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On 2017-5-25 at 1:01 PM, dazednconfused said:

Joining the volunteer crew too this year.

So happy to be able to go after missing out on all sales. (please no shift during Radiohead, please no shift during Radiohead...)

Looking forward to making new friends in crew camping ;)

 

well done - the way to get your head around shifts is ' just assume ' you will miss ' Everything ' and when you get there and see the shifts marked up you will know for certain what you can and cannot see .

its the price that many of us have to pay 

My team was working in the Guest Bar on Saturday evening on 29 June 2002.

which was the night Roger Waters was going to be playing.

Anyway a few days before it the Tent Manager { the boss of that bar } called me in and he said something like ' I know your Team shift will clash with Roger Waters so to save all the hassle - split your Team in two and 1/2 will do the early shift and half will do the evening shift ' it was a very kind offer to make .

Yes for sure I was good friends with the tent Manager and he knew I was a big fan of Roger Waters so I did not have to drop any hints + he would have a fair idea that trade would be low when  Waters was on.

so when I got my Team together I was able to offer them all the chance to pick which shift they wanted to do.

We worked the early shift and then sat with the VIP's having a drink and then slipped out from the side of the Pyramid and we got a super spot to watch him.

Over the years I made sure that I had returned the favour to that Tent Manager by filling in when required when he was stuck.

https://youtu.be/g_WuoCPLgG0

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5 minutes ago, glasto-worker said:

well done - the way to get your head around shifts is ' just assume ' you will miss ' Everything ' and when you get there and see the shifts marked up you will know for certain what you can and cannot see .

its the price that many of us have to pay 

My team was working in the Guest Bar on Saturday evening on 29 June 2002.

which was the night Roger Waters was going to be playing.

Anyway a few days before it the Tent Manager { the boss of that bar } called me in and he said something like ' I know your Team shift will clash with Roger Waters so to save all the hassle - split your Team in two and 1/2 will do the early shift and half will do the evening shift ' it was a very kind offer to make .

Yes for sure I was good friends with the tent Manager and he knew I was a big fan of Roger Waters so I did not have to drop any hints + he would have a fair idea that trade would be low when  Waters was on.

so when I got my Team together I was able to offer them all the chance to pick which shift they wanted to do.

We worked the early shift and then sat with the VIP's having a drink and then slipped out from the side of the Pyramid and we got a super spot to watch him.

Over the years I made sure that I had returned the favour to that Tent Manager by filling in when required when he was stuck.

https://youtu.be/g_WuoCPLgG0

Ta.

Very much in that mindset already. It'll just be a completely different experience with far less freedom than a normal punter but certainly also with very different perks. Looking forward to being on site from Monday and experiencing the atmosphere pre-opening.

Just soooo relieved & happy to move from 'unsuccessful' to actually going this close to the Fest really. (Thanks to a very understanding manager as well letting me take the time off too)

Still any opportunity to see Radiohead shall be taken (and if I work a few more hours for someone else - fine) 

It's GF - I don't go for the line up. Being able to see someone I'd love to see anyway headline is just a bonus. The rest I work out when I get there :D

Our party missed loads of acts we originally wanted to see last year due to mud and general post-referendum mood in favour of sticking together and it was a blast. :)

 

 

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For those who have worked for Festaff before, can you give an idea of what shifts A, B, and C are? From the letter it says we can choose one of each so it would be good to have an idea for when we turn up. I'm assuming it's an early, middle and late shift just not sure how they allocate which days you work. 

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1 hour ago, Harmonic Prospector said:

For those who have worked for Festaff before, can you give an idea of what shifts A, B, and C are? From the letter it says we can choose one of each so it would be good to have an idea for when we turn up. I'm assuming it's an early, middle and late shift just not sure how they allocate which days you work. 


I volunteered with Festaff for three years (including their first year at Glastonbury in 2013). The A, B and C shifts are spread out across the festival so the idea is that everyone has a 'good' and 'bad' shift. When I did it A shifts were on the Wednesday then Bs were maybe the day shifts and Cs the night shifts - something like that.

Festaff used to allocate all of the shifts fairly on Tuesday morning then a couple of years ago it became first come first serve on the Monday afternoon, despite not indicating that in the email which said to arrive in a 6 hour margin. Luckily my friends and I got there early and we were able to not only get good shifts, but get shifts together. It is possible, and I have done it in all the years to wrangle your shifts so you volunteer to be done by the Thursday/Friday. I worked a single on Wednesday then a double on Thursday to finish at midnight. You're then done for the rest of the festival.

