appointment, SIFF volunteer meeting

This morning, "J" and I had an appointment. Traffic was very light; I suppose it was too early for most people to be out on a weekend. With the light traffic, we could enjoy the sunshine. Traffic was light on the return trip too. The place we went was practically empty, and the people we met were dressed more casually than during the week. The appointment itself went smoothly.

SIFF volunteer meeting

After the appointment, we went to the SIFF volunteer meeting at the Uptown. The main theater – about 500 seats – was packed to standing room only. J got there ahead of me while I looked for parking, and later told me I missed a cool short film. As I arrived, volunteer coordinators for various departments made their pitches for volunteers during the festival.

The best pitch was by someone from the Special Events Coordinator. She started her pitch by saying, "I have a spotlight— and a microphone— and I want to sing! But I can't sing." After pausing for laughs, she continued, explaining that her department was responsible for running the parties during the festival.

After hearing the assorted pitches, the "Guest Relations" department sounded interesting to both of us. It includes two main jobs: concierge and driver. A concierge acts as concierge for out-of-town (and often international) guest of the festival, answering guests' questions about the festival itself, as well as Seattle tourism questions. (The W Hotel, which donates lodging for festival guests, has its own concierges for Seattle tourism questions, but the SIFF concierges are supposed to be SIFF guests' first point of contact.) Drivers transport guests between the airport, the hotel, and SIFF screening and party venues. Because they're driving expensive cars lent to the festival by Brotherton Cadillac, they have to have clean driving records.

Guest Relations had its sign-up area in the smallest theater room. I signed up for both concierge and driving. J had signed up as a concierge last year, so she may not have needed to sign up again, but just in case I filled her name in on the form for that.

Also, I talked to the information services manager, and asked whether she has any jobs. She said they've mostly handled that sort of work through donations from computer businesses and consultants, but she was interested. I might have to study a bit to be useful as a volunteer, but it would be nice to contribute a skill that's more scarce than driving a Cadillac.

We don't really need to serve as volunteers, since our passes get us into just about everything anyway. But we'll still get vouchers for the volunteer work, which we can give to friends who don't have passes.

When we got home, we were pretty exhausted, and took a nap. During the rest of the day, we enjoyed the nice weather mostly by looking out the window at it, because we have indoor business to deal with. For dinner we had lazy food: frozen pizza from yesterday's Costco run.