Be Our Guest
By: Nicole Eaton, Charlotte Communications & Marketing
Smiling faces, front porches, information tables and those bright blue vests — this is the recipe for great hospitality.
This week, Charlotte opened its doors to thousands of elected officials for the 2017 National League of Cities (NLC) City Summit. To pull off this event, the city recruited its employees to volunteer and welcome attendees. At the heart of the volunteer operations are volunteer coordinators Alicia Dasch (Office of Strategy & Budget) and Susan Elkins (City Manager’s Office.)
“I love planning events and when I heard the NLC City Summit was coming to Charlotte, I volunteered immediately.” Says Alicia. Susan also jumped on the opportunity immediately. Both landed roles coordinating volunteers for the event; an essential part of the conference.
The NLC City Summit is the largest national conference for city leaders — elected, appointed and staff. It’s a chance for officials to learn best practices across the country, collaborate with other leaders and network. Charlotte started planning the event about a year ago. A core team organized logistics, marketing, programming, transportation, entertainment and of course, volunteers. As the host city, it’s also a celebration of Charlotte and what the city offers its residents.
This week, there are about 200 employees assisting with the conference. They all have different roles and come from various city departments, but all are willing to help and do something outside of their daily responsibilities.
“This is a great group of people. You get to see people you may not work with on a daily basis and you get to see people outside of their normal job roles. It’s a lot of fun.” — Susan Elkins, Assistant to the City Manager, City Manager’s Office.
From setup to stuffing bags to greeting attendees, the volunteers do it all. Volunteers are the first face many attendees will see. Most of the attendees are used to having people around them and guiding them, which is a role the volunteers can play. Volunteers are stationed at the airport, uptown hotels and the convention center. They are there to welcome attendees, answer questions and provide information. Other volunteers assist with registration, stuffing bags, setup, special events, mobile tours and so much more.
“When you walk down the Convention Center Hall, you’ll see blue vests everywhere,” says Alicia. “And each person in a blue vest is assisting someone and that’s great to see.”
What are these blue vests? The blue vest is the essential volunteer uniform. Add some buttons and you have a very recognizable source of information. Attendees know they can ask anyone in a blue vest for assistance. The vest is also something the volunteers can use after the conference. The vests don’t say NLC Volunteer, but instead have the city logo. For many volunteers, the vest is acceptable to wear to work after the conference is over.
Another great perk for volunteers is the opportunity to attend general sessions and network with other city leaders. When they are not volunteering, they can learn about various topics and get inspired by various speakers. Also, volunteers learn other skills from volunteering and it’s a chance to develop skills such as event planning, customer service and much more.
When they are not organizing a national conference, Alicia and Susan have been dedicated to the City of Charlotte.
Alicia works as a strategy and budget analyst. She works on the council business agendas, advises on strategy and budget to the Planning and Transportation departments and manages the Public Art Ordinance. Her favorite part about the city is the good work they do for the community, but also the people she works with. Alicia says “We’re so lucky to have such talented people working for the city. It’s like a family.”
Susan is the assistant to the city manager. She manages calendars, travel and logistics for the city manager and provides administrative assistance. You’ll also see Susan working on events and special programs like the NLC and the annual employee awards, The GOVies. She’s been with the city for over 18 years and loves being in the middle of everything and interacting with people.
This conference could not work without Alicia, Susan and the hundreds of city volunteers. The volunteers have gone above and beyond. They work hard, take on additional shifts and constantly ask what else they can do.
“Thank you to all of the volunteers and the planning team. They have represented Charlotte well.” — Alicia Dasch, Strategy & Budget Analyst, Office of Strategy & Budget.
Also, here’s a shout out to the NLC City Summit planning team:
Randy Harrington
Terry Bradley
Kymberly Brantigan
Hannah Bromberger
Alban Burney
Beth Butler
David Christopher
Alicia Dasch
Susan Elkins
Traci Ethridge
Dawn Hill
Wilson Hooper
Peggy Huffman
Rhonda Jackson
Gwen Jenkins
Stephanie Kelly
Donna Murrell
Kimberly Oliver
Gina Shell
Lacey Williams
