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Welcome New Volunteers!

Hello! Thank you for being a volunteer at Further Confusion. We’re glad to have you on board!

Getting hired

After you fill out your staff application, you should receive an email that verifies that we have your correct email address. You’ll need to click the link in that email to proceed. After that, our staff will review that everything looks good and confirm your hire, and you’ll receive an email from us with your “coupon code” for discounted registration. If available, we can also work with you to move your reservation to our “staff block”. If you don’t receive an email verification within a few minutes (check your spam filter), or if you haven’t heard from us within a week or so after verifying your email, let us know at hr@furtherconfusion.org and we can check up on your application.

Attending meetings

There’s no need to wait for confirmation before you start attending meetings: Our meetings are open to the public, and the schedule is posted on our volunteer page. We also livestream the meetings whenever possible, so you should be able to attend remotely. Meetings are not mandatory, but please keep in touch with your lead, and make sure you understand your responsibilities. If you have any questions about your role or responsibilities, and have already asked your lead (or do not know who your lead is), email hr@ or chair@ and we can make sure we give you the answer you need.

Playbook, Groups, and Email

Because Further Confusion uses Google Apps for management, you’ll need to log in with a Google Account matching your email address in order to access the Playbook and Groups. This does not require that you use Gmail, or create a Gmail address; it just gives you a login and password that Google Sites and Google Groups can use. (However, if you do use Gmail, then you definitely already have an account and do not need to create one.)

Our long-lived wiki-style information site is called the FC Playbook, and is available through playbook.furcon.org. Most pages are available to all staff immediately after they are hired. If you see a page that needs updating, please contact your lead or exec. If you expect to regularly add or update information, we can add you as an editor to that page.

In addition, you can see which mailing lists you’re on by visiting groups.google.com/a/furtherconfusion.org. You can browse the forums there to see messages that you might have missed, or (in some cases) to reply to messages from the list itself without sharing your personal email address. That interface will also let you leave groups, but be warned: Access to the Playbook and other services works through group membership, so if you’d rather not get messages from a group you’re in, please consider simply turning them off rather than leaving the group.

Most of our staff members do not require a separate furtherconfusion.org email address, unless you regularly expect to work with outside organizations or contacts. If this is a part of your role, please talk with your lead, and we can get you switched over to an appropriate email address.

Slack, Twitter, and Telegram

Separate from Google Apps, we use the chat service Slack. Once you are hired, you should receive an invitation to create an account on our Slack page, furcon.slack.com. Though email is still the official and primary communication format for FC staff, Slack also exists for more immediate communication. Please prefer Slack over other communication formats (Skype, Telegram, WhatsApp, etc): We know that preferences vary from person to person, and having one official option lets leads jump in when needed without requiring them to have different apps for each departments’ preferences.

Though they aren’t as important for staff communication, interested staffers may also want to check out our official Twitter feed for public announcements, or may want to see the unofficial FC Telegram chat. As always, when interacting with social media and chats, please be mindful to check with your lead before officially representing convention opinions or rules: As an FC staff member, you may find that the community looks to your posts to represent FC’s official opinion, even when you’re not intending to do so. Please recognize that responsibility and be careful with your posts.

What to do at con

When you arrive at con, you can proceed to Con Ops to sign in and pick up your volunteer badge. This will get you wherever you need to go in con space; you can then optionally stop by the regular registration line when it is uncrowded. Remember to stay fed and hydrated! Your staff duties are important, but your health is more so. Many paws make for lighter work – your fellow staff members are there to help.

Thanks again!

Remember, if you have any questions, please send them along to your lead or to hr@ or chair@. Hope to see you around meetings and at the con!