Saturday the 8th of June 2024
INFORMATION ABOUT VOLUNTEERING AT VICE PRESS OPEN HOUSE 2024
Thank you for considering volunteering for Vice Press Open House 2024. This year Open House will be back for a second year and include a curated selection of independent artists, designers, publishers, galleries and retailers, celebrating both pop culture themed and original posters, art and merchandise.
We want to create the best experience possible for exhibitors and attendees. With that in mind, we have put together this application form to help you think about the volunteer role you are interested in undertaking within the Vice Press Open House team.
We are interested in volunteers from all backgrounds and from areas of the community. No previous experience necessary! We will provide volunteers with training and support for the event, make every effort to offer a range of experiences and try where possible to match individuals to particular areas of interest. Volunteers will be invited to a short online briefing session, where we will introduce the Vice Press team and other successful volunteers. During this session you will also be assigned your specific duties and rota. Briefing session dates and locations will be circulated nearer the time.
There will also be an additional briefing session the morning of the event, on Saturday the 8th of June, times to be circulated nearer the time.
By submitting an application, you acknowledge you have read and understood the terms of the Volunteer Agreement, found on the next page.
APPLICATIONS
The closing deadline for volunteer applications is midnight on the 18th of April 2024. Applications submitted after this time will not be considered.
You will receive a copy of all the information included above once your application has been submitted.
Once the deadline closes, or earlier if we have received all of the forms back before then, all applicants will receive an email confirmation that your form has been submitted. Completing the form and receiving confirmation does not guarantee you a space as a volunteer.
Applications will be reviewed within 10 working days of the application closing date. Successful volunteers will be notified by the 2nd of May 2024.
WHAT'S IN IT FOR YOU?
Our primary aim with the Open House volunteer scheme is to provide an enjoyable, sociable experience and an opportunity to meet other volunteers, artists and exhibitors, as well as other like-minded people, whilst helping out at the event.
To show our gratitude for volunteering, you will be provided with:
- Travel expenses of up to £20* (*to be agreed in advance)
- Open House volunteer t-shirt
- Vice Press Gift Card. Value TBC.
- A reference for future employers, if requested.
- Lunch to the value of £10
We will be providing volunteers with bottled water and lunch to the value of £10. We kindly ask volunteers to please keep any receipts for your lunch and travel.
GENERAL INFORMATION
The Venue
Open House will be held at The Steamworks, 111 Randall Street, Little Sheffield, S2 4SJ. This is an old industrial building in the centre of Sheffield, right next to Sheffield United's Football ground at Bramall Lane.
The Steamworks is less than 1 mile, about a 15 minute walk, from the bus and train station and a 5 minute walk from Supertram stations.
There is onsite parking for exhibitors and volunteers. There is also a small number of pay and display parking spaces on the street outside the venue and plenty of public car parks nearby. Due to the venue’s town centre location, we strongly advise planning your journey and parking spot in advance.
All volunteers will be required to source their own transport to and from the venues their role dictates.
Duties
Volunteering requires great interpersonal skills as you will be working with range of different people, including, venue staff, the public, artists, reporters and –of course– other volunteers.
Your primary role will be to make sure that members of the public and exhibitors are safe and that they have any information they might need regarding the event. You will only be expected to answer questions to the best of your ability, re-directing visitors to venue or Vice Press staff where necessary, however you are expected to be friendly, polite, patient, warm and welcoming.
Please remember this: you might be the first person someone meets from the Vice Press Open House team. To them, you ARE Vice Press Open House. So be to them as you would hope a volunteer might be to you. Vice Press Open House is friendly, lively and inclusive and that’s what the face of Vice Press Open House needs to be. The Volunteer Agreement over the page, expands on this, but in general common sense and civility will see you through!
During the set up, event opening hours and break down, we generally ask that you support the Vice Press and venue team, artists, exhibitors and guests by being helpful, pro-active and self-sufficient, and that you assist when needed.
Your specific duties will be assigned during either the online briefing or set up briefing the day of the event. You will also be provided a specific point of contact as a team lead.
Dates and shifts
Shift lengths will be 4 – 6 hours in length. Wherever possible, we will aim to place volunteers in pairs. Full rotas will be provided at the first briefing and anyone choosing to do double shifts will be given a suitable break period. It is your responsibility to ensure that you can find the venue, and arrive on time for your shift.
Some shifts and roles may be outdoors and affected by the weather. Please ensure that you are appropriately dressed for the conditions (sun screen, umbrella, etc).
Precise timings of shifts are still to be settled; however they are expected to fall the following times:
Event Installation: 3pm – 8pm on Friday June 7th 2024
Exhibitor Set Up: 9am – 11am on Saturday June 8th 2024
Event Opening to Closing: 11am – 6pm on Saturday June 8th June 2024
Exhibitor Take Down: 6pm – 8pm on Saturday June 8th 2024
Event Takedown: 10am until 1pm Sunday 9th June 2024
Online conduct
Social media is a major way we talk to our audience. As our volunteers, we’d be delighted if you could use your social media accounts to promote and talk about Vice Press Open House and your involvement. However, if you’re speaking as a volunteer and part of Vice Press Open House, we need to you to read and observe the following principles.
Whilst volunteers are more than welcome to associate themselves with Vice Press Open House when they post, please keep it courteous, honest and polite and make it clear that any views expressed are your own. Vice Press Open House are not responsible for any issues your content might generate.
Respect opinions! If someone posts something about Vice Press Open House that you disagree with, it can be easy to wade in ‘all guns blazing’ (we’re half tempted to sometimes), but please take a breath, step back and if you still have to say something, be nice. Sometimes people need to offload and must be given the space to do it within freedom of speech. It doesn’t mean they’re right, but becoming involved can enflame the initial post beyond reason.
Vice Press Open House maintains the right to ask for any volunteer response on social media to be edited or deleted if it brings Vice Press Open House into disrepute. Any racial, ethnic, religious or similar slur will not be tolerated.
To help spread the good news, please follow our handle @vicepressnews and use our hashtags: #VicePressOpenHouse # VicePressOpenHouse23 #VicePress #OpenHouse
