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I'm really sorry to hear you were one of those that had a terrible experience with volunteering this year. I too was disappointed with the organization. We had too few portapotties, too few showers, no water trailer, not enough wristbands, not enough staff shirts, etc... etc... I was also disheartened when they started putting regular campers in our camping area. So much for the added safety of separate camping. After the first day, there was no one checking wristbands and anyone could have used our overcrowded showers. There were also no real efforts to amend these problems, either. They could have brought in another shower trailer, they could have brought in more portapotties... The check in line was ridiculous too, it should have moved much faster than what it did.
I was lucky though... I got my T-shirt, I got the wristband, I got checked in on Tuesday night and I had two shifts at the air-conditioned Garnier tent, one of which was cut short when they had to close early (I don't know if they ever reopened?) I had a good experience, but I am very sorry for those of you who did not. After hearing all the horror stories and witnessing the ineptitude, I don't know that I would do it again. It was a gamble and I got lucky.
It wasn't the organization. It wasn't the paid staff. It was a computer error that wasn't realised until 10 pm Tuesday night. There was a glitch in the system at the bonnaroo site and about twice as many during festival volunteers were accepted into the program as there should've been.
The staff were as surprised and frustrated as you were. They could've shut down check in at 12am. They could have turned away people after they ran out of spaces to fill. But they didn't. They let in hundreds of people for free basically.
I was on shift for the check in. I originally was helping out with parking passes for the vendors that were checking in. After about two hours of my 8 hour shift I got pulled from that and put in volunteer check in. I started handing out t-shirts from behind the fence. Then they moved everything inside. At some point around 10pm we started running out of the wrist bands that were set aside for the volunteers. Then the t-shirts ran out too. Without either of those the remaining people were given their shifts and told to come back in the morning. I stayed and helped answer questions from people while the awesome staff tried to work through the problem. It was the best the staff could do with what they were given.
I was supposed to be done at 10pm and ended up catching a shuttle back to camp at around 2am.
It did suck to come back to camp and not be able to shower. It sucked to not be able to use the showers for the rest of the week. It sucked that people who had one or no shifts had a t-shirt and access to the showers while some of the pre-fest people were not so lucky.
But it is what it is. Hopefully it will be better next year.
I will definately be back. The staff was super nice and grateful to me. I hope I get the chance to work with them next year.
I agree that it was poorly run, but it was bonnaroo and I wasn't gonna let it get me down so I just rolled with the punches and made the best of it. Really hope they do a better job of treating volunteers in the future though.
I had a great experience but I did see quite a few volunteers with bad experiences. no shirts, bad shifts etc. I didn't like the fact that anyone could walk into "our" area and use the few portapotties we had (especially in the morning) and the showers. 2 of the showers that I waited a good hour for were ice cold. It would've been nice to have another another shower trailer and some more toilets, maybe a sink only trailer. but I had a great time, met good people and really lucked out on my shifts. The volunteer coordinators at the HQ were great and really helpful, I sat there on call and watched them help quite a few vols that had problems (car lock outs, lost keys etc) I would definitely sign up again but I would be prepared to forfeit my deposit if I didnt get decent shifts or had other issues
I also highly doubt I will ever volunteer again. There were some rewarding aspects of the experience, but none of them were directly related to the volunteer process itself. Whoever scheduled the shifts for the workers really needs to get their shit together. I worked pre-fest, and to my knowledge, was one of 10 people who actually had to work 36 hours. I realize that is what I signed up for, but it was disheartening to me hearing about people camped next to me who also were prefest that only had to work a 6 hour shift, or an 8 hour shift and that was it. It should've been scheduled more evenly, where everyone had their fair share of hours. The people we worked for basically treated me and most of the other volunteers as their slaves. We were typically met with a look of disdain, and were spoken down to on several occasions, and were run ragged for all of our 12 hour shifts. Our two "meals" each day were a joke. We received 'breakfast' at 10:30, after we'd already been working since 8, which consisted of chocolate fudge pop tarts and a tiny piece of fruit. Then, a couple hours later, we had sandwhiches with soggy lettuce and warm meat and cheese brought to us, with chips and usually a sweet snack of some sort. Most of these were manufactured food, which i ate as I walked past a ton of signs that said "buy local". Then, we did not receive any meals for the remaining 7 hours of our shift. So, I'd get done working at 8, after 12 hot, exhausting hours in the sun... to be met with a line of 20 people for showers, most of which consisted of people who did not work for the entire day... most of whom had just got out of their cars for during fest work. By the time I braved the line and was done working... I wanted ice to keep my food cold, but didn't feel like making the 20 minute walk to the Wal Mart shuttle (is wal mart considered a "buy local" place to get food?) only to go get ice, and have it melt on the way back.
