Inter-trading Stories: share your requests for exchanges with members of other Timebanks

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Have you ever posted a request, but not received a reply from anyone? Well this happened to Amanda and Robin, two Timebank members who discovered an alternative option to post their requests: Inter-trade. Through inter-trade, your requests for exchanges can be shared not only with Silver Spring Timebank members, but also with members of other Timebanks in the country and around the world. This allows for your posts to be seen by more people who might be able to help, and is a great option for exchanges related to categories such as audio and video, translations (written), computer, writing, research and publishing, among others. This is how it worked out for two of our SSTB members, Diana and Robin:

DIANA:

Amanda is a member of the St. Pete Timebank in Florida. She has a small business that is growing. So she wanted to reach more audiences and, therefore, needed a translation to Spanish of an educational brochure on yard composting. She posted the request to her local Timebank but got no replies. The lead coordinator of her Timebank suggested she share it through the inter-trade option. Diana, who is a SSTB member, saw Amanda’s request in the weekly email and replied to it.

“I was SO EXCITED to get a response from two people from other Timebanks,” Amanda says. “I was specifically looking for someone with composting or gardening experience so that my educational guides would be more likely to be translated accurately.”

Diana says, “When I replied to Amanda’s post, I let her know that I am an environmental engineer who works in waste management and also a native Spanish speaker, so that she would know that I could provide a very good quality translation for her specific topic.” So Amanda ended up choosing Diana to do the translation. “Using inter-trade allowed me to find someone who was uniquely able to help me with my project,” Amanda concluded.

ROBIN:

Robin, who is a member of the SSTB, posted a request to get help making a PowerPoint presentation. Robin is a retired teacher and wanted to use the presentation to show to potential donors to continue supporting her volunteering work for civic organizations in Asia. Robin did not get any replies from SSTB members for her post, so she decided to try the inter-trade option.

She was able to contact three people, who could not do the work in the time frame she needed. However, “One of them said if I could not find someone to help me, she would try to make time for it.” Turns out she needed the hours to request some tutoring for her daughter. Robin says, “When I clicked on [Inter-trade], I thought it would contact me with people in other places in Maryland.  But she was located in the mid-west, so we had to coordinate our calls for a 2-hour time difference.” Robin felt that this exchange was very beneficial. Her exchange partner did all she wanted for the presentation and was very nice. Robin adds, “I would definitely do it again!”