When I first started going to conventions years ago I was your typical college student. I had a part time job to cover my food costs, school supplies, clothes and entertainment. When you make $6.25 an hour and you work 20 hours a week you don’t have too much to spend traveling to conventions. I was also still very new to the scene and the only people I had ever gone with were my college Anime Club so I didn’t know a lot of people to share rooms (and costs) with. Because of these factors I looked into signing up to volunteer so that I could attend more conventions and years later I am still working for conventions! The experience of volunteering is one that I feel any fan should experience at least once. There are several perks to volunteering, but beyond those there is a unique and new way to discover things about the con. Below are a list of reasons why YOU should volunteer for your favorite con.
Most Conventions offer free badges in exchange for volunteer hours
Badges are getting more and more expensive, but offering a few hours a day can get you a badge for free. Most conventions just require you to sign up to volunteer, but some do have a reduced price “volunteer badge” to try to prevent no shows. The price is still hugely discounted, and they might offer perks like dealers room vouchers or t-shirts as incentives. While hours required vary from con to con 4 hours per day is the most common requirement I’ve come across.
Some Conventions offer free crash space in exchange for extra hours
For a couple of extra hours per day a lot of conventions will offer crash space. This is great if you are looking to attend a convention but need to save money since hotel rooms are a huge expense. Most events set up their rooms to have an option of staying in sex specific rooms (girls room and guys room). There are usually a few requirements to be eligible, besides hours there is often a stipulation about distance. Just be sure to read the volunteer information to understand how the convention runs their crash space.
You can work while doing things you love
Do you love spending your time in the video room at a convention? Maybe you love playing video games? Maybe you really enjoy meeting other fans and interacting with different people. Conventions have a large variety of jobs that they rely on volunteers to fill. You could run a video room and get to spend your volunteer time watching anime. You could be stationed in the game room and get to check out all of the games and watch the tournaments. You could love interacting with people and get to work with registration. When you sign up to volunteer you often have the option of requesting specific departments. Pick a department that you will enjoy working in.
You learn how a convention works from behind the scenes
If you have ever wondered why a convention makes the decisions they do volunteering is a great way to gain perspective. Learning how a con runs and what goes on behind the scenes can give you a new outlook and help bring some humanity back to the people who run it. I find that often times people can forget that even the owners of these events are still people, especially for the larger shows. I’m also personally fascinated with how things operate, and if you are too then this is a great way to see first hand how it does.
You can help create a positive experience for someone and give back
Conventions and the people involved have given me so much: friends, fun experiences, a place to decompress, that I want to help pass those same experiences on for someone else. If you feel like a certain convention has given you the same then consider paying them back with your time. Cons may monetarily rely on badge sales, artist and dealers to survive but the backbone is the people that give their time and energy. If you are still in school and participate in organizations that require volunteering a con might be a really great opportunity! Ask your organization and the convention to find out.
Tips for Volunteering:
- Always read the conventions volunteer requirements before signing up!
- Sign up for a department you are interested in.
- If there are convention events you really want to attend, either request to work around them, or request to work for them. The con knows you have favorite events you are going to want to see, and they try hard to accommodate requests off. You can also request to work during the event so that you can watch while working.
- Request to work during your off hours. Most of the events I like to go to are evening events, so I often request to work morning shifts. If you like to do a lot of panels but don’t care about the rave or late night stuff you can request to work evenings. Registration also has set hours which means you will be guaranteed off if you work for them.
- See if you can volunteer on Thursday or Sunday after the con closes. Sometimes the con needs people to set up or tear down, so you can get in some hours while the convention isn’t even going on.
I hope this has inspired you to consider volunteering! If you have any questions about volunteering for cons in general or specific cons I’ve worked (LouisiANIME, Anime Fest, Ikkicon, San Japan, ANT) please feel free to ask.
photo credit: Mike Boike