VOAz works with public and non-profit land managers to develop projects with clear goals for which we believe we can recruit and manage the volunteers needed to achieve the goals. Project leaders work with (or are themselves) a Project Technical Advisor to estimate the number of events and the time needed to complete the project. A few projects can be completed with just one event; some may last for several years. The Project Leader must determine what resources will be needed and how they will be obtained, if they are not already in hand. Once a project is accepted for the VOAz calendar, Project Leaders are involved in selecting managers for each event. They usually lead some events for their own projects. We expect our agency partners to be available weekends for site visits, if that is necessary. This is a good position for those who would like to see VOAz undertake a project near and dear to their heart.

Once an event is scheduled, an Event Manager takes on the job of detailed planning, recruitment of additional staff, and coordination of all the pieces that go into planning a successful event. The Event Manager is supported by a Technical Advisor who handles all of the detailed work planning and field supervision on the day-of and a Web Tech who makes sure all web functions that support marketing, registration, and event related communications are in place. The Even Manager oversees the flow of activities on the day-of.

The technical guidance on the work to be done for a project is provided by our agency partners to varying degrees. VOAz does not accept a project unless we have the capacity to provide technical supervision or we are assured the availability of such supervision from an agency partner. Even when the agency has solid technical knowledge, they are not expected to understand how VOAz needs to manage the work to make it safe and productive for volunteers. Therefore, we always have a our technical person (or persons), who are called Technical Advisors, review the work plan and supervise VOAz Crew leaders on the day-of.

Crew Leaders play a critical role at VOAz because they are the most prominent representative of VOAz with other volunteers at events. Crews typically include four or five volunteers plus a Crew Leader. Much of the event preparation work is done to enable a Crew Leaders to concentrate on insuring that the members of her/his crew have a fun, safe and productive experience. Prospective Crew Leaders are asked to attend at least two VOAz trail events and then enter into the training and certification process.

VOAz normally provides at least one meal per event day. The meals taken together are one of the best parts of a VOAz event. Each event has a Food Services Manager who is usually supported by one or more additional members of the food services group.

There is always at least one assigned event photographer. Volunteers enjoy seeing their pictures posted at the web site, and they are useful for publicity and outreach activities.

There are usually a few special jobs at an event that may require someone to arrive a little early, go to the warehouse to pick-up gear, and so forth. These tasks do not preclude participation in the actual work of the event. Anyone who indicates they might accept such an assignment may be contacted by the Event Manager after they have registered for an event.

VOAz is not able to provide on site first aid or emergency response resources. We normally locate the nearest emergency services and appoint a Safety Officer whose job it is to handle communications should an emergency arise. Individuals who work in the health care field are ideal candidates for this position.

While most of our volunteers come to us through the web and personal referrals, we need to constantly pursue other methods of getting the word out about VOAz and getting the volunteers in. Relevant experience helps and a lot of positive energy is needed. This work is guided by our Outreach Committee.

Fund raising skills and comfort in asking are what is needed here. The Development Committee needs people to help conceptualize and implement approaches to the corporate community and the general public. We need people to research grant resources and to help write grant applications.

Food, gear, and drawing prizes can often be solicited from local merchants.

VOAz uses Windows XP computers and Windows Office and Adobe software.

We maintain our accounts with QuickBooks. We file a 990 and state reports annually.

Nearly every event has photo album. Albums are posted at our website using Google tools (Picasa and Web Phto Albums).

OutdoorVolunteer is a service of VOAz for all volunteers and all organizations looking for volunteers for trail and habitat projects. There are certain administrative tasks that can be done by volunteers from home. This work involves screening new agencies, screen new events, and uploading images and documents to the website. High speed internet connection is helpful. You do not need to know HTML coding. To work with images you will need to image management software, which is free. We will provide training.

The VOAz web site is based on HTML and ASP.NET 2.0. We need people who can work as Web Techs to help put together HTML project pages for events. We would like to find a volunteer who can reduce our reliance on our paid web consultant for ASP page modifications.

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