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Volunteer!
Are you interested in seeing P3Gatherings events continue and even grow?
Are you interested in coming out to events and getting to meet new people?
Do you want to “give back” to your community?
P3Gatherings needs your help!
We need volunteers!
P3Gatherings has 3 different types of volunteers that we need, based on the realistic expectation of commitment you are able to provide.
Day-of volunteers – who are willing to come half an hour early or stay an hour late to help us on the day of our events. Folks that can see a project through until its completion, stay on task, and plan on attending the majority of P3Gatherings events. Typically many people doing many small jobs. We would prefer to ‘train’ one or two people on each of the tasks, and have them do them for each event, to best manage our time.
Critical-need volunteers -who can help out on a regular basis, either on the day of an event or before and event. Project-oriented tasks that must be completed by a certain day/time. We would like to be able to “hand over” a particular task to one particular person (or couple) with the knowledge that they will handle the task smoothly. Need to be able to complete the task even if they are unable to attend the event. We need very responsible, trustworthy, committed individuals for these tasks.
Organizer – we are looking to fill one organizer spot. This is a position with a high time-commitment, long-term commitment need. We need someone with long-term thinking who is also good at thinking on their feet on the day of an event. Ability to attend all of P3Gatherings’ events (emergencies aside), as well as attend meetings, etc. Strong preference for someone with their own vehicle.
Some of the specific roles we could use assistance with include:
Day-of Volunteers
| Role |
Requirements |
Time Commitment |
Tasks |
| Driver (any vehicle) |
Reliable person with a reliable, clean vehicle capable of seating 3-4 (plus toy bags). Prefer someone who lives in the north for efficiency. |
An hour (give or take) before and after workshops/party on day of event |
Pick up presenters from billet location or hotel (generally near the airport) and deliver to event location, then return back afterwards. Generally would be yourself plus one or two presenters. (Hence your vehicle needs to seat 3-4..) |
| Driver (truck, van) |
Reliable person with a reliable vehicle capable of transporting play furniture. |
2 hours before and after party on day of party. |
Furniture pick up, delivery, and return. |
| Furniture assembly |
Moderate skill with general tools |
Less than half an hour before party (generally before/during break/after the workshop) and after the party |
Assemble furniture that needs assembly (crosses mostly), set up furniture in dungeon space. |
| On-site poster hanging |
Opposable thumbs |
5-10 minutes after workshop before party |
Use painters tape (don’t damage the walls) and hang party posters within the space. These include locations of electrical outlets, posters for wax/fire play, and party rules. |
| Workshop presenters |
Skill and passion about a BDSM related topic and the ability to share it with others. |
1.5-2 hours for the workshop, but feel free to stay for another workshop if there is one, and the party that night as well if applicable. |
See “why teach?” for more information. |
| Furniture loans |
Play furniture in good condition and a willingness to share it with others. Ability to transport said furniture. |
Come for the entire party (ei: be at the party when it opens and stay until we close/clean up.) |
If you’ve got a piece of furniture you’d be willing to share – we’d love the opportunity! Especially desired: Cages, Stocks, Fucking Machines, Thrones, Inflatable mattresses/couches, and anything a little unusual…. |
| Dungeon Monitors |
Trained and experienced Dungeon Monitors or those willing to go through a training process. Prefer someone with recent first aid training. |
1-2 hour shifts at each party |
Facilitate safe, consensual, FUN play within the P3Gatherings play party space. |
| Set up (multiple volunteers) |
Follow directions, good memory. |
20-30 minutes before workshops |
Assist with set up for workshops and party to follow if applicable – set up chairs, tables, put up curtains, close blinds, cover windows, set up coffee maker, unpack boxes, put out table cloths, put out book club books if applicable, hang tarps or drop sheets in corner for wax area, fill spray bottles with cleaner/water solution, set out with paper towel, unscrew specific light bulbs for party, etc |
| Clean up (multiple volunteers) |
Follow directions, good memory |
20-30 minutes after workshops/party |
Assist with the clean up of space. Put away chairs, tables, take down curtains and window coverings, take out garbage, put dishes in dishwasher if needed (or just wash in sink), put away coffee maker, sweep floors, pull down and fold tarps or drop sheets, drain cleaning solution, pack boxes, screw back in light bulbs after party, etc… |
| Presenter assistant |
Good memory, attends many events, follow directions, reliable. Prefer someone with a clean, reliable vehicle also capable of being a presenter's driver. |
20 minutes before and after workshop. More if desired/required. Not required for every presenter. |
Introduce presenters to individuals, assist with bags, unpacking, set up, etc. If a presenter is selling books, assist with the process, if a presenter needs water – fetch it for them, etc… Aiming to make their experience with P3Gatherings as enjoyable and accommodating as possible. |
