We had about 10-12 volunteers from the school (let’s call them “staff”), and about as many volunteers from the community. We could have probably gotten by with about half that many, but people wanted to help.

I make the distinction between “staff” volunteers and community volunteers, because my expectations for each group was very different. Of the staff, about 6 of them were busy all of the time with registration and setting up food and making sure that projectors worked, etc; the remainder were mostly faculty members who did a lot of meeting and greeting (which is important). Staff did not really attend any sessions; they were there to serve.

The community volunteers were responsible for proctoring the sessions that they wanted to attend (making sure the feedback forms got handed out and picked up, and making sure to keep time for the speakers). They were there to attend sessions, so I was trying to make their burden very light. You only need a few more community volunteers than you have tracks (3 tracks? 5 volunteers) to make sure every session has a proctor.

I hope that clarifies; good luck, and feel free to email me directly with any more questions: stuart@codegumbo.com; if you’d like to set up a conference call, I’d be glad to share any insight I’ve gained.

Stu

Thanks for the notes on SQL Saturday #25. I am working with a group of folks to put on SQL Saturday #27 in Portland. We appreciate you sharing your experience.

How many volunteers did you have on hand? Did you organize schedules or shifts ahead of time?