THE BACKBONE OF A FAN CONVENTION: SOBSFic Con Calls For Volunteers

Working as a volunteer can involve hard work and require patience, but it is also a great way to build camaraderie and make new friends. It is also a lot of fun.

Volunteers must be available to help with the day-to-day operations of the convention as needed. They must be friendly, professional, patient and punctual.

While volunteers might miss out on certain fan events, as they will be working during the Q&A sessions, photo ops, autograph sessions, panels, concerts and/or special events, all volunteers receive a free membership and may use the time spent as volunteer hours for any high school and college requirements.

The following is a list of needed volunteer positions for SOBSFic Con. If you have any questions about volunteering, please contact our Director of Event Services, Akinbobola (“Akin”) Donaldson at akin.ropmovie@gmail.com.

Registration

Registration volunteers greet pre-registered members, search for them in the registration database and issue badges to con goers and Guests.

Operations

Operations volunteers serve as the eyes and ears of SOBSFic Con, wandering throughout the convention space, addressing situations as they arise and reporting back to the Director of Event Services. This job requires you to think on your feet, use good judgment, and exercise a sense of humor. You may be called on to do crowd control or assist with emergency situations but will spend much of the time walking, observing and interacting with congoers.

Panels and Other Programming

These volunteers reset rooms, ensure microphones are turned on, do brief surveys on panels, make sure panelists have water and mints and they generally keep things running smoothly.

Photography / Videography

Our videographers capture video content from various panels, events, and performances. Our photographers take pictures of congoers, volunteers, staff and Guests. 

Social Media

These volunteers will act as roving reporters, using their smart phones, laptops or tablets to do live reporting of the panels  and other goings-on at SOBSFic Con. This content will then be shared on the SOBSFic Con twitter account, State of Black Science Fiction 2012 Facebook Group andwherever else the volunteer chooses to share it and hype the convention. 

Setup

These volunteers help put up the decorations and informational signs that will go up to convert the Southwest Arts Center into the SOBSFic Con Experience. Setup involves many different activities including assembling “swag bags,” putting up decorations and posters, setting up panel rooms, setting up the Awards show and Mahogany Masquerade and unloading supplies.

Tear-Down and Cleanup

These volunteers stay after the convention and help with the cleanup.

Hospitality

These volunteers will sit or stand and make sure people entering the Southwest Arts Center have a valid SOBSFic Con badge or know where to go to register. Hospitality volunteers needs to be polite and make everyone feel welcome.

Gaming

Game Masters, Story Tellers, Game Referees – whatever you want to call yourselves – if you are interested in running a session of Ki Khanga: The Sword and Soul Role-Playing Game and can make the gaming experience fun for everyone, this is the job for you!

Of course, we don’t just need people to run the games, but also to assist in the behind the scenes activities including hanging signs, giving directions, notating schedule changes as well as keeping track of time for Game Masters and Gamers.