Plans for Twin Cities Veg Fest 2015 are already underway. The committee that’s organizing the festival is looking for three additional volunteers for the roles of Exhibitor Logistics Coordinator, Volunteer Coordinator, and Media Outreach Coordinator. Are you interested?

You could be a part of the team that makes Twin Cities Veg Fest possible! Each year, this one-day event draws more than 2,300 people and shows them a variety of ways to live more compassionately. Help make this year’s festival bigger and better than ever.

The Exhibitor Logistics Coordinator will:

• Make sure exhibitors provide any materials needed, including text and logos, food permits, payment. This will often require multiple interactions and reminders.
• Create clear exhibitor guidelines and make sure that exhibitors are aware of them.
• Coordinate shipping with exhibitors as needed.
• Write clear exhibitor instructions, including where and when to unload and load, where to set up, and how many attendees to expect.
• Plan the exhibitor hall layout to make sure that all exhibitors get what they need, including the right number of tables and access to electrical outlets.
• Be the primary point person for exhibitors on the day of the event.

Some of delegate the tasks included in exhibitor logistics could be delegated to other volunteers, but you’d be responsible for overseeing this aspect of the festival.

You will be most busy in the two months before the festival, as well as on the day of the festival.

The Volunteer Coordinator will:

• Determine how many volunteers are needed for every aspect of the festival, including pre-event, day-of, and post-event tasks.
• Write detailed descriptions for each position.
• Create a complete schedule for all volunteer shifts, noting where shift leaders are needed and determining how many volunteers are needed for each position.
• Recruit and schedule volunteer leaders. This will require individual emails and phone calls.
• Arrange for each volunteer leader to receive whatever training required. This training can be conducted over the phone or in person meeting. The coordinator or another committee member will reviews the position details with the volunteer leader.
• Recruit volunteers for all positions. This will require mass emails, social media posts, and possibly individual emails and phone calls.
• Schedule interested volunteers based on their availability, skills, and preferred positions.
• On the day of the festival, check in with volunteers as they arrive, direct them to their volunteer leader, and give them a shirt (if appropriate). Other committee members can help with this as well.

The Volunteer Coordinator should be a friendly, well-organized person who is comfortable with reaching out to people one-on-one. You should be good at working with others on the committee to compile volunteer instructions. You will also need to have good communication skills to effectively train volunteer leaders and direct volunteers as they arrive.

Some of delegate the tasks included in volunteer coordination could be delegated to other volunteers, but you’d be responsible for overseeing this aspect of the festival.

Your workload ramps up in the last two to three months before the festival, as it’s not realistic to recruit volunteers more than four to six weeks out.

The Media Outreach Coordinator will:

• Collect contact info for local media and relevant blogs.
• Write and distribute press releases to all relevant media.
• Get the event listed in local calendars, both online and in print.
• Be the first contact person for the media. Send requests for interviews to other committee members as appropriate.

The Media Outreach Coordinator must have excellent writing skills and creative ideas for getting media attention. You must also be good at doing online research to find local media outlets.

You will be most busy in the few months preceding the festival, since it’s not effective to do media outreach too far in advance. However, research for this position should start at least six months before the festival.

If you’d like to be a part of the Twin Cities Veg Fest Planning Committee or have further questions about these roles, please contact Unny Nambudiripad at unny@exploreveg.org.