Facilitators wanted for SND41: Join us in St. Petersburg

If you’ve been looking for an opportunity to get involved with SND, or to spend a weekend with 60 of the best visual minds in the business, this is your chance.

About 30 SND professional volunteers will be needed again in February 2020 to assist in the 41st annual Best of News Design Creative Competition print judging. Judging will return to the St. Petersburg Coliseum in St. Petersburg, Fla. Judging will be held Feb 21-24, 2020. Facilitators will need to arrive in St. Pete no later than Friday afternoon and are free to leave Tuesday, February 25. Some facilitators will be needed Friday morning for setup, so please indicate if you are available to arrive on Thursday.
Facilitators assist in teams helping judges do their work. They place and remove entries on tables, sort voting chips, place and remove voting cups, take winning entries to the input area, input data, proofread data, assist the SND web desk, and generally help facilitate the process.

In addition, facilitators will work with the SND41 judging team, and will work closely with other facilitators and student groups attending to assist. While facilitating may be the hardest job you will ever love, it also provides networking and professional feedback opportunities in a setting that feels personal. In addition, the competition is annually vital to SND, and there is no better way to get directly involved in it than by volunteering to assist.

To volunteer, please send an email to [email protected]. Applications will be taken starting July 1.
Please indicate your first and last name, current place of work, job title and languages read or spoken, as well as your preferred contact email and phone numbers. Please put “SND41 Facilitator” in the subject line and indicate whether you have attended judging before (as a judge or facilitator). Your SND membership must be current for you to be considered.

SND provides meals, but facilitators pay for their travel and lodging, estimated at $185 per night plus tax. Many publications cover this cost for employees because the facilitating experience yields valuable information, insights and ideas. Splitting the cost of a room is a possibility for a limited number of facilitators. Please indicate if you would be interested.

Volunteers will be accepted until space is filled. Facilitators are selected based on two factors: The needs of the competition and the order in which applications are received. The sooner you volunteer, the better your chances of selection. Please note that we will receive more volunteers than we need. Your understanding is appreciated.