I feel guilty receiving TD$ for this!

Sometimes the "artificial" connections made through Time Trader become friendships. A Time Trader takes on a project for someone and they like each other. They decide to spend time together outside of Time Trader activities; they go out for coffee, they attend social events together, they go shopping.
This is EXACTLY what we want in Time Trader; people making connections and building community.

However, when a friendship develops, I am seeing a trend: people don't want to accept TD$ for things they enjoy doing, or for things they do for someone they consider a friend.

Please rethink this if you are one of those people. Some Time Traders receive services such as companionship or transportation to medical appointments. If you provide those services, even if you consider the recipient a friend, please record the transaction!

Part of the reason is here; the numbers tell our story. But there is more. We need those TD$ moving through our economy.

If you really don't want those TD$ because you feel guilty about accepting TD$ for something you enjoy doing, you can donate them. We have a Community Fund for just that purpose. You also may donate to one of our partner organizations such as the Rochester Area Family Y.

The most important thing is that we WANT you to accept the TD$. We want you to have fun while doing the service you provide for other Time Traders -- that's why we encourage people who love baking to offer baking, and people who love to do crafts to offer to do those crafts or teach them to others.

It's one of Time Banking's Core Values:

Social Networks

We need each other.

Networks are stronger than individuals. People helping each other reweave communities of support, strength & trust. Community is built upon sinking roots, building trust, creating networks. Special relationships are built on commitment.

So, please record those transactions. the numbers tell our story and if you don't wish to keep the TD$ you earn you can donate them.This adds currency to our TD$ economy and keeps those TD$ circulating through our community.

Hello? Hello? Anybody out there?

It's the most common complaint I receive:


People don't respond when I contact them through Community Weaver.

It's like I sent an email into a black hole.

I set up a time to meet them but they never showed up.

Yep. It's a common problem. But it has a simple solution:

Common Courtesy

Which, sadly, is not all that common anymore.

It is really important that, as a Time Trader, you respond quickly to messages you receive through Community Weaver. Really important.

We all want instant gratification. When we decide to do something, we are almost always in a hurry. So when someone contacts you through Community Weaver because you fix widgets and their widget is broken, they want to know right away if you can fix it for them or if they need to look for another widget-fixer.

As a Time Trader, one always has the right to refuse to participate in a transaction. No need to offer a reason, just please respond.

If one cannot participate in a transaction, here are some phrases that could be used in a response:

• No.
• I'm sorry, that won't work with my current schedule.
• Actually, I was going to delete that offer because I am very busy right now.
• I can't do it until ______. You can either wait until then or find someone else.
• I am unavailable.
• That is not convenient for me.
• I can't accommodate your request at this time.

Please, please, please -- respond as soon as possible to messages in Community Weaver. In fact, if you haven't visited CW in some time, perhaps today would be a good day to go look around. Check your profile and make sure it is up-to-date. Make sure your email is correct. Sweep any cobwebs away and update those offers and requests.
Your profile in Community Weaver is your responsibility -- check your messages regularly, and be sure your
contact information is correct. If you never check the email address where your Time Trader mail goes, think about changing it to a more convenient account -- or forward it to your primary account. Ask people to contact you via phone if you rarely check email.
It really is the complaint I hear most on a daily basis. Reply to your messages -- it is the most important thing in keeping our community active and healthy.

Time Trader Testimonial #1: A

Time Trader has been a great part of why I enjoy living in Rochester.
When I first came to Rochester, it was hard to meet people and feel like I belonged. Through Time Trader, I was able to feel more tied to the community. It gave me the opportunity to meet more folks through community events and individual projects.  I also had a chance to learn about existing organizations, including the Rochester Area Family YMCA, Family Service Rochester, and the Farmer’s Market. A couple of the folks I’ve met through Time Trader are now friends.  I got great project help assembling a swing set, gardening, and with child care among other projects.  I was able to assist with event planning, which I knew was an actual skill that I had.  I also learned that things I didn’t consider to be especially useful were valuable for others. For example, I was able to help someone out by sprouting seeds. It’s been a great resource. -A.




Thank you for your testimonial, A. It is great to know that one of our main goals, building community, is happening and making life more enjoyable in Rochester!

Please record ALL transactions. Here's why:

Recently a number of Time Traders have recorded multiple transactions that took place over a month or two in one day.

This doesn't seem like a big deal, but it is. Why?

Because Time Trader is dependent on those numbers, and it helps that they are recorded in a timely fashion.

Each month, around the 8th, I sit down and run a report in Community Weaver. The report details the transactions for the previous month. Every TD$ exchanged is recorded, along with the people or groups involved in the transaction. The numbers are then entered into a spreadsheet and provided to my supervisors at Family Service Rochester and, ultimately, the Board of Directors.

The numbers tell the board how many new members have joined Time Trader. Board members can see not only how many TD$ were exchanged in transactions, but how many people participated in a transaction that month. They can see how many transactions involved Family Service Rochester, FSR Meals on Wheels, or FSR Right at Home Solutions. They also can see how Time Trader builds community by bringing together people who need services (like Meals on Wheels) and people who can provide those services.

