Lim Sei Kee @ cK
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Volunteers @ Mainz Central
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Questions:
1. What role do the various voluntary organizations
play in making the carnival a success?
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2. What is the function of the carnival secretariat?
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3. How does the existence of carnival clubs improve the
standard of the carnival and the range of activities
being put on?
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Voluntary organization provide marchers in
the procession, floats, displays and tableaux,
and ensure that the carnival is loud and
colourful.
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The carnival secretariat co-ordinates the
efforts of official bodies, professional
organizations and the many volunteer carnival
clubs.
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The carnival and the range of activities can be
done more efficiently as the carnival clubs have
a vast of experiences.
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How to identify how many staff you need?
What type?
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Based on experience, either of previous events
or of members of the committee.
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Various factors will affect the number of staff
each department needs to run the event.
(A) The size of the event, numbers
attending, likely demand
 (B) The balance between types of staff: paid,
full time, part time, casual, volunteer
 (C) The layout and components of the event
 (D) The demand patterns and scheduling of
staff, number of staff per activity
 (E) The expertise required for the event
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How big is the event going to be?
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Can you put it on with a few friends and
relatives, or will it need thousands?
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Is your event limited by the capacity of your
venue?
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There are variations between what the staff
can achieve: given their expertise, ability,
knowledge and experience.
You will normally have a range of choices
 Full time
 Part time
 Volunteer
 Agency / casual staff.
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1) 1 full-time staff
 2) 1 full-time staff as supervisor and trainer,
and employ 6 volunteers
 3) 6 half-time staff
 4) A range of part-time, agency, casual or
volunteer staff in various roles
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It might be possible to concentrate all the
services and activities on one central
location.
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These ‘service cores’ tend to be centralized,
so that fewer staff can operate and
supervize a larger number of activities.
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The wider the area that has to be covered,
the more the staff who may be needed.
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In general, the more going on, and the wider
the range of services, facilities or
components of an event, the larger the
number of staff needed.
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Demand is a baseline determinant of staffing
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At any event, there will be a fixed level of staff
below which it is not possible to fall.
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As demand increases, so too will staffing.
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For this, it is essential to be aware of when the
event is going to be busy and when it is not.
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The control of the cost of staffing is also a
major concern.
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Cost control is as much dependent on
effective forecasts of demand and careful
rostering as it is on the sheer number of
staff.
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What kind of expertise is available for the
planned event?
The labour pool must considered carefully:
 what staff are available,
 what are they capable of,
 what is their expertise,
 what things might need to be done for
which either training is needed?
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Food is one example of the problem of
expertise.
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Staffing is an issue of identifying what
expertise exists as having large numbers of
people to do things
 Recruiting
paid staff
 Recruiting
volunteers
 Recruiting
permanent staff
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Recruitment: Advertising in newspapers,
events trade magazines, hospitality
magazines, employment and staffing
agencies, Internet
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Quality: Experienced and flexible.
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Recruitment: Done informally, asking
around friends, colleagues, acquaintances
and relatives
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Sources: Job / hobby group, Voluntary
bodies, by networking (word of mouth), or
by organizing recruitment drives.
Two methods:
 Employment of staff with a good basic
education to be trained by the organization
 Employment of staff with an appropriate
vocational and educational background
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Events management has to be effective, and
event managers must be good
communicators and good delegators in
situations that may be constantly changing.
Important NOTE:
 Drink enough so you don’t dehydrate
 Eat enough to keep your blood sugar levels
up
 Wear the most comfortable pair of shoes
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In running an event on the day, you cannot
handle everything yourself, and will have a
number of helpers.
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Your event needs to have a structure of
organization, in effect a chain of command.
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Briefing session would normally need to
cover a number of key issues
Responsibilities for health and safety of
visitors and participants
 A tour of the layout of the site
 Issues in crowd management
 How to direct and help the public,
audience or participants
 The mechanism for communication
between stewards and managers
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It is vital to be aware of the factors that have
led to the problem and to be able to take the
correct action.
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A good decision is dependent on the
recognition of the right problem.
Work steadily through the event,
 take breaks when you can,
 sit down when you can and take drinks
when you can.
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It is important to pace yourself!!