Volunteer (Request to be a Volunteer 2017 Anaheim)

Request to be a volunteer at the 34th Annual IASD Conference - Wyndham Anaheim Hotel, 16 - 20 June, 2017

Thank you for your interest in being a volunteer for the 2017 IASD Conference at the Wyndham Anaheim hotel in Garden Grove, California on 16 - 20 June, 2017. Fill out this application form and select one or more of the FOUR volunteer position choices below. Please rank your choices as 1^st, 2^nd, and 3^rd priority (or the same if two or more are of equal priority)

Instructions: completing the following 4 steps is required to become a volunteer

Step #1 - Apply with this Form: a) at a minimum complete all boxes marked with an * ; b) read each of the positions carefully then in the drop down box select the ones you wish to apply for and rank them as first, second and third priority (if you like more than one equally then give it the same ranking); c) complete the remaining information ; d) submit. You will receive an email that we received your application, however this is not a confirmation of acceptance so don’t register as a volunteer yet until you get your formal Acceptance Letter.

Step #2 – Acceptance Letter Sent to You: The approval process begins in November. Your application will be reviewed by the Volunteer Chair and a notice of approval, wait list status, or “position filled” notice, will be sent to you within about three weeks or less of receiving your online application. You will be asked to confirm your acceptance of the position and to register by a deadline specified in the letter. If you do not hear of your acceptance status within three weeks’ time, please notify us at volunteers@asdreams.org

Step #3 – Respond that You Accept the Assignment: When you get the Acceptance Letter please send a confirming response back that lets us know you received it, agree with your assigned position and intend to register.

Step #4 - Register for the Conference: Your status will remain as “pending” until you register for the conference. You must register prior to the date requested in your Acceptance Letter in order to be “confirmed” as a volunteer. Once you receive your Acceptance Letter go to the Conference Web Page and the Registration Link and register for the conference. Do not register as a volunteer until you receive your Acceptance Letter. If you need to register early to take advantage of a discount, and are later approved as a volunteer, we will adjust your fee with a reimbursement. On the Registration form go to the Volunteer section and pay the non-refundable fee (of which 2/3 will be reimbursed when you have completed your duties). Also pay for any meals, recordings, CEs that you wish to obtain. We will track your registration and once you have registered we will consider you confirmed.

Follow-up Notifications: If we do not see that you have registered by the requested deadline on your acceptance letter we will send you a final notice to register within a few days’ time. If you have not registered by that deadline and/or no response is received, out of fairness to others and to finalize our scheduling, we will need to remove you from the list and give the position to someone on the waiting list.

First Name *

Middle

Last Name *

Title or Degree

Organization (if used in mailing address)

Address 1 *

Address 2

City *

State

or Province

Postal Code *

Country *

Contact Phone *

Cell Phone that can be used to contact you on site (indicate NONE if that is the case)

Email Address *

BY RETURNING THIS APPLICATION I UNDERSTAND AND AGREE with the IASD volunteer opportunity and terms, and wish to apply as a volunteer. Once my application is received and approved I understand that my volunteer status will be held as “pending” and only “confirmed” when I register for the Conference and pay the volunteer fee. I realize I will be scheduled for duties based IASD’s best attempt to satisfy my preferences, but that I will remain flexible and agreeable to altering that schedule if practical to do so in order to support the needs of the conference. I realize that the volunteer list is filled based on a number of factors among which include: open positions, position requirements, ranking of requested positions, stated capabilities and experience; with priority given to the first qualified for a position to apply and confirm/register. In applying, I realize that ALL positions require varied degrees of walking (often quickly), some standing and sitting for long periods, often lifting, a lot of communicating and attending to others, and staying in position for my full shift. I also understand that I must register by the requested date in my Acceptance Letter in order to remain on the volunteer list and that the initial volunteer fee to be paid on the registration form is non-refundable, but that 2/3 of that fee will be returned on-site when I complete my duties. *

I agree

Selection of Volunteer Position

Read the 3 position descriptions below and mark your selection(s) in the drop down box(es) for the positions you wish to be considered for. If you are interested in more than one, rank them by preference: 1 = first choice, 2 = second choice; 3 = third choice. If you like two or three equally as well you can give them the same ranking.