| Demo bottoms |
Lifestyle experience as a bottom (amount will vary) Reliable. Tops & switches who can demo-bottom more than welcome. |
Some time before the workshop to discuss with presenter, during workshop, some follow-up might be needed after workshop. |
Communicate limits and concerns to presenter before workshop without drama. Communicate experience related to workshop topic verbally and non-verbally to audience. “Play” in front of an audience without going into space so you can still communicate. “Play” and not require or expect aftercare. |
| Sacrificial Lambs (couple or group) |
Good play relationship with one another, not shy. |
Be on time for the play party. |
Play! From time to time we find that the play doesn’t get started until someone GETS it started. Gonna play this night – then get out there and start – and get the party started!!! (Obviously this isn’t a real volunteer position… but hey, if you’ve read this far I might as well keep you giggling!) |
| Packer |
Good memory, follow directions, some physical strength (nothing too heavy, but if you have a bad back this wont work) |
10-20 minutes after workshops/party |
Help pack up different boxes for transportation of P3Gatherings assets and take out to related vehicles and help get them packed up. |
| Recycling |
Opposable thumbs, common sense. |
5 minutes after workshops/party |
Collect cans and bottles, drain if opened but not empty into sink, put into recycling bag, take out to organizer ’s car. |
| First Aid Provider |
First aid training. Prefer someone with current First Aid & CPR certifications. |
On-call during party. |
Be the official first aid provider for our parties. Must be able to come out of a scene and “think on your feet” even if just in top/sub space. Provide first aid if needed to allow DM and organizers to focus on other tasks during an accident. Review first aid kit before and after party and make note if any items need to be replaced, let organizers know if new items need to be purchased/etc. |
| Door Monitor (2 volunteers) |
Cool under pressure, can read, discreet, reliable. |
20-30 minutes before workshop, first hour of play party when doors are open. |
Take tickets, record attendance on guest list. Get party guests to sign consent forms and double-check that they are completely filled out. Alert organizers if we are running low on forms or if there are attendance issues. Keep non-guests out of space. Keep an eye on the door to ensure non-guests do not enter. Sell tickets at door for relevant workshops. Write down email addresses for guests we don’t have contact information for. Manage conflicts if non-ticketed guests wish to attend event. |
| Comfort & Aftercare Coordinator |
Ability to laugh at the title… hehe |
Attendance at the parties |
Bring floor pillows, blankets, etc to share with folks for aftercare and snuggling. |
| Food & Drink Fairies |
Love of food, and desire to share with others! |
Arrive 5 minutes before party |
Bring healthy snacks, or gooey favorites to share with others for socializing or aftercare. Recipe cards preferred for home-made goods for allergy alerts. |
| DJ |
Good collection of music, pays attention. |
5 minutes here and there throughout party. |
Bring fun, unique play music for our parties in a similar musical style to our existing music. (Play list available) Ensure that music is always playing. If desired, make mix cds of great play music and bring to parties. (no MP3s, sorry) |
Critical-need Volunteers
| Role |
Requirements |
Time Commitment |
Tasks |
Food and Drink Coordinator |
Must have reliable vehicle, should have a Costco card, will need a small amount of non-freezing storage space (cooler and pop cans). |
One evening per month (to shop), plus attend all of the P3Gatherings events (or arrange for pickup/delivery on event days) |
Monitor drink consumption and keep cooler filled each event day with an assortment of drinks. Purchase drinks as needed, purchase snacks for parties, transport food and drink to event location. Set up food for party. |
| First Aid Coordinator |
First aid training. Prefer someone with current First Aid & CPR certifications. |
Arrive 10-15 minutes before workshop, stay until party ends. Plus approx 1 hour per month |
Be the official first aid provider for our parties. Must be able to come out of a scene and “think on your feet” even if just in top/sub space. Provide first aid if needed to allow DM and organizers to focus on other tasks during an accident. Review first aid kit before and after party and purchase items that need to be replaced/updated. Hold possession of the first aid kit and bring it to every party and every workshop where it may be needed. Supervise any additional first aid providers if applicable. |
| Promoter |
Prefer someone who attends Monday night munches. Prefer someone with vehicle or ability to get around to postering locations. |
One evening per month (approx). for poster distribution plus 5-8 hours once every 6 month for Flea Market promotion. More if applicable. |
Meet up with organizers at the munch to pick up posters, then distribute to our distribution list (largely central Calgary like beltline, 17th ave, Kensington, etc) Must ensure that posters get out in a timely manner for ultimate visibility. Attend the Calgary Kinky Flea Market and help promote the group to potential and new guests. Additional promotions if applicable. |
| Play Party Coordinator |
Must have reliable vehicle capable of transporting play furniture (ei: truck or van) |
Must attend each play party |
Oversee Play Party Volunteers to ensure that the following tasks are completed:
