This past weekend I was a "crew member" for the Nike We Run SG 2012 event. I saw first hand the challenges of being an on-the-ground volunteer at arguably the most popular running event in SG and compared it to what I was used to. At the same time, I asked seasoned volunteers what they thought of the experience so I could get a sense of what was normal and what wasn't. I'm also sending an e-mail to the organizers in hope I can understand some of the rationale behind their scheduling and practices.
We were assigned a letter and were told that we would be told our areas on the day of the event. So, checking in at 11:50 pm as requested (and me, being early I arrived 30 minutes prior to) the expectation was that we would be put to work right away. I was given my t-shirt, and was told to return at 1:45 am only when I asked. What? 2 hours later? What am I supposed to do? "Change into your t-shirt." Hmm... so I asked around later on and was told the group that manages the volunteers for a few of the major events in the city always does this. Check in really early, then hurry up and wait. I chose to sleep on the concrete floor near the Marina Bay Sands hotel. Some others starting to sing acapella, others were dancing. Many were watching movies on their iPads. Lucky the rain had stopped!
My recommendation would be having smaller check-in groups and having staggered pick-up/start times. With all the people power that was present, shifts could have started later into the night and engaged us more. I suppose that may be difficult given that public transport is not available in the middle of the night - but a solution must exist! For example, have a smaller crew start at midnight so there's more to do for fewer of us, then bringing in additional volunteers just prior to the race.
Once we arrived at our work site, we were told we needed to check our bags.Through the communication given to us prior to the event in an e-mail and PDF'd PowerPoint briefing, we were all under the impression we would be able to keep a small bag with us through the event. When we were told we would have to place our personal belongings into garbage bags, which would then be transported to some unknown location, many of us felt horrified being forced to leave valuables in the bag we could not carry around with us. That horror came true when some of my fellow volunteers did not receive their bags in a timely fashion at the end of the event and were essentially "lost" for quite some time. If we were told ahead of time we would need to check our bags in, many of us would have worn clothing with more pockets, or chosen to bring less with us. I got the feeling that this was not normal.
For the length of the shift, I was engaged for very little time. After being given 2 hours to change and checking back in at 1:45am, we waited for another hour before we were finally told what we were going to do and going to our assigned places was very inefficient. So it was about 3:00 am when we finally started to get moving, and that was short lived. By 3:30am, we were finished ripping the bunches of bananas apart and were waiting for more instruction. 30 minutes later, we got the go ahead to arrange water on the tables. 30 minutes later, we were done. Then we were told we had some time to "rest". When it's the middle of the night and we're all exhausted, we don't want to be told that we're useless for some undetermined amount of time and that we have to find some place to rest. Many of us, once again, ended up on the floor.
The lack of hydration for volunteers was appalling.I don't know if it was different for other groups, but for us we were only provided one juice box over the course of 11 hours. Many volunteers had brought water bottles with them, but left them in the bags that were checked. They either did not drink anything, or had to purchase it from the 7-11 at Marina Bay Sands. The little group I was with were rebels and we kept our water bottles with us. Water is a basic necessity and there should be no limits on how much we need. Please have additional water supplied for volunteers. It's a really unpleasant feeling if volunteers feel they must "sneak" the water that's in front of them or risk dehydration and perhaps worse consequences.
So while the experience could have been better for volunteers, I do think that the experience for the runners was great. However, I really believe that the experience should be great for all so that involvement in sport and volunteerism extends beyond completing requirements for school. Part of the entitlements for volunteers was $25 ... I didn't get to ask how important that was to some. This event also confirmed for me that I need to volunteer at events that have a greater cause - whether it's raising awareness or fundraising. This one was just one, large, giant, corporate marketing machine (props to you Nike, for having that following).
We were assigned a letter and were told that we would be told our areas on the day of the event. So, checking in at 11:50 pm as requested (and me, being early I arrived 30 minutes prior to) the expectation was that we would be put to work right away. I was given my t-shirt, and was told to return at 1:45 am only when I asked. What? 2 hours later? What am I supposed to do? "Change into your t-shirt." Hmm... so I asked around later on and was told the group that manages the volunteers for a few of the major events in the city always does this. Check in really early, then hurry up and wait. I chose to sleep on the concrete floor near the Marina Bay Sands hotel. Some others starting to sing acapella, others were dancing. Many were watching movies on their iPads. Lucky the rain had stopped!