In the future, we hope to use those reports and the numbers in them to help us demonstrate growth in the program, to show the impact Time Trader has had on programs FSR runs, and possibly in grant applications.

If you have transactions to record, it's ok to record them all at once; just be sure to record each individual transaction (not 8 TD$ for a "miscellaneous" transaction, but 2TD$ for gardening and 6TD$ for home organizing, for example), and try to have them recorded by the 7th of the following month.

And if you have developed a friendship or relationship with someone through Time Trader and you used to record TD$ but now you just watch each other's children or do mending for each other informally, it is still important to record those transactions. While it is wonderful that we have friendships which have grown out of Time Trader, it is ultimately the numbers that tell our story, and the numbers which can help us grow and flourish as a community.

I got an email recording 0 hours. Why?

This scenario occurred in our old software, Community Weaver 1.0. As of November 1, 2011 we are operating on Community Weaver 2.0 and this scenario should not occur, as there is a delete function for messages in CW 2.0. If you have questions about this or are experiencing difficulties, please contact the Coordinator.
-Jennifer

Our software, Community Weaver, is a little picky. If I request a service and you respond to it but no TD$ are exchanged, your message stays in my inbox. Forever.

As the Coordinator of Time Trader, I get a lot of emails in my regular Inbox and in My Messages in Community Weaver. Periodically I need to clean out the CW messages so that I have less to wade through. To do that, I simply click "log hours" in the message, and I log it as 0. This triggers an automatic email to you but does not require you to take any further action.

Some reasons TD$ are not exchanged:

• multiple people replied to an offer but only one person was needed
• we exchanged messages but for whatever reason the transaction was not completed
• the service was provided but TD$ were not credited from the My Messages section using the "log hours" button
• multiple or similar offers/requests exist and the TD$ were credited on a different offer/request than originally specified

All of these scenarios are fine; as long as TD$ are credited to the right person for the right task, there is no problem. Using a 0TD$ transaction simply clears out the message.

Once a transaction is recorded and TD$ credited, even if the number of TD$ is 0, the messages automatically move to your archives. This means you can still access them and may refer back to them at any time in the future.

Remember that if you have any problems or questions about how to credit yourself or someone else for TD$ you can always contact me and I am happy to help make sure it is correct.

Thanks Time Traders!

But I don't have any skills people will find useful. What can I offer?

I get that question all the time as coordinator of Time Trader. So often we sell ourselves short, not recognizing the skills and talents we possess.

In the last couple of months several items in Community Weaver have surprised me; things that I never would have thought to ask for or to offer, yet were brought to my attention because TD$ were exchanged for those items.

Case in point: a Service Request asking for someone to teach them how to eat with chopsticks. The requester offered to provide a take-out Chinese meal and invited a Time Trader to come and teach them how to use chopsticks. Now, I have to confess that as fabulous as I think Time Trader is, and as talented as I know our members are, I would not have thought to put that request out there. The request was fulfilled and our adventurous eaters learned a new skill.

Second case: a Time Trader has an offer out there titled "Nit Picker." This was something that surprised me; it isn't a skill one would think of looking for on Time Trader. However, it turned out our intrepid Nit Picker was called upon to offer her services. A Time Trader had a case of head lice in the household and needed help. What to do? How to get rid of them both on the head in question but also in the house? And could it be done without using those awful, toxic shampoos sold commercially?

It turns out it could, and the advice offered by the Nit Picker helped to calm fears (is your head itching yet?) and provided websites with additional information as well as follow-up emails to make sure all was well.

What does any of this have to do with YOU, you may ask. Well. Maybe you learned how to home can pickles from your mother or grandmother. Now you may not look at this as a special skill, but there are many people out there interested in growing and preserving their own vegetables. You might be just the person they need to get started.

Perhaps you enjoy gardening. Again, people might be able to use your help in choosing appropriate plants for a flower bed, planning a vegetable garden, or caring for those lovely but oh-so-fussy roses. Or maybe someone just needs help in weeding a garden. Perhaps it would be a way for you to get to know another Time Trader, get a little time in the sun, and dig in the dirt, even if you live in an apartment or have no space in which to garden yourself.

In choosing what to offer, think of things you enjoy doing and things that people compliment you on. Maybe you are a great party planner. Perhaps you can make beautiful and delicious appetizers. Maybe you just like to putter around outside and wouldn't mind picking up all of the dog "land mines" left in someone's yard after the winter before taking a rake to it.

Oftentimes people get stuck thinking they must be an expert in things they offer. That is not the case -- explain yourself in your Service Offer, that you love to plan parties or want the exercise of raking someone's yard -- and let other Time Traders know you're available. You may be posting a service someone needs but that they would not have thought to ask for.

On the other hand, if you need help with something you think is just a little too odd or "out there" for Time Trader, consider posting a Service Request. You just never know who might have the skill and time to get the job done for you, and you could make a new friend in the process!

We have a Wordle!