About Registration Desk
Main Responsibilities
Our community conferences would certainly not be possible without the help of many volunteers.
Working the registration desk can be demanding at times, especially in the morning on the first day. We add more volunteers for such times, to help spread the workload.
Tasks include checking in attendees, finding and handing out badges and lanyards, handing out conference t-shirts, selling merchandise, and in general being the first contact point for any attendee questions.
PGConf.EU is now part of the Hidden Disabilities Sunflower scheme. The registration desk is the first, and main point of contact for many of our attendees, so it is essential for registration staff desk to take a few moments to watch the short Sunflower training video. Green Sunflower lanyards will be available behind the registration desk, and should be handed to any attendee who requests one. They do not need to provide any justification or answer any questions. Registration desk staff may wear one of the white 'Proud to support the Sunflower' lanyards that will be made available. There will also be 2 fold-out training cards available at the registration desk at all times.
There is someone at the regdesk at all times during the conference.
Who can select the registration desk task
For the busy times (morning of the first day) we prefer to have two or three experienced volunteers, to make sure that there is no backlog of attendees waiting to get into the conference. You can see the “busy” times in the volunteer schedule where the number of volunteers for this slot is larger than “2”.
For all other times, anyone is welcome to sign up. It is a nice opportunity to get in touch with people while having a guaranteed seat in the conference area. If you haven’t worked at the regdesk before, please ask in the volunteer Telegram channel to make sure you get an introduction first.
Notes
The check-in process is using the Conference System hosted on the PostgreSQL Europe website. You will need a mobile telephone with a working camera to scan the ticket barcode..
General Information
You are representing PGConf.EU and are there to support the organising committee in making the event a success. Please take the time to read all the information here. If you have any questions please contact the organising committee.
General Expectations
When on duty please dress and behave professionally, interacting with attendees politely with understanding. If a situation is becoming difficult, please escalate this to the organising committee.
If you are feeling unwell or cannot perform your scheduled duties, please tell a member of the organising committee and cover will be arranged.
You must follow the Code of Conduct at all times, especially when you are on duty.
Communicating With Attendees
When interacting with attendees please ensure that you are professional. Converse with a polite manner using plain English, simple language.
Remember many attendees are unlikely to be native English speakers, so avoid using idioms or other turns of phrase, be patient and understanding.
Above all treat attendees in the manner you would expect to be treated.
Contacting The Organising Committee
Should you need to escalate issues to the Organising Committee or if you need help with something, there are a number of ways to contact them during the event.
The easiest and least disruptive way to contact the organising committee would be via the volunteers Telegram channel. Before (or during) the event you can email contact@pgconf.eu.
There will always be a member of the organising committee (staff) available at the Registration Desk. The organising committee will be wearing staff t-shirts when they are on duty, but they will likely assist you even if they are not on duty.
Worst case you can contact the CoC committee using the phone number published on the website.
Volunteer Training
Please take the time to read through all the information here, including the general overview information and the specific details about any tasks you've signed up for.
If you have any questions about volunteering then please contact the organising committee.
There is generic event / community volunteer training happening at the Community Events Day, please attend this if you can.
All volunteers must attend the Volunteer Briefing that is held on the Wednesday morning before the event starts. You must attend even if you've volunteered in previous years.
Volunteer T-Shirts
You must wear the conference volunteer t-shirt when you are on duty. Anytime you are wearing the volunteer t-shirt, you are on duty.
You should not wear the conference volunteer t-shirt when you are off duty.
You must not wear the conference volunteer t-shirt when behind a sponsor booth.
You must not wear any company or corporate branding when you are on duty.
Hidden Disabilities Sunflower
PGConf.EU is now part of the Hidden Disabilities Sunflower scheme. This is to better support our attendees who may have an invisible disability, there are many and often will not be obvious, see the non-visible disabilities index.
Some attendees may be wearing a Sunflower lanyard. This means they are voluntarily sharing that they have a disability or condition that may not be immediately apparent, and that they may need a helping hand, understanding, or more time
Sunflower lanyards will also be available at the registration desk for any attendee who wants one.
You should watch this summary training video: