I'm not sure if you have previously answered this, but is WATK taking apps for volunteers at Warped yet? Where can I get more details? Thanks!

Asked by
Anonymous

WATK is actually not an organization that goes out on Warped Tour, so we aren’t looking for volunteers. However, if you want to get involved, you’re welcome to become a Community Partner!

Z!ng Revolution still needs volunteers for Warped Tour!

Still looking to volunteer at Warped Tour? Come be a part of a fun team and help with an interactive campaign for Z!ng Revolution!

Z!ng Revolution? What’s that?

Z!ng Revolution creates custom accessories for electronics so you can personalize and protect them. This summer we will be selling phone cases and other accessories with the official Warped Tour art. Check us out online! http://www.zingrevolution.com

What will I do?

•   Arrive at the venue at 9am to help with set up.

•   Aid in selling merch.

•   Assist with multiple acoustic sets and artist signings.

•   Help out with our photo booths throughout the day.

•   Pass out fliers and other items.

•   Help pack up the tent at 6pm.

REQUIREMENTS: Be 16+, have own transportation to venue, and be able to work from 9am - 6pm. Show up ready to work and have a positive attitude!

All volunteers will get a working wristband, which allows you to get into the venue for free. While you will get to enjoy a couple bands you are also expected to work hard! Last year, taking my awesome volunteers onstage for their favorite band was a fun way to say thank you - you get from the opportunity what you put into it!

INTERESTED?

Send a short email to victoria.s.morse@gmail.com with the following:

•   Name, age, and city / date you would like to volunteer.

•   Tell me about yourself! What experience do you have in the music industry? Have you street teamed before? What would you eventually love to do in the industry?

•   If you and a friend would like to work together, PLEASE apply in one email!

Hope to see some of the WATK community this summer!

OPEN DATES:

6/15 – Seattle, WA

6/16 – Portland, OR

6/19 – San Diego, CA

6/22 – Mountain View, CA

6/26 – Las Cruces, NM

6/27 – Phoenix, AZ

6/28 – Las Vegas, NV

6/29 – Salt Lake City, UT

6/30 – Denver, CO

7/3 – Indianapolis, IN

7/5 – Toronto, ON

7/6 – Buffalo, NY

7/9 – Virginia, Beach

7/18 – Cleveland, OH

7/19 – Detroit, MI

7/21 – Minneapolis, MN

7/23 – Kansas City, KS

7/30 – Cincinnati, OH

8/2 – Dallas, TX

8/3 – San Antonio, TX

8/4 – Houston, TX

hi there! i just wanted to say thank you so much for posting about The Syndicate, I applied to be a Synner, got a phone interview and I should be receiving a start up email soon! wouldn't have never known about a hidden gem like that had it not been for you! :)

Asked by
Anonymous

That’s awesome! I’m glad things worked out.

House of Blues, Boston Cash box, sharpies, price tags, square readers Paramore's Soundcheck Different forms of access on the tour Daysheet Catering! YUM! My shirts ready to be sold Display Myself, Chloe (Kitten Vocals), and a fan behind merch!

My First Experience Doing Merch
Write Up by: Natalie Dickinson

Last week, I mentioned that I would be filling in for my friend Keaton doing merch for the band “Kitten” who were the opener for Paramore on Paramore’s most recent tour. Here’s my step-by-step photo set and description of how the night went, and what I did, and what I learned!

Step 1: Arriving at the Venue
As instructed, I arrived to the House of Blues around 3:30pm the afternoon of the show. Once outside, I met Kitten’s TM, Dan, and he let me inside the venue. By 3:30-4 all of the band’s gear was loaded into the venue, and the guys of Kitten milled about making adjustments to their instruments / hanging out in their dressing room. They were all super friendly and welcomed me to the Kitten gang!

Step 2: Locating the Merch
Amongst all of the band’s gear, there was a box of t-shirts, records, posters and CD’s. Paramore also had a box of Kitten’s merch that would be loaded into the venue a little later. I hung out around the venue and watched Paramore’s soundcheck until that box showed up along with Paramore’s merch guy, Aaron. While I was hanging out, I also downloaded the “square” app for the iphone, and logged into Kitten’s account. I would use square later on while selling merch to be able to make credit and debit transactions.

Step 3: Counting In
Once I had my box of merch from Aaron, along with the initial box, I was ready to count in. Counting in is when you record how much you have of each item, and report those amounts to someone in the venue’s staff. Keaton sent me the numbers that I should have of each thing, but I counted everything again before reporting to the venue just to make sure that I had accurate amounts. Around 5pm, as Aaron and I started to unpack and get organized, the venue staff merch dude came by and took down my numbers, then let me know that he would be back at the end of the night to count me out. The venue records the merch count because at the end of the night, they take a cut of what money was made on merch. There is also a tax on the merch that the venue collects as well. They want to know how much merch comes in before the show, and how much merch goes out after the show so that they can understand how much was sold, and therefore correctly take their cut. (This is my understanding of it!) I have never done merch in a setting where I had to count in and count out with a venue before, so the process was new to me. Thankfully, the guy at the venue who counted me in was very friendly and helpful. He was patient with me, and clarified how things were going to work. I quietly observed as Aaron counted in with the venue staff. He had considerably more merch than me, and even enlisted Boston local, Mike Finn to assist him for the evening. Aaron was super organized, and knew exactly what his numbers were coming into the venue.

