VOLUNTEER STAFF NEEDED
for the 25th Annual Conference of the
International Association for the Study of Dreams
Tuesday July 8 through Saturday July 12, 2008
at the Hôtel Auberge Universel Montréal
The International Association for the Study of Dreams is looking for staff to help us with the upcoming conference. Staff for part or all of the conference and receive a FREE or reduced conference registration.
Join a great group of people and enjoy five days among cutting-edge dreamers and researchers from around the world. Staff handle many activities including: staffing registration tables, assisting in the product store, acting as room monitors, providing audio-visual assistance. While we must fill all the activities with available staff, we make every effort to apply your preferences in assigning you to workshops or tasks you’ll enjoy. Staff will be required for the periods from: 8AM-10PM July 8th through 12th and some prior to the conference for preparing registration materials. All will be expected to attend at least one training session prior to the start of the conference.
To volunteer, or to request more information, please read the attached document describing staff duties and how to qualify for complementary full or partial conference registration. All staff volunteers must register for the conference, and pay a small fee to cover luncheon expenses, but further conference program fees are complementary or reduced depending on the amount of volunteer time spent. Conference Staff must arrange for their own lodging at the Hotel or elsewhere and do pay for any special events or individual dinners they desire. Please fill out the information on the Staff Application and Information Request Form and return it to our Staff Coordinator Lana Nasser at e-mail: lana.nasser@gmail.com.
Because we draw staff from across the country, most of our communication prior to the conference will be via email. It will be the responsibility of staff to check their email regularly. We will not be able to call you individually to keep you updated. Thanks for understanding.
STAFF CLASSIFICATION, POLICY and DUTIES
IASD Conference 2008
Policy & Duties
Volunteer Staff Policy
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Source Of: staff recruitment can come from anywhere, but typically comes from the following sources:
a) IASD members and board who are unable to afford the conference or wish to trade staff work for conference fees;
b) students from the campus hosting the conference or the local area universities;
c) those who have requested scholarships are given an opportunity to staff in exchange for waiving the fee (since scholarships are limited);
d) speakers who have requested some financial aid;
e) those who make up the Host committee and conference committee that are making a significant contribution to the conference
f) those who are unable to attend the conference without some financial assistance, and are available to staff throughout the conference.
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Staff Classifications:
a) Host Staff: the following positions are typically considered Host Staff classification from the standpoint of receiving a complementary conference in return for their efforts: Conference Host; Program Chair; Staff Coordinator; AV Coordinator (if not provided by the Hotel), On-Site Registration Manager, Program database manager and Logistics Coordinator and perhaps one or two major Chairs such as Sponsorship/Products Chair. The Central Office manager who manages the pre-registration also qualifies. IASD officers, Board and Past Presidents do not qualify for complementary conference unless they meet the other requirements herein. Other committee members are not necessarily considered complementary status either, but could be approved by the Conference Host and Volunteer Staff Coordinator for that status if the amount of work dictates. Budget ultimately dictates the numbers.
b) On-Site Conference Staff: these are volunteers who usually respond to the Call for Volunteers who work the Conference on-site once it begins. These include registration staff, room monitors, AV coordinators, product sales and various others. The full list of duties is provided below.
c) Pre-conference Volunteers: Some small number of volunteer staff jobs may be required prior to the conference as approved by and supervised by a member of the Host Committee, such as staff necessary to complete pre-registration duties and preparation of conference collateral materials.
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Compensation Rules:
a) Staff are compensated for their time by partial or full waiver of conference fees based on work accomplished.
b) Compensation basis: 1. Host Staff are compensated on the basis of the total job since these efforts extend from well before the conference to some activity during the conference. 2. On-site Conference Staff are compensated on the basis of % of time spent volunteering (essentially a day of conference for a day of volunteering). 3. Pre-conference Volunteer compensation will usually be arranged on a total job basis.
c) Compensation shall never include any more than waiver of fees, which means no compensation for personal expenses, travel, lodging or personal meals (those not provided as a part of the staff activity).
d) Staff will be reimbursed for IASD and conference related direct expenses (purchase of supplies for the conference etc.).
e) Compensation will include all refreshments available in the staff staging room and typically include a complimentary staff appreciation reception.
