Volunteer Role Description

Who are RSECon2024 volunteers?

Volunteers for RSECon2024 come from many different backgrounds, ages, and experiences. We value our volunteers - from those who participate in set-up and assistance on the day to the weeks put in by our organising committee - and everyone in between. We welcome all applicants for volunteering and do not discriminate against sex, age, race, religion or identity.

The volunteer roles we have open for RSECon2024 consist of roles needed on-site at our conference facilities. Thank you for considering being a part of our volunteer team at RSECon2024.

What do volunteers do?

Volunteers at RSECon2024 participate in a wide range of tasks which help us to deliver a successful conference. While this list is not exhaustive, in the past our in-person volunteers have:

• Assisted with pre-conference set-up by:
  • Putting up signs/posters throughout the venue.
  • Preparing the cloakroom.
  • Setting-up the front desk with name badges and information for the conference attendees.
  • Setting up rooms for the conference sessions, including workshops/walkthroughs, and checking equipment is working.
• Worked in a team with rotating assignments so that you can attend different sessions of the conference:
  • Helped on the front desk. The desk will be manned throughout the conference as a first point of contact for all conference attendees:
    • Registering conference attendees.
    • Handing-out name badges.
    • Helping with general information and directions.
  • Helped in the cloakroom. Conference attendees will be able to check their coats and bags to be stored in the cloakroom:
    • Handing out tickets for each item and checking attendees are picking up the correct items.
  • Helped during workshops/sessions. Session Chairpersons will introduce each speaker and Chair questions to manage the session, our volunteers helped by:
    • Managing microphones by giving them to and receiving them from delegates in the audience.
    • Helping people in and out of the session.
    • Seating late entries after the doors have closed.

What skills, experience and attributes do I need?

We ask that you are:

• Friendly and enthusiastic about creating a warm and welcoming environment for a successful conference.
• Willing to work as part of a team.

If you have specific skills and experience you think might be particularly useful then please let us know when you apply. We will do our best to align you with a volunteer role that suits you.

Who will I be volunteering with?

You’ll be volunteering as part of the team making the event happen, working with other volunteers and the RSECon2024 committee to create a great experience for participants. We are pleased to say our volunteers and organising committee retain a healthy quantity of experienced conference volunteers. Come, join in, and gain valuable experience.

How much time will I be expected to give?

Our main goal is to work with you and ensure you have a positive experience. As we have pre-, during and post event volunteer tasks each assignment will have expectations set for volunteers to agree to prior to a volunteer starting their shift.

The conference is taking place in Newcastle between the 2nd and 6th of September 2024, with 3rd-5th being main conference days and Monday 2nd and Friday 6th for co-located events, the volunteer team will gather before the conference begins for an on-site induction. We will expect you to attend an hour-long online induction session with the Volunteer Chair and Vice-Chair before the conference. Timings to be announced.

What benefits do I get from volunteering?

• Opportunity to meet people in the RSE network
• Gain valuable organisation experience
• Complimentary entrance to the conference and dinner(s);
• Opportunity to attend some sessions you are interested in;*
• Amazing t-shirts to represent the RSECon2024 team! (this is optional due to sensory sensitivities)

You will be expected to arrange your own transport and accommodation, if needed, for the duration of the conference. We will have a limited number of travel bursaries available to help those who would be unable to otherwise attend, information on these will be posted to the website in due course.

*We will do our best to accommodate any requests to attend specific sessions!

What will RSECon24 look like for the volunteer team?

The details below are based on our preliminary programme and are subject to change.

• 14th June - Applications for volunteers will close.
• 21st June - Successful volunteers notified and asked to provide additional information (e.g. t-shirt sizes)
• 15th July - Deadline for submitting additional information
• Final programme released - Opportunity to request attendance at specific sessions (priority will be given to those who need to present in sessions). There will be a deadline given for requests, any requests made after the deadline are less likely to be able to be accommodated.
• W/c 12th or 19th August - Mandatory online briefing (approx. 1hr), rotas will be issued at this point, any change in availability after this may require you to arrange your own cover from within the team.

Conference week

Each day there will be a mandatory briefing 1 hour before volunteer duties start for all volunteers who are scheduled that day. This allows us to adjust the schedule in the case of any absences, check stations/rooms are set up, etc.

During the conference (Tuesday 3rd-Thursday 5th):

• At least 2 volunteers on the registration desk
• 2 in the cloakroom
• 1 in each session
• 2 additional volunteers on standby

These roles will be rotated at each break in the day, no one will be expected to be doing a volunteer role for the entirety of the conference (or even a whole day at a time), your downtime and self care is essential to a successful conference.

During evening social activities:

• Help direct attendees to venues
• Administrative tasks e.g handing out food/drinks tokens etc., likely only at the start

For the rest of the social activities we’ll get to enjoy ourselves along with the rest of the attendees.

We will finalise the arrangements for Monday and Friday in due course, however it is likely we’ll need a smaller number of volunteers to assist with activities taking place on these days.

Please note, while you may be on break or participating in social activities, people are still likely to recognise you as a volunteer and approach you if they need help. We’ll make sure you have details of who the responsible party is at any time, and a method of contacting them to pass the query to

I’m interested, what’s my next step?

If you’d like to find out more about volunteering at RSECon2024, please view our Call for Volunteers for more information and how to apply. If you have any questions, please contact us via email at [email protected].