VegFest 2012 Committee Member

CAA is planning to organize a Veg Festival in the summer of 2012. Organizing this event takes place over a long period of time (approximately 9-10 months). Committee members are responsible for specific tasks related to the festival.

The VegFest will be a one day event focused on vegan food and outreach. The goal is to attract at least 1,000 people during the course of the day. The event will consist of several different pieces, an exhibitor's room, speakers, and (possibly) entertainment.

The VegFest committee consists of the following positions. Note that a person in a given role does not need to personally do all the work for their position. They are responsible for making sure the work gets done. In many cases, CAA will be able to recruit additional volunteers who will take on tasks at the committee member's direction.

Committee Positions

• Advertising and media coordinator - focuses on promoting the event through advertising and media outreach. This includes distributing press releases, getting the event listed in local calendars, and organizing volunteers to put up posters and distribute advertising cards.
• A/V coordinator - this position is responsible for recording as many talks as possible and publishing them online.
• Committee chair - this position is responsible for ensuring that the overall is event successful. This includes scheduling meetings, preparing meeting agendas, ensuring that each committee member is on track, and making sure that the overall planning schedule is being followed.
• Entertainment & kids area coordinator - we would like to have entertainment as part of the festival. This can include music, jugglers, comedians, etc. We would also like to have an area of kid-friendly activities like balloon animals, face painting, etc.
• Exhibitor logistics - this position is responsible for making sure that all exhibitors have the materials they need, coordinating shipping of materials from and to exhibitors, and organizing the exhibition room.
• Exhibitor recruitment - this position is responsible for recruiting exhibitors. This may be combined with sponsorship recruitment, since many organizations we contact would be candidates for both sponsorship and the exhibitor room.
• Facility liason - this position is the primary contact for the facility where the event will be held. They will be responsible for ensuring that we meet all the guidelines for use of the facility, and for making sure that the facility knows what our needs are for the event.
• Permits - this position is responsible for ensuring that we have any permits that are needed for the event. If exhibitors also require permits for distributing and/or selling food, they are responsible for working with exhibitors to obtain these permits as well.
• Speaker coordinator - this position is responsible for recruiting speakers for the event. They are also responsible for ongoing coordination with speakers. This includes coordinating payments and reimbursements, making sure speakers who want one have an exhibition table, making sure the speaking rooms have the appropriate equipment, etc.
• Sponsorship recruitment - this position is responsible for recruiting event sponsors. This may be combined with exhibitor recruitment.
• Volunteer coordinator - this position is responsible for coordinating volunteers for the event. This involves recruiting, scheduling, and training volunteers for specific tasks at the event.
• Website Coordinator - this position responsible for creating and managing the event's website.

Qualifications Desired

• Strong organizational skills, with the ability to keep track of many tasks over a long time-line.
• Some computer skills. In particular, the conference is primarily organized on CAA's internal wiki and via email.
• The ability to set, manage and meet deadlines.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.

Time Commitment and Evaluation

These positions starts in August, and runs until the festival, which is will be held in the summer of 2012.

The time commitment for these positions increase as the conference approaches ...

• for the first few months, this position requires 3-5 hours per month.
• after that, the time requirement increases to 2-3 hours per week.
• finally, for the last month, the position may require as much as 4-6 hours per week, especially for the last two weeks before the conference.

You will be working from home or at our Community Office at 2100 First Avenue S in Minneapolis. Your supervisor will be the Executive Director, Unny Nambudiripad.