Briefing

The gathering before doors where everyone working the event hears the shape of the entire day, not only the part they are rostered for. It covers the running order, who is on which station, call times, who each person reports to, and who to ask when something is not in the plan. The film-set version is the crew call and safety meeting, where the 1st AD walks the day out loud before a frame is shot. The reason it is not optional is that a volunteer who only knows their slot can only do their slot, while a volunteer who knows the shape can absorb a surprise, and show day is made of surprises. At larger scale it is paired with a run-through the day before.

Source: TEDx Organizer Guide, Day-of planning: “Develop a script and timeline for the event day that is given to everyone, including day-of volunteers, the event host and vendors,” plus a rehearsal or run-through the day before where volunteers and vendors walk the event, and the instruction to give volunteers “all the necessary details on who they’re working with, and whom to ask when they don’t know an answer.” A Whova volunteer panel describes the same habit as a short huddle over breakfast at the start of each event day.

First used in: 2.7 · The volunteer engine.