What different volunteer roles exist?

Answer

WTF teams get lots of autonomy, and some different speciality roles might exist in some teams, but here are the most common:

  • Organizer - The volunteer(s) inducted by WTF to plan and lead events. As well as participating in the event, they will keep things running smoothly, direct other volunteers, and might have to liaise with the police or city officials depending on location and regional event requirements. They will also run a briefing at the start and a debrief at the end of events.
  • Promoter - The promoter's job is to get people to take the challenge, usually with signs, verbally inviting people to take the challenge, or maybe leveraging the prizes as incentives to garner attention.
  • Outreacher - These are the people waiting to have conversations with participants after they finish the Movie Challenge. Outreachers must be vegan, and must not advocate for anything less than this. Outreachers are typically the most experienced and confident at speaking to people about veganism, but less experienced people who want to gain experience should always be given a chance.
  • Usher - The usher is responsible for guiding people from the queue or entry point to the viewing station, and setting up the equipment to be ready for them. They might need to explain to the participant how to start the challenge, or they might start it for them depending on equipment setups. They will need to explain to the participant that if they cannot finish the challenge, they are allowed to leave whenever they want.
  • Interviewer / Content Creator - Some teams have a designated interviewer or content creator with recording equipment and a mic, who will be interviewing participants or activists to get content for social media. Please note - this is not about ego or celebrity worship. High quality content is vital for reaching a larger audience with our important message, and content creators or interviewers should be supported by the rest of the team.
  • Photographer / Videographer - We recommend that every team should have at least one volunteer who is responsible for taking as many high quality photos or videos as possible each event. If this is you, please do let us know if you are happy for us to use your photos and videos, by emailing [email protected]
  • Queue Master - For teams that are larger or in busy areas, a queue master is often used to engage with members of the public who are queueing to take the challenge. They should speak to people in a way that entices them to take the challenge, without giving away what the footage is. It's normal for people to ask, and you can just say "we don't want to give away what the footage is, that's the point! But you will be free to leave at any point if you don't want to watch it". Don't worry, once seated, most people watch the footage.

It's important to note that activists can switch between roles throughout events, and you should be willing to take whatever role is required by the organizer to help the event run smoothly. If you love outreach but there's a shortage of promoters for instance, you should be willing to act as a promoter until the organizer asks for a swap.