#1 Registration / Information Desk Volunteers [approx. 9 volunteers]:

The registration desk is managed by the On-site Registration Co-Chairs (Laura Atkinson and Richard Wilkerson). Registration desk duties begin early 16 June, the opening day of the conference, beginning with setup at 8AM and then operating the registration desk from 1pm on. Registration continues the next morning of the conference and then converts to an information desk after lunch with a smaller staff (usually 1 to 2) made up of registration volunteers that are completing their hours. Registration volunteers work 12 to 14 hours of the conference. We align duties so as not to interfere with presentations that a volunteer might be giving. We also consider session preferences in duty assignments however cannot guarantee all can be achieved due to scheduling limitations. These positions require some degree of walking (often quickly), some standing and sitting for long periods, often lifting, a lot of communicating and attending to others, and the need to stay in position during the full shift (except bathroom breaks).

Registration/Information Desk Duties

Volunteers must show up Friday morning or afternoon (depending on when scheduled) to be trained and begin registration desk duties. Those who begin as Registration Desk volunteers may later be scheduled to take a shift as an Information Desk volunteer to complete their hours and for continuity reasons. There may also be a few optional positions open for pre-conference registration setup positions (3) - for materials organization/printing, stuffing bags and badges, performed 2 days prior to and the morning of the opening. These options best fit those that are local or plan to arrive in the area a couple of days early, so if you wish to be considered for one of these positions then apply for the Registration position but indicate the option you like in the comments box.

On the opening days the desk will be divided up: 1) Pre-Registrant desk and 2) Special Activities desk. The Pre-registrant desk will hand out: a) common registration bags containing program booklets; b) name badges containing tickets, and descriptive ribbons; and c) CE booklets, for those who signed up for APA approved CEs. The Special Activities Desk (supported by R. Wilkerson) will: a) resolve any final payment or other open issues; b) greet and register walk-in registrants (using an onsite form, taking payment and handing them a bag and blank write-on badge and perhaps a first-timer ribbon as the case may be); c) sell any extra tickets; d) and may sell IASD products. Both desks will: a) point out where things are located (dreamgroup/workshop sign-up sheets, information tables and boards, facility spaces); b) act as a point of contact for other support staff or volunteers (using a list of cell phone contact numbers).

On the afternoon of the second day, registration converts to an Information Desk where there is typically one volunteer per shift. The duties remain the same but with less registration activity (mainly walk-ins and single day or late arriving pre-registrants. The afternoon of the last day two volunteers are added to help sign and collect the CE log books.

Mark Your Preferences in the Drop-Down Box

If you wish to be considered for this position, rank it in order of preference: 1 = first choice, 2 = second choice; 3 = third choice. If you like two or three equally as well you can give them the same ranking. If you do not wish to be considered for this position, leave the box below blank.

1) Registration Desk Duties

#2 Room Monitor [approx. 12 positions]:

There will likely be about 80 sessions to monitor in 7 simultaneous tracks, worth from 1 to 2 hours each. In order that each Room Monitor can achieve the 12 to 14 hours of service, each Monitor will be assigned about 6 to 7 subsequent sessions to monitor. In February or early March you will be sent a preliminary schedule to pick out the sessions you prefer to monitor, so that we can consider your preferences when we make up the assignment schedule, but please do realize that scheduling does not permit us to meet everyone’s preferences simultaneously so please prepare to be flexible. Note that Room Monitors will be scheduled into the same room when there is only a short break between sessions, so that you are not running between sessions trying to complete in one and start in another; so this will be a consideration when you make your choices.

