Has anyone volunteered at a convention or festival before?

[u/theTrueLocuro]

Thinking about doing it since saving money is always nice. Plus you might be able to get a better experience, plus meeting the other volunteers and staff would be cool.

I was thinking of doing a film festival.

I actually read about this idea originally on r/leanfire so maybe its not uncommon.

Has anyone done this? What are your thought on it?

[u/SH4D0WSTAR]

I've strategically volunteered at conferences and festivals to save money, and to give back to the communities I love. It works really well, and you're right; you get to meet tons of people, hone soft skills (e.g, teamwork, empathy, adaptability, way finding), and get some great free perks.

At the last conference I volunteered at, I was able to get a free professional headshot and a free meal to take home! Also got to meet some incredible speakers.

When I volunteered at a music festival, I got access to some great performances and a t-shirt!

Every time I volunteer, I feel like I unlock a new facet of my identity and level up. It's just so refreshing :)

[u/IdubdubI]

I volunteered for the Superbowl hospitality team once. Just had to take trash out of the suites and got to watch a bunch of the game/shows.

[u/SpiritualCatch6757]

I volunteered at anime conventions when I was younger. Loved it. Free admission. Lots of fun.

[u/Level-Worldliness-20]

I used to volunteer for wine festivals.  

The cool thing is that the owners would gift us bottles of wine daily.

[u/Hifi-Cat]

I volunteer at a theater.

[u/DomDeV707]

Definitely. I do a lot of stuff like this to save money while having amazing experiences.

I volunteered at Burning Man last year, which brought with it a huge amount of value between the ticket and vehicle pass. But it also depends on what team you volunteer with.

[u/RightToBearGlitter]

Used to regularly volunteer the first shift at beer festivals. Stamp hands for the first two hours, get 40 free tokens for the remaining 4 hours.

[u/buffoonery4U]

Volunteering can be very fulfilling. As others have mentioned, you have a chance to meet all sorts of interesting people. Maybe even acquire new skills. For me, it became addictive and even opened up a whole new career path.

[u/goodsam2]

I was looking into potentially working at a new venue that just came in. Cleaning trash or something mid-week but seeing concerts seems like a nice way to pad my budget.

[u/UnKossef]

I've played music for free at a couple of benefit and political festivals. Well worth my time to support cancer patients and anticapitalist rallies. We're hosting an open mic night at an American Legion branch in a couple weeks for a community fundraiser.

That's not really related to fire though, just civic duty. And fun too

[u/angry_house]

I once worked at some conference when I was around 20, checking tickets at the entry. Spending two days on foot (and not walking) is tough! Not doing that again.

[u/s32bangdort]

I volunteer every year for local 3 day MTB festival. It gets me free entrance the remaining 2.5days!

[u/Kat9935]

I have volunteers at festivals and beer events and conferences. With conferences you have to be strategic of course as not to miss out on things you really want to go to. Beer events sometimes have a lot of bonuses.. like we went to training (got lots of free beer and snacks), went to the event (got free food plus after got free beer), and then they had a thank you where we got free beer and prizes.

I also volunteer sometimes with bottling at local brewerys and a bourbon place. The bourbon place gives you one bottle for an afternoon of helping plus food.

Now if you want to work, my friend parks cars at events. He has to do 3 events a month minimum, easy part time job and he gets to see the show during break time. He's seen pretty much seen every big concert that has come into town. He also writes for a smaller sports blog and gets free press passes to most of the college and minor league games in town.