Welcome to this month’s volunteer update. Here is some of the key information for the coming period:
1. Important changes to event email accounts.
2. Embedding photographs in event news items.
3. Press and media.
4. Social media.
5. Recruiting volunteers.
6. Cancelling events.
7. Tail walkers.
8. Printed barcodes only.
1. Important changes to event email accounts
You may already be aware that one of the current technical projects at parkrun is improving our email platform. We are now in a position to migrate event team email accounts from the current webmail system to Gmail.
This change will make event email accounts more accessible via mobile devices, more reliable, more secure, and, importantly, more user-friendly. Additionally, teams will also have access to other tools such as calendar, photo storage and document sharing that are offered by G Suite.
If you are part of an event’s core team, please check your mailbox for important information on this, including login details, that have been sent to the event mailbox on Friday, 8 February.
Access to your event’s current webmail account will be terminated on Monday, 18 February.
Please note: We will never ask you for your password or login details.
Jake Lodge
IT Support Analyst, parkrun Global
2. Embedding Photographs in Event Website News Items
Including images in news items on parkrun event websites has always been challenging. We’ve now made it easier by allowing images to be uploaded directly to WordPress. This process is much more intuitive and allows for rotating, cropping and resizing of images. A step by step guide can be found on the parkrun Wiki.
Ian Rutson
Technical Lead, parkrun Global
3. Press and media
Recently we have had a number of media organisations contacting our events directly. Please remember that if your event is contacted by any media organisation please contact us yourselves via eventsupport@parkrun.com or direct them to our support site.
Gill Fordyce
Chief Operating Officer, parkrun South Africa
4. Social Media
In South Africa we have a social media ambassador, Giulio Distefano, who helps manage the national social media, Instagram, Twitter and Facebook pages.
At event level, we ask everyone to keep their social media posts positive and uplifting. Please click here for further details of our social media guidelines.
Should you have any queries regarding the social media please will contact eventsupport@parkrun.com.
Gill Fordyce
Chief Operating Officer, parkrun South Africa
5. Recruiting volunteers
It seems that those events having the most success with recruiting new volunteers directly from the parkrunners on the day have a specific volunteer, a fun bubbly person to do this, who approaches people to volunteer for the following weeks.
Volunteering is fun and incredibly beneficial, and so recruiting volunteers should emulate this.
Cara Fordyce
Head of Event Delivery & Support, parkrun South Africa
6. Cancelling events
Whilst we attempt, where safe to do so, to deliver our events every Saturday, there are a number of reasons why events may need to cancel:
We urge all event teams to get in touch with their ambassador or head office (if prior to the Saturday), if they are unsure about cancelling.
Never be afraid to cancel, if it doesn’t feel right it probably isn’t. The run director on the day is responsible for the safety of the event, and should they decide to cancel their decision is final.
If you do need to cancel please inform us as soon as possible via WebFMS and note the following:
You can read more about the Cancellation Policy here.
Cara Fordyce
Head of Event Delivery & Support, parkrun South Africa
7. Tail Walkers
This is a crucial role which must be filled every Saturday. The Tail Walker must start at the back, at the same time as the rest of the field, and should accompany the slowest participant, supporting and encouraging them on the route.
It is possible to have multiple tail walkers participating as a group, and at least one of them must carry a cell phone for emergency reporting, as well as a lanyard with emergency contact numbers for the event.
The purpose of the Tail Walker is partly to ensure that the team knows when the last person has come in, and at this point the event closes. The tail walker also acts as an extra safety person.
Cara Fordyce
Head of Event Delivery & Support, parkrun South Africa
8. Printed Barcodes Only
Across South Africa we process around 50,000 results per week, with another 200,000+ added around the world. Key to our success in this is keeping things as simple as possible and insisting that parkrunners bring a printed barcode (paper, plastic cards, or wristbands) with them if they wish to be recorded.
Whilst most people understand the need for our ‘no barcode, no time’ rule, we regularly find volunteers being asked to scan from mobile devices. We felt it would be helpful therefore to clarify our reasons for not accepting any form of digital barcode.
Chris Sutton
Tech Support Ambassador, parkrun South Africa
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