My recommendation would be having smaller check-in groups and having staggered pick-up/start times. With all the people power that was present, shifts could have started later into the night and engaged us more. I suppose that may be difficult given that public transport is not available in the middle of the night - but a solution must exist! For example, have a smaller crew start at midnight so there's more to do for fewer of us, then bringing in additional volunteers just prior to the race.
Once we arrived at our work site, we were told we needed to check our bags.Through the communication given to us prior to the event in an e-mail and PDF'd PowerPoint briefing, we were all under the impression we would be able to keep a small bag with us through the event. When we were told we would have to place our personal belongings into garbage bags, which would then be transported to some unknown location, many of us felt horrified being forced to leave valuables in the bag we could not carry around with us. That horror came true when some of my fellow volunteers did not receive their bags in a timely fashion at the end of the event and were essentially "lost" for quite some time. If we were told ahead of time we would need to check our bags in, many of us would have worn clothing with more pockets, or chosen to bring less with us. I got the feeling that this was not normal.
For the length of the shift, I was engaged for very little time. After being given 2 hours to change and checking back in at 1:45am, we waited for another hour before we were finally told what we were going to do and going to our assigned places was very inefficient. So it was about 3:00 am when we finally started to get moving, and that was short lived. By 3:30am, we were finished ripping the bunches of bananas apart and were waiting for more instruction. 30 minutes later, we got the go ahead to arrange water on the tables. 30 minutes later, we were done. Then we were told we had some time to "rest". When it's the middle of the night and we're all exhausted, we don't want to be told that we're useless for some undetermined amount of time and that we have to find some place to rest. Many of us, once again, ended up on the floor.
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| None for us. |
The lack of hydration for volunteers was appalling.I don't know if it was different for other groups, but for us we were only provided one juice box over the course of 11 hours. Many volunteers had brought water bottles with them, but left them in the bags that were checked. They either did not drink anything, or had to purchase it from the 7-11 at Marina Bay Sands. The little group I was with were rebels and we kept our water bottles with us. Water is a basic necessity and there should be no limits on how much we need. Please have additional water supplied for volunteers. It's a really unpleasant feeling if volunteers feel they must "sneak" the water that's in front of them or risk dehydration and perhaps worse consequences.
Our area leader had a hard time accepting feedback. While she was telling us how to set up the table very very specifically, I felt it was not applied consistently as all the tables had different set-ups in the end. I appreciate that she probably has a lot of race experience, but so did some of the volunteers who were working that night. At the same time, she was probably struggling with the lack of instruction from higher up. I watched one group frustratingly try to explain a more logical way of setting up the canned drinks with no progress. If there was in fact a way the tables should have been set up, a visual diagram given to the area leader with the specifics, and perhaps copy at each table, would have eliminated the confusion.
The volunteers I worked with were such troopers. When I asked what they do about situations where they feel stuck like this, they simply said "suck it up, do as your told (to cover your own butt), and hope for the best". This is where I have a personal struggle with being in an Asian culture and just complying with the instructions given. The western influence in my personality and beliefs really stick out here sometimes as I was taught to question and challenge the status quo while in the western world I think I can be perceived as quite complacent.
During the race, things were fine - but that table set up was impractical and in the end everyone just did whatever needed to be done to get the refreshments out. Go teamwork!
Now to the check-out process. After the race was over, we waited about an hour before we received instructions on how to receive our entitlements. Then, once we arrived we had to wait another 45 minutes. Again, a waste of time. Being tired, hungry, and dehydrated, all we wanted to do was leave, but we didn't know where our bags were. On top of that, the queue to get our entitlement was extremely long as they didn't have as many tables open as when we had the t-shirt pick-up. So going back to the bag-check in, that's a decision the organizers should make well ahead of time and provide a proper bag check with tags. Then, those bags that were "lost" in between dropping them off at our work sites and the check-in/check-out area would not have been misplaced. It was a lot of unnecessary stress and worry.
A lot of volunteers were disappointed by the non-Nike branded cotton shirts. We do cotton in Canada a lot, but judging from the people I talked to, this was a big step down from most other events they have volunteered for where they got polo or moisture wicking t-shirts.
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| Where I was placed. |
Side note - going back to my post about missing the Canadian things ... I definitely noticed a lot fewer "thank yous" than back home, when athletes were handed their refreshments. Also less smiles in general. These different norms are quite interesting!
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