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Join Us

What is TechOps?
TechOps is short for ‘Technical Operations’ (also known as ‘Technical Services’) for Dragon*Con, an annual Sci-fi & Fantasy convention in Atlanta, Georgia USA. Dragon*Con occurs annually over Labor Day weekend (typically the first weekend of September).

What does TechOps do at Dragon*Con?
Our department is responsible for setting up, breaking down, repairing, moving, and running sound, lights, and general A/V equipment for the entire convention. We work HARD - a minimum of 25 hours during the convention - and many of us work extra hours to make sure things run smoothly during the convention. When we do our job right the crowds barely notice there’ve been any glitches.

Please note: We do not generally work with computer software, hardware, or networking at the Convention. Many of our volunteers do so for a living.

More information about being a Volunteer is on the main Dragon*Con page at their Volunteers Page

Things you must have to work on TechOps:

Good work ethic
Ability to work well with others
Ability to work 25 hours during the convention
A can-do attitude
Common Sense
An intense burning geekiness
Drive to go above and beyond
Capability to lift and carry a max of 20 lbs of equipment from time to time
Be able to follow verbal directions
Be willing to ask for help or clarifications

Specific skills we are looking for in new staffers:

Previous stage crew experience
Previous A/V skills
Crowd management skills
Logistics
Audio (soundboards)
Stage lighting
Small A/V (Move & set up televisions, projectors, screens, DVD players, VCRs, Betamax, etc.)

Other helpful abilities:

Be cool, logical, and organized under pressure
Be able to juggle multiple “I need this now!” requests at once
Be cool, logical, and organized under pressure (did we say that already?)
Have good people-herding skills

Things you can expect from TechOps:

Meet new people & make new friends
Share in the satisfaction of helping run Dragon*Con
An astounding amount of fun

When we work:
TechOps starts loading in equipment on both Wednesday and Thursday before the convention and we breakdown equipment on Monday as the final panels complete in any given room (Main Programming or Track Room). As a volunteer, you would not be required to work both load-in and load-out, but it is a major task and we need as many people as possible to help out with both of these.

After load-in is complete, our department runs from about 6P Thursday for the concerts until load-out is finished on Monday evening. We need early morning, mid-day, AND late night people.

When you apply to work on TechOps, please list your experience. We do not always have open positions, but we can sometimes make exceptions for those with special qualifications.

How to apply:
Send an email to help [at] techops [dot] net with a brief introduction and list any relevant skills. That email will create a helpdesk ticket. You’ll get a response from one of our staffers that will include a link to our waitlist which will ask you more specific questions. Once you know if you’ve been approved to join us or not, we’ll guide you through the rest of the steps which will get you into our database (which is completely separate from the official Dragon*Con Volunteer database).

If you can, come to the next Dragon*Con staff meeting. There are usually three in the months leading up to Dragon*Con. Introduce yourself. Tech staffers generally hang out at the back of the room. We’re hard to miss.


	Join Us What is TechOps? TechOps is short for ‘Technical Operations’ (also known as ‘Technical Services’) for DragonCon, an annual Sci-fi & Fantasy convention in Atlanta, Georgia USA. DragonCon occurs annually over Labor Day weekend (typically the first weekend of September). *What does TechOps do at DragonCon?** Our department is responsible for setting up, breaking down, repairing, moving, and running sound, lights, and general A/V equipment for the entire convention. We work HARD - a minimum of 25 hours during the convention - and many of us work extra hours to make sure things run smoothly during the convention. When we do our job right the crowds barely notice there’ve been any glitches. Please note: We do not generally work with computer software, hardware, or networking at the Convention. Many of our volunteers do so for a living. More information about being a Volunteer is on the main DragonCon page at their Volunteers Page Things you must have to work on TechOps:* Good work ethic Ability to work well with others Ability to work 25 hours during the convention A can-do attitude Common Sense An intense burning geekiness Drive to go above and beyond Capability to lift and carry a max of 20 lbs of equipment from time to time Be able to follow verbal directions Be willing to ask for help or clarifications Specific skills we are looking for in new staffers: Previous stage crew experience Previous A/V skills Crowd management skills Logistics Audio (soundboards) Stage lighting Small A/V (Move & set up televisions, projectors, screens, DVD players, VCRs, Betamax, etc.) Other helpful abilities: Be cool, logical, and organized under pressure Be able to juggle multiple “I need this now!” requests at once Be cool, logical, and organized under pressure (did we say that already?) Have good people-herding skills Things you can expect from TechOps: Meet new people & make new friends Share in the satisfaction of helping run DragonCon An astounding amount of fun When we work:* TechOps starts loading in equipment on both Wednesday and Thursday before the convention and we breakdown equipment on Monday as the final panels complete in any given room (Main Programming or Track Room). As a volunteer, you would not be required to work both load-in and load-out, but it is a major task and we need as many people as possible to help out with both of these. After load-in is complete, our department runs from about 6P Thursday for the concerts until load-out is finished on Monday evening. We need early morning, mid-day, AND late night people. When you apply to work on TechOps, please list your experience. We do not always have open positions, but we can sometimes make exceptions for those with special qualifications. How to apply: Send an email to *help [at] techops [dot] net* with a brief introduction and list any relevant skills. That email will create a helpdesk ticket. You’ll get a response from one of our staffers that will include a link to our waitlist which will ask you more specific questions. Once you know if you’ve been approved to join us or not, we’ll guide you through the rest of the steps which will get you into our database (which is completely separate from the official DragonCon Volunteer database). If you can, come to the next DragonCon staff meeting. There are usually three in the months leading up to Dragon*Con. Introduce yourself. Tech staffers generally hang out at the back of the room. We’re hard to miss.