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Reef-A-Palooza 2017

mnat

Officer Emeritus
Staff member
Moderator
Just a couple of quick tips on the eve of this awesome event, for volunteers and for attendees as well.

Wear sneakers or comfortable shoes. Chances are you will be on your feet for a while and having nice shoes to wear is pretty crucial.
Bring another shirt to wear, this is mainly for raffles. It is always a bad look when people in Staff shirts are winning raffle prizes. If you wish to partake in raffles, either bring another shirt to throw over your staff shirt or have someone else who can claim the prize for you.
There is food and drink available for sale at the event but if you want something specific, bring it. There is not really a close by store where you can just run out to pick something up. People tend to consume a lot of caffeine through this event and if you like a certain type bring your own.
If we have enough people, we usually try to work in shifts so people can get some time to walk around and check out the event. If you want to see a specific speaker, let us know early so we can try and arrange that.
Vendors will hold corals for the day or for the weekend so you will be able to buy some things early and not have to take possession right away. Bringing a cooler or something else for transportation is still pretty smart though. Bags become one of the hottest commodities during frag swaps.
If anything pops up, find someone with a headset and they will help you. This is the third RAP here in NJ and every year gets better and better so most situations are accounted for. However, if someone has a question you can't answer, just find someone.

Jobs and times:
Friday:
We stuff goody bags until they are done and do some other setup tasks. Not really too much to this one but necessary none the less. This is finished when we are done.
Saturday:
The morning rush is the most important time. If you are volunteering for Saturday, plan on getting there about an hour to a half hour or so before the show starts. The line will start forming early and getting people through the doors as quickly as possible is the most important job. This is when we will need the most people to facilitate this (getting people through, handing out goody bags, etc.). IIRC, we give out 500 goody bags a day and on Saturday they are usually gone within the first 30 mins or so. The daytime will be a bit slower and then helping with the raffle process at the end of the day always takes some time and effort.
Sunday:
Again plan on getting there before the show starts, there will be a rush again in the morning but not quite as big. The raffle at the end of the day is a bit bigger so that takes some planning but should not be a big deal.

All in all it is pretty fun time, ask anything here and I will try and answer.
 

mnat

Officer Emeritus
Staff member
Moderator
Almost forgot the most important part: When you pull up the expo center, if you are looking right at it, there is parking underneath the building to the left of the entrance. For volunteers this is probably the best place to park.
 

Mark_C

Staff member
Officer Emeritus
NJRC Member
Moderator
This post reads 9am start Saturday.
RP site states 11am doors open.
I was planning on gettting there about an hour before doors open at 10am.
With waking 2 kids, feeding, dropping off at grandparents, etc, that extra hour's time is gold.
So is 10am acceptable?
 
Last edited:

julie

Officer Emeritus
Officer Emeritus
This post reads 9am start Saturday.
RP site states 11am doors open.
I was planning on gettting there about an hour before doors open at 10am.
With waking 2 kids, feeding, dropping off at grandparents, etc, that extra hour's time is gold.
So is 10am acceptable?[/QUOTE
I understand. 10 am would be fine. Thanks for your help!
 
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