The Conference, actually, The Volunteer

13 Mar 2018

But, why?

queried the Supervisor after I had responded that I had taken a few days off regular work to volunteer. Still I felt it didn’t quite make sense to her. The last time I was at the CTICC (Cape Town International Convention Centre) was seven years earlier. I was meeting a prospective employer to do a hands-on job interview. Long story short, I didn’t get the job but I learnt (from the interviewer) to do a definition query. At that time I was oblivious to the AfricaGeo Conference 2011 which was taking place. The place was abuzz with activity and I feared I would fail to meet my potential job provider.

But this time around I was here for a different agenda.

A Runner Doesn’t Run

As I sat down and scanned the room. The age and mannerisms profile of those gathered started to become apparent. The vibe and increasingly obvious before-now acquaintances who clustered and chatted away strengthened my suspicions. I surveyed the room once more to try and identify contemporaries. Before I could make a count I quickly dropped the exercise as I paid attention to the Program Director who was now welcoming us and introducing key persons.

The team of Volunteers was briefed on what the 17th World Conference on Tobacco or Health was about, how important a role volunteers played and for a longer time, volunteer expectations. I had elected the roles of Runner, Speaker Room and Session Room volunteer. I chose these base ones as I generally appreciate seeing gears moving, literally. High profile roles like team leads and supervisor were not so attractive at this stage.

We got access to the WCTOH2018 Conference Wifi and downloaded the conference app. What an indispensable tool this was. Floor Plans, Session Times, Presenters Profiles and what-not, all a tap of a finger away. ( Surely every conference must be having this - at the back of my mind, Conference = FOSS4G 2018). We were taken around the venue to get oriented to the place and become expert Directionals come conference days. The thorough labelling in CTICC made grasping of what the ‘Venue Guide’ wanted us to remember concrete. Before long we were back in the briefing room to a healthy lunch pack and to receiving directions for the day which followed. The grandeur in design and yet simplistic layout of CTICC lingered as I left the Centre to return on Wednesday. The first day I had chosen to be placed.

Surprised

I reported to my station for the day - The Media Centre. Lanyard, Volunteer Tee on and a bout of enthusiasm abounding. Wednesday was a special day as there was going to be Press Conferences and a key Plenary Session. So access to my station ( that included everyone else) was through a metal detector and security scanner. Eye cast in any direction got you a security officer.

I reported to my contact person, a lovely Matilde who had a game plan ready for execution. A Press Conference was to take place in one of the Session Rooms. Together with my team members we distributed print material for the attendees, made sure the room was ready for use. I carried name tags for the key persons and laid them out on the desk. High-tech Audio-Visual equipment was conspicuous in the room. When the speakers started, a plethora of gadgets started being waved around to capture the moments.

Towards the end of the Press Conference the struggle in my head concluded as I read out one of the speakers’ name label - Michael Bloomberg! I had seen this face many a time on-line and at this moment I was in the same room with this globally renowned man. South Africa’s minister of health, Dr Aaron Motsoaledi among others were also here. What a surprise!

Delegates left the room, we cleared it up and went back to our station. Here we assisted journalists go online and to have a comfortable working space. It was interesting to see how ‘NEWS’ was developed from the Press Conference which had just taken place. News was going out into cyberspace, driven by individuals from various parts of the world, now seated in one room. Literally in minutes, post event.

We hovered in the room churning out print material for upcoming events. Of interest were articles with titles such as ‘For Immediate Release on Wednesday 7 March 2018’. The content of such publication tied congruently with what had just been said in the Press Release.( Someone must surely have published this two page release 1 minute after the Conference had concluded). I had an insight on NEWS propagation.

We also scrapped the web for news coverage of the conference. We printed the relevant articles and furnished our Press Coverage board near the main entrance. My shift concluded quite quickly. When the clock struck 12:30, I had not eaten anything substantial save for a quarter-palm-sized energy biscuit and the cup of coffee I had had circa 6:00. I was too excited to get hungry so had forgone my break. I snacked on the healthy muffin in the lunch bag, contemplating how quickly the first half of the day had gone by. Unfortunately my schedule couldn’t allow me to stay for the Awards Ceremonies which was a big thing and was to take place in the evening.

Three Steps Up

Thursday was supposed to be much calmer than the previous day. So today I was scheduled the Runner Role…but where would I be my Running Base be? I lingered the Deployment Centre (CTICC2, Aloe) to get further instruction from the shift manager.

Fate would have it, I became Co-Supervisor for the day. The person assigned wasn’t coming any more. I was to ‘float’ between the Media Centre and The Speaker Centre. This was my detailed interaction with the speaker centre. This section insured speakers had the resources they needed to present their work. Session Rooms ready to go, Presentations loaded to the virtual space and above all, making sure concurrent Sessions ran flawlessly.

I was briefed by the Co-Head of this section and off I went to explore the entire conference venue as I wished. I roamed from Room to Room checking on my team members - the volunteer crew, manning the Session Rooms. The deployment from Speaker Centre was flawless. The sessions went well. The onsite CTICC technicians making sure audio-visual equipment was impeccable.

09:00 saw a shift in tempo with the volunteers. There was an important Plenary Session taking place in Auditorium I. Every unengaged volunteer stormed A1. It was akin to re-enforcements deployed to where the war was fiercest. You could not find any volunteer idling around in empty session rooms. All hands where on deck ensuring guests sat well in A1 and where rightly directed to it.

The Session went off to a good start. When the Panelist session began, I got one of my great conference takeaway - equipment failure is bound to happen. Inevitable failure. Inspite of capable technicians expertly massaging the dials, the sounds at times just wouldn’t bow. The thought of an ink cartridge running empty trolled the periphery of my thoughts. I watched the technician wince in response to negative feedback from the mic and to epocs of silence as the words of a panelist vanished.

I had my fare share of knowledge impartation from the panel of experts as I kept a watchful eye on the comfort of the attendees. Without doubt the greatest challenge became isle seat occupation. Luckily A1 was big enough to apportion everyone a seat.

The importance of the Speaker Centre became apparent when I had to direct at least three Presenters to the station, who wanted to ensure their ducks were in a row before their presentation time slot.

A Delicate Order

When the session ended volunteers went back to their usual stations - mainly the Session Rooms. During this time slots I was assigned to help with poster take down. Hanne, who was responsible for the section had it figured out. It wasn’t long before all the remaining posters where rolled up for collection by the owners or destined for the recycle bin.

In no time, together with other volunteers we had the appropriate stickers in place for the next Poster Session. The posters were made of a plethora of material, from canvas via rexin to flimsy paper. I got to have a chat with a presenter north of the African Equator! Apparently we helped each other battle a poster off the wall which was more of the perma-stick material. The print service provider he had used had misunderstood his request. This was an Academic Poster not an advertisement. I shared his frustration but, his session had gone well

When the Poster work was done, so was my shift and the conference experience. I headed to the Volunteer Centre, signed out and thanked the volunteer manager for the opportunity. I grabbed the lunch bag as I left CTICC2, thinking to myself, I would do this all over again.

#Postscript

The conference experience should be for every college student and as a volunteer - such and opportune entrant. I had been to user members meetings before and even involved in logistics but, a conference is on another level. So I took the chance and had some takeaways:

• I should consider learning French. ( Either the bulk of the conference organising team members spoke it or it is truly a global language. )

• A Runner doesn’t run. It projects a negative image about the conference hosts.

• Ready or double-ready. Equipment can fail and extra resilience is needed.