Sign Up Now to Volunteer at AFS Annual Meeting

This year, AFS is looking for volunteers for each portion of our annual meeting. Volunteers who host three sessions (most are 90 minutes) or work 4 hours in Harrisburg will receive a full meeting registration refund or waiver.

If you are interested in volunteering in this capacity, email [email protected] as soon as possible, since slots will be filled on a first-come, first-served basis. Please include notes about:

• Meeting dates/times that you cannot volunteer.
• The dates/times you would prefer; for the virtual program, you can also specify panel ID numbers (eg, 01-01) for sessions that you’d like to attend. You can see the current preliminary program at https://afsnet.site-ym.com/mpage/2021onlineprogram.

In the virtual portion (October 18-20), volunteers will take responsibility for Zoom hosting duties so that panel participants can concentrate on the presentations and discussion. Duties may include: admitting/removing or muting/unmuting participants; assisting with screen sharing and media playback; creating breakout rooms; monitoring chat and local recordings. Volunteers should have some experience with this role and Zoom controls. 

In the in-person portion (October 21-23), volunteers will help run the registration table, which involves distributing nametags and programs to those who have preregistered, assisting with registration and payments for those who register onsite, making a head count of attendees in session rooms, and various other duties as requested. 

Registration desk shifts:

• Thursday, 2:00 – 6:00 pm (1 needed)
• Friday, 8:00 am – 12:00 am (1 needed)
• Friday, 10:30 am – 2:30 pm (1 needed)
• Saturday, 8:00 am – 12:00 pm (1 needed)

We also urge you to pay attention to these resources:

1. Take a look at “How to Make the AFS Meeting Work Best for You,” prepared for the customary in-person meeting by former AFS Board member Carole Carpenter of York University. Though some particulars will certainly differ in the virtual context, it offers generally good advice about what to expect at any AFS meeting. 

2. To supplement those general guidelines, see the update for the virtual meeting: General Principles for the AFS Virtual Meeting. You may also refer to Help with Zoom for technical details.