Call for Volunteers

April 5–8, 2018, the Urban Appalachian Community Coalition, an alliance of individuals and organizations committed to the well-being of Appalachian people, communities and cultural expression in the greater Cincinnati area, will host the 41^st Annual Appalachian Studies Association Conference in Cincinnati, Ohio. We are calling students, teachers, human service professionals and all interested community members to assist in various aspects of pre-conference and conference tasks.

Click here to read more and sign up.

College and high school students who volunteer will be able to participate in conference activities when not working, and they may be able to receive service learning credit from their schools for their volunteer efforts.

Volunteering for the Appalachian Studies conference allows you to deepen and increase your own knowledge and professional networks while assisting a valuable community effort.  We hope you will join us for the fun and excitement of the 2018 Appalachian Studies Association Conference in Cincinnati!

A one-page Call for Volunteers is available to download and share.

Conference Volunteer Roles

We will need a small army of volunteers during the four days of the conference.  Volunteers can serve as hosts for individual conference sessions, help with registration and hospitality, as well as volunteer for specialized jobs like helping backstage with performances. The full list of volunteer roles at the conference can be found online along with opportunities to sign up for volunteer roles that most interest you. Click here to read more and sign up.

Pre-conference Volunteer Roles

Community members are also invited and encouraged to join us in preparing for this conference, starting now and leading up to April 2018. Interested? Email Volunteer Coordinator, Rosie Carpenter, at [email protected].

Volunteer Role	Brief Description of Role	When?	How Many?	Will work with:
Member, working group on Health	Join group that will review proposals for conference presentations on health topics, recruit and mentor proposal submissions, and provide outreach to health professionals and workers about the conference	Now through October for proposals; now through March for outreach		Joy Gritton
Coordinator, social media and live streaming	Coordinate plans and oversee set-up for use of social media during the conference and live-streaming of plenary sessions	Now through April 2018	1-2	Joy Gritton
Coordinator, Silent Auction and door prize solicitation	Call on local businesses for donations of goods and services for the 2018 conference Silent Auction and door prizes	Now through March 2018	1-2	Omope Daboiku
Coordinator for home stays	Identify and recruit a few hosts to provide home stays for low income seniors during the conference	Now through March 2018	1	Omope Daboiku
Coordinator, visual arts display	Help secure donated space(s) downtown for displaying large visual arts exhibits; oversee display of artwork for the conference	Now through March 2018	1-2	Omope Daboiku
Coordinator, field trips and tours	Manage electronic reservations for field trips, tours, and 1 or 2 other events; assist participants connecting with tour leaders and transportation during the conference	January through April 7, 2018	1-2	Omope Daboiku and Debbie Zorn
Member, fund-raising committee	Make calls to potential sponsors for the conference	Fall 2017	5-8	Debbie Zorn
Clerical help for fundraising committee	Help track fundraising solicitations, pledges, receipts, and sponsor “perks”; coordinate mailing  (1-2 hrs per week)	Now through March 2018	1	Debbie Zorn
Fundraising event organizer	Organize and hold an event to raise funds for the conference	Any time through March 2018		Debbie Zorn
Advocate to local organizations	Visit local nonprofit and community organizations to promote the conference and advocate for their participation	Now through March 2018		Debbie Zorn
Advocate to arts community	Connect with members of the arts community, particularly visual artists, to promote the conference and advocate for their participation	Now through March 2018		Debbie Zorn