When I was there we were in Tom's Field which had access to loos (we even managed to sneak in to ME's barn that had proper loos and showers!) and the recycling tent was next door which had hot water urns and charging points. We were also inside the security perimeter which made life a lot easier (Oxfam are outside so have to go through security each time)

I didn't work with Festaff last year as managed to get regular tickets and will be going as a 'regular' again this year, so not sure if anything changed last time around.

 

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1 hour ago, dazednconfused said:

Ta.

Very much in that mindset already. It'll just be a completely different experience with far less freedom than a normal punter but certainly also with very different perks. Looking forward to being on site from Monday and experiencing the atmosphere pre-opening.

Just soooo relieved & happy to move from 'unsuccessful' to actually going this close to the Fest really. (Thanks to a very understanding manager as well letting me take the time off too)

Still any opportunity to see Radiohead shall be taken (and if I work a few more hours for someone else - fine) 

It's GF - I don't go for the line up. Being able to see someone I'd love to see anyway headline is just a bonus. The rest I work out when I get there :D

Our party missed loads of acts we originally wanted to see last year due to mud and general post-referendum mood in favour of sticking together and it was a blast. :)

I and my Team work six days but unlike 2002 I am now allowed to sort out my own shifts - we work in the wbc crew bar and there will only be two busy nights - Tuesday evening { it will be packed } and the Sunday night party { will be busy but after Midnight will be heaving } and while I could skip those times I know that is the two nights where we can really do the most good so we always will work those two nights - The Tent Manager likes to slip away about Midnight { to drive home } and she certainly would not do that if I was not there - 1/2 the team will start at 10pm and 1/2 will start at Midnight and I leave it to them to pick their start time - the team that started at 10pm will be able to slip away for a hours break they may even get a second long break { it all depends on demand }

so they already know the situation just now - if its a dead hot Glasto the other days we may even start at 6am as I would rather be working than stuck in a hot tent - again the team is split in two so its up to them if they want to start at 6am or Noon - by being flexible that keeps all the Team happy 

while the bar does not sell alcohol at those times there is still lots to do as we put out water and soft drinks for the workers { its amazing how much they go though { but there is about 1,200 of us}} and various other tasks - this also helps out the The Tent Manager as she have a long lie in as she knows we will do the business so she does not have to bother watching us.

so everyone is happy.

But for the first 25 years I did not have any choice in the shifts so I know what its like although in the 90's 00's My Team was 25 bodies so it was common to split them into two teams and people could swap between them depending on what shift suited them best.

the more choice a volunteer has the more keen they are in working and it did not affect the WBC as long as the number showed up was the number they were expecting.

So I already know where we will be working and what times we will be needed but as to what I will end up seeing it really does not matter as I hate racing about to see someone.

You will enjoy the site before the gates open - it is so weird as by the Tuesday night { the bar shot was Tuesday evening } we know there is large mobs of people in the car parks but its so quiet.

I tend to slip out as the gates open to catch the people racing in - how quickly the site soon fills up

2011-wbc-20.thumb.jpg.e28f040e34876a501bbb4003c53119a8.jpg2013-wbc-9.jpg

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58 minutes ago, rosieangel said:


I volunteered with Festaff for three years (including their first year at Glastonbury in 2013). The A, B and C shifts are spread out across the festival so the idea is that everyone has a 'good' and 'bad' shift. When I did it A shifts were on the Wednesday then Bs were maybe the day shifts and Cs the night shifts - something like that.

Festaff used to allocate all of the shifts fairly on Tuesday morning then a couple of years ago it became first come first serve on the Monday afternoon, despite not indicating that in the email which said to arrive in a 6 hour margin. Luckily my friends and I got there early and we were able to not only get good shifts, but get shifts together. It is possible, and I have done it in all the years to wrangle your shifts so you volunteer to be done by the Thursday/Friday. I worked a single on Wednesday then a double on Thursday to finish at midnight. You're then done for the rest of the festival.

When I was there we were in Tom's Field which had access to loos (we even managed to sneak in to ME's barn that had proper loos and showers!) and the recycling tent was next door which had hot water urns and charging points. We were also inside the security perimeter which made life a lot easier (Oxfam are outside so have to go through security each time)

I didn't work with Festaff last year as managed to get regular tickets and will be going as a 'regular' again this year, so not sure if anything changed last time around.

 

Thanks for the info Rosie. We are planning on getting there relatively early on the Monday, more so we can get shifts together rather than what the hours are. We are actually more concerned with having the Thursday free as that is always been our favourite day ever year we have been, although given the amount of people still arriving then we are expecting we will probably have to work. 

I've stayed in Tom's Field before when working as an Eviction Monitor for a number of years and as part of Recycling Crew in 2014 and loved the facilities there. Been a punter the last couple of years but in all honesty we've missed working the festival despite the impact that inevitably comes with being able to see everything you want to see. Looking forward to being part of the machine again. 

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