# Training Volunteers



## photoatdv (Aug 6, 2010)

We're going to be training some volunteers to setup and run small events (think 2 speakers on a stick and a half dozen pars on a tree) on their own as well as assist as a stagehand on larger events (anything from slightly beyond the previously mentioned to outdoor concerts). I'm going to have limited training time and have to keep them interested since they're volunteers. Beyond how to setup the systems they'd generally be using on the small events, what should I cover? I need to be able to trust them to setup a basic event and run it without screwing up or putting anyone in danger. I don't need to worry about teaching rigging, tie-in, ect, because one of the professional crew would always be doing or supervising that (though ambitious volunteers can train and eventually get hired).

Basically what's your opinion on the most important skills to teach?


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## jwl868 (Aug 6, 2010)

An initial consideration is whether the volunteers are volunteering because they have to (to fulfill some sort of membership obligation or because a spouse drags them there, for example) or because they want to (they like theatre or they like the type of work). That motivation will make a difference in the long run.

Assume nothing about skills until you’ve worked with them. If you are having them set up electrical/electronic equipment, you really need to show them exactly what needs to be done, and if at all possible, let them do it a couple times. (what jacks go in where, which cable, does a jack get pushed/pulled, twisted, squeezed; are there prongs to lineup? What dial settings before plugging the thing in, or powering up? Where do things get put away) If something requires two people (heavy or awkward task), then tell them to perform the task with two people. Regardless how simple or logical a task may appear to you, it may be foreign to them; they don’t even know what they don’t know. If you have a few knowledgeable and/or competent people, let them supervise and/or provide other general training/safety instruction. Don’t rely on “common sense”, there is no such thing. If you can, a diagram and written instructions kept in binder will be very useful.

If there are tasks they are not to do or areas that they are not to go, let them know that. People are generally unaware of the potential hazards in a theatre. And unless they’ve even worked in an industrial setting, they may not even be aware of any hazards.

In my own experience (and it’s been relying entirely on volunteers other than the venue operators), very few adults have any familiarity with stages and technical theatre. For the most part, the volunteers mean well but they may be outside their area of experiences. But, like everyone else, they learn by doing. Things will be bumpy at first. 

Also, volunteers need to know who to go to when they don’t know what to do. If that’s you fine, let them know it. But, if your hands are full as it is, then you need to designate an assistant/foreman/whatever to handle the questions, and then funnel them back to you.

In the long run, you will get to know what each person is capable of. Give people all the responsibility that you think they can handle. There will be some who will be your “go to” volunteers, and there will be a few that will be absolutely unreliable. 

And remember, these are volunteers – “Please” and “Thank you” go a long way.

Joe


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## photoatdv (Aug 6, 2010)

They are all there because they want to be, some have future plans in the performing arts and others just find it interesting. None have any real knowledge or experience, though a couple think because they helped with pushing boxes on a load in they're ready to be A1 on U2's tour (I know a couple that will be a handful  ).

I like the safety/instructions binders! I think I will put a couple together along with the show reports and make sure one is at every gig.

Basically we're adding the volunteers to cover small shows with one organization myself and another technician often volunteer/ work for little at because we're both overwhelmed trying to do all their events as well as our real work. For the time being, one of us will be the "lead" on every event, so they'd call whoever is the lead on the event if they have questions/problems. However, this said, there may (and likely will) be times that both of us will be in show/ class/ ect and cannot answer the phone. I'm not entirely sure how to handle those shows. I'm considering asking some of my tech buddies to be "emergency contacts" for those shows, but I'm not sure how well that will work.

As far as the safety stuff, for the moment I think it'll be this is how you setup the trees, if for whatever reason deviations are needed call us; you plug these into a wall outlet, if thats not what you have call us; ect.


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## WooferHound (Aug 6, 2010)

Our Union decided to make a training video for any guest hires that we called in to work for us. Sort of a Stagehand 101 class for people that were totally unfamiliar with theater work. I wrote the script and it was edited by other members before ending up in it's current form. The video has been mostly shot and being edited at this time. 

