We Need You!
Everyone who works on DisCon III is a volunteer, no matter what their role. It is 100% volunteer-run by fans for fans. Like all Worldcons, DisCon III is a large and complicated event, and we need literally hundreds of volunteers to help make it happen. It is a rewarding experience, whether working before, during or after the convention. You get to put on an event enjoyed by thousands of people while making new friends, and sometimes learning new skills. We’ll have volunteer perks (details will be announced later) and on top of all that you get to meet new people. If you are new to the community, volunteering is a great way to meet like-minded people: a shared task makes conversation easy. Go on, volunteer!
How Do I Sign Up?
If you would like to help us make DisCon III a truly great Worldcon, please volunteer! We have regularly updated listings of volunteering opportunities, where you can apply for a specific role. If you don’t see anything right now that suits you, please complete our volunteer form (link deleted) or email us at volunteers@discon3.org, and we’ll get back to you.
What Kind of Help Is Needed?
Volunteers do everything! Starting from years in advance of the convention, there are volunteers organizing events and promoting DisCon III at other conventions. If you are attending another convention, and you could help by taking some leaflets, staffing a party or spending a couple of hours sitting at a DisCon III table, please let us know! Closer to the convention, there are pre-con roles such as helping design the program and creating displays. At the convention itself, there are volunteer roles such as staffing the Information Desk, managing queues, and checking badges. At the end of the convention, we will need volunteers to help tear everything down and move out. Everything you see at the convention (and a lot of behind-the-scenes work) is organised by volunteers!
As well as volunteer roles, where you may do only a few hours of work, and you may do different kinds of work over time, there are convention staff roles. Convention staff are still volunteering their time, but they have more responsibility and ongoing commitment, often working both before and at the convention.
We need all kinds of expertise: the skills and experience you’ve acquired from work, hobbies or volunteering help us to build a great Worldcon. For example, we need people with IT skills, customer service background, childcare experience, or a solid understanding of finances. Some of us are experts, some are just learning the ropes. There is a role for everyone.
What Is the Time Commitment?
We need volunteers before the con, during the con, and after the con. During or immediately before the con you can commit to working as little as a few hours. You can also make a substantial time commitment in advance for a Staff level position which involves more responsibility or specific skills. You decide how much time you’d like to commit.
Happy Volunteers
To help make sure that everyone feels personally valued, we have an overall convention philosophy of ‘Happy Volunteers’. Our goal is to make all of our volunteers feel welcome and part of our growing community. Activities have included volunteer meet-ups in DC and at any convention where our committee members attend, but we also send out regular newsletters and sometimes even the odd surprise. At the con and before, our mission is to make sure our volunteers are happy in their work and have the support they need to do it.
The most important thing about all of our volunteers is that we want them to enjoy working with us and that they share our desire to make the convention the best it can possibly be.
Will I receive a free membership for volunteering?
Everyone attending DisCon III needs to purchase an attending membership prior to the beginning of the convention, including volunteers.
I’m interested in a specific position / I spoke with someone about a specific role / someone asked me to help with their job
Fill in the Volunteer form (link deleted) and let us know! We’ll forward your details to the appropriate team member.
Someone already offered me a job but I’d like to do more
Fill in the Volunteer form (link deleted) and let us know! We’ll find you a suitable task.
Any other questions?
Please email us at volunteers@discon3.org and we’ll get back to you!