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Compensation Rates for Non-Conference Committee Staff:
a) Standard rates are one hour of conference for one hour of ON-SITE work. This may be translated by the Staff Coordinator for scheduling convenience to a number of conference days or sessions in exchange for a number of equivalent days or sessions in duration of ON-SITE work. Hours spent in preparatory or training meeting prior to the conference, and travel time to the conference, are not included in the one for one compensation.
b) If the staff does not work the whole conference (example one or two half days) then they are not permitted to attend the whole 4-day conference, but only an equivalent number of half days that they worked on-site. Badges may reflect days of admission or may be requested to be turned in after compensated conference days have been expended.
c) For those staff requested to support the Host Committee prior to the conference will do so based on “total work accomplished” agreements and be offered both partial and full conference fee waivers as decided when the task is determined and approved by the Host, Staff Coordinator and where applicable the Program Chair.
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Agreements:
a) All staff, with the exception of those few named above from the Host committee, shall have signed agreements (or electronically confirmed e-mail agreements) which indicate that they understand the rules herein; the list of duties, that they agree to work with the Staff Coordinator for their assigned time-periods on-site (or special arrangements that have been negotiated), and that in return they will receive the compensation as outlined above. This can be a simple but standardized agreement via e-mail or hard copy, with this policy attached.
b) The signed agreement, once approved by the Staff Coordinator, must be followed by the Staff person registering for the conference within 10 days of the approval. On-line registration is highly recommended although use of the mail-in form is acceptable. The registration form for some conferences may included a reimbursable Staff fee which will be held and returned to the staff once all agreed duties are fulfilled. To the degree the staff does not complete their duties the reimbursement will be adjusted accordingly.
c) The staff will be assigned duties based on a combination of their own stated preferences to the degree practical, modified or augmented by assigned duties based on what is practical and needed to fill all openings. Each staff will be given a duty roster listing the session times and locations that they are required to work. When the staff arrives at their assigned session, they will engage with the presenter, chair or person they are to support, who will initial their roster.
d) In the case of the Host Committee – those who are entitled to partial or full fee reductions, shall confirm such arrangements with the Conference Host and Staff Coordinator prior to the conference by e-mail dialog.
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Registration:
a) ALL staff MUST register using the on-line registration system (or mail-in if not possible). They shall register as any other paying registrant with the exception that they are to check off the bullet or box indicating that they are volunteer staff and pay the smaller staff fee marked there, and should eliminate paying the regular conference fee. Volunteers also must sign up and pay for any meals and all other events they wish to attend. They should arrange lodging with the Hotel or locally as they see fit. They should also indicate any special agreements in the comments box.
b) Registration is required in order to prepare staff badges. All staff must wear a conference badge with the staff color or designation attached to it. If a staff has limited on-site work that limits the number of days of complementary conference, the badge may stipulate this and must be worn. The staff may be required to turn in the badge prior to days that are not to be compensated.
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Scheduling:
a) Staff activity on-site is dictated by the staff schedule prepared typically by the Staff Coordinator, Host and Program Chair.
b) Staff must adhere to their scheduled times, and may only deviate if agreed by the Staff Coordinator.
c) Staff may trade time with other staff but the final arrangements need to be reported to and confirmed by the Staff Coordinator
d) The Staff Coordinator will work with staff to schedule time such that particular events they want to attend are possible. It must be realized however that full flexibility may not always be practical and the Staff Coordinator has final say.
e) Staff will be required throughout each day of the conference from 30 minutes prior to each morning session until the close of the conference each night. Staff should arrive a minimum of 15 minutes prior to their shift.
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Communication and Physical Requirements:
a) Communication with staff will be primarily via email since our staff are drawn from across the country. Staff will be expected to check their email on a regular and timely basis and are responsible for keeping themselves current with our communication.
b) Coordination meetings will be scheduled but kept to a minimum (1-3 total prior to the conference and only if necessary). For those staff who do not live in the Local Area, special arrangements can be made with the Staff Coordinator to meet you just prior to the conference if any training is required.
c) Most of the staff jobs require occasional lifting of book boxes, chairs, etc, walking from room to room and or standing for long periods of time. Please inform the Staff Coordinator upon submitting your staff application, if you have any limitations to lifting these objects, or are unable to stand for 30 minutes or longer.
