Although
I have not experienced it first hand, I have heard that organizations such as Disney Theme
Parks
While
I realize that festivals and events can’t use this exact technique, they can
use the philosophy behind it. That is, make their customers (attendees) as
comfortable as possible. What does this mean to festival organizers? To me it
means having a well-organized festival with informed “identifiable volunteers”.
Some
time ago, Gary was fortunate to judge some very outstanding festivals and
events in a number of different categories. One of the categories was “Best Volunteer Program”. There were a
number of entries, but one stood out, to me, above the rest! Their Volunteer
Program, from recruitment to retirement, was amazing! It was complete and
covered all aspect of managing their volunteers. It is no wonder that this
festival is considered one of the best in the world.
So,
taking a lead from their program, here are 10 smart ideas to consider:
- Screen your volunteers,
just as would for a job interview
- Determine what would be
the best and most appropriate job for each volunteer
- Prepare detailed job
descriptions and make sure each volunteer is given one
- Have volunteer
orientation and training sessions
- Appoint mentors to new
volunteers
- Give each volunteer a
festival uniform and identification badge
- Give each volunteer an
event work schedule
- Have a meaningful
volunteer appreciation program
- Develop a volunteer perk
package
- Hold a volunteer wrap-up event and let everyone know how the festival/event did
The
whole point to this blog is to remind festival organizers that they should
treat their guests (festival attendees) like princes or princesses as soon as
they enter the festival grounds (sooner, if possible). This means having
volunteers having well informed, recognizable volunteers who are friendly and
prepared to guests on all aspects of the festival and the community. If you get
this part right, everything will fall into place.
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