VOLUNTEERS WANTED FOR TEAM ARISIA

POSITIONS AVAILABLE for Arisia 2017

Last updated: January 1, 2017

If you don't see a position you like, take a look at the Org Chart. A position without a name might be open. Also you could submit a volunteer form, and we'll try to find a position for you.




Art Show - Door Dragon
Responsibilities:Ensure that no bulky or dangerous items are brought into the Art Show. Politely direct owners of bulky items to the Bag Check. Check access credentials during certain art show closed hours. Count visitors to the show using a tally counter. Training (including cross training with other jobs) will be provided. Work takes place throughout the weekend.
  • Number of people needed: 31 shifts of 1.5 hours each.
  • No previous training or experience needed.
  • Job is seated and does not require lifting.

Contact: artshow@arisia.org


Art Show - Bag Check
Responsibilities: Help ensure the safety of the art in the Art Show by storing bags and other bulky items for visitors. Maintain organized storage space to facilitate quick retrieval of belongings upon presentation of claim checks. Some lifting required. Training (including cross training with other jobs) will be provided. Work takes place throughout the weekend.
  • Number of people needed: 1-3 people per shift for 25 shifts of 1.5 hours each
  • No previous training or experience needed.

Contact: artshow@arisia.org


Art Show - Rover
Responsibilities: Keep an eye on art in the Art Show. Help people buy art. Make sure displays are updated after purchase. Training (including cross training with other jobs) will be provided. Work takes place throughout the weekend.
  • Number of people needed: 1-3 people per shift for 20 shifts of 1.5 hours each
  • No previous training or experience needed.

Contact: artshow@arisia.org


Art Show - Tally Clerk
Responsibilities: Fill out paperwork for art being purchased. Make sure recorded information has enough redundancy to allow correcting errors during reconciliation. As time is available, record information in reconciliation paperwork. Training (including cross training with other jobs) will be provided. Work takes place throughout the weekend.
  • Number of people needed: 1-2 people per shift for 20 shifts of 1.5 hours each
  • No previous training or experience needed.
  • Job is seated and does not require lifting.

Contact: artshow@arisia.org


Newsletter Coordinator
Responsibilities: The Newsletter Coordinator is responsible for putting together 4-6 editions of Arisia's at-con print newsletter. The Coordinator will collate and edit information sent to them in person, via email or online document, format it, print off multiple copies of each edition and distribute them throughout the convention at designated locations. Skills Required: Must have experience collating information from various sources, operating, editing, formatting and troubleshooting with commercial word processing software to create print documents.

Contact: comms@arisia.org


Newsletter Staff
Responsibilities: Assist the Newsletter Coordinator responsible for putting together 4-6 editions of Arisia's at-con print newsletter. Help distribute newsletter to designated locations throughout the con. Must have experience collating information from various sources, operating, editing, formatting and troubleshooting with commercial word processing software to create print documents.

Contact: comms@arisia.org


Logistics Truck Load/Unload Workers
Responsibilities: Pick things up and put them down again. Locations are split between the Arisia Storage Unit in Somerville, MA and the Westin Hotel. Possible additional location at NESFA clubhouse in Medford, MA. Times are: Wednesday January 11th, afternoon/early evening; Thursday, January 12th,afternoon/early evening; Monday, January 16th, afternoon/late evening; Tuesday, January 17, morning/early afternoon. For questions about specific start times and available shifts please email the specified contact address below.

Contact: logistics@arisia.org


Video Room Staff
Responsibilities: Monitoring videos being presented, changing media over between videos, keeping Video Room in working order. Other tasks as assigned by Video Room Manager. Skills Required: Must have experience operating and troubleshooting commercial audio/video equipment, projectors in a public setting. Must have good communication skills. Video Room Staff will be supervised by the Video Room Manager.

Contact: video@arisia.org


Ops Desk Volunteers
Responsibilities:This person will staff the Ops Desk, providing information and things like blue tape for convention staffers. Must be able to answer phone and take notes. Ability to use a computer and printer desired. This job is at-con only, in short shifts (between 2 and 4 hours long). We'll train you!