You are welcome to look at the script and adapt it to your needs . . .
Wordpad formatted version
http://iatse900.home.mindspring.com/VideoScript-rev2.rtf
Notepad pure text version
http://iatse900.home.mindspring.com/VideoScript-rev2.txt


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## museav (Aug 6, 2010)

Are you expecting them to be learning in this role or just there to get you through the events? As an example, teaching someone to push the faders enough to get by for a simple show is one thing, teaching them the basics of levels, gain structure, proceesors and how to mix is another.


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## photoatdv (Aug 6, 2010)

They're supposed to be learning. We may get some people looking for volunteer hours that are fine pushing cases and being security for their 10 hours or whatever, however most are there because they want to learn.


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## ruinexplorer (Aug 6, 2010)

photoatdv said:


> As far as the safety stuff, for the moment I think it'll be this is how you setup the trees, if for whatever reason deviations are needed call us; you plug these into a wall outlet, if thats not what you have call us; ect.


 
Make sure that all of the gear is in proper working order before you let your volunteers near it. Since they won't be comfortable anyway, they won't be able to trouble shoot malfunctioning cables, etc. Also, make sure to do your math as to where they are plugging in so that they won't be tripping gear. It can be really funny how outlets are joined together on a breaker. One more thing, along with the power, do your setup so to avoid ground loops and help your volunteers out that way. Teach them how to avoid them along with feedback.


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## photoatdv (Aug 6, 2010)

I should add in this fun caveat, they'll sometimes be taking gear to different venues I may never have seen. So I do need to cover how to pick outlets and stuff too...


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## museav (Aug 7, 2010)

photoatdv said:


> I should add in this fun caveat, they'll sometimes be taking gear to different venues I may never have seen. So I do need to cover how to pick outlets and stuff too...


Wouldn't you be identifying factors like that before you decide what equipment and personnel would be assigned for any event? Sending volunteers into a situation where they are walking into an unknown situation with limited equipment resources sounds like a bad idea. 

I am not clear on the training. Learning about power distribution, feedback, light selection and aiming, speaker patterns and coverage, etc. by trial and error on the job is probably not the best approach for the volunteers or for those you are serving. Is it practical to provide sufficient training in the time allotted for people to function on their own? While you may have some volunteers progress in knowledge and experience to where they can become leads, it will likely take some time to get to that point and until then you would probably still want to have someone properly qualified at each event.


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## LampieTheClown (Sep 4, 2010)

You don't say how much time you have for training, but it sounds like there won't be enough, so prioritize what is important before you start. 
For example:
If protecting the gear is more important than the quality of the production, you will want to spend time on truck straps and why you never coil the extra Socapex in a circle.
If the production quality is foremost, gain structure and lighting positions might come before ratchet straps.

Either way, prep the gear so as much of the thinking as possible is already done. The easiest and most obvious example of this is color coding of all connections.

A quote by Red Adair comes to mind. 
"If you think hiring a professional is expensive, wait till you hire an amateur."

Good luck,

LtheC


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## WooferHound (Sep 4, 2010)

I've been an electric for 30 years and I can't think of any reason why you can't coil a socapex in a circle. If the cable carries both a hot and neutral the magnetic fields are canceled out and you can't end up with an electromagnet. However I would never coil a single conductor cable (like Feeder) in a circle.


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## LampieTheClown (Sep 4, 2010)

WooferHound said:


> I've been an electric for 30 years and I can't think of any reason why you can't coil a socapex in a circle. If the cable carries both a hot and neutral the magnetic fields are canceled out and you can't end up with an electromagnet. However I would never coil a single conductor cable (like Feeder) in a circle.


 
20 years ago I held the same belief. Then one night I turned a couple hundred feet of Socapex cable into a 19 ply copper belted radial.

Coiling any cable in a circle and running power through it causes inductive resistance. resistance causes heat. Heat causes resistance. Resistance causes heat. etc.

Trust me. I saw the flames. I payed for the cable. Lawyers tried to milk my employer for a couple years. 

Don't coil it in a circle.


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## mstaylor (Sep 5, 2010)

In the course of teaching, ramp and truck loading is paramount. Being stupid on the ramp can cause all kinds of injuries. I do mostly arena shows so what I would teach would differ some from theatre work. We deal with trusses and flying sound where you deal more with fly systems.