In summary the duties are: 1) arrive Friday just after noon for training; 2) arrive 15 minutes before your assigned sessions and check room setup (call Hotel support if necessary); 3) place CE Sign-in Sheet(s) at the table at the entry (where you will sit); 4) meet with the presenter or session chair and introduce yourself as the room monitor and discuss giving an opening announcement and timing the presentations; 5) check that disability signs are on a few seats in front; 6) help arrange some chairs if requested; 7) give an opening announcement to discuss CEs, presenter timing, audience use of the microphone and special disability seating; 8) time the presentations and hold up timing signs at the end of each (5, 2 and 0 minutes); 9) at the end sign CE Logs for those who give you their log books (about 10% to 15% of attendees); 10) pick up the completed CE Sign-in Form and later place it in the designated box at the IASD Information Table in the registration area.

Mark Your Preferences in the Drop Down Box

2) Room Monitor Duties

#3 AV Volunteer: [approx. 10 positions]

As an AV Volunteer you are there for the full time of a session you are assigned to, in order to help presenters with loading their presentation into the computer and projecting it, attaching/activating their microphones and calling on the conference center staff if there is an equipment problem. In February or early March you will be sent a preliminary schedule to pick out the sessions you prefer to monitor, so that we can consider your preferences when we make up the assignment schedule, but please do realize that scheduling does not permit us to meet everyone’s preferences simultaneously so please prepare to be flexible. AV volunteers will be scheduled into the same room when there is only a short break between sessions, so that you are not running between session spaces during the short break. If we fall short of AV volunteers you may be asked to help (in the break period prior to the session) in a nearby or adjacent room as well, if the presenter there needs your help.

These positions require: technical understanding of clipping and activating a microphone, operating a PC and launching a PowerPoint or DVD based presentation; a lot of walking (often quickly); communicating and attending to presenters with a sense of immediacy; and the need to stay with your assignment during the full shift (except brief bathroom breaks which should be taken during a talk when AV assistance is not required, or after the session if possible).

You DO NOT have to install or fix the equipment. The Audio Visual equipment itself, plus a tech support person that keeps it working, is provided by the Hotel conference center. We will ask that the AV in each room is setup exactly the same each day (a power point projector, laptop with audio hookup and microphones) with some exceptions such as a couple of IASD owned CD players which may have to be moved to different rooms at times during the day. The PCs will be Microsoft Windows based with Microsoft Office and Media Player plus QuickTime, likely the latest versions.

In summary the duties include: a) arriving 15 minutes prior to each session to help all presenters (who didn’t already do it) put their presentation files on the PC using a USB thumb drive or CD/DVD and moving the file to an icon on the screen where it can be launched; b) help clip on and activate the microphone for each presenter; c) understanding some basic Microsoft commands for loading and launching files with Win 7 and 10, setting volume, and playing a DVD, and getting the presentation to show on the projector (there will be training on this when you arrive but practice at home) ; d) sometimes there is a connection problem to be checked and sometimes presenters bring their own PCs which have to be connected (they must know how to operate their own PC and have brought their own adaptors); e) adjusting PC volume for sound connections; f) if there is an equipment problem call the Hotel AV technician on a radio or cell phone, and leave your cell phone on in vibrate mode if you have one. We will try to avoid this but you may be requested to do a quick check that the audio recorder is turned on prior to a recorded session and alert the Recording Tech if it is not.

Mark Your Preferences in the Drop Down-Box

3) AV Volunteer

#4 Art Exhibit Duty [4 to 5 volunteer positions]

The Art Exhibit volunteer duties include a mix of the following three activities: 1) three persons helping to hang the art on Friday for 6 to 8 hours during the day; 2) one person per shift (when the exhibit is open during breaks) to monitoring the exhibit during the conference to make sure no one damages or walks off with the art; 3) two to three persons helping for about 6 hours to remove the art on Tuesday afternoon. You may indicate your preference for setup or removal in the comments box below. These positions require a lot of walking and standing, lifting artwork and easels and moving tables, sitting or moving around for two hour plus periods as a monitor, communicating with those while monitoring who may be asking a question, and the need to stay in the exhibit room during a full monitoring shift (which will generally be meal and free time break periods where 2 volunteers alternate so each can take their meal).

Mark Your Preferences in the Drop Down-Box

4) Art Exhibit Volunteer

2017 Volunteer Application Comments