Volunteering

RollerCon is 100% planned, created, managed and run by volunteers, as many as 400 in a year. Check out past volunteers. Want to join us? EVERY VOLUNTEER starts by filling out our volunteer application, here. These forms are how you get credit for hours so that we can compensate you with cool stuff like the limited edition 2012 Volunteers-only tee.

HOW DOES IT ALL WORK?
Well, because we have so much staff, we have a lot of Managers and we try to hire double the people we think we need in every department (which still isn’t usually enough). Find out more by scrolling down to read the “Evolution of RollerCon Staffing,” below. Which leads to the next most important thing:

WHAT DO I GET?
All kinds of cool stuff when you check in for work, and lots of cool stuff after, too. Ophelia here, on the right, got a new pair of 265 Skates from Riedell for her hard work in 2010! But what you don’t automatically get is a free pass for the same year. Find out the specifics by scrolling down to “More About RollerCon Volunteer Compensation,” below.

Ready to volunteer? Start here.

How will I know if / when I’ve been hired?
After you fill out this Volunteer Application (and for specialized jobs, the extra info), please be patient. Usually we’ll email an acknowledgment within a few weeks that we got your application. But the staffing managers and department managers are also volunteers, so it doesn’t always happen super fast. If you don’t hear from us immediately, don’t worry.

Sometime in spring or early summer, our Staffing and Department Managers will start to sift through the volunteer info you gave us. If they can match you to a job, you’ll be contacted about specific shifts. When you get hired, your name goes on a list that our Volunteer Check in peeps will have at the convention. Your department head (or their delegate) will let you know what to do from there, but most likely you’ll check in at the Volunteer desk when you arrive to get your schwag and further instructions.

Our biggest challenge each year is tracking hours so that every volunteer gets their compensation – so check in is *extremely important.* Then in spring of the FOLLOWING year, you’ll get an email from us with info on how to get the discounted or free pass you earned.

Does everyone get hired?
Well, we try! We like to overstaff. But sometimes we can’t match you to a job, and if that’s the case, you’ll hear from us again when we notify everyone that we’re done (or nearing the end of) staffing. We’ll send an email to everyone who applied thanking them and letting them know if there are any other departments open (maybe we still have jobs you might not have mentioned interest in?).

Info for past volunteers can be found HERE.

Ready to volunteer? Start here.

More About RollerCon Volunteer Compensation (continued from above)
As we mentioned, most jobs get you all kinds of cool stuff at RollerCon, including limited edition, Volunteer-Only staff shirts, tickets to the Volunteer-only sponsor raffle where you could win skates and LOTS MORE COOL SHIT. Your hours also earn you a discount for the next year and prefered placement if you want to volunteer again (most people do).

But volunteering this year DOES NOT NECESSARILY GET YOU A PASS THIS YEAR. Unfortunately, we learned that there are people that don’t live up to their commitments (or maybe Vegas just overwhelms them). So now we offer your discount AFTER you work. You must have a Rollercon ticket to volunteer to work on site.

Most RollerCon volunteers are compensated for their work on our volunteer rolling schedule:

  • 10-25 hours qualifies you for a discount, our volunteer only raffle, a limited-edition volunteer-only tee plus gear from our sponsors!
  • Over 25 hours worked; mostly planning jobs, which often require specific skills or experience, and are mostly filled by returning volunteers every year. Those jobs can earn you all that stuff, plus a free ticket and lots more. Compensation packages are detailed in the job offer.

The Evolution of RollerCon Staffing (continued from above).
We told you we have lots of Managers and we try to overhire in every department. Managers are usually recruited from past volunteering staff that took on lots of responsibility or came highly recommended by other managers. A good example of how RC Staffing has evolved is our Officiating department. In 2005, we didn’t have one. From 2006 to 2009, Ivanna recruited a Head Ref each year, then forgot all about officiating until the next year’s planning.

Then in 2010, officials woke her up to the massive scope of organization, staffing, mentoring and work that RollerCon represented for officials – which resulted in department restructuring. Instead of one haggard HR desperately trying to do everything, RollerCon hired 5 HRs and an officiating assistant, who then hired Mentoring, NSO and Stats Managers, as well.

2010 proved that was still not quite enough, so in 2011, we have one overall HR (who refuses to let us call him the Master Ref, unfortunately), an HR for each day, an AM and PM Officiating Manager, Mentoring, NSO & Stats Managers, and we’re actively discussing having Track HRs, as well.

That’s just the story of one department, but most of them followed a somewhat similar path. RollerCon volunteers have traditionally been too willing to work too much – but we try to delegate and then delegate some more so we spread the load so that no one gets burnt out or overwhelmed, and everyone has fun.

So the theory of RC volunteering is: MORE STAFF! We’ll hire as many people as we need to, plus some, so that every job is as fun as it can be and no one ever has to work hard. If you get a staff job in one of the large departments, you might find that a good portion of your job is sitting around with other staff members bullshitting. That’s totally fine! You’re a volunteer, so if there’s work to be done, do it – if there’s not, relax – or get sent away and still get credit for working.

PAST VOLUNTEERS
And if you volunteered last year, HERE’s some more info you need, too.