Majority of kink-based groups, organizations, etc. are volunteer-based. To make things happen, people volunteer to clean, volunteer to feed attendees, volunteer to setup or tear down, volunteer to register or check the door, volunteer to overlook play area(s) for spaces with such, etc. These people are not Dominant or submissive or switches or vanilla or non-D/s kinksters... they're people who want to help in some way, either large or small. If people did not volunteer, various fun things wouldn't be the same, or wouldn't happen at all. And yes, I count literal leaders (board, concom, staff, organizers, etc.) as volunteer positions, most times, even when they get reduced attendance cost, or free attendance, to the stuff they organize.
In discussing these things with others, talk of incentives and how to draw them in gets brought up... and sometimes, I've felt that people miss the mark to some degree. But I'll get to more detail on that after detailing volunteers a bit more.
People often seem to gloss over various things when considering volunteering...
- People, in general, don't want to give up some of their "fun time" to do volunteer work.
- People have to do things outside of kink to make time for kink fun, so getting places early or staying late can sometimes be difficult. There's also the concept of sleep which some people need significantly more than others (but everyone needs).
- When in a leadership position, you sometimes find out who your friends are (and aren't). It's not a role everyone can take on. And, while such roles get your name out there, it doesn't really get you anything socially, aside from headaches and politics. I can't tell ya how many times I've seen people push someone to step up... then, months later, demand the same person to resign / step down, or say "If shit goes sideways, will you resign like you should?"
- Volunteers end up forming a close-knit group... because you're sharing a workload, sharing in the labor, helping and obviously want to help, and, frankly, you're not expected to but you do anyway.
- People who have volunteered more than once are generally used to people choosing to not want to help. That doesn't mean they like it (man, you have no idea how much shade-tossing I've edited out of this post since its first draft...), but they expect it. But the surprise is never negative when you offer a hand, even for just 5 minutes (well, unless you mix in known allergens when you're doing food prep... but I digress).
I have, time and time again, heard and seen people go "But I volunteer to present classes, demos, etc... why do I get less than someone volunteering to wash dishes?" This was actually the question that drove me to initially writing this piece (the rough draft was written a good while ago, don't even try to figure out when the question was asked or who asked it, I'm not even sure anymore). It can appear as a fair question, especially when looking at it in the respect of "how much time of work happens to accomplish the goal in question." But they are not equal positions, they have different pros and cons, and they have different inherent rewards and costs prior to an organization adding further incentives (or unintentional costs like poor organization = added stressors).
I'm gonna have a controversial opinion... and frankly, it's a controversial question in the first place... but my response is: There are several reasons to give volunteers who wash dishes more than someone who volunteers to present classes, demos, etc. What are those you ask? Presenters get accolades, they're seen, they get their pick of what they want to do and why, seen sometimes as a cut above the rest, experts, their names draw attention, they get complimented and discussions later, their styles get adopted by multiple people, almost memorialized, people will see those people as "better" than others in whatever craft or detail is being presented on than others for numerous reasons whether true, false, or irrelevant, there are so many social rewards to presenting that it's almost not even funny.
Now, yes, a good presenter spends a significant amount of time behind the scenes tweaking their presentations, their demos, keeping them up-to-date, taking and using feedback from the past, changing wording and style for what they want to get across and how they want to get it across. They do volunteer more than those 1-2 hour presentation time slots (often times 3-5 times more time than the presentation itself), so a 1 hour presentation likely has over 5 hours of work put into it, sometimes days, and better presenters never leave it as-is, so it gets more work the next time the same presentation is used. Some have to spend time building themselves up so they won't run off the stage from being in front of people or won't let outside stressors impact their performance or education of others. And the social rewards have downsides, like possible stalker(s) if you're famous enough or catch the wrong person's interest.
But my main point? The inherent rewards that presenters and educators get (whether or not they like or want them) in the kink scene are significantly higher. It is on the presenter how to handle or respond to those inherent rewards, and if they are blessings, curses, or a mixture of both.
I'm gonna have a controversial opinion... and frankly, it's a controversial question in the first place... but my response is: There are several reasons to give volunteers who wash dishes more than someone who volunteers to present classes, demos, etc. What are those you ask? Presenters get accolades, they're seen, they get their pick of what they want to do and why, seen sometimes as a cut above the rest, experts, their names draw attention, they get complimented and discussions later, their styles get adopted by multiple people, almost memorialized, people will see those people as "better" than others in whatever craft or detail is being presented on than others for numerous reasons whether true, false, or irrelevant, there are so many social rewards to presenting that it's almost not even funny.
Now, yes, a good presenter spends a significant amount of time behind the scenes tweaking their presentations, their demos, keeping them up-to-date, taking and using feedback from the past, changing wording and style for what they want to get across and how they want to get it across. They do volunteer more than those 1-2 hour presentation time slots (often times 3-5 times more time than the presentation itself), so a 1 hour presentation likely has over 5 hours of work put into it, sometimes days, and better presenters never leave it as-is, so it gets more work the next time the same presentation is used. Some have to spend time building themselves up so they won't run off the stage from being in front of people or won't let outside stressors impact their performance or education of others. And the social rewards have downsides, like possible stalker(s) if you're famous enough or catch the wrong person's interest.
But my main point? The inherent rewards that presenters and educators get (whether or not they like or want them) in the kink scene are significantly higher. It is on the presenter how to handle or respond to those inherent rewards, and if they are blessings, curses, or a mixture of both.