Furniture pick up, delivery, set up & tear down, clean up, food and drink delivery, doors being monitored, etc. Fill in where needed. Train party volunteers as needed. |
| Theme Party Planner |
Should have own vehicle or access to one. Creative. |
Available for theme play party (1-2x/year), other time requirements will fluctuate based on need |
Work along with play party coordinator and organizers to come up with fun, interesting themes for parties. Work within a minimal budget to get decorations etc. Coordinate with Food/Drink coordinator to match snacks to theme. |
| Billet Host/Hostess |
Have a clean, comfortable spare bedroom and a willingness to host presenters and special guests. Vague preference for location close to our event locations, but not required. |
As much or as little as you like – centered around a P3Gatherings event weekend. (Probably a pretty good idea if you plan to attend the event, but not necessary.) |
Be a good host/hostess – be social and friendly with out-of-town guests. We would like to find billet hosts for out of town presenters, as well occasionally have special guests from out of town who need a place to stay. We would encourage plenty of communication between guest and host before travel to ensure comfort on both ends. |
| Marketing Researcher |
Internet access |
1hour approx per month. More if desired. |
This isn’t really a critical need role – but it’s definitely not a day-of role… Basically someone to look up possible advertising venues online for P3Gatherings. Related list serves, webrings, forums, etc. In some cases, post information about P3Gatherings in a timely manner for each event, in other cases send a link to Marketing & Communications Coordinator to check out. |
| Ticket Sales Coordinator |
Attention to detail, internet access, database, spreadsheet and graphic software, reliable, honest. |
Approx 4 hours/month on general tasks plus attend regular munches, each workshop, etc. |
Design workshop and party tickets after discussing event and price information with Marketing & Communications Coordinator. Send out digital tickets when payment is received through paypal. Ensure that Ticket salespeople have tickets to sell well in advance of every event. Sell tickets at the door to relevant workshops as needed. Well tickets to future events at door of workshops as needed. Supervise ticket salespeople. Keep accurate records of tickets sold. Keep track of Guest List in reference to Black List, Interviews, etc. Return all incoming funds to Organizers/Bookkeeper. |
| Bookkeeper |
Reliable, honest, spreadsheet software, experience with bookkeeping and reporting. |
Approx 3-5 hours/month |
Record income from each event, pay out expenses, deposit profit and keep accurate records of finances. Alert Organizers on a regular basis of funds. |
| Fundraising Coordinator |
Creative |
Flexible |
Come up with new and unique fundraising ideas, strategies, and after coordination with organizers, implement them with the ultimate goal of raising funds to put on bigger and better events! Arrange donations for silent auctions, work with Communications coordinator to solicit for donations, etc. |
| Location Scout |
Own vehicle or ability to get around the city. Telephone and email use for initial contact. |
Approx 2 hours per month |
Scout new locations for P3Gatherings events, discuss with organizers, negotiate with location owners, get quotes, take photos, draw layouts, pick up keys, drop of cheques, etc. |
| Guest list Manager |
Database and spreadsheet software, discreet, good time management and communication skills |
Approx 5 hours/month Attend each workshop and party |
Update guest list with emails from webgroup, facebook, as well as information from Communications Coordinator. Record interviews done. Distribute information to Ticket sales. Provide guest list to front door volunteers at beginning of each workshop and party. |
| Interviewer & Group Greeter |
Social, outgoing, good attention to detail, good memory. |
Regular attendance at munches (approx 3 hours/week) plus attendance at all the workshops plus approx 1 hour per week in addition. |
Greet new people when they come out to munches, and other non-P3 events and let them know about P3Gatherings. Greet new people who attend workshops and aim to fill them in about things, make introductions and otherwise make them feel comfortable. Interview potential party guests and provide organizes and Guest list manager with impressions. |
| Marketing & Communications Coordinator |
Internet access, marketing savy, Web design and graphic software, good writing skills. |
Approx 5 hours/week for regular tasks plus approx 1 hour a day for email correspondence. |
Update and maintain website, design posters, write copy for all events and distribute through websites including local, national, and international websites. Distribute advertising copy through email yahoogroups. Maintain mailing list and send regular emails to guests. Maintain yahoogroups site and facebook site. Create new facebook ‘events’ for P3Gatherings events. Coordinate with organizers to find out event themes, workshop topics and upcoming dates and locations. Manage all email correspondence, through gmail account as well as through other accounts such as fetlife, collarme, etc. Design and update event run books for larger events. Design and update presenter books for out of town presenters. |
| Education Coordinator |
Good networking skills, travel to events in and out of Calgary, internet access, good writing skills. |
