Pradyumna Sampath
1. Introduction
Volunteers will have the following roles:
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Brainless Body: Lift, Carry, Fetch and Deliver Stuff. Mostly Heavy
stuff.
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Brainless Mouth: Crowd control, Delegate Registration, etc.
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Equipment In-charge: Be responsible for any equipment assigned to
your hall.
-
Hall In-Charge: Be responsible (cleanliness, crowd control) for
your assigned hall.
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Speaker In-charge: assist speakers assigned to your hall.
As you can see, it's *not* fun. If you want to have fun, register as a
delegate.
2. General
- Be polite: Always answer any queries with patience (who knows, you
may be talking to your future employer). If anything seems like it
is getting out of hand call out for the managers and they will
handle it from there. Be enthusiastic, but not over enthusiastic.
- Dressing : Dress neatly, don't wear anything out of the ordinary
(e.g. lungi,dhoti..). If u have a Linux T-Shirt for all the days
wear it. Dress comfortably.
-
Attending talks : Forget about it. If you want to attend talks,
register as a delegate and don't do any work. We will need you for
lifting chairs, getting coffee, running around etc. If you think
that becoming volunteers can save you money, forget about it. If
you want to attend a talk badly, talk to the managers and arrange
for an alternate person to man your job. Same applies for lunch.
-
Running around: Some odd things will have to be bought at the last
moment. So we recommend that people with bikes get them to the
venue.
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Managers: Get to know the managers and their respective
responsibilities. Report problems to the appropriate manager
whenever possible.
-
Unusual Situations: Use your common sense to handle any
unpredictable situation that arises. However, if it affects the
tasks that you or another volunteer have been assigned then pass
the problem to a manager or inform one ASAP.
3. Equipment In-charge
Every hall in all likelihood will have
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LCD projector
-
PC for projection
Make sure that they are there till the event is over. All the equipment
including the wires, mice, keyboard, etc. Make a rough checklist of all
the stuff that is in the hall, i.e. only movable equipment (leave out
the chairs tables). Before the Conference starts familiarize yourself
as to how to handle each equipment. Do not let anyone from the crowd
(Delegates) operate the hardware. Remember you are trusted with some
really expensive equipment.
4. Hall In-charge
-
Keep the hall floor clear of plastic and other junk (in the event that
someone throws something onto the floor).
-
In case of excess crowd seat the delegates on the aisle or floor. Keep
the dais clear of people. Wherever possible, try to maintain walk space
in the aisles so that speakers can easily exit and enter.
-
Make sure the talk titles are prominently posted outside the hall and
that they are changed promptly.
5. Speaker In-charge
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Show the speakers around the venue. Let them know about their schedules
(which talk at what time). Demonstrate your 'time-up' signals (10 min
left, 5 min left, Stop, etc). Keep an eye out for the speakers, so that
they are there on time for their talk.
-
Each speaker is allotted 1hr (talk+ questions) signal to the speakers at
the end of 50 minutes that his time is up. Give him/her an allowance of
3-4 minutes. If he doesn't stop after that, call a few of the other
volunteers and drag him off stage.
6. Winding up
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The timing for a volunteer is early morning to late at night. Don't
expect to go home at 1700 Hrs. Even after the official end of day, there
will be some things that will have to setup for the next day. Run
through your check list. Glance at the next days program. Have all the
slides for the next day ready.
7. Checklist
Example day start/closing checklist:
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Equipment accounted for.
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Equipment working.
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Slides ready.
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Talk Title placards ready.
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Speakers located.
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Hall in order.