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## erosing (Sep 5, 2010)

mstaylor said:


> In the course of treaching, ramp and truck loading is paramount. Being stupid on the ramp can cause all kinds of injuries. I do mostly areana shows so what I would teach would differ some from theatre work. We deal with trusses and flying sound where you deal more with fly systems.


 
On that topic, I'd cover how to load a truck when it's wet out (be it humidity or precipitation).


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## Pie4Weebl (Sep 6, 2010)

I'm kinda confused here, it seems OP is asking about little gigs with a honda civic worth of gear. I'm not sure they volunteers need to know how to be packing semis full of set carts or if they will even see a piece of soco....

So for your average speaker on a stick +a couple of lights I would cover:
1. finding power, locating the breaker box
2. How the system assembles
3. Common things to check when stuff doesn't work (aka is the lamp blown, is the channel muted)
4. How to polish the set up to make it look clean (cable paths, etc)
5. How to operate any gear they have.

The PAC I worked for had daily check lists for each position to make sure people followed the needed steps and did it correctly each time, perhaps that might be a good idea for the volunteers to have?


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## photoatdv (Sep 6, 2010)

Yea, the honda civic is more the gigs that the volunteers would be doing on their own. We do larger gigs (with multiple trucks of gear) but those all use pro crew leads/ dept. heads at a minimum. Also, they'd never be doing anything beyond light trees and stuff rigging wise without a pro onsite. I like the check list ideas.


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## museav (Sep 8, 2010)

Pie4Weebl said:


> So for your average speaker on a stick +a couple of lights I would cover:
> 1. finding power, locating the breaker box


Okay, so they know how to find it, but do they understand what is needed, how to check it, how to verify what is on the same circuit, what you can put on a circuit and so on? Can they converse with a house Electrician if necessary?


Pie4Weebl said:


> 2. How the system assembles


Walking into events sight unseen was mentioned so that sounds more like being able to figure out what is needed and configuring the system on the fly rather than just putting together a preset system. That is one of the aspects I see being potentially most problematic, you're essentially asking the volunteers to be system designers as well as operators. You also are apparently putting them in a position of potentially having to work with what gear they were provided possibly without anyone having even seen the venue.


Pie4Weebl said:


> 3. Common things to check when stuff doesn't work (aka is the lamp blown, is the channel muted)
> 4. How to polish the set up to make it look clean (cable paths, etc)


And how to deal with the Client or Event Coordinator or whoever when things go wrong or there are last minute changes or requests. Speaking of which, is each Honda Civic going to carry all the pieces and parts (spare cables, extra mics, adapters, test instruments and so on) to deal with the last minute problems and requests that inevitably arise even with small events?


I guess my concern is the result of too many experiences where people could hook together the pieces they had and operate them on a basic level but apparently had trouble with the 'bigger picture' aspects. Things like constantly popping breakers because they assumed the lighting and sound were on two circuits when they were not. Hum throughout an event because the sound was on two different circuits with a terrible ground loop. Horrendous coverage and intelligibility or poor gain before feedback because of the system configuration and/or components. An operator being asked to leave because they could not figure out how to keep the system out of feedback or bring up the right mic (a hint but when doing events at shows like InfoComm, AES, NAB, LDI, etc. even though people are generally very understanding they will not suffer through poor audio, video or lighting and there almost always is someone in the room who can indeed do a better job).

Basically, it comes down to a volunteer helping set up a system and operate it possibly being quite different than sending those same volunteers out into an unknown to figure it out and deal with it on their own. If this was a large facility where you have staff who could quickly get on site to help get things started and deal with problems then that would seem different than if the volunteers are going to be physically separate and have to deal with things on their own.

Here are some resources you might want to consider:
InfoComm International Audiovisual (AV) AV Setup Guide
InfoComm International Audiovisual (AV) General Course Description (Fdn)
InfoComm International Audiovisual (AV) General Course Description (Fdn)
InfoComm International Audiovisual (AV) General Course Description (Fdn)
InfoComm International Audiovisual (AV) General Course Description (Fdn)
InfoComm International Audiovisual (AV) General Course Description (Fdn)


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