Approx 3 hours per month for general tasks plus approx 2 hours per week for specific tasks plus available all day on day of workshop. |
Coordinate with organizers to discuss upcoming dates and locations for events, discuss desirable workshop topics. Write workshop copy and presenter bios where needed. Provide copy and bios to Marketing & Communications Coordinator. Contact potential presenters to encourage them to present for P3Gatherings. Discuss desirable topics with workshop guests and review workshop reviews to plan new workshops. Follow up with presenters to plan dates and find out what they will need for their presentations. Work with Billet Hosts, Drivers, Presenter Assistants etc to ensure that presenters are well taken care of. Follow up with presenter after event to give feedback if and when needed. Design workshop schedules for workshop days as well as weekend – long events. |
| Education Researcher |
Ability to build a database from the ground up (Access database). Internet access. Attendance at Local, National, and International events a bonus. |
Approx 10 hours to start, then approx 2 hours/month. |
We want to develop a database of potential presenters, track their topics, correspondence we’ve had with them, and other relevant details. This role would be responsible first for building the database, and then populating and maintaining it, then working with the Education Coordinator to propose potential presenters. |
| Equipment Manager |
Must have some degree of storage space (indoor or covered outdoor). |
Minimal. |
Coordinate with Play Party Coordinator for furniture pick up and delivery on your schedule. Store play party furniture & other P3Gatherings assets. Keep an inventory of equipment to ensure nothing goes missing, review furniture to see if anything is damaged and alert the Play Party Coordinator if something is damaged or missing in advance of a party. Long term storage of raw materials for furniture making. (ei wood) |
| Printer |
Access to free or low-cost printer/ photocopier. Prefer someone who attends the Monday night munches. |
30 minutes once a month or there abouts |
Make copies of party consent forms, print tickets. If colour printer is available, print colour posters. Will get digital files by email, and organizers would pick up materials at the munch. Print business cards for P3Gatherings and brochures as needed. (Generally 2x per year in coordination with the Calgary Kinky Flea Market). |
| Volunteer Coordinator |
High attention to detail, decisive, creative |
As needed – need to attend every workshop and party, will also have follow up work to do throughout the month. |
Ensure that volunteers are completing their tasks on time, recruit and train new volunteers, develop cross-skill training. |
| Carpenter |
Space, vehicle, skill, creativity, budgeting. |
Repairs – approx 1-2 evenings every 6 months. Furniture building – on your own schedule as time allows (guessing about 2 weekends a year) |
Space (your own or borrowed) to build and repair play furniture, vehicle (your own or borrowed) to transport & raw materials as necessary. Skill with furniture making (& the tools to do so safely & effectively), ability to follow designs, creativity to think up new ideas, responsibility to stay on-budget, and experience in playing with furniture to know what will and wont work…. Repair play party furniture as needed, build (or assist in building) new furniture as needed/finances allow. |
| Co-op Babysitting Coordinator |
This is NOT a P3Gatherings Volunteer position – none of our organizers have kids, so its not something we think too much about (!).. BUT there has been tremendous interest from some of our guests in a co-op babysitting program for kinky folk who want to attend our events, but find open-minded, mature babysitters difficult to find. We would like to recruit a volunteer who would be able to field emails about this possible program, and once enough parents were on-board, work along with them to coordinate some sort of program. |
Obviously there are multiple roles that could be filled by the same person. For instance, if someone is able to billet a presenter, provide them with transportation, and assist them on the day of the workshop – this would be ideal. Someone who can transport furniture, and set it up, plus help with general set up in the dungeon would be great, etc….
Organizer – we are specifically looking for someone who has attended many of P3Gatherings events, and ideally someone who has already been volunteering with us to assist in different events. If you are interested in joining our team, please contact us personally so we can sit down and discuss the role, its needs and its benefits.
…. WISH LIST…..
Yes.. P3Gatherings also has a wish-list.
We could really use donations/permanent loans of:
- A small, closed, lockable trailer and a place to store it. This would be used for storage and transport of our play furniture and would assist in P3Gatherings’ ability to grow substantially.
- Accessible storage space (ei: the unused half of a two-car garage, unused garage period, storage shed) for the same purpose as above. We would want to have a key to be able to pick up and drop off even in the wee hours. Does not need to be heated – just protected from rain, snow, etc.
- Compact or compactable, sturdy play furniture.
- Airmiles to fly in out-of-country presenters.
- Books, unused toys, gift certificates, fetish wear, other fun stuff for door prizes and silent auction items for fundraising. (We only need these items when we’re planning a silent auction, not ongoing.)
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