Getting Music Festival Volunteers Trained Rapidly and Efficiently.

Volunteers are an essential part of operating every music festival and can number hundreds of individuals for a large-scale event. The recruitment and training of volunteers is a key part of operational logistics; how can organisers speed up the training element and make the whole onboarding and support process more efficient.

The formal training of volunteers prior to festival live dates can be time consuming for trainers and coordination of dates can be challenging with many people increasingly having limited availability. Many organisers are moving towards a continuous micro-onboarding model where training is broken up into smaller more digestible modules. This is being facilitated by emerging e-learning technology which increases overall efficiency for organising entities. What steps are involved for organisers moving towards more manageable and efficient volunteer training and onboarding.

Volunteer Recruitment.
With popular festivals selling out in advance applications for volunteers can outstrip requirements as festival-goers seek ways to get to a specific event. This is not always the case, and many smaller festivals can still struggle to recruit enough volunteers. To ease training requirements organisers will always prioritise volunteers with previous experience or with specific skills like first aid. Organisers will usually have a full-time permanent volunteer manager responsible for recruitment, training, onboarding and welfare. Experienced volunteers are often assigned team leader roles to manage smaller groups of volunteers. Training programmes usually start well in advance of live dates and is followed up with on-site pre-opening briefings along with further training and support during the event.

Onboarding and Orientation.
The priority for organisers is getting volunteers trained in the safety requirements for the festival site. This is often a requirement of meeting the health and safety compliance for operating an event and all volunteers must confirm that they have received the appropriate training. Many organisers still preform in person safety training but are moving to e-learning training where volunteers watch videos and then answer a set of questions which confirms understanding, for example. The festival site orientation was traditionally conducted on-site before official opening but had to wait until the bulk of the site had been built. It is now possible to create a digital festival site walkthroughs at a low cost. This enables volunteers to navigate a 3D site map built using a 360° camera which has filmed the entire site with key landmarks indicated. These 3D orientation site maps can be installed on volunteer mobile devices and are a handy way to help navigate a site.

Emerging Learning Technology.
The creation of numerous e-learning modules can vastly increase the efficiency of volunteer training and can be deployed quickly once recruitment has been completed. The common format for a typical module is watching videos and then answering a series of questions which the user must get correct before progressing to the next module. This checking system ensures that the e-learning content is actually absorbed and understood. Once a volunteer has been allocated shifts they can select from a menu of training modules the ones that are relevant to them. E-learning can be completed remotely on mobile devices or desktop computers giving the volunteer flexibility to complete training at their convenience. Organisers can also produce a digital quick reference guide specifically for volunteers should they have questions during their shift duty, this saves them from waiting for a team leader to answer a query. For volunteers who complete e-learning modules, organisers can issue digital certificates or badges which can be referred to for future event volunteering. Volunteer managers will need to track the progress of all e-learning courses completed by volunteers to ensure that they are done on time. These can be incentivised by offering priority shift selection to those who complete their e-learning early, for example.

On-site Quick Training Support.
It is the job of the volunteer manager and team leaders to ensure that all volunteers receive appropriate training prior to the event. However, there are instances when a volunteer has been moved to a different duty where the training was not conducted or was done some time ago and they need a reminder. It is possible to create a quick reference guide video of under a minute that quickly explains operating procedures. This can be useful where a volunteer is assigned to wristband scanning, for example, and they need a quick reminder of how to operate the scanner. The creation of QR codes posted at entrance gates specifically for volunteers enables them to scan and get the quick guide on how to scan wristbands.

For festival organisers planning their next event using a software management platform like Festival Pro gives them all the functionality they need manage every aspect of their event logistics, including a dedicated volunteer module. The guys who are responsible for this software have been in the front line of event management for many years and the features are built from that experience and are performance artists themselves. The Festival Pro platform is easy to use and has comprehensive features with specific modules for managing artists, contractors, venues/stages, vendors, volunteers, sponsors, guestlists, ticketing, site planning, cashless payments and contactless ordering.

Image by geralt via Pixabay

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