[TronDD]

Having wondered what goes on behind the scenes of a rally and how one can help make it happen, I want to put this info where it can be referenced by any one else who wants to get involved.

Find the website of your favorite and/or closest rally, and look at the contact list. Call or email the chairman, rallymaster, etc and find out when the next organizer meeting is & where. Attend the meeting to meet the organizers and just listen to how much there is to do. Offer to shadow one of the "chiefs" to see what the position involves. Or, if they need some smaller details taken care of, raise your hand.

Then, get on the email list for future communication. As rally weekend gets closer, there will be more to do, and it's almost guaranteed that your help will be much appreciated.

Tim.

 

[Anders Green]

I knew I wrote something somewhat related to this once. Five years ago? Whoa. Wayback machine:
http://www.specialstage.com/forums/showthread.php?27964-Helping-Rally-as-a-Sport

Anyway, this thread is way off topic already as it was supposed to be about what the people already in the sport (since it was addressed to them) could do to help the sport. Other topics like "what's good for the sport" or "what's the best exposure for advertisers" are ancillary.

So far it seems there has been one idea floated. Off the top of my head, here are some more

• Organize a Novice Competitor Orientation class in your area using materials from your local organizer or sanctioning body.
• If everyone already has done the NCO, well, teach a class on how to teach the NCO, so there will be more qualified people for that position.
• Contact your local organizer and ask them about their Safety Plan. It would be good for you as a competitor to understand it, and make you a better candidate to volunteer as course opening or a stage captain.
• Volunteer to handle some series' pointskeeping
• Write an article for the newsletter
• Edit a funny rally video and get it on YouTube (make sure it has contact info for your local rally)
• Volunteer to be the sponsorship coordinator for your local rally. There are probably only two or three rallies in the country that have these.
• Recruit some volunteers. And by this I mean get them to the rally and let them crash in your hotel room.
• Set aside $300 of your own money and 40 hours of your own time and come up with some other way to help out rally. This might be doing promotion in your own town, or it might be a travel budget to go help out an event.

I'm sure there are more ideas out there.

Cheers,
Anders

 

[TronDD]

Anders,

How did you not add this to the post?

NRS's tips on getting involved with rally organizing and volunteering:
http://www.nasarallysport.com/main/helping

Tim.

 

[Anders Green]

Ha!

Because at the time I wrote the post, that page didn't exist!

It was actually because of that post, and realizing that it had been so long since I wrote it, that I realized I needed to get that information in a place that was more accessible and current. I took that post and expanded on it.

I feel like the help breaks down into two basic areas:

1-Things you can do on your own, self-starter style, without even contacting the event organizer, without formal permission, without committees, without votes, without meetings. (That's most of the things on that NRS page)

2-Things which need coordination with the organizer.

I'd love to see more of #1 happen, and I hope that putting this sort of info out there, about specifically what you can do and what sort of projects are kosher, might make that happen.

Anders

 

[TronDD]

Lame excuse. Time doesn't exist on internet forums.

Hopefully it helps people get involved in some capacity. I feel like I am the only one trying to open this up.

Which means I had better accomplish something or I'll just be another person who only "acts" on forums.

Tim.