amanda_lodden (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
amanda_lodden) wrote2011-08-03 01:21 pm
amanda_lodden) wrote2011-08-03 01:21 pm
Entry tags:
Cons and volunteering
I'm no longer in my teens (nor my twenties), which means that when I attend a gaming convention, I do silly things like sleep for an entire night and relax in between games, and "food" means an actual meal rather than scarfing something down while walking to the next game.
I've considered the possibility of volunteering at GenCon for the last few years, and I've always been put off by the fact that they'll reimburse you for your badge if you work 16 hours, and they'll do jack-all if you work 15 hours and 59 minutes. 16 hours is a lot of time-- the guy at Volunteer HQ pointed out that it's "only 4 hours a day" but that ignores the fact that 1) 4 hours a day is 25% of my waking time, and 2) we go home Sunday, which means that I only HAVE about 4 waking hours on Sunday.
What it occurred to me to ask this year, though was this: "Do hours worked roll over to the next year?" Because for a con that's crying for volunteers all the time, it seems like having a way to encourage people to work multiple years, even if it's a smaller block of time each year, would still result in more willing volunteers. It would also mean that after the first year, you've got a pool of volunteers who have already been trained on at least one thing, which means you don't have to waste time training a newbie over and over.
GenCon does not roll hours over between years, but I still think it's a good idea, and I would like to put that suggestion out for the world. There are more cons than just GenCon, and a common theme among them is "we need volunteers!"
I've considered the possibility of volunteering at GenCon for the last few years, and I've always been put off by the fact that they'll reimburse you for your badge if you work 16 hours, and they'll do jack-all if you work 15 hours and 59 minutes. 16 hours is a lot of time-- the guy at Volunteer HQ pointed out that it's "only 4 hours a day" but that ignores the fact that 1) 4 hours a day is 25% of my waking time, and 2) we go home Sunday, which means that I only HAVE about 4 waking hours on Sunday.
What it occurred to me to ask this year, though was this: "Do hours worked roll over to the next year?" Because for a con that's crying for volunteers all the time, it seems like having a way to encourage people to work multiple years, even if it's a smaller block of time each year, would still result in more willing volunteers. It would also mean that after the first year, you've got a pool of volunteers who have already been trained on at least one thing, which means you don't have to waste time training a newbie over and over.
GenCon does not roll hours over between years, but I still think it's a good idea, and I would like to put that suggestion out for the world. There are more cons than just GenCon, and a common theme among them is "we need volunteers!"