SPE Conference Volunteers

Registration and training

Thank you for your interest in volunteering at the 43rd SPE National Conference in Chicago. We would love to have you as a volunteer. You will have the opportunity to meet lots of other students from around the country, find out about other schools, be inspired by the lectures and the speakers, see tons of art and have loads of fun.

What you need to do first is to register officially for the conference. The deadline for volunteer registrations is Feb. 14 (postmark), depending on need for additional volunteers. Send your registration form, a copy of your student ID and a $55 deposit check and another check for $25 for your registration (this one will be cashed) to SPE SPE National Office, Volunteer Registration, 126 Peabody, School of Interdisciplinary Studies, Miami University, Oxford, OH 45056-2486. The $55 check serves as deposit and will not be cashed as long as you work your assigned eight volunteer hours (plus training). The check should be made out to SPE. Please label it clearly “VOLUNTEER” in the memo section. We don’t want to confuse it with the regular payment check by accident. This check will be torn up upon completion of your volunteer hours. The registration check covers your greatly discounted conference registration. The $25 pays for your conference registration at volunteer rate, plus you are eligible to participate in the priceless half-day Student Seminar on Thursday morning. Remember, the deadline for registering to volunteer is Feb. 14, 2006 (postmark).

You have to be a student and a current (2006) SPE member to volunteer. So if you are not yet a student member at SPE, you will need to send your membership dues with your volunteer registration. Please send a separate check for $50 (one-year, 2005) or for $95 (two-year, 2005-2006) for your membership. This check will be cashed.

The main conference programming runs Thursday, March 23, through Sunday, March 26. Volunteers are required to attend a training session before the conference on Wednesday afternoon (3-5pm) or evening (9-11pm), March 22, 2005. We try to accommodate those that cannot make it on Wednesday by offering a volunteer training on Thursday morning (8-10am, which overlaps with the popular Student Seminar), March 22. Pick one of the training sessions, but it is to your advantage to come on Wednesday. We are preassigning volunteer shifts, but only Wednesday’s trainees get to choose from the full schedule. By Thursday, we’ll have to assign whatever shifts are left. The volunteer training sessions are mandatory.

The training sessions will be held at the conference hotel (Sheraton Chicago Hotel & Towers, 301 East North Water Street, Chicago, IL 60611, www.sheratonchicago.com). The volunteer training gives us a chance to explain your responsibilities as volunteer and to familiarize you with conference events. It is also a great time to meet the other volunteers, people you will spend quite some time with over the course of the conference, people you might want to quiz about their graduate or undergraduate program, or just people who are fun to know. These are your peers. Some of the friendships you form here may last through your photographic career.

Volunteer responsibilities

Most of the volunteers will be helping out at the actual lectures by checking name badges, controlling lights and keeping a watchful eye on the slide projectors. Other positions are helping with the silent or live art auctions, portfolio sessions, trade show or registration. None of the positions are “bad.” And most likely, you will get a mix of responsibilities. We will try to make sure that you get to go to all the sessions that are important to you by either letting you work those sessions or designing a volunteer schedule around them.

We are still looking for a few volunteers to work exclusively at registration. The good part about this job is that everybody has to check through there, so you meet several hundred photographers on the job, including big name photographers (in the last few years: Jerry Uelsmann, Joyce Tenneson, Duane Michals, Maggie Taylor, Joel-Peter Witkin, etc.). Registration will give you a better look at how SPE works, and it is usually a lot of fun. The bad part is that it will also keep you away from some sessions. You usually work in 2-hour increments to allow for flexibility in scheduling. The incentive here: free one-year membership. Work your regular eight-hour volunteer shift and receive an SPE membership as a thank you. You need to attend one of the training sessions on Wednesday to work in registration.

Student Seminar

We are offering a special, volunteers-only professional prep seminar. Three pros, Susan kae Grant, Mary Virginia Swanson and Keith Johnson, will be teaching the free, half-day workshop on 9am-1pm on Thursday, March 22. This is a unique opportunity for students to learn how to establish yourself as an art photographer, and you get to meet lots of fellow students. The seminar is geared toward both undergrad and grad students. Preregistration for the workshop is required. Sponsored by Hasselblad.

