Frustrated Volunteer

There's a community in Oakland County having an event this Saturday.  The group organizing the event went out of their way to invite me to volunteer at the event.  This was done months ago, and at the time, I asked what kind of help was needed.  I told them the types of things I would like to help out with, but said "whatever you need, let me know."  The group responded with a message saying they would get in touch shortly after they had their meeting and things progressed.

Now, time has passed. I never heard anything from the group, and I made other plans for Saturday.  Finally, on Thursday, the group sent out a mass e-mail telling people where they need help and for how long.  You cannot expect people to keep a whole day roped off in case they are needed and not communicate with them.  If I approached them, that's one thing, but they initiated the invite, and then did not keep me posted about what would happen.  This is also not the first time this group has done this to me and others.  Heck, half the time they're begging for volunteers at the last minute and telling them to bring friends.

If you are organizing an event, you have an obligation to keep volunteers posted about what's going on, invite them to attend meetings, and make sure you keep the media involved as well.  Hopefully, this group will eventually learn from their lack of communication and make some changes so they can make sure there are enough volunteers for future events.  If changes are made and I am available, then I will be there.