Volunteer Opportunities
In an effort to more effectively involve the Members that wish to volunteer, The Board has identified a list of specific positions, projects or activities where their time and expertise can directly benefit The Society.
- Transcribe audio interviews - some interviews were conducted with artists at the Dutch Mason Festival last summer and we would like to convert these to text for publication in the Bluezine and on the web site. No skill required really other than being able to create a Word document.
- Bluezine desktop publishing – this could be a good job for a student looking to gain experience in this area. This would require a regular weekly commitment as we publish the Bluezine on a weekly schedule, ideally by Wednesday of each week. Somebody with above average computer skills (able to create complex Word documents from scratch or Powerpoint presentations, manipulate graphic files, etc.) would be ideal for this. Alternatively, we can explore a strategy to migrate this to an HTML newsletter format where we might use a third part newsletter service in place of the Bluezine pdf.
- Compile weekly Bluezine listings – this requires someone who can use a spreadsheet and do basic web surfing. This would require a regular weekly commitment as we publish the Bluezine on a weekly schedule, ideally by Wednesday of each week.
- The “Gary Castle” project – the ECBS has received a cache of older (90’s era?) pictures along with some memorabilia which we would like to catalog and present for all to see. There’s a lot of creative work we could do with this and it will also require someone with some computer skills to scan and archive all these pictures.
- Youtube channel – the ECBS would like to start a Youtube channel where we can publish videos of local performances we capture in order to highlight the scene going on around the area. This is something media arts students might be willing to volunteer for to gain experience. It would be desirable to record videos with decent quality audio and video, on tripods to avoid shaky videos. There would be a few basic parts to this project; recording the performances, editing/uploading the video to YouTube, maintaining the YouTube channel and then the social media aspect of distributing the videos through social media circles. A similar thing could be done for event photos as well.
- CD Reviewers - reviews would be published in the Bluezine and on web site. People who know about Blues, are creative, and enjoy writing would be ideal for this task..
- Webmaster – we now have an easy to use web platform which makes maintaining and enhancing the web site easy but it still takes time and creative energy to create new content for the web site and keep it fresh. Unique content will help drive traffic to the site. With training (to be provided), someone with average to above average computer skills would have the capability to do this.
- Social Media profiles – We are Music Nova Scotia members which allows us to create a profile on their site to help promote East Coast Blues. The CBC Music web site is another site where we should create an online profile. There are many other social media sites we could build profiles on to help promote East Coast Blues. A strategy and an implementation plan would have to be devised. Someone familiar with social media would be ideal for this.
- Event volunteers – The ECBS is currently running a weekly Saturday afternoon event at The Split Crow in Bedford, NS from 3-7PM. We can always use volunteers to come out and help us sell T-Shirts, memberships, 50/50 tickets, etc.
- Do you have any thoughts or ideas where you would like to help out? Talk to us.
Please speak to one of the Board members at the AGM if you are interested in helping out or if you have any questions. You can also email Dale Schimpf at info@eastcoastblues.ca