Hi everyone,
Every fall, BU plays host to one of the biggest and most prestigious conferences on language acquisition in the world, Boston University Conference on Language Development, taking place in the GSU Thursday, November 7th to Sunday, November 10th. This is an incredible opportunity for you in be involved in the largest student-run language development conference in the world!
I am emailing to ask if you would like to volunteer (you receive FREE admission with 4-6 hours of volunteer work). If so, please reply to this e-mail so that I can mark you down as a definite volunteer. In the coming weeks, I will be sending a form of some kind for people to sign up for available times. Keep in mind that if you wish to see a particular presentation that you don't commit to volunteering at that time. A list of presenters is available here: http://www.bu.edu/bucld/. If you have already said you wanted to volunteer and have not yet received a similar e-mail to this one, PLEASE e-mail me as some e-mails did not go through.
A short description of each of the available volunteer tasks is provided below. I will be giving out jobs based on availability once everyone fills out the form in the next few weeks.
If you have questions about volunteering, please don't hesitate to contact me directly. If you know of someone that is interested on volunteering from your institution or department, please have them e-mail me at vidall(a)bu.edu<mailto:vidall@bu.edu>.
Volunteer Opportunities
Handbook copyediting
Several volunteers will be needed about two weeks or so before the conference to check the final draft of the conference handbook for errors before it is sent to print.
Folder assembling work party
Shortly before the conference, volunteers gather to assemble the folder of materials – nametags, handbook, etc. – that will be given to each person attending the conference. This usually takes less than 2 hours and is a decidedly social event. A date for the work party will be set in October.
Registration desk
We need students to staff the welcome and registration area at the conference, and to greet and register delegates as they arrive and help provide general orientation to the conference site. This requires a short training session.
Session Chairs
Session chairs work during the conference. In a team of 2-3 volunteers, Session chairs are responsible for the following tasks:
1) Introduce speakers
2) Monitor the timing of each talk
3) Oversee that the talk runs smoothly, and contact one of the conference organizers if help is needed.
Book Exhibit
The Book Exhibit volunteers will supervise a table of books sent by a Publisher. The volunteers will make sure the table is kept organized, and answer questions that conference attendees might have about the books. This information about the books will be provided to you upon arrival at the conference.
Thank you for your interest and for making it all the way to the end!
—
Lee-Ann Vidal Covas
PhD Student, Linguistics
Volunteer Chair, BUCLD 44
vidall(a)bu.edu<mailto:vidall@bu.edu>
She/her/hers