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Authority: The Conference Host in collaboration with the Staff Coordinator, Program Chair and IASD Treasurer has the authority to declare staff status from the standpoint of partial or full waiver of the conference fee.
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Number of Staff: the number of staff is conference dependent but shall not exceed the number estimated in the approved Budget by more than 10%. Typically 35, and at the most 50, conference staff are required. This includes about 10 to 12 from the Host Committee and 30 to 40 from other sources.
On-Site Staff Duties
| M = Room Monitor |
AV – AV Staff |
| R = Registration and/or Information Desk Staff |
H =Housing Keys and Meal Ticket manager(s) |
| B = Bag stuffing pre-conference activity |
D = database manager and problem resolution |
| L = logistics Coordinator |
P = Product Sales Staff |
1) Room Monitors [M]:
There are usually over 100 sessions to monitor worth 2 hours each, requiring about 10 or more staff. The staff stays for the entire session they are monitoring. Each Monitor will be assigned about 8 to 10 sessions to be monitored (based where possible on staff preference and based on need where staff preference is not practical). A room monitor takes “ownership” for the room they are monitoring in terms of ensuring the setup and AV is as planned, that the evaluation forms are on the seats, that any signs outside the room are correct and that the presenter gets the help they need in setting up and timing their presentation. If anything is amiss they are to call the appropriate coordinator to help fix it if they are unable to do so themselves. They are also responsible for collecting evaluation forms and signing CE forms prior to and after the session.
a) Space Setup Check = the College sets up the space per our instructions but if the space is not as specified then the staff shall call for help to straighten it up as required.
b) Space Straighten – straighten chairs after a presentation if they have been moved, or if you see the prior group left a mess straighten it up a bit to make it acceptable.
c) Evaluation Forms – before the session place general session evaluation forms on all chairs that do not have them. Make sure a box is in the back of the room (on a table by the door) to collect the forms.
d) Pre-session contact and announcement – briefly meet with session chair (name marked with C on the schedule) to work in a short announcement (by them or you) to: 1. identify yourself as the Room Coordinator and have them initial your assignment list, 2. Make an announcement at the start asking people to fill out the evaluations and place them in the back of the room, and for those with CE booklets to see you at the back of the room afterwards for a signature
e) AV – monitor ensures the AV in the room matches the schedule (see the master schedule) and if amiss or the presenter needs help with setup, calls for the AV coordinator.
f ) Timing Signs – if the session is a multi-speaker session then the Room Monitor may be asked during each presentation to time the presenter and hold up 5 minute, 1 minute and “times up” signs. Alternatively the session Chair may chose to do this.
g) CE Signing: as people leave the room, monitor will sign the CE forms of those who have signed up for CEs (typically about 15% of the attendees)
2) AV Setup Staff: [AV]
AV staff will support the AV manager (to be named). AV staff will primarily help presenters set up at the beginning of each session and may or may not be requested to stay for the entire session – although they are welcome to stay in any session they wish as long as their assignment for that timeslot does not require them to stay in a specific room. AV monitors may be required to monitor more than one room at a time where the rooms are adjacent and are always on-call for troubleshooting. The majority of the task is helping presenters load their presentations from CD or USB drive into the PC and bringing the presentation up on the digital projector. The specific tasks are as follows:
a) Equipment Move (optional): This may or may not be required depending on AV support from the facility. If required for some portion of the AV, activity will primarily be to show up per the schedule (around 8AM) each morning in the AV setup room and move any stored AV equipment from the AV room to the rooms where they are to be used and once there to plug in the power plugs and position the units in the room (Laptops on the podiums for example). The second set of duties is in the evening per the schedule (around 9 to 9:30 PM) to move any AV to be stored from the rooms to the AV storage room.
b) Technical Assistance: required to help presenters at the beginning of sessions to set up the equipment, in particular load their presentations onto the laptops (USB memory chip or CD) and connect to or activate the Projector. At mid day the projectors also need to be turned off and turned on again after lunch (cool down operation). If there is problem that cant be easily fixed, the staff should call the AV Manager or facilities support persons. The AV staff should arrive 15 minutes before a session to help. Usually the AV staff can get things setup at the beginning of each session and then leave but it is always best for a multiple presenter session to stay with that session in the event later presenters need help. Radios may be carried for the purposes of contact and the staff should always let the AV Manager know where they are. Radios may have to be off during a session.