Contact: ops@arisia.org


Dead Dog Party Staff
Responsibilities: The Dead Dog Party is the get-together for remaining staff, volunteers etc. to have a few snacks and be social at the close of the con on Monday. We need as many volunteers as possible to work flexible shifts in the preparing and handling of food to feed our convention attendees. Must have a sincere desire to feed people! Food handling and basic sanitation are helpful skills to have for this position. Hours for starting Dead Dog Party preparation will start as early as Monday afternoon and help will be needed until late Monday night/early Tuesday morning. Please consult with the Food Functions Division Head at the address below for questions on available shifts.

Contact: food@arisia.org


Security Staffer (The Watch)
Responsibilities: Duties include badge/ID checking, cat herding, line wrangling, escort duties, weapons checking, assisting in necessary evacuation procedures in the event of an emergency, Implementing and carrying out the Arisia Code of Conduct, promote the overall comfort and ease of all con-goers. Contact the address below for available shifts.

Contact: security@arisia.org


Access Setup
Responsibilities: Assist the Member Services Access Team with setting up signs, taping floors to designate access areas, and other tasks as designated by the Member Services Division Head or their designee. Time: Thursday January 12th and/or Friday January 13th prior to convention start.

Contact: memberservices@arisia.org




Video Theater Assistants
Responsibilities: Earn volunteer hours watching movies! We need people to keep an eye on our 24-hour Video Theater. Shifts can be just an hour or two, or as long as you want. A knowledge of how to use A/V equipment is helpful. An ability to fix simple problem with the equipment is useful. If problems arise, the Video Theater coordinator will be available on-call to help. Training will be available at-con on Friday at 2pm.

Contact: Please apply to video@arisia.org


Program Nexus Staff
Responsibilities: Arisia Programming is looking to fill several at-con positions in the Program Nexus to help ensure that panels, workshops, meetups and presentations run smoothly at-con. All Program Nexus staff work towards facilitating a positive experience for our participants, so a calm or cheery disposition is requested of all applicants! Program Nexus Staff assist the Nexus Manager and Programming Division Heads with tasks performed primarily within the Program Nexus Room. These tasks include handing out participant packets to Panelists, Game Masters, and Event Organizers, monitoring workshop signups, and receiving feedback about our programming items. This position is for those 18 years of age or older.

Contact: Please apply to programming@arisia.org or fill out the volunteer form.


Program Nexus Runner
Responsibilities: Arisia Programming is looking to fill several at-con positions in the Program Nexus to help ensure that panels, workshops, meetups and presentations run smoothly at-con. All Program Nexus staff work towards facilitating a positive experience for our participants, so a calm or cheery disposition is requested of all applicants! Program Nexus Runners assist the Nexus Manager and Programming Division Heads with tasks mainly outside of the Program Nexus Room. These include performing room counts, switching out schedules posted outside of panel rooms, and collecting paper feedback forms out of boxes.

Contact: Please apply to programming@arisia.org or fill out the volunteer form


Events Liaisons
Number of people needed: 8-10; must be willing to attend a Liaison Training ahead of con, either in person if local, or by Skype or Google Hangout if not local. We will be running a tight schedule this year with lots of exciting events in 4 different spaces.
Responsibilities: Be the pre-con and/or at-con point of contact between event and Arisia. Be the coordinator between specific scheduled event group and the events division and tech and be able to answer questions that the group has. Questions can range from ‘how do I get my badge?’ to “where do I leave my gear when I am not performing?” You need to make sure they allow for traffic and arrive on time, submit the tech requests form in a timely manner, etc.

Required skills: communication, organization, persuasion

You must like to work with different types of artistic talent, and be able to get them to submit forms on time, arrive to convention on time, and perform in allotted time slot.

Contact: Please apply to events@arisia.org


Art Show - Setup/Teardown Crew
Number of people needed: 12-16; no previous experience or training required.
Responsibilities: Under the supervision of the setup crew leads, assemble and disassemble pipe, drape, pegboard, and lighting equipment. All subtasks involve lifting items, ranging in weight from 5 pounds (solo lift) to 50 pounds (team lift). A few tasks suitable for blind volunteers are available, as are some seated tasks. Pipe and lighting equipment requires tool use. Pipe assembly includes floor level work. Lighting assembly involves use of stepladders. Work takes place Thursday between 10am and 7pm and Monday between 1pm and 4pm, plus possibly Thursday evening from 9pm to 11pm.

