State of the Map 2019/Volunteers-Info

This page provides you with general information and lists the duties for each volunteer shift at this years State of the Map conference in Heidelberg 2019. Make sure to register and check out the shifts in our Engelsystem if you would like to give a helping hand.

General Information

• make sure that you arrive at the volunteer management desk at least 15 minutes before the start of your shift for registration and to receive the last input
• you are responsible to inform yourself about the general duties of your specific shift type
• please inform the following volunteer that relieves you from your shift about important stuff regarding the shift
• return to the volunteer management desk after your shift has finished to checkout and to inform if everything went smooth (or not)
• during the conference, we will use the Telegram messaging app as a means of communicating between volunteers. It would be highly beneficial for volunteers to have this app installed before the conference and register at the SotM volunteer group channel https://t.me/joinchat/JivbqVixXGyrBjSI7YMSgg.
• your volunteer management contact persons on-site are: Sabrina Marx, Adam Rousell and Fabian Kowatsch

Shift Types

Programme Assistant

Within the (academic) programme sessions there are two types of angels that are needed: Programme chair, and general assistance.

Programme chair

The programme chair is responsible for the running of the session and providing any announcements at the start or end of the session (you will be informed about any announcements before the start of the session). They need to introduce the speakers before each of their talks, make sure that they are present and ready for their talks, ensure that the speakers keep to the specified time limit, and facilitate the questions and discussion after talks. You should also be prepared to ask questions to the speaker if there are no questions being asked by the general audience. You should also monitor attendees of the talk to ensure that room capacity is not exceeded and that the code of conduct is being followed at all times.

General assistant

The role of the general assistant is to support the programme chair. You should help with getting the presenters slides ready for the talk (this could involve helping to plugin their laptop into the AV system, or to help transfer their presentations from memory stick to the provided computer). You should also help with distributing any microphones during questions and discussion, communicate with the organising team if required by the session chair, and help with ensuring that the flow of people in and out of the room is safe, efficient and does not disturb speakers.

Catering

The catering sessions are for the running of coffee and lunch breaks. There are two types of angels involved: General assistance, and movers.

General Assistance

During the catering shifts, the general assistants will be required to support the external catering providers in any tasks that need doing. This could involve helping to give food and drinks to attendees, clearing tables of any dishes and cutlery that have been left etc.

Movers

The role of movers during catering shifts is to ensure that there are drinks always available on the drinks tables by removing empty crates and bringing full crates of drinks from storage to the drinks tables. They may also need to assist with carrying of plates and cutlery as needed by the external catering providers.

Standby

The standby shift is meant to facilitate providing extra assistance for any other shifts where more work is needed. This could be because of people not showing up for their shifts, or because there is a higher than expected workload. The standby angels therefore should be prepared to do any job that is required of them, and must be contactable throughout their shift. Information about what is required during individual standby shifts will be provided by the organising team and the volunteer managers (who will normally be located at the volunteer desk).

Pause Guard

During the conference, there will be very specialised and valuable equipment used by for recording the talks. During periods when the room is not being used, it is required that someone stays in the room to ensure that the equipment remains safe and secure. This is the job of the pause guard volunteers. Pause guard volunteers MUST NOT leave their post during their shift. If they need to leave the room for a short period for any reason, they must contact the volunteer managers who can assign a temporary substitute volunteer.

Information Desk

The Information desk shifts comprise of two angel types, though both roles are identical: General assistance, and local. On the information desk, you will be required to provide assistance and information to attendees of the SotM conference. Such assistance may include indicating on a map where different amenities are near the conference venue and in Heidelberg, printing out information that attendees have forgotten to do themselves (e.g. printing tickets, boarding passes etc.), answering general "how do I... in Germany" questions, and ensuring that the desk is stoked with items such as "no photography" badges and stickers.

After the first morning of the conference (Saturday), the information desk volunteers will also be required to register attendees of the conference (see registration desk section for more information).

Registration Desk

Volunteers on the registration desk will be responsible for registering attendees at the conference. This will involve checking that they have a valid ticket and are listed in the attendee list, giving the attendee their t-shirt (the size of which was defined during the ticket purchase), and locating and giving out of name badges.

Video Camera and Mixer

Provide assistance to the video team by filming the sessions or mixing the video and audio streams. Some experience with video capture is preferred. You should either have gained experience with video recording on earlier events managed by CCC VOC (Congress, FOSSGIS, Froscon, GPN, …) or visit the introduction meeting (to be announced in the News section of Engelsystem).

Video Cutting

You will cut the recorded video streams. You will get your training before the start of your shift on site.

Build-up

During the build up shifts, volunteers are needed to help with getting the venue ready for the conference. This will involve assisting the organising team to move furniture such as tables and poster boards, ensuring that items in the venue are safe and secure (e.g. power cables are suitably covered), and putting up signs and banners.

Tear-down

When the conference finishes, volunteers in the tear-down shifts are responsible for providing assistance to the organising team with regards to returning the conference venue back to it's original state. This includes tasks such as moving furniture out fo the venue and back to it's original location, removing signs and banners, and tidying the venue (removing anything that has been left behind by attendees).

Social Event - Entrance Checking

You will be responsible to welcome the participants at the entrance of our social event location, the Hebelhalle. You need to check if they are participants of our conference (e.g. via requesting to show their name badge, ticket, etc.), or have a valid additional social event ticket. Each visitor gets then 3 vouchers from you for drinks that they can use at both bars. You will also be responsible to give some general information about the social event upon requested, like: Where are the bars? Where is the catering? Where can I put my bag? etc. All necessary information to answer those questions will be provided to you at the location before the start of your shift.

Social Event - Bar

You will hand out free drinks to the guests. For each drink, you have to receive one valid voucher. This bar will only give out drinks for vouchers, so no money will be handled here. If a guest is out of vouchers and wants to buy drinks, you need to inform them to go to the other bar close to the entrance/exit. You are also responsible to make sure that you have enough drinks and glasses at your bar and to keep it clean during the evening. It is very important to collect the used vouchers and hand them over to a volunteers manager after you're finished with your shift.

Social Event - Door Monitoring

Your responsibility lies in making sure that no food is taken from the dining room into the main Hebelhalle room. You should always keep an eye on what the people are carrying over when moving from one room to another and telling them nicely that they are not allowed to carry food out of the current dining room.

Social Event - Cleaning

You will look out for stuff that needs to be carried away, either helping the caterer to collect leftover plates/dishes/etc., or collecting glasses/bottles/etc. You should also be in contact with the catering and bar personal and assist them with their cleaning/moving duties.

Social Event - Standby

Be ready to give a helping hand wherever needed. Being it at the entrance at the beginning, when loads of people will arrive, or at the bar/catering, at the cleaning, or also monitoring. You can also serve as a substitute for other people, if they want to grab a drink in their shift or need to make a little break of some minutes for whatever reason.