Step 4: Setting Up the Display
After counting in, it was time to set up the display. I received a table, table cloth, chair, and two grate racks from the venue. I clipped our shirts to the grates and included a laminated price tag for each item. Below the grates, I laid out the folded t-shirts on our boxes, and organized them by size so that they would be easy to grab. Behind the merch table, I also had a cash box containing two “square” card readers, clips to hang merch, price tags, sharpies (for signings), and my starting cash that I could use for change when people started to buy merch.

Details:
One thing Keaton stressed was the importance of me holding onto the cash. I never left the cash in the cash box. I held it on me at all times. You never know when someone could just try to steal something after doors, and if it is just you behind the table, you need to have an eye on everything!

I also brought my iphone charger. We used the square readers to make transactions with credit and debit cards. If my iphone were to die, we wouldn’t be able to make those transactions, so I plugged it in to make sure I had juice all night.

Step 5: Necessities - Food and Bathrooms
Before doors, I made sure to grab dinner at catering. Both bands and crew on the Paramore tour have catering every day. Keaton forewarned me that the food was delicious, and she was right! I ate dinner with Dan, and took the opportunity to get to know him a little more. After eating, I took a bathroom break. Once doors were open, I didn’t want to have to leave my post behind merch!

Step 6: The Show
Once doors were open, I stayed behind merch and observed the crowd. Sales started off slow, but after Kitten played their set, CD sales picked up. Once Paramore reached their last couple of songs, sales started to pick up even more, and by the end of the show, there was a crowd around the merch table. Kitten came back out and signed / took pictures with fans while I sold merch. I tried to keep the signing line off to the side of the table so that people who were potentially trying to buy merch could come to the front and get what they wanted.

Step 7: Counting Out
Once all of the fans left the venue, I recounted all of my merch to find out how much was sold of each item. Those numbers also had to match up with the amount of money we made between cash and credit transactions. These numbers need to be recorded to give to the venue merch guy, and to put on the soundscan sheet which is a sheet with the sales numbers that is signed by the venue merch guy at the end of the night. Once I knew what was sold, and how much money we made, I was also able to calculate the tax and venue cut that would be given to the venue merch dude at the end of the night (the money was given to him in cash). Once the venue merch guy counted me out, he returned to me a hard copy of what we made and what was taken out.

Step 8: Packing Up & Loading out
After counting out around 11:45pm, I carefully put our tshirts (softgoods) and CDs/records (hardgoods) back into their boxes. I also made sure that the cash box contained the original starting cash amount. I gave our profit cash to Dan. I carried the boxes outside to the van, and Luke (Kitten’s drummer) loaded them into the van’s trailer. In some cases, a dolly is used to transport the boxes of merch, but we didn’t have enough to need a dolly. Aaron, however, used one because he had a lot more boxes than me!

Before leaving the venue, I emailed Keaton scans of the paperwork that I received from the merch guy at the venue. If you have an iphone, download the application called, “turboscan”. It is great for making scans on the go.

Once everything was taken care of, I made sure to say bye and thank you to the band and Dan. The band was very nice, and thanked me for helping them out. Overall, the night was a good learning experience, and I had fun.

A Word on Volunteering

Hey everyone,

I’m taking into consideration what this other anon said, and I apologize if my response to the first anon’s question about volunteering was a little harsh. I don’t want to come off sounding bitchy, or like I know everything, because that is not my stance at all. To take a step back, and clarify some of my points, here’s my advice:

1. Volunteering is great, especially if you want to work for a couple different organizations to gain experience and make more connections. Just be careful to keep track of things, and make sure you don’t schedule or commit yourself to two different organizations on the same day.

2. If you accidentally schedule yourself for two organizations on the same day, try to get in touch with one of the organizations as soon as you can to let them know that you won’t make it. It will be frustrating for them to hear, but the sooner you get back the better, because they will need a little bit of time to schedule someone new.

Also, I appreciate you guys sending in all of your feedback, even critiquing me, and what I am saying on this site. I wish that WATK could be more open for other people to post things besides myself. I am working on making it better in that sense where we can all help each other answer to these dilemmas.

Thank you,
-Natalie

I think you were way too harsh to the anon about volunteering.. they made a simple mistake, they're only human. I understand your point of view since you have experience being on the other side of things, but most people will understand. There's still plenty of time for both organizations to find volunteers (they're both widely known and should have no trouble finding someone by tomorrow). To the anon - I would just simply email American Rag back, explain the situation truthfully and apologize

Asked by
Anonymous

I think that’s fair. (I’ll admit, I’m in the midst of all of these emails, and loosing a little bit of patience) I’m not going to send someone back an angry email, I’ll just sort of keep going in the process. Right now there’s time, but things do get frustrating if someone cancels last minute. I also think it’s good to try to work for different organizations, but you just have to be really organized, and not schedule them for the same day, to make two commitments.

I also agree with your advice. Don’t think they’re going to send you an angry email back, just email them and apologize like this person is saying. Everyone scheduling volunteers is different. I’m just reacting from my perspective.