How do you get guilds and individuals to volunteer to help organize and run your conference?  How do you get the most out of what you have?  Do we need professional help?  (Well yes, probably, if we're in this group, but let's restrict the discussion to the use of professional planners.)

Please respond to this first post unless you're specifically addressing a subtopic raised in a major subpost.

Comments

Sat, 02/04/2012 - 16:56

Cat Brysch

who only works with volunteers, you could form a wonderful team. Volunteers can be the very force that brings about a successful show without that core group working themselves to a frazzle.  They deserve rewards and accalades for volunteering in the form and something free and a proper listing that shows their contribution. A Volunteer Chair can move mountains, if that chair is a people person and isn't being pulled in other directions by having too many duties.  I know that, in most conferences, really EVERYone is a volunteer and I always keep that in mind, if I am a vendor, as I am working with the Vendor Chair.

Mon, 02/06/2012 - 18:39

fiberrae

ANWG is contemplating that same issue.  Struggling actually. From my perspective as a current conference chair, the problem is the need to reinvent the wheel each and every conference. Vendors complain that they make the same requests year after year but there is no learning. Continuity. A template for running a conference. It is much too daunting if you have no past experience or large pool of  potential volunteers to draw from. Many of our guilds are too small to consider running a conference. Even our large guild is using other small to medium guilds to help run ours. The enthusiasm is there...just not the energy to do the whole thing.

So..the obvious answer is a coalition of guilds willing to donate something to the cause...but organizing that takes volunteers, too.  And we have not had any success so far in building a smaller group outside of ANWG, itself.

Mon, 02/06/2012 - 19:21

lkautio (not verified)

NEWS (New England Weavers Seminar) is run by a set of member guilds, which range from large to quite small. Each guild has one or two volunteer trustees on the board to make decisions.  Tasks are assigned to guilds and rotate to some degree, though some are reserved for larger or smaller guilds.  EVERY member guild holds some responsibility. A guild may hold onto a task for 2 or 3 conferences which helps continuity.

Then, there are tasks run by individuals.  Most of these change often, but a few (such as facilities, treasurer, or registration) are sometimes held for quite a while. The person who coordinates other volunteers (show sitters, teacher helpers, ticket takers, loom movers) is worth her weight in gold!  She generally works closely with the registrar and facilities chair.

Nothing is perfect, but it has worked reasonably well for over 50 years now.

Laurie Autio

Tue, 02/07/2012 - 17:59

MargCoe (not verified)

I was Chair of Convergence '94 when Convergence was still entirely run by volunteers.  During my tenure, the HGA office was established with paid staff and that immediately caused problems.  Rule number 1, do not expect people to give their expertise for free and be ordered around by people who are being paid.

Respect volunteers' expertise. Do not expect blind obedience to orders from the hierarchy no matter how well reasoned they are.  Quitting the job is always the volunteer's option!  Try to generate and maintain a working environment where equality and respect are the key words.

Marg Coe

Tue, 02/14/2012 - 17:09

lkautio (not verified)

Marg, Amen.  Mixing paid and unpaid positions is really difficult.  And a token payment may be worse than no payment.  It is especially hard to mix when the paid positions are held for long periods of time and are supervised by unpaid volunteers, including board members, who change regularly (maybe that is rule #2, Don't expect volunteers to have any real power over paid employees.).

Laurie Autio

Wed, 02/15/2012 - 05:49

Cat Brysch

by offering incentives like free admission or discounts on dinners, shows, classes, but I have no experience with the higher-ups in conferences. I was the Enchanted Yardage Coordinator in Albuquerque 2010, and was not paid a dime...However, I would have appreciated being given the chance to buy some of the HGA Commemorative pieces before the ran out!