Why Volunteer?
One reason is Origins needs you! A convention this big takes a lot of work to run successfully and the more people we have working, even just a few hours, makes more time for other volunteers to game and makes for a better convention for everyone.
Origins appreciates the time you devote to helping out at the show or running games, so Origins will compensate those that give of themselves. People who work 16 hours (or run 16 Event Hours) will get their badge compensated. Those who work 32 hours (or run 32 Event Hours) will get their badge compensated AND their choice of either a space in one our Volunteer rooms for the nights of the show or a set of vouchers worth $60.00 for purchases at various food vendors and exhibitors. This can add up to big savings. Over the course of a 5-Day convention, that is only 6.5 hours a day - leaving plenty of time for other activities. For those that arrive early enough, a large pool of volunteers will be needed on Wednesday. For those who are local to GAMA’s headquarters in Columbus, volunteers will be needed in the weeks immediately preceding the show. Both of these circumstances represent opportunities to get in lots of your hours.*
It’s also a great way for non-gaming parents or spouses, etc. to pass the time of the show while others of their group game. And we don’t need you to commit to large blocks of time. Even if you only have a free hour or two, stop by the volunteer desk and see what ways there are to help Origins. It provides you an opportunity to meet other people and get to know the inner workings of how a convention runs. Many of our volunteers return year after year. If you have a specific area you wish to work in (registration for example), we do our best to accommodate such requests realizing we want the experience of volunteering to be an enjoyable one.
A chief way Origins finds its Senior Volunteers is to recruit from among its pool of volunteers. Senior Volunteers, though having more responsibility and greater commitments to the convention, have opportunities and perks specific to them. We encourage anyone that is interested in becoming more involved in the inner workings of Origins to speak to a Senior Volunteer or Staff member about obtaining Senior status.
You can contact Jodie, our Origins Volunteer Coordinator at volunteers@gama.org for more information or with any questions you may have. GMs should contact Trey at Programs@gama.org.
* GAMA does, on rare occasion, make special arrangements with some volunteers concerning their service details. If you have a special request, please make it; but also please know that it is highly unlikely that we will go outside of policy. If you know of someone else who has a special arrangement, that arrangement is not a precedent. There are likely multiple things going into that situation and it is so complicated as not to be something that we can make a policy about.
Join our Volunteer listserv below to get up to date information on volunteer needs for Origins. To join the listserv, you must be signed into the site and click on "Subscribe" below.
Read the Volunteer Structure document to gain a better understanding of what benefits and positions are available for volunteering.
VolunteerStructure2006.doc
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