Volunteering 101

July 10, 2009 on 2:03 pm | In Uncategorized | No Comments

Greetings Volunteer. You have been recruited by the Star League to defend the frontier against Xur and the Ko-Dan Armada.

Or something like that.

So, you say you love going to conventions but you hate standing in line? Well you know who doesn’t spend all their time at the con standing in line? The Volunteer staff. They’re the ones who make the lines!

And I know what you’re saying, “This elite team of super beings would never let me into their group, there must be a waiting list and a hell week or some kind of body altering hazing ritual where you get abused to no end to join”.

And you’re wrong! Well, except about the abuse. There’s plenty of abuse. But everything else is wrong.

The fact is that the average convention rarely ever has enough Volunteers! I mean, can you ever really have too much free labor?

So what are the perks of being a Volunteer (aside from being abused)?

Glad you asked! You get:

Free admission to the show.
A free Staff t-shirt.
A bag of swag.
A chance to hang out “behind the scenes” at the con with all the cool staff members, artists, and celebs.
Abuse, and lots of it!

And all it costs you is a minimum of 10 hours of your time!

Some things you might find yourself doing at the show include –

Line control, guarding tables while Artists and Media guests attend panels or take lunch, sitting with Celebrities while they sign autographs, escorting Artists and Media guests to and from their panels, organizing and running panel rooms, human pincushion, working at registration checking in attendees, crowd control, human punching bag, making gift bags for the VIPs, signing in new Volunteers, food tester, door duty, restocking the free swag table, human petri dish, and washing windows.

It’s hard work, but it’s very rewarding. Most people who Volunteer for conventions don’t enjoy going to shows as a paying attendee afterward. It’s just not the same. Being in the mix with the action and hanging out with the celebs and guests makes standing in line for an autograph or a panel just seem like a lot of work.

So, if you’re interested in becoming one of Wizard Worlds “Elite” Volunteer Strike Force Gamma 700 members (I just made that whole Strike Force Gamma 700 thing up, but it totally sounds cool, huh?), head over to the Volunteer Page and follow the instructions there. Just keep in mind that this is the Chicago Comic Con 2009 page. But there’s a new page for every one of our Wizard cons on the Registration Page.

Volunteer Page

Would you like to know more?

Just remember, getting close to the celebs at the show is not always a good thing. Like the time I met up with Luciana Carro from Battlestar Galactica. I made one comment about her wearing a white tank top (is that now known as a “Husband Beater”), and she took me out!