Contact: Please apply to art-show@arisia.org


Art Show - Mail-in Art Setup
Number of people needed: 4-6; attendance at pre-con training session desirable (even for returning volunteers) but not required.
Responsibilities: Under the supervision of the mail-in art lead, unbox, lay out, hang, tag, and check in artwork for mail-in artists. At end of con, check out, take down, and repack art. Some light lifting, not exceeding 5 pounds. Setup work requires neatness and aesthetic judgment. Work takes place Thursday between 9pm and midnight, Friday between 10am and 6pm, Sunday between 8pm and 11pm, and Monday between 10am and 1pm.

Contact: Please apply to art-show@arisia.org


Arisia Sales Cashier
Responsibilities:
  • Maintain a ledger of purchases made at con
  • Process credit card transactions, checks, and cash
  • Manage inventory at point of sale

Contact: Please apply to exhibits@arisia.org


Quiet Room Staff
Responsibilities:
  • Coordination of room setup and maintenance
  • Monitor Quiet Room space during shift
  • Answer any Quiet Room related questions.

Contact: Please apply to memberservices@arisia.org


Line Management Shift Leads
Number of people needed: 2-3
Responsibilities:
  • Pre-con planning
  • At-con managing and coordinating of Line Management staff and volunteers
  • Real-time triage of problems to fix any long lines or delays that may occur
  • Various tasks as directed by Line Management Senior Staff

Contact: Please apply to memberservices@arisia.org


Line Management Staff
Responsibilities:
  • Monitoring lines and assisting in keeping lines organized and moving in an orderly fashion
  • Assisting those with access-related needs
  • Various tasks as directed by Line Management Shift Leads

Contact: Please apply to memberservices@arisia.org


Coat Check Room Staff
Responsibilities:
  • Coordinating intake and outtake of coats and bags for attendees
  • Keeping Coat Check room organized
  • Interacting with staff, volunteers, and attendees in a polite and professional manner.

Contact: Please apply to memberservices@arisia.org


First Aid Staff
Responsibilities: Perform basic First Aid as needed. This is an at-con position.
Arisia will reimburse folks for taking the course between now and the con.
Skills needed: Red Cross First and and CPR training are needed.

Contact: Please apply to ops@arisia.org


Team Arisia Headquarters Staff
Responsibilities: Arisia is a 100% volunteer-run convention that boasts an amazing staff of dedicated, awesome people. Help out at Team Arisia Headquarters -- Greet existing staff and potential volunteers. Log volunteer hours in spreadsheets. Re-stock snacks/drinks. Help promote volunteering throughout the convention.
Time: Flexible 6-hour shifts at con. Especially need staff for peak hours on Friday and Monday.

Contact: Please apply to staffservices@arisia.org


Registration Staff
Responsibilities: Come join the friendly, welcoming people of Registration! As the first faces attendees see when they arrive at the convention, Registration volunteers are an incredibly important part of the Con. Reg Staff must be comfortable working in a fast-paced environment, and enjoy helping people.
Skills/requirements needed: Money handling, customer service, punctuality and reliability sitting for long periods of time, using a laptop.
Time: Flexible shifts at con, training pre-con

Contact: Please apply to reg@arisia.org


Teen Unconference Leaders
Number of people needed: 1-3
Responsibilities:
  • Leaders make sure to have materials on hand (whiteboard, sticky notes, stars, and pencils for the con)
  • Review panel suggestions and create schedule by Saturday at noon
  • Work with social media and communications to publicize final schedule on Saturday afternoon
  • Check in on panels as they are happening


Time: One hour pre-con 1 to 2 hours set up Friday night, 2 to 3 hours arranging on Saturday and briefly checking in on panels

Special qualifications: looking for people that are outgoing, organized, and that are between 13 and 19 years old.
Contact: Please apply to youth-services@arisia.org

Tabletop Monitor
During Arisia, the tabletop gaming room (Harbor I) is in operation nearly 24 hours a day for the entire con, which means it has to be monitored and staffed during that time. Responsibilities:Monitors are responsible for tracking the games signed out from the games library, checking them out and making sure that they are returned complete and undamaged when attendees are done playing. They should be able to direct people in the game room to games in play (pre-scheduled and/or spontaneous) and game moderators to their assigned tables. Other tasks as needed by the tabletop room host on duty, the area head, or the division staff. Shifts are available 24/4 in two or four-hour blocks. Being able to commit to more shifts is desirable, especially premium shifts like overnight, early morning, or Saturday night, and we will do our best to schedule you with an eye toward your comfort and health.