what it really boils down to is this: I understand that there is a large undertaking to organizing a workforce for an event the size of Bonnaroo. There can definitely be unexpected problems that occur. My suggestion is to hire more help in the organization department. So I don't get 4 different answers on when and where I can get my shirt, which I never had any luck in getting. I'd also suggest having more communication with people. I'd suggest actually having people to work security at our camping area. I'd suggest having a place for volunteers to get ice and water and showers. I'd suggest having a code of conduct in place for the people who actually supervise the volunteers during their shifts so they're not spoken down to. I'd suggest having fun activities for pre-fest, and during fest volunteers to take part in before the majority of festival attendees show up. I never once saw the benefit of working as a Bonnaroo volunteer, short of a free ticket. Volunteers really should stand up for themselves and not get pushed around and mistreated like some people did this year. We do Bonnaroo a HUGE favor, for free. We should see some sort of reward, other than the free ticket, which is of minimal cost to the festival in relation to the time and effort some of us put in. I'm not asking for anything that monumental... a few ideas I had are to show movies in the cinema tent before Thursday, maybe have an exclusive performace of a band somewhere that we could go to... SOMETHING!
Sorry to be such a negative nancy... the whole volunteer process just left such a bad taste in my mouth... if it weren't for some of the cool people I met, and seeing a post office made of natural materials come together, I'd more than likely never even consider going back to Bonnaroo.
oh, and sorry for the wrong info via twitter about where we were located... they wouldn't let us go out of the volunteer camping area until our shift started, so I was off on that.
Post by SouthGA_Festival Machine on Jun 16, 2009 15:07:53 GMT -5
I guess I got pretty lucky. I got turned away Tuesday night at check-in, but had a pretty good time hanging out and partying with the people at Walmart. I spent 6 hrs. in line to check in Wed. didn't get a shirt or guide, but still had fun hanging out at check in with a girl from WV who shared her whiskey and beer and made me lunch from her cooler. Unfortuneatly we got separated right before getting to the front of the line and I wasn't able to find her again. Anyone else meet a girl from W.V.? I think her name was Lynn, but I could be wrong.
Anyway, Vol. Camp went well for me. I got lucky with neighbors who had a extra canopy to put over my tent, which really made things more comfortable all weekend. And it was a fun camp to hang out in in the morning and esp. Wed. night during Busaroo. I never did take a shower because the lines were always to long for me to think it was worth the wait.
I wound up with one 12 hr. shift waving a flag for V.I.P. check-in at the school. I actually wound up working around 7 hrs. My biggest complaint about my shift is that when we were replaced at the school, we were dropped off at check-in volunteer parking to serve our last 45 minutes even though we weren't needed there and they could have let us go and we could've been dropped off at camp instead and gotten to see another show that night.
I still plan to volunteer next year and see how it goes. Right now, I feel like the positives out-weighed the negatives, for me, although I understand that not everyone was as lucky.
karen, karma for keeping up the positive attitude while passing out the T-shirts. You looked hot and sunburned when I saw you and I'm sure you heard more than enough bitching and whining. But you kept the good vibes going.
Thanks. It wasn't so much sunburned as it was hot. I was running around like crazy. But it was awesome and reminded me of how much I love and miss pre production of large events.
my job on tuesday consisted of yelling at all the during fest volunteers to have their id's ready before they went through check in, and then shuffling them around like farm animals.
so to anyone that i had to yell at i sincerely apologize for being rude, but it was my job, and as karen can tell you, being out on the sun all day will do things to you!
I worked as a POD Volunteer and my job was fairly chill. The only problem I had was not being able to camp with my festival-going Family. Other than that (and Matthew ragging on Tuesday, which was completely reasonable), I was frustrated we didn't have enough Guides and Maps. Oh well though, that's what happens when a 60 MPH storm comes through with heavy rain, eh?
