JoCo Cruise Helpers

Ways to be a Helper aboard the JoCo Cruise 2024

JoCo Cruise Helpers stand at the center of what we most value as a community. JoCo Cruise is a big, big event, and our Helpers give their time and energy to support both a boat full of enthusiastic (and occasionally overwhelmed) attendees and the enthusiastic (and also often overwhelmed) THO. Our Helper Squad ensures that first-timers as well as veteran JoCo Cruise attendees have the best possible time on our beloved Nerd Boat! They help monitor events, staff the Info Desk, sell artist merch at shows, and a ton of other tasks. Helping makes some folks happy, and we’re immensely grateful for it.

JoCo Cruise has many, many activities and ways to enjoy yourself. (Maybe too many!) For that reason, Helper opportunities are only open to returning attendees who have already had a chance to explore the event and understand how they like to enjoy themselves. If it’s your first year, the best way that YOU can help is by having the best time you can and meeting new people. Being a welcoming, kind person makes everyone’s cruise better!

Because of their high visibility, Helpers should take extra care to read, understand, respect, and abide by the JoCo Cruise Code of Conduct. Due to the sensitive nature of any Code of Conduct reports or issues, Helpers must immediately escalate any Code of Conduct issues that are reported to them, and work hard to be helpful but not personally engage with or attempt to resolve any Code of Conduct issues. JoCo Cruise has official positions dedicated to handling Code of Conduct-related concerns.

Helpers must abide by the Code of Conduct at all times.

*NOTE: per above, we do not utilize first-time cruisers as Helpers. We appreciate first-timers’ willingness to help out, but it’s important to us that people on their first JoCo Cruise spend that time enjoying and familiarizing themselves with the event and the community.

Ways to be a Helper

Embarkation

Help first-time attendees during the embarkation process! We’re looking for veteran cruisers who understand the ins and outs of cruise ship life and who can direct first-timers to the appropriate resources when they have questions. Your total time commitment will be about two hours.

There are a few ways to help with this:

In The Terminal

10-12 needed
They will:
  • Hand out/explain Friendshipping Buttons
  • Hand out swag
  • Help with line management/crowd control if things get crowded

ONBOARD The SHIP

10-12 needed
They will:
  • Hand out Lanyards
  • Hand out Badges
  • Help with Sharpies and Tape
  • Help with line management/crowd control if things get crowded

Decor SetUp

A part of the fun of JoCo Cruise is that we take over the whole ship, and are able to decorate it as we like! There’s a short amount of time to get everything set up on the first day. We will ask that you unpack and prep decor items on the first day. Your total time commitment will be roughly two hours.

6-8+ Needed
THEY WILL:
  • Collect decor staging materials
  • Blow up any inflatable decorations
  • Secure inflatable decorations with 3M strips and monofilament
  • Assemble cardboard standees (Waves & Tentacles go in the Atrium on the main deck, Robot & Willy Wonka locations are TBD)
  • Hang posters and vinyl clings (designated areas will be assigned as we get closer to the day)
  • Non-destructively break down and store packing supplies for future use

GENERAL SetUp SUPPORT

We unpack a lot of stuff in a short amount of time on the first day and could use some support to make sure that everything is where it’s supposed to be. We will ask that you check in with our team onboard and then check in on whatever venues need eyeballs or support. Your total time commitment will be roughly two hours.

4+ Needed
They will:
  • Act as ‘runners’ checking on different areas of the ship, and making sure that needed items are delivered to the correct locations.

Dinner Host

Our dinner seating process allows everyone to select their own table. This can be overwhelming for some, so we have some tables reserved specifically for folks looking for a welcoming place to sit! We will ask that you get to dinner 5 minutes early, and be comfortable initiating conversation and reaching out to people who seem like they could use a seat! Your total time commitment will be the length of a dinner plus a few extra minutes.

24 Needed
They will:
  • Host a reserved dinner table for new attendees who want to make new friends!
  • Enjoy dinner and keep the conversation flowing
  • Be available during dinner seating for the first few nights to help answer any questions folks have about how dinner seating works

Peer Reporting Organization Worker (PROW)

People may experience situations onboard that do not rise to the level of a Code of Conduct concern but do impact their JoCo Cruise experience in a meaningful way, and THO wants to know about these experiences. The PROW role is designed to be a friendly and comfortable point of contact that will collect details about these experiences and report them to THO. The information you gather about concerns or problems that we might not otherwise be aware of will help us create improvements in future sailings.

As a member of the PROW team, you will help improve the effectiveness and specificity of individual attendee feedback by working with your peers to collect feedback about their experiences into a daily report for THO to review and/or address.

This role is not involved in issue resolution, and attendees may provide you with reports they wish to share with THO for information only. Should a Code of Conduct issue arise it should be escalated to the Ships Listener via the standard process (calling or completing the form).

It is also our hope that you’ll be able to help people make their positive experiences and successes visible to us and to other community members. We need to know what is working for communities as a whole and for individuals within communities. You will also function as a collector of positive experiences that community members wish to share. We know you’ll make us PROWd.

10-12 Needed from a variety of communities and lived experiences
They will:
  • Be a point of contact for their community, identify themselves as a peer and a member of their community with their own lived experience
  • Report concerns to Thera Heller daily and escalate as needed
  • Attend events relevant to your community and be in online community spaces when possible
  • Let community members know how, when, and in what spaces they will be available to collect experiences, concerns, and successes 
  • Attend a call post-sailing to discuss how this position worked for you and themes you’ve identified from the community members and community groups you worked with

Positive Post-It Team

Small anonymous letters of joy, support, and love posted around the ship throughout the sailing are a lovely part of the experience. We’ll supply the post-its and pens, you supply the positivity.

3-6 Needed
They will:
  • Spread good vibes
  • Have a great time

Anti-Gravity Derby Helper

The Anti-Gravity Derby is a great time! We need Help moving furniture out of the way of both the Landing Zone as well as the Drop Zone, organizing the competitors, and then moving furniture back.

4-6 Needed
They will:
  • Assist with crowd control
  • Move some tables and chairs before the event starts and replace them when it’s over
  • Help keep track of who should compete next

Special Events and General Assistance Helper

We’re always planning new and exciting things to do on each JoCo Cruise, and we often need some helping hands with them. We will ask that you handle crowd control, explain rules, and generally act as a person who knows what’s going on. It won’t really be an act, we’ll tell you in advance what is happening, what the rules are, and specifically what help we would like from you. Your time commitment will be between one and two hours during one event.

8-10 Needed
They will:
  • Assist with crowd control
  • Understand the scope and rules of the event as explained to them in advance, and be able to answer any questions based on that information
  • Other duties as assigned! (it won’t be anything strenuous and we won’t make you do anything you aren’t comfortable with)

Pinball Wizard

JoCo Cruise is once again adding to the fun by bringing some pinball machines onboard. If you have a working knowledge of how to perform basic pinball machine repairs and are willing to be on call for support as needed, we sure could use your help. You would check in with the Info Desk twice a day to see if any issues have been reported, and use your skills as needed.

3 Needed
They will:
  • Check-in to see if there are reported issues with Pinball machines
  • Repair things
  • Perform basic maintenance on arcade cabinets as needed

Moderation Support

Twit-arr is a fun part of our cruise, allowing conversations, jokes, and planning to happen in the appropriate forums (Twit-arr will no longer have a main feed). Since this is a virtual space it does require some moderation. Moderators allow the community to thrive in a positive manner, and ensure that our updated Twit-arr Guidelines and Code of Conduct are being followed. We will ask that you take time during your assigned shift to review any flagged messages, respond to concerns, and work with the other mods and assigned support staff to resolve or escalate issues as needed. You will have access to moderator tools within Twit-arr and will function within a team. No one will need to make a difficult decision alone, and the monitoring of adult content is optional.

12-16 Needed
They will:
  • Help maintain a positive flow of conversation in the various forums
  • Review any flagged or reported messages
  • Point posters to appropriate resolution pathways as needed
  • Work with JoCo Staff as well as the other members of the team to resolve issues

Craft Room Helper

Craft Room Helpers bring their mad craft skills to the seas, helping teach skills and showing folks how to use the tools of their trade in the craft room. They coordinate with our wonderful Craft Room team in advance and the craft room schedule determines their time commitment.

Pack-Up Support

Packing up all of our supplies, games, offices, arcade cabinets, tchotchkes, and every single item we need to make JoCo Cruise magical is a huge effort. We could use some help with things like counting inventory, taking down signs, and making sure that our staff has tape (we use a LOT of tape). As the saying goes, many hands make light work. Your total time commitment will be about two hours.

We will need up to 30 pack-up support helpers in the following ways:
Arcade Pack-up
2-4 Needed

We need to carefully move the Arcade Cabinets to pallets and strap them down! If you know how to use ratchet straps, are able to help with lifting and using dollies, and wouldn’t mind going belowdecks we could use your help. This does happen while we’re at Half Moon Cay, so you would miss some opportunities for beach time. You will also need to wear close-toed shoes, follow JoCo Cruise and HAL instructions, and only enter crew-only areas with an escort.

Console Gaming Pack-up
2-4 Needed

Our pals from World 9 Gaming could use some assistance packing up the amazing array of consoles they bring onboard. If you’re detail-oriented, comfortable with cable management, and willing to take direction we could use your help. This does happen while we’re at Half Moon Cay, so you would miss some opportunities for beach time.

Decor Pack-up
4-6 Helpers

A part of the fun of JoCo Cruise is that we take over the whole ship, and are able to decorate it as we like! There’s a short amount of time to get everything packed up on the final day. This may include rebuilding boxes, removing adhesives from decor, and making note of any damaged items. We will ask that you locate, gather, and pack decor items on the final day. This does happen while we’re at Half Moon Cay, so you would miss some opportunities for beach time.

Sign Pack-up
6-8 Needed

We sure do have a lot of signs and banners posted around the ship, don’t we? We could use some help carefully removing them from the ship and delivering them to the Hudson Room on the final day. You’ll be provided with a list of locations and sent out to retrieve our signs so that we can use them again on the next cruise!

THO Pack-up
4-6 Helpers

We have teams in a lot of places during pack-up and could use help from people who are willing to get supplies to teams in need, sort or count items so that we know what we’re packing up, help us disassemble shelves and reassemble boxes, and be available for whatever other support may be needed.

VOLUNTEERING TO BE A HELPER 

If, after reviewing the descriptions above, you’d like to join the 2024 Helper ranks, please fill out our handy Helper Submission Form. (The form will prompt you to log into your JoCo Cruise User Account if necessary.)

Reminder: we do not utilize first-time cruisers as Helpers. We appreciate first-timers’ willingness to help out, but it’s important to us that people on their first JoCo Cruise spend that time enjoying and getting familiar with the event and the community.

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