Tag: Volunteers

By now you’ve had a chance to look over the convention schedule and plot out your weekend. If
you have some free time and would like to help out at the con, here are a few areas and times
we could use assistance with. Important note: any amount of time will be appreciated!  Every
hour you volunteer counts toward badge reimbursement.  Eight hours is half of your badge,
twelve is your full badge price reimbursed after the convention.

• Set-up- Surprisingly, set up is when we set up the convention ahead of time. Signs get put up and out,
  various convention areas are set up for the staff and members, and vendors need help bringing
  things in. You need to be able to follow directions and ask questions if you aren’t sure. We could
  use people Friday from 8:30am to 12:30pm
• Registration- Registration is the first thing you visit when coming in. We’re looking for one or two people to
  help hand out pre-registration packets. The times are Friday 1pm to 8pm and again Saturday
  from 8am to 3pm.
• Game Registration- Game Registration is where members sign up for games, GMs retrieve their game sheets for
  running and pick up prize Rads when they’re done. If you’re interested in assisting, available
  times will be Friday 4pm to 8pm, Saturday 1pm to 8pm and Sunday 1pm to 3pm.
• Prize vault- Folks who work the Prize Vault are Nuke-Con’s shopkeepers – they take the Rads members
  turn in for prizes and hand those prizes out. Attention to detail is needed here, plus patience as
  people decide what they want. Prize Vault needs an extra person on Saturday from 5pm to 9pm
  and Sunday from 3pm to 6pm.
• Runner- The runner is our communication line to the rest of the con. Responsibilities include checking in
  with the other staff, guests, other organizations, etc. making sure they’re taken care of. A runner
  might run errands for people (at the convention – no need to leave the space!) or fill in at a table
  while someone gets something to eat. They check the convention spaces to make sure trash
  cans aren’t full or that we have plenty of water. This position is needed the whole weekend:
  Friday, 1pm to 8pm; Saturday, 9am to 8pm; and Sunday, 9am to 4pm
• Tear down – As the title suggests, we start taking things down and cleaning up. Signs are removed, various
  convention areas begin to get cleaned up, and vendors may request assistance taking things
  out of the con space. We’re looking for help starting 5:30pm Sunday until the space is cleared.

Email: volunteers@nuke-con.com
As far as listing out hours here is an example:
Friday 10am – 1pm, put me in the Set Up crew.
Friday 1pm – 4pm, I’d like to do registration.
Friday 10pm – 2am, Combined reg.

Nuke-Con has had 30+ years of great times. That’s because of the planning that happens during the 51 weeks between one convention and the next. There are specific people responsible for specific jobs, but everybody adds to the stew of ideas before we serve up the result.

Site

The Site Coordinator involves working with the venue staff before, during and after the con. They plan how we’re going to use our space. They discuss physical needs (tables, chairs, electricity, water, AV equipment — and more) with the venue and Nuke-Con staff. It helps to have spatial vision for layout, and they’ll need to be the calm center in the middle of the crisis — because there always seems to be some issue to be solved.

Guest Liaison

Since gamers are curious people who love to tell stories, Nuke-Con often invites experienced and notable people in the game industry as guests. The Guest Liaison’s job is to make our guests welcome and comfortable. This volunteer will help select and confirm the guests; assist with travel arrangements; coordinate each guest’s schedule during the weekend; and make sure they have enough to eat and drink.

Aftershock Coordinator

Nuke-Con’s periodic games days are called Aftershocks. They are single-day events that are held at game stores or other places where gamers gather. A lot of the functions of the full convention also happen for the Aftershocks (site coordination, scheduling, table assignments, maybe a raffle) but on a much, much smaller scale. The Aftershock Coordinator is usually the single person who puts it all together.

Work on these jobs (and others!) is spread throughout the year. Volunteers for all of these positions will be back-ups for the current holder and we hope that the volunteer will eventually take full responsibility once they feel they understand and are comfortable with the job.

If any of these jobs interest you, or if you just want to get involved in the planning process, please contact volunteers@nuke-con.com. We’d love to have you in the Nuke-Con family.

Have you wanted to see what is takes to set up the Nuke-Con? Have you wanted to help out and see what is takes to be a part of the Con? Sign up as a Volunteer and see what we have going on!

We need people during the Weekend of Games to help with these jobs:

Set up

This happens the morning of the convention. Put signs on tables and signposts; prepare Game Reg, Prize Vault, and special event areas; help vendors bring their displays and products into the convention space.

People are needed Friday from around 10 am to open.

Runner

Runners are one way the staff at headquarters keeps in touch with the rest of the convention. Runners check in with the other staff, guests, and other organizations, to make sure their weekend is going well. A runner might run errands for people (at the convention – no need to leave the space!) or keep watch at a booth while the vendor gets something to eat. They check the convention spaces to make sure trash cans aren’t full, that we have plenty of water, that chairs are pushed in and trash is picked up, and that the entire space is generally tidy.

People are needed throughout the weekend for an hour or so at a time. Ideally, we would like 2-3 people to be available during the busiest hours of the convention.
Friday open to 8pm
Saturday 9am to 8pm
Sunday 9am to 5pm

Tear Down

At the end of the weekend we need to put everything back in the box that it came in. During Tear Down we take the signs down; pack up the Prize Vault, Game Reg, and the special event areas; generally tidy up throughout the convention space; help vendors move their gear back to their cars. It’s a frantic but vital activity.

We need people starting about 5:30 pm and going until we’re done, no later than 7 pm.

We’ll talk about some other jobs in Parts 2 and 3 later this week.

If you’d like to help out, please contact volunteers@nuke-con.com.