Event Roles

Certain roles (see examples roles) are needed before, during and after the event. These roles can vary depending on the types of sessions and activities at the event and some of the roles naturally go together. Role allocations should be done carefully as some combinations of roles might be incompatible or require local knowledge or skills, so they would only be suitable for certain people.

A duties roster

For medium-sized or large events, it is essential to put together a duties roster (see example roster) before the event, so people with different roles know what they need to be doing at specific times. Scheduling duties decreases problems with communication during the event, as every team member clearly knows what they’ve agreed to do at specific times throughout the event. Duties usually forgotten when creating the schedule are registration and reception.

The Event Lead may already have an idea of who should be included in the roster. For example, the Collaborations Workshop is the premier event of the Institute, so all staff are expected to attend and possibly have a role. Where this is not the case, doing a call out to the organisation or even asking a local contact for volunteers may be the right way to go. There is a long tradition of PhD students helping at events, though you should consider rewarding them for their efforts at the end of the workshop.