Volunteer

You can sign up for most volunteer positions by filling out this form.

Note: We currently don't have the capacity to support volunteers and will not be accepting volunteers until further notice. We will be reinstating the volunteer program as soon as we have opportunities available.

As we strive to improve the quality of our events, every contribution, large or small counts. Volunteering with our committee is a great way to get involved with us on a smaller scale. While being a committee member requires you to dedicate at least 8 hours per week to us, becoming a core volunteer is an easier, lower commitment way to be involved in our activities, help us run events and workshops, and get to know the committee members. Volunteering is also a good way to figure out if you'd like to commit more time to WiCS and eventually apply to be a committee member.

We have a range of volunteer positions, each of which will help you to learn about an aspect of our committee. By volunteering to be a photographer, you can learn about how we run events and help with publicizing them. By volunteering to be a technical mentor for our events, you can help teach technical concepts to others. By becoming a systems committee volunteer, you can learn systems administration and static website development from our systems committee.

How volunteering works

You can sign up for most positions by filling out this form. The only exception is volunteering to run your own event (mentioned below), in which case you'll have to email us directly. When you sign up, you will be added to our volunteer mailing list and be notified of future volunteer opportunities by email. Most volunteer opportunities will be assigned on a first-come-first-serve basis. However, if you have volunteered for the same position at least twice in a row, someone else will be given the opportunity so that everyone gets to do something! Every 1-2 weeks, an email will be sent out to the mailing list with upcoming volunteer opportunities. If any of the opportunities interest you, verify that you are free on that day and reply back to the email.

Here are the volunteer positions currently available.

Systems Committee Volunteer

• This is a great way to learn about Linux systems administration, version control, and static website development!
• You’ll work with our WiCS systems committee and help maintain our machines, track issues, etc. Indicate your interest in being a systems-committee volunteer in the form above. Doing so will add you to the wics-sys mailing list.
• You will need: to be willing to work independently, try new things, follow along with existing work, and ask questions. Prior experience, although appreciated, is not a pre-requisite.

Photographer

• Each event will have a main photographer and a back up photographer. In case the main photographer has a last minute emergency, they should contact the committee immediately so that the backup can be informed.
• You will need: A camera of your own or one that you can borrow. People who are not willing to be photographed will be in lanyards so make sure that you don’t photograph them! Photographs should be sent to the committee as soon as possible after the event is over.
• Commitment: Full length of the event if it is under 3 hours long. For events that run longer than that (such as full day workshops), we will work out a shift system. Each shift will be under 3 hours.

Poster Posters

• We will need 1-2 volunteers per event.
• Notice will be given 4-5 days before the event. You will have to coordinate with the director of publicity to pick up printed posters, supplies for putting them up, and deciding on locations to put them up.
• Commitment: Low: 1-1.5 hours/event, can do them at your own pace.

Mentor for Workshops or Technical Events

• Depending on the size of the event, we will need 3-7 volunteers per event. Notice for this will be given 14-10 days before the event, with an explanation of the content being covered and the difficulty level.
• You will need:
  • Enthusiasm for the topic of the workshop!
  • Enough expertise in the material being presented or taught to help the attendees of the workshop/event if they’re stuck or have questions.
• Commitment: This is a higher commitment position than the previous positions. In addition to attending the event, you will also have to spend time familiarizing yourself with the material prior to it.

Run an event with us!

• You have to reach out to us by email with an event that you’d like to see or run on your own! If we approve it, we will help you run the event. In the email, make sure to include:
  • name of the event
  • who is organizing or leading the event
  • if it is a women only event
  • a brief description of the event
  • a tentative date and time for the event
  • an estimated budget breakdown, if you require one
• You’ll play a major role in running and organizing the event. We’ll help you advertise it, book rooms for it, order food for it under our budget.
• Commitment: 5-6 hours spread out over around 10 days. Here are some examples of what you can do:
  • bring in a potential speaker to give a talk
  • run workshops
  • let us know about another event idea, get our approval, and run it

If you have any further questions, feel free to reach out to the committee!