If you have come to any edition of HackUPC, you may have noticed that the staff is divided in two groups, who wear different T-shirts: organisers and volunteers. The organisers work all year long to design a fantastic experience for the hackers, but we wouldn’t be able to bring it to life without the volunteers: people who come during the weekend to help us manage everything that needs to be done, be it setting up the classrooms, serving food, guiding people where they need to go…
Volunteers usually are students from the campus who come with their friends to help us, while having a good time and learning how an event like ours is set up. However, as they only come those three days, they don’t know which are our plans and what needs to be done at which time. And that’s where the Staff department comes in: they are in charge of recruiting the volunteers, teaching them everything they need to know, and managing all the team (including the other organisers!) during the event so that everything goes well. It is one of the departments who work harder those days.
To know more about their work and their tasks, Ferja and Xavi have answered some questions.
Why did you want to be organisers of HackUPC?
Ferja: As soon as I learnt about HackUPC, I wanted to be a part of it, so I applied as a volunteer. After two editions volunteering I decided to take an interview to be an organiser and know about the insides of HackUPC.
How long have you been organisers?
Ferja: This will be my second edition as an organiser.
Which have been your favourite moments here?
Ferja: To me, the best thing is meeting people before and during the hackathon. When we’re in the process of organising it, I like to know my organiser mates better, but the event is a great occasion to meet hackers and volunteers.
Xavi: As a volunteer in the past edition, my favourite moment was discovering HackUPC, meeting new people and living a hackathon in person. As an organiser I hope that from this year on many good moments will appear!
What differences have you seen between attending a hackathon as a hacker and organising it?
Ferja: When you’re a hacker, everything is easier; you’re the priority of the hackathon and everyone wants you to feel good and comfy. When you’re an organiser it’s the same but in reverse: you have to make the hackers feel good and comfy.
Xavi: The main difference to me is the role you play; as Ferja has said, the hacker goes with the flow of the event, but the organiser is in charge of making it possible, as they have a deeper knowledge of the hackathon.
You are in the Staff department. What is exactly your job?
Ferja: We make sure that during the event there’s coordination between the internal teams and with the volunteer team, as we’re in charge of managing them and explaining to them what has to be done.
Xavi: We make sure that all tasks are done, focusing on the ones that involve volunteers, and ensure that communication between organisers and the volunteer team is as smooth as possible, to create an unforgettable experience for the hacker.
What do you like about working in Staff?
Ferja: The thing that I like the most is the opportunity to meet and be in contact with people who want to work and enjoy the event.
What do you look for in volunteers?
Ferja: We look for people who understand the HackUPC spirit, who have a working attitude but also have fun during the event.
Xavi: Eagerness, a working attitude, and responsibility.
Which are the most enjoyable moments of your work?
Ferja: The most satisfactory moments are found during the hackathon, when you see that everything is going as you expected after working on it during months. It is even better to hear hackers saying that the event was great. It fills you with energy for the rest of the year to keep working and organise a new edition.
Do you manage other things apart from volunteers?
Ferja: Well, we also need to have a deep knowledge of the inner workings of the hackathon and every department, as we have to ensure that every task during the weekend is carried out correctly and that everything works as predicted.
Xavi: We need to know what’s happening in all the departments where volunteers are needed to help during the hackathon if it’s needed.
How do you organise everything during the event?
Ferja: The volunteer team is divided in four subteams, and all the tasks are spread out between them equally, by area. We also have a rough schedule of what will happen during the hackathon to be prepared in every moment. However, there’s always some inconvenience or unexpected event that makes us improvise.
Finally, tell us a funny moment in the hackathons you have already organised.
Ferja: In the last edition, after waking up from a nap everyone was laughing and saying to me, “You look so handsome in the photos, Ferja!”. I didn’t know what they were talking about until I asked Edgar, our photographer, and he showed me all of the pictures he took of me while I was sleeping!
If being a volunteer sounds good to you, you can apply now! There’s no such thing as too much help, and everyone is welcome. The Staff department will be very grateful!
Meet the team is a series of posts that tries to show the kind of people who are behind a big event like HackUPC and the work that’s required to bring it to life. You can read the rest here: Logistics, Sponsorship and Finance, HackerXperience, New faces, Webdev, Design and Photography, Directors, Marketing
