Assessment Activity 1: Short written report (250-500 words)
I heard about doing work placement for Viva La Gong in Peter's class. Initially, i wasn't very interested but after hearing the words 'Katie Noonan' i instantly changed my mind. I was absent the day Paola Rodriguez, the Volunteer Coordinator for Cultural Services, came to our class so I phoned and arranged to meet with her to discuss work placement.
I met up with her and we discussed all of the different jobs available such as bumping in and bumping out, assistant stage manager, event surveys, administration, poster/postcard distribution, crowd traffic control workshop assistants, info tent manning/selling merchandise/lost children/first age and finally, front of house. Paola left the room and gave me a moment to fill out the paper work. I had a pretty good idea of what I wanted to do and put assistant stage manager, workshop assistants and front of house as my top priorities.
A day before the festival was to begin, I received a phone call on my mobile while I was at work from a flustered Paola who attempted to tell me where I was to be the following night. After a rather incomprehensive conversation I was pleased to find out that I would work at the Tim Freedman show in the Big Top, Thursday evening. I wasn’t told what the schedule for the rest of my days working there would be like; I think it was all quite up in the air at this point. I was feeling excited and a tad skeptical.
Assessment Activity 2: Workplace Entries (150-200 words each)
Thursday 9h October 2008. 4pm.
I was to meet Paola and the other volunteers at the Big Top to collect my Viva La Gong volunteer uniform (an unsightly, oversized red t-shirt and black Imb cap) and be told about what I would be doing that evening. When I got there I was relieved to see Tim, from my class, and then met a few strangers who I would also be working with – A girl by the name of Lauren and a boy, whose name I can’t remember. Paola shortly arrived and after changing in to my “uniform” we all stood around together, met some of our supervisors and discussed who would be doing what. I spent the first part of the evening cleaning dirty chairs in the Big Top with a rag and bucket of soapy water. Then at about 6 stood at the entrance to the Big Top where I was to view patrons’ tickets and direct them in to the seating/food area until the Big Top would open (which wasn’t till about 8pm, so the next two hours was fairly fruitless). At about 7:30 we had a brief volunteer meeting again to decide who was to do what. I was appointed the job of securing one of the exits (one right beside the stage. YES) and had the evacuation procedures explained to me. In the instance of a fire, I would put it out with the fire extinguisher (if it were close by), tie the tent flap back securely, and direct people with my torch, out of the tent and to the car park. Also, if during the show I was to witness anything out of the ordinary, say, smoke billowing out from underneath somebody’s chair, I must notify the stage manager immediately. Fortunately, there was not a fire, or any suspicious clouds of smoke, so for the next two and a half hours I was able sit comfortably in my hard hat and watch Tim Freedman duet with Katie Noonan and the Sculthorpe Remixed. It was wonderful. My first night of work experience was over at about 11pm. I spoke to Paola afterwards and discovered that I would be back again the next morning at 10am for a children’s kite making workshop.
I will admit, I did expect to have a little more responsibility but it was a great experience no less and I am now exceptionally skilled in the art of Exit Manning.
Friday 10th October
I arrived at 10am the next morning and wandered in to the community hall where I was told the kite making workshop would take place. There I met my supervisors who were lovely and told me what I would be doing that day. I started off by helping prepare paper which would be used to make little hand held windmills which the children could blow on and they would spin. This involved cutting up coloured paper for about two hours and piling it neatly on the table. The younger children, I was told, should not use the scissors. Next I was instructed to help make the “Flying Machine”. I responded to this rather confusedly, and then suddenly the heap of cane sticks and electrical tape lying against the wall made sense. With a lot of help, I made a massive frame, which would soon become a “Flying Machine” (alternatively, a giant box kite). Shortly after we had a few children come in with their parents, some of them worked with the other volunteers making windmills and a few others came to work on the “Flying Machine” with me. I taped Pieces of paper around the frame to make some parts solid, then the children decorated it with drawings, stickers and coloured pieces of paper. I had a lot of fun working with the kids, they all co-operated so well and were excitedly anticipating the launch of the “flying Machine”, which sadly I missed out on, leaving at 2pm. Apparently the launch entailed running the very heavy cane monstrosity down the hill. I imagine the launch would not have been too successful, but would have been fun to watch, and especially fun for the kids to participate in.
I found Paola before leaving and was told to come back at 10pm the following day to distribute flyers and other promotional material.
Saturday 11th October
I arrived at the Cultural Services building 10pm Saturday morning and met Paola to discuss where she would like me to promote Viva La Gong. I was sent to the mall where I wandered around, handing out programs and talking up the festival. I didn’t really enjoy this much as I felt a little forceful. Most people were friendly and happy to hear about the festival but some people reacted extremely disgruntled and did not want to have a bar of it. Some people pretended they couldn’t see/hear me altogether, which I found highly amusing. Nevertheless, I continued on and hopefully a few people ended up going to MacCabe Park to check out the festivities. My shift ended at about 2pm, I then spoke to Paola who was very busy said she would be in contact with me shortly.
Sunday 12th October:
I received a call from Paola at about 11am Sunday morning asking if I would like to help bump out in the evening. Bumping out consisted of packing away bollards, tables, chairs, taking down signs and tents, loading vans and overall was pretty exhausting and not all that enjoyable. This was my last day of work experience, and to be honest, i was relieved.
Assessment Activity 3: Placement Evaluation
Work Placement at Viva La Gong wasn't all that i expected it to be, however i did learn a few things and brush up on a few skills along the way, such as:
* Improved my interpersonal/communication skills.
* Worked as part of a team/with children
*Evacuation procedures in the case of an incident (such as a fire) in the Big Top.
*How to pack tables, chairs, tents in to a van (it's as obvious as it sounds).
*How to make a pretty mean "Flying Machine"
*Some people, no matter how hard you smile, or how politely you approach them, are just born angry.
*The artist portaloo is "for artists ONLY!!"
Overall, my experience as a volunteer was a pretty dull one. I expected to have more responsibility and hoped to learn a little more about stage managing (the extent of my "stage managing" involved sitting beside it in a hard hat - though i DID get to see Tim Freedman and Katie Noonan for free, so i can't really complain). I met some lovely people, Paola in particular, and some friendly fellow volunteers. I Recieved some nice feedback from Paola, and ate some free sandwiches.
The End.
