Volunteering for IMCC4
*Some of the information below may be subject to change at this time*
All of the available IMCC4 volunteer spots are currently filled, as well as the waitlist. Thank you to everyone who is helping by volunteering!
Volunteering at the 4th International Marine Conservation Congress (30 July-3 August 2016 in St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada) is a great way to meet other IMCC4 delegates, get to know some of the IMCC4 Local Organizing Committee and lower your overall cost of attending the Congress!
To volunteer at IMCC4, you must become an official member of the Marine Section of the Society for Conservation Biology. (The IMCC4 member registration discount is greater than the cost of membership.) Then, you must register for IMCC4 and select the option to volunteer at the Congress. (Early bird registration is expected to open 15 March 2016.) Volunteers will be selected from those who check this box during registration. (Yes, you must register for IMCC4 prior to being chosen as a volunteer. There are no exceptions to this rule.) Delegates from developing countries and students are given priority when choosing volunteers.
Volunteers who work at least 8 hours during the Congress will receive a 50% registration fee rebate after IMCC4 is over. We need a lot of IMCC4 volunteers! But, these opportunities are limited, and we generally receive more requests to volunteer than the number of volunteer spots available. Register early.
If you have additional questions, please contact IMCC4 Volunteer Coordinator Heather Penney at p52hdp@mun.ca.
A sample of some of the volunteer positions available at IMCC4 is posted below. Selected volunteers will be emailed instructions on choosing/being assigned positions at a later time. (You should not request positions during registration or request positions prior to registration.)
IMCC4 Volunteer Position Descriptions
Registration: Assist delegates with registration. Hand out info packages and answer questions. Become familiar with layout of conference centre and scheduled talks.
AV during sessions: Help speakers load their talks onto the computers. Switch powerpoint presentations during the question period. You don’t have to be a technological wizard to do this just be able to use powerpoint. We will have AV gurus around to help with major problems.
AV guru: Be quite familiar with AV equipment and computers. You won’t be in a particular session but should be available to help if there are any pressing computer issues.
Welcome door: Be at the entrance of the conference centre to welcome delegates and answer questions they might have about where rooms are, where to find things in St. John's, etc. (local familiarity and with the conference centre & IMCC4 program is helpful). Generally be a friendly and helpful person.
Info booth / Merchandise sales: Help people if they have questions about St. John's, where to find restaurants etc. Also, help with t-shirt sales etc.
Exhibit / Evening reception assistance: Assist exhibitors and delegates in the exibition hall. Be available to answer questions.
Poster session: Ensure that all posters are up before the poster session, that posters are in their appropriate spot and help to set up for the poster event.
Speaker room prep: Provide assistance to speakers wanting to use the laptops to practice talks, check compatibility of presentations.
Photo/Social Media assistance: Be willing to attend all events (including all the receptions and plenary talks) to take photos or short video (with your own camera) and contribute to building the FaceBook photo album and contributing to the blog of IMCC4. (Volunteers in this position will be chosen by IMCC4 Communication Chair Edd Hind.)
On-campus promotion: Get promotional posters stamped and place them around the Memorial University campus a few times before the conference. Be creative and think of other ways to attract local students to come to the conference.
Silent auction/fundraising: Approach local businesses about donating items for the silent auction. Be creative and think of other ways to fundraise before the conference. Set up silent auction item sheet and monitor during conference.
