WARNING: Outdated! The information on this page is outdated for Abunai! 2012. Please check back when the registration are opened for more (correct) information!

		Help Us! Every year we are in desperate need of people who are willing to help us out during the convention as a gopher. Read this page to see how you can help us.

We need your help!

So you are someone who enjoys watching anime, you have decided that you are going to visit the next Abunai!, and you want to help us out. That's great! Each year we have need of volunteers to help us out at the Abunai! convention. Without volunteers, there would not even be a convention at all! As a volunteer you get some great perks, and you are able to interact with a fun group of people who share the same interest.

What do you have to do?

As a volunteer, also known as a 'Gopher', you will have to be able to help us out a few hours a day (starting from 12 hours spread over the entire weekend up to how much you would like) at the time of the convention. There are different shifts you can choose from, so that you can do something suitable for you.

The shifts, which can consist of:

• Cloakroom shift: You will have to hang up coats/bags from the visitors, and give them back when the visitors come back for it. You won't be having this shift alone, so you can always talk to somebody.
• Event shift: With this shift, you will be asked to help out at the events. For example, you could be handing out pencils and paper to people in a manga drawing lesson, or you could be helping people make cosplay props.
• Register shift: With this shift, you have to stand at the entrance and help the customers check in. Especially busy during the first few hours on Friday and Saturday, shifts are rarely given outside these times so you won't be sitting there doing nothing for hours.
• Infodesk shift:If you've been to the convention before, you might have noticed the desk with helpful gophers answering your questions, usually in a central location. Opening hours, bus information, event locations, we will try to have the answer to every question ready here. And as a gopher stationed behind the desk, it'll be your task to give this info to the visitors who need it. Usually also functions as the 'lost and found' stash.
• Video room shift: This is where you help out the Video room with technical difficulties. Mainly you will have to keep the videos running and watch/guard the video room. The Technical Staff will handle the rest themselves.
• Games room shift: Most of the security-related tasks will be done by security gophers and gamesroom staff / supergophers. Gamesroom shifts will consist mostly of helping out with / during competitions.
• General: There will probably be smaller tasks, one or two shifts over the entire weekend. This could be anything the Abunai! staff, or maybe even location (Regardz) staff needs help with. Don't worry: especially if this requires heavy lifting or standing still for a long time, we will find a person suited for this job.

The security gophers, also known as 'stewards' by most, will be managed by a separate manager and get extra steward meetings. They are responsible for:

• Security: Sometimes you will be asked to have an eye on the dealer room or other busy places. This could mean that you have to make sure there aren't too many people in the room at the same time. This could also mean you have to make sure that nobody steals anything. To prevent total chaos in long and busy lines (Cosplay Compo, for instance) stewards also handle crowd control. Basically you are checking if people are following the rules. At times people don't understand or know all the rules, in which case you might be called upon to explain them. Don't worry about size or strength: you won't be asked to wrestle those who don't listen to the ground. If things really get out of hand, we've got the police on speed-dial.

Also, all Gophers are expected to attend a meeting before the actual convention. One meeting will be on the Thursday before the con (26th of August, at the convention location). We will try to schedule another one 1 or 2 weeks before the convention on a Saturday afternoon (14th or 21st of August). Next to giving you a lot of important information, this is also to see how many people are actually willing to help us out. In past years, we have regrettably had people signing up as a gopher, but never showing up. On this meeting you will be trained a bit and you will be shown how the convention actually works. This is also a great opportunity to get to know the people you will be working with for 3 days.

What do you get in return?

Apart from the socialising you get when working in a team of volunteers, you also get some other great perks when helping us out! For example, if you did your job you will get your ticket cost refunded! Also, you will receive a unique Abunai! T-shirt! There's a room for all of the crew (including the staff) where they can hang out, rest up, or get something to eat/drink. Gophers can also get early access to the dealerroom before it opens to the visitors (well, we'll do our best). We will even try to arrange free seats for gophers who can't wait in line for popular events (Cosplay Compo and AMV Compo, most notoriously) because they have a shift right before the event starts. But that's still not all! We also have a little get-together some time after the convention, to show our appreciation for the volunteers!

How do you sign up?

Actually, signing up is easy! When you register online for the convention, you can also check the part "Help us as Gophers" (for wannabe-stewards, there's also an option for that). Sometime after the registration, you will get to fill in an extra form with questions about you gophering called the "(Gopher) Preferences Form" (which will usually be abbreviated as GPF to prevent RSI).

If you already registered, but forgot to check the box (or didn't decide to gopher until later), you should be able to simply go back and edit your registration. The checkbox that says you want to gopher should be at the bottom of the page that also lists your registered tickets, hotelroom, dinner and other goodies. After that, it's simply a matter of patience!

If you find yourself unable to register, we might have closed the gopher registration. More info on this, when it happens, should be available on the forum (read below).

Questions?

Maybe you can find the answer in the Gopher FAQ or the FAQ on the forums. If not please send your question to using our contact form, or ask around in the appropriate forum. You are sure to get an answer as soon as possible!