Preliminary Draft and Request for Comment (orginal by Bill Brayman - This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.)
Based on many years of running large stone sculpting symposiums, here is what we find to be standard practices for setting up and running a volunteer based symposium. This preliminary draft describes typical volunteer compensation amounts for discussion purposes.
Symposium goals
The symposium director is responsible for producing a symposium that provides the following services: Lodging and meals, full service workspace, stone and tool suppliers, educational instruction, user exhibit, fund raising, and social activities.
Job outline
Work to run a symposium is usually organized into the following jobs.
In a small symposium, one person could wear most of these hats with help scattered among volunteers. The 2008 Camp B event took about 5 compensated people and 4 work-study students to cover these jobs. Silver Falls was more like 2 people and a few work-study students. But anyway you cut it, the process is like a hotel attached to an industrial play ground.
Every event is different, but the more it changes, the more it stays the same.
- Director
- Lodging coordinator
- Registration and check out
- Field and equipment manager
- Education activity coordinator
- Social coordinator
- Fund raising (auctions)
- Work study helpers (usually for field support, dinning room clean up, and fundraising support)
Work outline
The following tasks make up most of the work to be done to run the symposium
- Facilities agreement for Lodging, food, and field facilities
- Symposium brochure, t-shirt, and other promotion
- Mail reservations and sign up
- Registration check-in and final payments
- Lodging assignments and coordination
- Stone and tool vendor arrangements and agreements
- Education and instructor arrangements
- Field operations
- acquiring equipment and facilities
- equipment setup, maintenance and take down
- field workspace coordination
- parking and traffic management
- Dining room clean up
- Fund raising auctions
- Social activities
- Member show (sculpture walk)
- Conduct the annual membership meeting
Honorariums and expense compensation
Instructors are usually paid a honorarium and given a lodging discount. Key volunteer jobs are compensated with reduced symposium fees. Typically 3-5 work study positions are filled requiring 2-4 hours per day work in exchange for symposium fee discounts.
Symposium director
- single payment ($1000-$1500 as determined by the board)
- free lodging and meals
- travel expenses
Instructors
- payment - $50 $100/day
- lodging - free or reduced
- travel expense some compensation
Selected Staff
Key positions as assigned by the symposium director usually including a lodging coordinator, a registrar, and a field manager who in turn employ work-study students as helpers and casual help from volunteers at large.
- reduced symposium fee
- travel expense in some cases
Work-study
- reduced symposium fee typically 50% symposium fee
Board members
- lodging and travel compensation for board meeting held during symposium