And then you have the people who volunteer to help an event silently. The jobs where, the best way to clear a room is saying "If you're still here on the count of 10, you're agreeing to help with [this job]." One or two people will shrug, because "Eh, why not?" But majority of people bolt, because it is seen as a threat to the average person. It's a threat because people don't want to, because people don't get anything from it, because they want to be doing something else. These are generally the cleanup jobs, the service jobs, dishwashing, vacuuming, sweeping, taking out the trash. The jobs you know happen but may not even notice happening unless you know the people doing them. But at the same time, some people would rather not be in the middle of the crowd, want to help out, are more at peace doing rote activities, etc. There can be rewards, depending on who you are.
So, consider this:
For me, the former is complimentary, flattering, almost every time, and the latter starts to nudge me out the door, or like my arm's being twisted or like I'm being guilt-tripped (depending on how it's asked).
And I know, I am not everyone, some will panic at the concept of presenting something and adore getting time to do tasks others see as "menial" for any number of valid reasons (such as a couple I mentioned earlier). I recognize that.
Now, mind you, that's not to say that presenters should get any less than others: they should be respected and there should be things events do to draw in presenters and get good presenters to come back in the future. But what you do for a general volunteer is not the same as what you do for a presenter. And dammit, if you get a presenter that wants to volunteer some form of service (i.e. cleaning, table manning, etc.): do what you can for that person, because they are a rare fucking breed right there.
(What? Me, jaded? Nono, I'm not jaded, whatever do you mean? [He says with all the sarcasm in the world])
So, bringing a few points together: we basically have 3 different types of volunteers:
- If you're asked to present something (that you love or feel strongly about), how do you feel?
- If you're asked to wash the dishes for a general group (not just family or partners), how do you feel?
For me, the former is complimentary, flattering, almost every time, and the latter starts to nudge me out the door, or like my arm's being twisted or like I'm being guilt-tripped (depending on how it's asked).
And I know, I am not everyone, some will panic at the concept of presenting something and adore getting time to do tasks others see as "menial" for any number of valid reasons (such as a couple I mentioned earlier). I recognize that.
Now, mind you, that's not to say that presenters should get any less than others: they should be respected and there should be things events do to draw in presenters and get good presenters to come back in the future. But what you do for a general volunteer is not the same as what you do for a presenter. And dammit, if you get a presenter that wants to volunteer some form of service (i.e. cleaning, table manning, etc.): do what you can for that person, because they are a rare fucking breed right there.
(What? Me, jaded? Nono, I'm not jaded, whatever do you mean? [He says with all the sarcasm in the world])
So, bringing a few points together: we basically have 3 different types of volunteers:
- Organizers / Leaders, very visible but often thankless, often the busiest and most stressful of all, and sometimes the most isolating... but you're in charge (to a degree), so it seems like it has its perks... until ya fuck up. But when the event actually happens, the applause will be deafening, and ya made a dream or idea come alive, almost directly. Often treated as though it is a 24/7 position, despite still needing to work for a living and still having a family, etc. You have to plan significantly with other Organizers to ensure you can have any time at all to enjoy the event at all, so they will play defense/goalee while you enjoy a bit of time off, but you'll have to do the same for them... as Organizers definitely get the least amount of time to enjoy the vision they helped make happen. And sometimes, even while they get the time, they may not feel as free to dive into their fun fully, for any number of reasons.
- Presenters / Teachers / Demonstrators, very visible and often lauded highly, often gain decent social standing, often several hours of unseen work (unless they haven't changed their presentation in years... generally they eventually stop getting invited if it never changes, though). Either placed on a pedestal as an example, or highly scrutinized, but there is never an in-between. If there are issues with consent perceived from your presentation, people will either defend you without you knowing it, or they'll jump down your throat, again: no in-between. Ya know, there are multiple ways I can draw in the analogy of presenter/demonstrator kinda being like the "weird uncle/aunt," come in, have fun with the kids, run off to do their own thing, and ya either love'em or hate them, but often times they don't have to deal with fallout when there is any, unless they are also part of the same organization in addition to presenting.
- General volunteers, visibility ranges from moderate (registration desk) to none at all aside from other volunteers (dish washer, clean up, tear down, food prep). This group might be able to be split out more, but everything else is basically the same for them all: Generally thankless job unless a leader-type publicly calls attention to your work, multiple times... though you will be thanked by every other general volunteer that sees you doing your part. Generally will not get you any additional attention, good or bad. Sometimes ends up as the most close-knit group at an event (volunteers that worked with each other), because of shared duties, workload, etc.
But also, each different grouping has different things that drive them, different things that will attract them, different motivations, and different needs.
But also recognize... travelling to events can be costly, multi-day events can have significant boarding costs, which all impacts how much someone is willing to pay for a ticket. Incentives for all of the above all are impacted by these facts. Recognize that these things we do? To get people together to do and teach things? It's quite costly... but any incentives you bring in will impact cost, since guess what pays for the event and everything it does? The ticket price. Best of luck in determining price structure and how to balance incentives.
When working out ways of drawing in people for each grouping, they cannot be treated nor discussed as being the same... but often times, people will act like they can. Try to avoid that trap, and recognize the individual needs and the impact to the event to make sure that the incentives you provide can feel fair to as many different people as possible.
And no, you will never make everyone happy. Best just to accept that now.
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