But yeah, Pod 4. The Fire Tower was my Yard Decoration.
wow, i feel really lucky. I had a great volunteer experience for the most part... I agree that there should have been more potties and showers... I didn't take a shower the whole time I was there cause I didn't feel like waiting in line and i was pretty shocked that there were only 7 portapotties for all those people... but they kept them pretty clean for the most part. I also agree with you all about the staff shuttle... the walk to get there and back was ridiculous for volunteers but at least they had them. I only went to walmart once but it was a fun adventure. LYING about the shuttles being off is NOT okay though... im sorry to hear that happened to you bama.
I had an easy time at registration... we got there at around 4pm and waited for about a half an hour. we had lots of room and a GREAT neighbor who we plan on keeping in touch with and meeting at other fests... Got to hang out on the WHAT stage on thursday night which was absolutely amazing...
My boyfriend and I got to work together which was nice. We had a great shift on thursday from 3 to 9 scanning tickets and really enjoyed welcoming people into the fest. Besides a few b!tchy supervisors who were working for a contracted out company who yelled at us even though they weren't even our supervisors, it was fine. I can deal with being yelled at for a few hours for my ticket. our actual supervisor was nice, helpful and laid back and wasn't going to compete with 3 other power hungry people...
I really didn't know how bad some peoples experiences were until I came back here and read this thread but it looks like I was extremely lucky. I feel sorry for everyone who didn't get t-shirts/wristbands/tokens/had to sleep at walmart and I can see why people would really reconsider volunteering next year.
i got my email tonight that said there are in the process of reviews work sheets and refunding deposits
Me too. Here's what it says for anyone who hasn't gotten it yet:
Thank you all so much for your efforts this year. We are currently in the process of reviewing attendance sheets for festival work. Deposits have begun being reimbursed and will continue to be reimbursed throughout the week and weekend. If you completed all of your assigned shifts and still have not received your deposit as of 6/26/09, please email us at karen@bonnaroo.com and we will look into the matter for you. Some transactions can take up to 5 days to process through PayPal and this will give time for everything to clear. Thank you, Bonnaroo Volunteer Dept.
Post by urbanhippie on Jun 18, 2009 2:16:43 GMT -5
Our group made alot of friends at pre-fest and partied throughout the week. I blacked out on Wed or Thurs. and made a fool of myself. You may of heard my cocaine blues Sunday night if you were Pre-fest, I had a great time. The only problem was the security seemed to be pretty confused on where we were and were not allowed to enter. Also they needed to get more showers out there. I've never waited that long as a volunteer.
All in all I had a great time though. I started off making beds in the RVs on Monday, then moved to Super VIP Tues-Wed. I had a fun time doing that, my boss was really awesome. He sent me an email with his phone number and said if there was a show sold out, or a show I really wanted to go to, he'd help me out. So that's pretty cool.
PS- appologies if you ran into me during one of my blackouts.
i got my email tonight that said there are in the process of reviews work sheets and refunding deposits
Me too. Here's what it says for anyone who hasn't gotten it yet:
Thank you all so much for your efforts this year. We are currently in the process of reviewing attendance sheets for festival work. Deposits have begun being reimbursed and will continue to be reimbursed throughout the week and weekend. If you completed all of your assigned shifts and still have not received your deposit as of 6/26/09, please email us at karen@bonnaroo.com and we will look into the matter for you. Some transactions can take up to 5 days to process through PayPal and this will give time for everything to clear. Thank you, Bonnaroo Volunteer Dept.
did anyone else NOT get that email? Neither my boyfriend or myself ever got that.
Me too. Here's what it says for anyone who hasn't gotten it yet:
Thank you all so much for your efforts this year. We are currently in the process of reviewing attendance sheets for festival work. Deposits have begun being reimbursed and will continue to be reimbursed throughout the week and weekend. If you completed all of your assigned shifts and still have not received your deposit as of 6/26/09, please email us at karen@bonnaroo.com and we will look into the matter for you. Some transactions can take up to 5 days to process through PayPal and this will give time for everything to clear. Thank you, Bonnaroo Volunteer Dept.
did anyone else NOT get that email? Neither my boyfriend or myself ever got that.
I got that E-Mail, plus this from Matthew in the PODs:
Everybody,
Thank you for all the help to make our patrons lives a lot easier down on the Bonnaroo Farm! It went extremely well this year. It was great to meet all of you and I hope you had a better time than you initially thought possible. Just a note to say your deposits should be returned with in 7 days. If you have not received back into your Paypal account by next Friday morning please let me know and I will check. I will ignore any requests before then.
