Convention Volunteer Update

WE'VE MOVED! Democratic Convention Watch is now at http://www.DemocraticConventionWatch.com

The latest volunteer email just came out and it's got a lot of good information in it.

Volunteer coordinators for the Denver 2008 Convention Host Committee are beginning to determine the work and training schedules for volunteers during the Democratic National Convention Aug 25-28.

This is part of the Host Committee's effort to give as many people volunteer opportunities as possible. As many as 25,000 have registered to volunteer during the Convention.

As a result of the large volunteer base, some early decisions have been made:

• Most volunteers will be assigned to work a maximum of four hours during the convention. For out-of-state volunteers, it's important to weigh travel and housing costs prior to making such a commitment.

• Most volunteers will be notified of assignments in July. For those who are given assignments, there will be a MANDATORY training session held in Denver on July 26. Out-of-state volunteers will have the required training scheduled during the week before the convention on a date to be determined.

With a maximum of 4 hours for most volunteers and a mandatory training the week before the convention for out-of-state volunteers it looks like they may be trying to weed out anyone outside of Colorado not truly committed (or financially able) to volunteer.

Hospitality and Greening duties will account
for much of the volunteer work

Volunteering at the Democratic National Convention will provide many rewarding experiences. It's important that those looking to volunteer recognize that they likely won't be assigned to work at the Pepsi Center, the site of the convention. Instead, most volunteers will work in hospitality and on efforts to green the convention.

It's important that volunteers check their profiles at www.DenverConvention2008.com, answer any new questions, correct data and provide as much detail about their work experience and availability as possible to help the volunteer coordinators make appropriate assignments.

Completing the profile form is a mandatory part of the process to be considered for a volunteer assignment.

The email also announced a Volunteer Kick-Off on May 31st and a Podcast that talks about all the latest convention news.