VAX takes a lot of work leading up to it, during it and after the event. Having a crew on hand helps things run more smoothly and makes information and support more accessible to such a large group of attendees. Read on to learn the various ways you can assist with the event and approximately how much time or effort it will require. If you'd like to volunteer, please indicate your interest in the registration form.
Project Planning Support
Each year we have a whole set of new faces joining us for their first VAX. The event can seem a lot like a legendary thing with a whole host of opinions about how to do it right and what to expect. The biggest thing that leads to a successful VAX, however, is having a great project to work on; and coordinating that, can be one of the most challenging and confusing aspects.
This year, I’d love to have a few folks help to host project brainstorm sessions. It would be great to have representatives from multiple disciplines and experienced VAXers who know how to operate the trello board.
The ask: Help to create a basic deck to run through during a project planning brainstorm. Be a support/advocate in a slack project planning chat room.
Time commitment: ~1hr to create the deck together. ~1 hr to run a single session. ~1 hr answering questions as they come in and out of the slack room
Press & Social Media
VAX is worth celebrating and showing off to the world. I’m looking for people who love writing blog posts, working with the communications team on where we could blast this out to the world, and, of course, what our social media strategy will be and how to support it during and after the event.
The ask: Blog post writers, instagrammers, tweeters, people who want to be a point person for the communications team.
Time Commitment: ~5 hrs for blog writers (gathering content, writing it, editing), ~2-3 hrs for instagrammers and tweeters, Unsure on commitment with outside press because it depends on the scope of what we’d like to do
Photography & Video
Do you love taking photos as much as you love to VAX? Are you secretly looking to film a VAX recap video so you can learn video editing skills?! We use photography from events like VAX for external posts AND more importantly to keep for our digital scrapbooks.
The ask: At least one photographer for the event, ideally multiple, especially those who can help to create social media imagery.
Time commitment: At event, up to you as long as we can get a good mix of photos. For video, I am totally unqualified to answer that, but would consider it a VAX project in itself.
Event Coordination
Where are my, “whatever you need from me, Ashley” people? This is your section. Whether it’s a line leader for the bus, someone to help package swag bags, hanging signs or setting up a room with extension cords, your extra hands make the work light and faster. If you’d like to volunteer for this role, your commitment will be sporadic throughout VAX unless I assign you a specific role in advance. I will do my best to rotate jobs/asks and ensure that it does not impact your experience and participation at VAX itself.
Code of Conduct and Emergency Support
It’s better to be prepared and it’s best to have a large support system. I need a group of people to support general CoC and Emergency response needs. We explicitly never require anyone to respond to a situation and always ask that you call 911, but the more people who are aware of best practices and in-case-of emergency steps, the better.
The ask: Review and be trained on our CoC and Emergency response plans. Be available to staff as a resource for questions and support.
Time commitment: ~2 hours of training and preparation before VAX.
Presentation Organization & Documentation
People are sweating bullets because they only have hours left to work and they want everything to be perfect for their demo or presentation. We can help them out by organizing who wants to present and when, giving them a presentation template they can use if they’d like to, getting information about their projects that we can use on blog posts and for other post-event press or comms and finally, wrapping everything up in a neatly tied VAX archive folder on Google. Where are my type-A friends?
Time commitment: ~1 hr to create a template deck, ~1-2 hours at VAX on day 2, ~3 hours post VAX to organize information
If you have any additional questions about volunteering please reach out to Ashley directly.