Please go to our Facebook page @ Bonnaroo 2009 Ambassadors and post any and all pictures, comments, and overall hootenanny, you would like.
Please feel free to e-mail me here for any ideas you have to better the volunteer experience, and any and all comments of negative or positive nature. Your feedback is what we rely on to make improvements from year to year.
The following will be stiffed on their deposits due to not showing up for assigned shifts, not following directions. etc. If any of you have an issue with the reasons for this action feel free to put your reply in writing to me at this address and I will review with our captain team. Thank all of you again and I hope you will come back next year and help us again!!
Matthew Fussell Pod Director Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival pods@bonnaroo.com www.bonnaroo.com
During check in on Tuesday night I had these two girls come up to me with their shift sheets that each had one shift on it doing VIP check in. They weren't at the same time so they asked me if it was ok to flake on their shifts and forfit their money.
did anyone else NOT get that email? Neither my boyfriend or myself ever got that.
I got that E-Mail, plus this from Matthew in the PODs:
Everybody,
Thank you for all the help to make our patrons lives a lot easier down on the Bonnaroo Farm! It went extremely well this year. It was great to meet all of you and I hope you had a better time than you initially thought possible. Just a note to say your deposits should be returned with in 7 days. If you have not received back into your Paypal account by next Friday morning please let me know and I will check. I will ignore any requests before then.
Please go to our Facebook page @ Bonnaroo 2009 Ambassadors and post any and all pictures, comments, and overall hootenanny, you would like.
Please feel free to e-mail me here for any ideas you have to better the volunteer experience, and any and all comments of negative or positive nature. Your feedback is what we rely on to make improvements from year to year.
The following will be stiffed on their deposits due to not showing up for assigned shifts, not following directions. etc. If any of you have an issue with the reasons for this action feel free to put your reply in writing to me at this address and I will review with our captain team. Thank all of you again and I hope you will come back next year and help us again!!
Matthew Fussell Pod Director Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival pods@bonnaroo.com www.bonnaroo.com
The Basics Fund is putting together a crew to ride from Boulder/Denver to Rothbury, MI. Get your kicks on the way in, BTS style. We're doing it for 220 bones/head and that price includes Round Trip on our very chilled-out bus, an RV pass and plenty of beer to last the weekend (21+, duh). This bus was built for the open road. It has bunks, couches, tables, live music set up (live music by DJ Matty Bizness and others...maybe you?), and a bathroom. Me and Jeff will be driving, both of us have our CDLs and are highly experienced with this particular piece of machinery.
But the time has definitely come to put ya moneys where ya mouths is at and call up the res phones. Call Tawny at 720.204.0408 to put ya card down. You can also utilize cash or check as your currency of choice. Just call the number and do what you got to do get on the list.
We're leaving boulder by noon, and denver by 2 PM on Wednesday July1st. This means we should be in Rothbury by 3 or 4 PM on, Michigan time. Probably more like 1 PM on Thursday. We'll be back sometime in the morning on Tuesday the 7th.
Plenty of room underneath the bus for tents and whatnot. But pack lightly. Seriously. If you bring a bunch of ground beef 1200 miles, you're going to feel really wasteful when you end up dumping out bloody cooler water with chunks of nasty flesh in it. We'll stop a couple times for food on the way. And then fill a few coolers at a store a couple exits after the air starts smelling like Rothburries. We also have a sunshower...so you can SHOWER!!!!!!! and a bunch of camp chairs. So, don't worry about that.
There's a bathroom on the bus. A clean one. We'll even dump it a couple times during the trip. You will be comfortable. But the rule still stands: NO SHITTING ON THE BUS!!!!
In addition to being 1 of the best overnight roadtrips of your life, I understand that there will also be some pretty fantastic music and good times once we reach Rothbury.
And any proceeds from this trip go to pay for artists health insurance through The Basics Fund. Please visit www.thebasicsfund.org for more details.
Post by bamadancer on Jun 28, 2009 22:16:25 GMT -5
I did flake on my shifts and not work, but I don't feel bad about it in the least. Asking us to work 20 hours (when the max was supposed to be 18) overnight every night was a little ludicrous. Esp. when there were volunteers who didn't even have to work at all. I had the money to spare, so honestly I didn't mind.
But those girls who only had 1 shift @ VIP check-in? I would've cut off my right arm to do that.
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