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We're looking for gophers!

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Cheetah:
Help wanted!

Have you ever thought about lending a paw to Eurofurence? You just don't know how to start? Don't know what to contribute? Don't
think you have any special skills that may be wanted somewhere?

Fear not. Eurofurence does not only need skilled artists and performers and fursuiters and camera people and sound engineers.
It takes all kinds of helping hands to make a con successful. And there is so much work to be done on a con!

Be there to organize long lines, get furniture moved out of the way quickly, put art panels up or down, get a room cleaned
for the next event, help carry stuff upstairs and downstairs, and much, much more.

Become a gopher volunteer!

Since Eurofurence 11, we feature a special "gopher" program to organize on-site help. Under new management this year, due to
staff considerations, and with some new ideas, but still depending on your commitment to make it work!

Gopher stands for "go-fer" (or, with a bit less of an accent, "go for"). Of course, fetching stuff is not all a gopher does,
but why break with tradition? While the term is certainly furry (a gopher is a small rodent), I've been told it originated
actually on non-furry conventions some time ago. Gophers are also known as "helpers", "runners", or "hands", but let's stick
with the rodent.

What do I do as a gopher?

As a gopher, you attend the gopher meetings at certain times, where tasks for events are distributed among helpers and teams
are allocated. These teams work together on the events and lend their paws to those in need. Outside of events, on-duty
teams may be called in for tasks outside of regular events.

(Big events, by the way, are not only the actual events from the programming but also things like art checkout, where help is
desperately wanted.)

Participation on teams is voluntary - being a gopher should not ruin your con experience -, and of course we don't expect you
to work all day long, so the teams are performing in shifts. The teaming idea is new this year, introduced so that no gopher
needs to work entirely on his own, and experienced gophers can lead the new ones.

On the other paw, gophering is still a serious task, so if you sign up, you should be willing to join a team on the con. Don't
get a gopher badge just as a neat souvenir. And once you agree to help out at a big event, it would be pretty inconvenient for us
if you don't show up (and rather impolite on your side).

And what are the benefits?

Unfortunately we can't offer you huge refunds or all kind of goodies. It would not be fair against the staff and the core helpers
who aren't paid for their work either. Also, it would be pretty difficult to keep track of the hours you actually work.

But you will get the warm, fuzzy feeling of being needed. You will be one of those people who work on making the con a success!
And who knows, maybe next year someone will want to have you in his core team!

That sounds fair enough. Where do I sign up?

Send a mail to gophers@eurofurence.org. Tell us when you arrive (especially if you need to arrive early anyway, and want to help
at setup) and when you depart (especially if you leave late, and you are available for cleanup after the con). The actual tasks
will be assigned at the con itself, either in the gopher meetings or spontaneously, when the need arises.

Can't I just sign up at the con itself?

You may, but we will be better able to organize the gophering if we know up front how many helpers we will have. Also, if you arrive
early, you may want to be a part of the setup crew - signing up at the con is a bit late for that.

And now, take a heart and join the ranks of the busy gophers!

Best regards,

The Gopher Herding Team

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