Contact: Please apply to gaming@arisia.org



Video Room Manager
Responsibilities: Creating a schedule and entering it into Arisia's scheduling system (Zambia) by the publication deadline. Ensuring that correct licensing has been arranged for all properties that are shown (Arisia's existing MPLC license, other agency, or direct). Recruiting, managing, and scheduling Video Theater staff.

Skills Required: Must have a good knowledge of classic, foreign, and contemporary SF/F TV shows, video, films, and anything else that might be of interest to our attendees. Must have experience operating and troubleshooting commercial audio/video equipment, projectors in a public setting. Must have good communication skills. The Video Room Manager can provide their own A/V gear or use Arisia's equipment.


Assistant Press Liaison
Responsibilities: Seeking a person with good verbal skills to share on-call rotation with the Press Liaison during the convention. This is a light-duty position (8-12 hours throughout the convention) with a small amount of work beforehand. It is a good way to get your first experience volunteering for Arisia if you don't mind being on call.

This position requires dealing with the Press and answering questions about Arisia, its history, activities, and structure. Therefore, it's best if you have several years' experience attending the con and know something about how Arisia works. You must have a device you can be paged on during the con.

Contact: Please apply to comms@arisia.org

Assistant Innkeeper At-Con or Pre-Con
Responsibilities: The Innkeeper team manages the sleeping rooms at the various hotels where Arisia has signed a contract. We manage all the special requests and reservation changes for attendees. There is a strong customer focus on our team; this is a great place for being able to make connections directly with members and having a positive face on the convention. The team is looking for assistant innkeepers to help with pre-con and at-con tasks. Pre-Con assistants help with managing spreadsheets with people's reservation information making sure that changes have been processed correctly and sending confirmation emails out to attendees. This can take up to 10 hours/week starting in November up until the convention. We've been working to partially automate some of our tasks, so if you have a particular love of javascript and spreadsheets, we'd love your help. This could be a solely IT-type position for the right volunteer.

At Con- we are looking for assistant innkeepers to spend a few hours at the innkeeper help desk and answer questions about rooming. Usually this is facilitating basic check-in questions.

Contact: Please apply to innkeeper@arisia.org

Staff Den Service Staff
We are looking for several people to provide food service for the staff of Arisia.
Responsibilities:
  • Civil and courteous interaction with staff being served and others.
  • The ability to follow directions well and provide proper food service. Knowledge of cross-contamination rules and/or previous food service experience are a plus but not necessary.
  • Must have a high degree of mobility as the job requires frequent movement.

At the con, you will be expected to do the following:
  • Bus tables regularly, changing tablecloths when needed.
  • Keep ice baths properly full and cold.
  • Prepare trays and bowls of foods for serving; restock trays/bowls when empty.
  • Do various general tasks regarding keeping food tray/bowls stocked, keeping food at proper temperatures, as well as regular room maintenance/cleaning.

The minimum number of hours for each position is 6 hours at the convention total, the maximum is as many hours as each individual wants to give. Hours are available from Friday morning early (we serve Friday breakfast) through Monday evening.

Contact:Please apply to staff-den@arisia.org

Staff Den Food Prep Staff
We are looking for a few people willing to sit at a table for a few hours to prepare and plate food for service.
Responsibilities:
  • Must be able to sit (or stand if the worker prefers) and prepare food, including cutting veggies, plating cold cuts, etc.
  • Must be able to follow directions
  • Must be familiar with or willing to learn rules with regard to preventing cross-contamination of food.

The minimum number of hours for each position is 6 hours at the convention total, the maximum is as many hours as each individual wants to give. Hours are available from Friday morning early (we serve Friday breakfast) through Monday evening.

Contact: Please apply to staff-den@arisia.org

Web Developer(s)
Responsibilities:We need one or more web developers to help with Zambia, the open source scheduling software used by Arisia and several other cons. The work is all pre-con and can be as much as you like. In particular, we need developers willing and able to work in PHP. Other technologies we use include MySQL, Javascript, HTML, CSS, Less, and XSLT.

Contact: Please apply to staffservices@arisia.org