they were doing was voluntary work. In his view, the staging of plays at an amateur level was purely and simply recreation - no different to belonging to a health club. As such, members should expect to pay very substantial fees for the privilege of being able to undertake this past-time or hobby.
> As regards to the Recreational aspects of you posting, Well yes, Local Theatre is
> providing a Recreation of sorts, but not so much for those involved as for those
> watching.
Certainly, from an audience point of view, watching a show constitutes recreation or leisure and they pay for it.
But is being directly involved in producing the show recreation or voluntary work?
Why am i making the choice black or white, rather than allowing that it might be a bit of both? Read on...
> I'm not sure where you are heading in terms of Health Membership Fees. To my
> knowledge, they are really high. Local Theatre Membership fees aren't that much
> are they?
Exactly.
Activities undertaken at health clubs yield personal gratification and no direct benefits or enjoyment to the rest of the community. As the activity is practically entired self-centred and no enjoyment passes beyond the person undertaking the physical activity, it's easy to say "user pays" and charge a fortune for health club memberships.
In the meantime, participants at the local theatre company are a having a great time producing shows. Meanwhile the theatre company is claiming that what they are doing should be subsidised because it is voluntary work. But is it?
Where do you draw the line? Plenty of influential people are prepared to say, like Blenkinsop, that the distinction between voluntary work and recreation is not blurred in community theatre. That the people directly involved are gaining more enjoyment than the audience, therefore it is recreation and you should be paying for it.
I've seen the training and activities the State Emergency Service volunteers undertake; it looks like great fun. Are they recreating or volunteering?
Cheers
Grant
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