Please register early. If you have any questions, please send an email to volunteers@spenational.org.
See you in Chicago in March. Remember to bring a portfolio of art. You will have lots of formal and informal opportunities to show your work and look at the work of others.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is being an SPE membership mandatory to volunteer?
Yes. All volunteers must be 2005 SPE members. To check on member status, please contact Ashlae at membership@spenational.org or 216/622-2733. If you need to renew or start your membership, please remember to send separate checks for student membership ($50) and volunteer registration ($25), plus one for the volunteer deposit ($55).

What will I have to do as volunteer?
Most of the volunteers will be helping out at the actual lectures by checking name badges, controlling lights and keeping a watchful eye on the slide projectors. Other positions are helping with the silent or live art auctions, portfolio sessions, trade show, registration, gallery tours, etc. None of the positions are “bad.” And most likely, you will get a mix of responsibilities.

Will I be able to see the presentations I want to see?
We will try to make sure that you get to go to all the sessions that are important to you by either letting you work those sessions or designing a volunteer schedule around them. You will have lots of input into your schedule.

By when do I need to register?
We will accept volunteer registrations through Feb 14, 2006. However, we can only accept a set number of volunteers, so please register early. Please register formally by mail. You will need to send this in with your volunteer deposit, and if you are not a 2006 SPE member, you will also need to send in your membership dues of $50 (student rate) in a separate check or form of payment. Your registration form also determines your sign-up time for individual portfolio reviews, should you decide to participate in this conference program. So send in your registration as soon as possible. If you are planning to sign up for formal portfolio reviews, please mark the applicable box on the registration form. Registration form (44k pdf)

Do I need to register formally, if I have already let you know that I am interested in volunteering?
Absolutely. We require a mailed in registration from each volunteer. You will need to send this in with your volunteer deposit, and if you are not a 2006 SPE member, you will also need to send in your membership dues of $50 (student rate) in a separate check or form of payment. Your registration form also determines your sign-up time for individual portfolio reviews, should you decide to participate in this conference program. So send in your registration as soon as possible. If you are planning to sign up for formal portfolio reviews, please mark the applicable box on the registration form.

How do I register as a volunteer?
Please use the registration form (44k Adobe Acrobat PDF file). It also includes general volunteer information.

I am not a student. Can I still volunteer?
We’re sorry, but our conference volunteer program is restricted to students only. We have so many students that apply as volunteers, that we cannot accept anybody who is not a student. We would have to turn away students, to accept non-students into the volunteer program. The conference volunteer program is supported by the SPE Student Scholarship Fund.

What type of schedule should I expect? or
I need to book my flight and need more information about the schedule.
The usual volunteer schedule runs Wednesday, March 22, through Saturday, March 25. Very few volunteers work on Sunday, although there is conference programming. You have to attend a volunteer training and work eight hours over the course of the conference to receive the conference fee waiver. We offer two Wednesday volunteer training sessions: one in the afternoon 3-5 pm and the other is 9-11 pm. You just need to go to one. You should make plans to attend the Wednesday trainings.

For those who absolutely cannot make it to one of the Wednesday volunteer training sessions, we offer a make-up session on Thursday, but this is not to your advantage. The Student Seminar is scheduled for Thursday morning. If you cannot make it to the Wednesday training, you must come to a volunteer briefing from 8-10am on Thursday. You will receive your volunteer assignments after the Student Seminar. Be sure to remember pick up your assignment sheet. You will not have all of the choices in volunteer assignments that the Wednesday group had. By Thursday we have to assign what is left.

Your conference responsibilities end on Saturday night, but you may want to attend Sunday's open portfolio sharing from 11am - 1pm. It is a great opportunity to show your work and see lots of work. Everybody spreads out their portfolios and work in progress for the Sunday event.

What is the Student Seminar?
We are offering a special, volunteers-only professional prep seminar this year. Three pros, Susan kae Grant, Mary Virginia Swanson and Keith Johnson, will be teaching the free, half-day workshop on Thursday. This is a unique opportunity for you to learn how to establish yourself as an art photographer, you get to meet lots of fellow students, and you receive lots of goodies. The seminar is geared toward both undergrad and grad students. Preregistration for the workshop is required, so mark the appropriate box on the registration form!

I want to volunteer, but I will need to find a roommate. Can you help?
Please contact the SPE National Office in Ohio at 216/622-2733. They are keeping a list of people who are looking for roommates.