(#15) California Jazz Foundation’s “Give The Band A Hand” Concert (April 6, 2014) – Part 2 (What Are We Doing? And Where Is Everybody?)

April 23, 2014

Picking up from yesterday –

Let’s just start from the beginning. When I first got the volunteer information sheet, I listed all of my preferences as second shift. Yet, I was assigned to first shift.

I get it that if you don’t have enough people who can work the second shift, you have to put some on the first shift. But it was weird to me that there wasn’t even a question of “I know every preference you put is second shift. Can you work the 1st one?” Nope. Just on there.

I know I could’ve protested. But I wasn’t booked for anything else that day. And the hotel was within walking distance of me. So, it was fine. I’m just saying…

13 people were listed for the first shift, and as far as I know, only 4 of us showed up.

The girls I was talking to were a little perplexed about everything. They were saying they volunteer a lot, and that usually there’s some sort of check-in or at least someone welcoming you, and there’s a little direction as far as what you should do.

Whereas here, we had to figure out a lot for ourselves. A lot of the time, people didn’t even necessarily seem to care that we were around. Those girls were so willing and at the ready to help, but they said they felt a little weird because the vibe was so relaxed.

People were just eating lunch, saying they’d tell us more in a bit. Whereas our mindset was sort of like, “can you just tell us what to do? We’re here to help, and an event is going down in just a couple of hours. There are only 4 volunteers here. Is honestly no one worried about this?”

We somehow pieced together all the various tasks and things did indeed get set up.

As it got closer to 4:30, which is when people were supposed to arrive, the afternoon volunteers hadn’t shown up yet. Even though technically my shift was about to end, I didn’t feel good about leaving wondering if anyone would be there to work the event.

So, the girls and I decided to stay a bit longer until we were sure it was safe to go home.

It also was weird that guests were supposed to come at 4:30, yet the volunteers who were supposed to work registration and such were also scheduled not to come until 4:30… Generally, I’d think you’d schedule them at 4 (or possibly even earlier) so they have a chance to come check in, settle in, learn about their position, and be in place before the early birds get there.

And this is where I’ll pick up tomorrow.

I'd love to hear from you! So whaddya say?