We're looking for someone to:
- Organise child-friendly sessions at Nine Worlds 2017.
- Organise and take responsibility for a child-friendly space within the wider event space.
- Advise on and advocate for child friendliness in wider organising.
What we are not looking for is someone to take responsibility for looking after children or providing childcare. While we're not irrevocably closed to the event taking on this kind of responsibility, it's been the judgment of all involved in previous years that providing direct childcare or creches is less desirable than trying to make Nine Worlds an event which carers and children can enjoy together. This means that all children's activities have required the carer to be present and exercising responsibility.
For 2017, this role will be a management team position.
History of the role
In previous years, child-friendly provision has consisted of a kid-friendly space with toys and equipment run by a full-time volunteer, child-friendly sessions run by general content teams, and child-friendly sessions run by childcare professionals. The overall head of content had some oversight of this. In 2016, there was an intention to agree an overall kids coordinator to oversee child friendliness, but last year's organising delays prevented this. This time round, we're aiming to carry out this plan properly.
Necessary
You will need:
- An understanding of and experience in running content for children of varying ages.
- Experience in creating or managing child friendly spaces.
The number of hours will be dependent on the agreed organising model and deadlines, but a reasonable expectation would be a few hours each month, and full time during next year's event. You will need the capacity and commitment to spend this time on Nine Worlds organising if kids provision is to be successful.
Desirable
- Understanding of barriers to inclusion faced by marginalised groups - Membership of a marginalised or disadvantaged group counts as lived experience.
- Experience with Slack, Trello and Google Apps - Introductory training can be provided if necessary.
- Regular access to an internet-connected computer - All of our organising is carried out on-line, partly from necessity as it's difficult to get everyone in one place. We may be able to loan laptops or Chromebooks to volunteers for the duration of their role in organising the 2017 event.
Reimbursement and justification
We expect this voluntary role to be taken up by people who are not professional event organisers in their day jobs, who would find volunteering for this interesting, personally rewarding and valuable for the Nine Worlds community. This role brings you into contact with many of those involved in the convention.
In order to accommodate the requirements of this role, we expect to offer the kids coordinator a weekend membership to the convention, and a space in shared accommodation either at or near the convention hotel, from Thursday night until Monday morning. We may also be able to reimburse travel expenses. We are also happy to write appropriate references for our volunteers.
If you'd like to ask about or apply for this role, get in touch at jobs@nineworlds.co.uk. There's more information on applying on the main vacancies page.