Volunteer Opportunities - Service Event Director

Service Event Director

One of the most important traditions of CHART is to give back to the city that is hosting our conferences to not only thank the community for opening its arms to us, but also create bonds among CHART members and give trainers an example of how they can take this type of effort back to their own companies. The organization has been incorporating community service projects into its semi-annual conferences for more than a decade now, and they have become an essential and important part of the event.

For the conferences in which the Service Event is a major undertaking, CHART will add a special post of Service Event Director to coordinate all of the efforts and ensure a smooth operation. For smaller conferences, however, the responsibilities of this position will be divided between the Volunteer Directors, the Conference Director, and the Board Member in charge.

Pre-conference responsibilities

• The Service Event Director will receive information on the service event from the Conference Director and the Board Member in charge, as the CHART Board will typically make the initial contact with the charitable organization.
• The director will then need to follow up with the organization to discuss specifics:
• What is the date, time, and duration of the event? The service event is usually Saturday, ending in time for participants to change and get to the FTA Meeting, or Sunday night in place of the dinner-on-your-own events.
• Is the event within walking distance of the hotel, or will special transportation need to be chartered?
• What type of clothing should the attendees wear?
• Will food/snacks be available or does CHART need to make arrangements?
• Is there any special preparation that attendees need to be aware of? Are their precautions they may need to consider (e.g., working in hot weather)?
• Is there a minimum number of people required for the event? A maximum?  Does CHART need to provide any materials or supplies for the event?  Is there a fee that would need to be paid by the volunteers in order to participate?
• After getting the pertinent information, the director will regroup with the Conference Director and the Board Member in charge to review the details and discuss options (especially those related to food and transportation for the attendees). Additional considerations may also include the presentation of special pins, t-shirts, or special CHART items to commemorate volunteers’ service, and a review of the event budget to determine what types of materials, supplies, and equipment can be afforded.Depending on the need determined, the Service Event Director could solicit donations from member restaurant groups to help defray the participation, transportation, and food costs of the event.
• If the event is later in the conference (i.e., not on Saturday), the Service Event Director should make preparations to publicize the event during the registration process. He/she should contact the Facilities Directors to let them know about any special needs (e.g., a flipchart and easel) and the Registration Directors to keep them in the loop about possible needs to communicate to the people registering.
• As the event takes shape, the director should prepare a master checklist of their activities and tasks on site so that none of the details are skipped. Additionally, if it becomes too complicated for one person to handle on their own, he/she may need to ask for assistance of other team members to accomplish everything (or possibly request a set of volunteers to help).
• Once all the decisions have been made and the event has been set up, the Service Event Director will need to contact the Communications Director to work on:
• An article for the FlipCHART about the service event to help publicize the cause and the need for volunteers.
• A one-page fact sheet (or a brochure) that can either be posted on the CHART website, posted on Facebook, Tweeted, or emailed directly to attendees to also publicize the event.
• Names of those who sign up for the event will be periodically forwarded from the CHART office. The director should create a master list of volunteers who sign up for the event that includes their name, email address, and cell phone number in case contact needs to be made once on-site. If it will be an all-day event, those volunteering may need to be split up into different shifts in order to complete all the tasks of the event, and a schedule will need to be created to track these shifts.
• As the conference draws closer, the Service Event Director will need to re-contact the charitable organization to check in on the status of the event (have any changes occurred?) and make adjustments depending on the number of people who have signed up so far.
• Approximately two weeks prior to the conference, the director should email all of the attendees who have signed up for the event and let them know about all the important details, and then follow that up with a phone call to ensure that all the details have been properly communicated. If there are a large number of attendees, then he/she could enlist the service of the Communications Director to help make the calls.

Conference responsibilities

• Once on-site, the Service Event Director should accompany the team on the hotel tour if the event is taking place there and determine any last-minute changes that may need to be made due to the room layout. He/she should also re-confirm any food and transportation details on Friday and check to make sure all needed materials, supplies, and equipment have arrived.
• If the event does not take place on the first day of the conference (Saturday) and the event maximum has not yet been reached, the director should set up needed materials at the Registration Desk and alert attendees that there is still time to sign up to participate.
• As the event approaches, the Service Event Director should consult his/her master checklist and work on the items listed.
• After the event has ended, the director will be responsible for making sure the event venue is completely cleaned up (as much as required) and that all the needs/requirements of the charitable organization have been satisfied.
• Finally, the Service Event Director should send out a “thank you” email to all volunteers for their participation and to any organizations that provided donations for the event.

Strategies for success

• This position requires a director who is extremely organized, so the creation of timelines and task checklists will help to ensure no deadlines are missed or details are skipped.
• The Service Event Director can partner with the service organization to try to get an article published in the local paper about the event or to have the event added to their website for exposure for CHART.
• The director should publicize the event as soon as possible, especially if the event is on a Saturday, to ensure that it will attract the maximum amount of volunteers possible.