Sydney Writers' Festival

Below you will find a brief description of the different roles volunteers fill during the Festival. Please note these are general guides only. Specific tasks will change depending on the location you are allocated to and the circumstances that arise during your shift.

All positions are vitally important to the Festival and in order to fill them it is not always possible to grant each volunteer his or her role preference. We hope, however, that each position has its own rewards and that you will enjoy your experience as a Festival volunteer.

Information Booth Attendees
The information booth is the communication hub of the Festival. Volunteers staffing the booth provide information and assistance to visitors and need to be familiar with both the Festival schedule and venue locations, as well as local information (toilets, transport, ATMs, places to eat etc). Duties include:

• Meeting and greeting visitors and acting as a general ambassador to the Festival.
• Distributing daily schedules to the general public.
• Updating the info booth white board.
• Answering questions regarding session times, locations, ticketing and local area information.

Escorts/Runners
This position involves being on the move, running messages between locations, fetching and setting up equipment and escorting guests to their sessions. Duties include:

• Escorting writers and facilitators from the green room to their sessions and after sessions to book signings.
• Communicating messages between various volunteer stations under the guidance of the Volunteer Coordinator.
• Carrying signage and equipment to venues.

Queue Supervisors
With many thousands of visitors at the Wharf, our queue supervisors play an essential role in minimising havoc and ensuring patrons aren't lining up unnecessarily when a venue's capacity has been met. Duties include: 

• Helping the production team prepare a venue (stack/unstack chairs, provide water bottles and place signage).
• Ensuring a venue is not overcrowded and does not exceed the specified capacity for fire safety. Keeping a head count of queues and informing patrons exceeding the limit that capacity has been reached.

Ushers
Ushers are required at Wharf locations as well as at Paddington Town Hall, literary lunches and workshops. They assist with front of house duties, which will vary depending on location and type of event. Duties include: 

• Assisting the venue coordinator and acting as an information agent.
• Ensuring the corridor outside is kept quiet throughout the session and preventing anyone from entering after it has begun.  
• At Paddington Town Hall, issuing pre-paid tickets in the vestibule and collecting tickets at the door.
• At workshops, checking off participants, issuing name tags and assisting in setting up equipment and refreshments.
• At literary lunches, collecting and sorting pre-paid tickets, checking off luncheon guests and assisting the catering manager.

Writers' Green Room Supervisors
Green Room Supervisors ensure that writers and facilitators have arrived for their sessions and have a peaceful place to relax and prepare. Duties include: 

• Ensuring writers have checked in at the Writers' Green Room half an hour prior to their session. Contacting them by mobile if they have not arrived.
• Checking session times and directing writers to their session venue/introducing them to their escorts. Reminding writers that they need to attend a book signing following their session.
• Keeping the general public out. Only authors, publishers and SWF staff have access to the Writers' Green Room.
• Ensuring the room is sufficiently stocked with refreshments.
• Answering writers' questions.