We rely on volunteers to do a variety of jobs to make the Festival successful. Registration for volunteer positions opens in January.

 

Author Escorts

Volunteers escort authors to the tent or building where they’re speaking, then to the book signing area, and finally back to the Green Room or other locations the authors would like to go. Escorts must be familiar (or get familiar) with the Festival grounds so they know where events are.

 

Author, Exhibitor, and Volunteer Check-in

Volunteers check in arriving authors, exhibitors, and volunteers. They direct authors to the Green Room or their speaking venues, exhibitors to their booths, and volunteers to their shift locations. They make sure each volunteer gets a T-shirt and name tag along with their work assignments, and they hand out surveys for volunteers to fill out about their Festival experience.

 

Author Transportation

Volunteers pick up authors at the airport and take them to their hotels and back to the airport, and they may also take them from their hotels to Festival special events. Transportation requirements are typically the day before, the day of, and the day after the Festival. Volunteers must have their own reliable transportation, and they must have a driver's license, vehicle insurance, and a cell phone.

 

Book Signing

Volunteers greet authors and Festival visitors in the book signing area. They prepare the author signing tables with chairs, pens, and signs, and they help maintain traffic flow through the area, making sure visitors know which line belongs to each author.

 

Children’s Area

Volunteers help with children’s activities, crafts, writing projects, and face painting. Some of the volunteers wear storybook character costumes and walk around the Festival, interacting with visitors.

 

Runners

Volunteers fill in as needed or serve as runners for speakers’ venues or other work areas. Runners must have a cell phone.

 

Green Room

Volunteers help provide a relaxing atmosphere in the authors’ hospitality room, serving and replenishing food and drink.

 

Information Booth

Volunteers greet Festival visitors and provide information, Festival brochures, and directions to visitors; help visitors find the speakers’ venues and other places they want to visit; answer questions about the Festival. They manage the Festival Lost and Found box and First Aid Kit, and, along with all other Festival volunteers, report emergency information or situations as soon as they know about them.

 

Site Setup and Breakdown

Volunteers help in the early morning by moving and setting up tables and chairs and pipe-and-drape dividers in exhibitors’ booth and putting table covers and signs at speakers’ venues and exhibitors’ booths. They help in the late afternoon by folding up and stacking tables and chairs; dismantling pipe-and-drape dividers; and removing table covers, signs, and any other trash from the Festival grounds

 

Timekeepers

Volunteers signal authors when their speaking time is running out.

 

Venue Assistants

Volunteers prepare the speakers’ venues—the tents and Old Alabama Town buildings—before each presentation (straighten chairs and tables, ensure microphones are set up), and they make sure the speakers, moderators, and timekeepers are in place before the presentation starting time. They count and record the number of people in the audience, hand out and take up survey forms after each speaker, and help people find seats. They also make sure the doors don’t make noise when audience members come in late. Venue assistants should have a cell phone.