3) Registration [R]
The registration desk will be managed by the on-site Registration Manager, plus the Central Office Database Manager plus a Housing Coordinator. Typically there are 3 registration staff to manage 3 lines for Tuesday, 2 staff for 2 lines on Wed; assisted by a database staff person). Please refer to the registration process document for details. Staff are required to support the registration desk for the following duties:
a) Passing Out Registration Packets which consist of a common bag or package plus a pre-prepared personalized packet and badges by name. If cash is owed or there is an open issue then they may handle the payment of the simple issues or direct the registrant to the database staff who can handle those issues. Once a packet is passed out, the staff then checks the registrant off in the database.
b) Payment processing. Payment issues will be marked by a red sticker on the personal envelope. The Database Manager can be called over to help with database related payment disputes. On-Site Registration Manager may be responsible for the cash box.
c) Walk Ins – greeting and signing up walk-in registrants ; taking payment; registering and adding them to database and handing out packets.
d) Information Desk Duty – Registration Staff may chose to or be assigned to remain at the information desk to hand out information/maps/flyers, provide schedule directions and personal help and most importantly to sign and collect CE booklets for those leaving the conference. They are also the single point of contact for communications between staff and the Logistics function as well as all scheduling activity. Having 2 at the desk permits one to leave the desk and be mobile to provide general assistance to anyone. Key responsibility includes paging AV and facilities coordinators (using walky-talky radios) when called upon to support presenter setup activities. AV coordinators will have radios but room monitors may not, so they may call on information desk to do the paging.
4) Housing Staff: [H] - Not Required at Montreal, Hotel will handle this
5) Database Staff [D]
The database will be managed or supervised by either a Reg Database Manager or On-Site Registration manger supported at times by the Central Office Manager (Richard Wilkerson). All registration staff may be required to learn that database to some degree. The Reg Database Manager person is responsible for resolving problems that involve the database and for contacting the Host or Database Manager when there is a problem they cannot resolve.
6) Logistics Coordinator [L]
The role of the Logistics coordinator is to provide:
a) information on local transport, cab service, busses etc;
b) information to go on the web site on local travel, how to get to and from the airport, sources for transportation info etc.;
c) creating or obtaining local walking maps;
d) working with the hotel to generate room maps so people can get around during the conference;
e) working with the hotel to schedule facilities for the disabled or others who need help getting around between sessions, and
f) during the conference helping with hotel related issues that effect people finding their way around. The Logistic Manager frequents the information desk where master schedules are kept and perhaps where cabs are called. The coordinator position not for a specific number of hours but is part of the host committee and begins 9 months or so before the conference and continues through the conference.
7) Products Sales: [P]
We plan to sell some IASD products. Staff will be assigned to the product tables and will assist with sales of the products (mainly tee shirts, some books, periodicals and other materials) by taking money, making out receipts and possibly processing hard copy or on-line credit card sales. We also will have a bookstore and tape sales area. It is not anticipated, however, that staff will be needed for Tape and Book sales since these are contracted activities. The staff sessions are typically longer 3 to 5 hours at a time. Staff take turns watching the tables when one has to leave for a break. This is coordinated with and by the Sponsorship Chair (Anne Frey).
8) Bag Stuffing: [B]
Staff may be needed for about an 8 hour shift the week prior to the conference to stuff registration bags. This session will be managed by the Host and the Staff coordinator and perhaps the Database Manager. The staff will need to also select additional hours of staff sessions during the conference in order to complete their obligation for the complementary conference.
9) On Call: [O]
A couple of Staff members may be needed to be on-call at all times to fill in when there is a need. The most likely duties will be to fill in for Room Monitors or registration, so these staff must learn the Room Monitor duties and perhaps registration, and be available on call at all times. They must let the Information desk know where they are at all times.
Contacts: