[Glass-mit] 2017 Pumpkin Patch - first call for volunteers!

[Peter Houk]

Hello all,
Here is a reworking of my letter to volunteers from last year. I see no
point in totally reinventing the wheel. It is meant as a refresher to the
Pumpkin Patch timeline and outline of tasks that need to be done. If you
are a first-time volunteer, it is meant to give you a sense of the job that
might be best for you. After reading this, if you are a new volunteer,
please contact me and let me know which of the Saturday jobs appeals to you
and I will pre-assign you. If you want to just show up and get plugged in
somewhere, that's OK too. Here's the deal:

On *Friday, September 22*, we will start getting pumpkins out of closets
and bringing them to Kresge Oval to unpack and price. We like to get
started by *7:30AM*, and it is always a flat-out sprint to get the pumpkins
processed by the *5PM* opening time. Any help we can get in the morning,
especially early, is great. With enough volunteers, we can have people
unwrapping pumpkins while others transport them and set up the supply
areas. So, *Friday 7:30-2PM* is a good time to help if you have any of that
time free.

The *preview opening will be on FRIDAY from 5-8PM*. As you know, there are
no sales during the opening - it's a chance to see all the pumpkins on the
tables under the lights, before they get put on the ground the following
morning. *We never have enough volunteers at the opening, so this is a good
time to come, especially if it's the only time you can come!*
After the preview opening, there are *two overnight volunteer guard shifts*:
8PM-1AM, and 1AM to 6AM. This is a hard job to fill and a critical one.
Please let me know if you can spend some amount of time doing this. We
should have the t-shirts by Friday this year, so volunteers can distinguish
themselves from others by wearing one.

On sale day, *Saturday morning at 6AM, September 23*, we will open up the
tent and put all the pumpkins in clusters on the lawn. At the same time we
will reconfigure the tables from the display rows to the sale
configuration. We need all hands on deck for this stretch between 6-10AM.
Around 9:00AM, or whenever the sale is set up, I will call together the
volunteers and read off job assignments. Some of you are already assigned
(you know who you are), and others will be assigned day-of.* If you know
that you would like do do a certain job and have not yet contacted me, now
is a good time to do that!* If you have not volunteered before, you will be
assigned a job day-of - not to worry.

The main jobs at the sale, from 10AM to 3PM, are:
- pumpkin wrappers (many): what it sounds like: wrapping pumpkins in tissue
and bubble wrap (there will be a training demo).
- receipt writer/price caller teams (2 in each team x 6): one person calls
out the price and the other does the math.
- matchers (make SURE proper pumpkins go home with customers)
- runners (monitor sales area and replenish supplies)
- mailing list contact info collectors . A job for people who like
approaching others.
- pumpkin police (anti-theft, anti-hoarding monitors - a job usually done
by previous volunteers who can spot gaming behavior)

*It is critical that if you volunteer to work the sale in the morning, you
plan to stay at your post for the first 2-3 hours of the sale. That's when
we make most of our sales and we need a full team to be running on all
cylinders during that period.*

The sale ends at 3PM. Things usually slow down considerably by 1:00 and we
start shutting lines down and releasing some volunteers who are no longer
needed. I do want, however, to be sure that we have enough people to clean
up, both as the sale winds down, and after the sale is over. There's a lot
to do, between packing up supplies, breaking down tables, and transporting
many boxes and bales of newspaper to recycling behind the student center.
So, if you can, please plan to stay until we are cleaned up - things will
go much faster if we have a bunch of people.
*If the only time you are free all weekend is Saturday afternoon between 3
and 4PM, we can use your help with cleanup!!!*

*PARKING for volunteers: *I will coordinate with the Parking Office and
send another email before long.

OK, I think that's it. Thank you very much for volunteering. If you have
not yet volunteered, it's not too late. If you have any questions, please
contact me directly.

Peter


On Mon, Aug 7, 2017 at 10:46 AM, Peter Houk <pbhouk at gmail.com> wrote:

> Hello all,
> It's early August, and I haven't heard any crickets yet, but nevertheless
> there's a little chirping  in the back of my head reminding me that the *MIT
> Great Glass Pumpkin Patch *is just over the horizon and it's time to send
> that email asking for volunteers.
> This year the Pumpkin Patch will be on *Saturday, September 23rd. *Setup
> will be on Friday the 22nd and the rain date (Oh, please no....) Sunday the
> 24th. It's a little earlier than usual this year, but it IS the last full
> weekend in September, and I think our chances of good weather are better
> doing this a little earlier.
> As you all know, we can't do this without you and it's so much fun to see
> familiar and new faces every year. I hope you can join us. Veterans of past
> patches will know what jobs they will want, and for new people I'll be
> sending out more information in the next couple of weeks.
> Please do feel free to let me know if you will be able to come and what
> job you would like. I'll be back in touch with a longer email in the next
> week or so.
> Until then, back to the summer!
>
> Regards,
> Peter
>
> --
> Peter Houk
> Director, Glass Lab
> Department of Materials Science and Engineering ev
> Massachusetts Institute of Technology
>



-- 
Peter Houk
Director, Glass Lab
Department of Materials Science and Engineering
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
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