Here is a list of the roles that are needed for Baltimore GiveCamp and a little more information about each one.
Business Analyst (needed for June 8 and August 10)
Your role is to define the requirements for an organization. If you are already a Business Analyst, you are familiar with this role and what is needed. For others that want to be involved in this role, it is recommended that you have some form of experience working with customers/end-users and gathering needs and analyzing requirements. Although the role of business analyst is typically non-technical, in the short order of a GiveCamp, a technical background will be of benefit.
The volunteers for the Business Analyst role are expected to attend the June 8th event and the August 10th event. You will be asked to participate over the period between June and August to finalize any requirements and ensure that the Technical Team Leads, Project Managers, and the GiveCamp team have sufficient information to be successful at the October GiveCamp. You may be working on multiple projects depending on the type and nature of organizational needs.
Technical Team Leader (needed for August 10 and October GiveCamp weekend)
Your role is to lead a team for a full project. You will need to work with the Business Analysts to match business needs with technical design. You will determine the technical design, team requirements, and will lead your team through the project. If you are already a Technical Team Leader, you are familiar with this role and what is needed. For others that want to be involved in this role, it is recommended that you have some form of experience as a system engineer or architect and working with customers/end-users needs and analyzing technical specifications. This is a technical role and the more background you have in that area will be of benefit.
The volunteers for the Technical Team Lead role are expected to attend the August 10th event and the October GiveCamp event. You will be asked to participate over the period between August and October to finalize any requirements and ensure that the Project Managers and GiveCamp team have sufficient information to be successful at the October GiveCamp.
Developer (needed for October GiveCamp weekend)
Your role is to make the bits dance! Most all projects will require development efforts, some however may be simply setting up and configuring a solution such as a content management system. This is a technical role and for those that are developers, you know what is involved. For others that want to be involved in this role, you will benefit by having development experience with languages such as (but not limited to) Microsoft .NET, and Java as well as scripting languages such as (but not limited to) javascript, php, vbs, asp, perl, and more. Some projects may also require extensive HTML, XML and other mark-up technologies, knowing them would be a plus.
The volunteers for the Developer role are required for the October GiveCamp event. You will be part of a team working on a project. It is highly recommended that if you are part of a team in your job, that you encourage your fellow co-workers who are developers to join you at GiveCamp and bring your team dynamics to a good cause. Otherwise, developers will be placed in teams based on their experience and skill levels.
Graphic Designer (needed for October GiveCamp weekend)
Your role is to provide guidance on the overall graphic design of projects. Many projects will be web-facing and as such will need some flare and interface dazzle. You may be needed to build or alter logos, or to just provide overall user interface guidance to the development team. An eye for design is what is needed here with a desire to impact. This is not a highly technical role, but is a specialized role. If you are doing this type of work today, you know what is involved and will be an instrumental part of the group. For those that want to be a part of this, a good background in graphics, art or some other form of design, and associated software for working on such design would be beneficial. Also, any conceptual experience with user interface development would play a big part of this role.
The volunteers for the Graphic Designer role are required for the October GiveCamp event. You will be asked to work with many different camp teams as they may require your level of experience.
Database Administrator/Developer (needed for October GiveCamp weekend)
Your role is to deal with data! Many projects will involve the storage of some data in some way. Some projects may simply need help in configuring a solution such as a content management system database. This is a technical role and for those that are DBA's, you know what is needed. For others that want to be involved as DBA's, you will benefit by having development experience with databases such as Microsoft SQL, Oracle, MySQL and other similar databases. SQL statements will be used here, so knowing them is going to be to your advantage.
The volunteers for the Database Administrator/Developer role are required for the October GiveCamp event. You will be asked to potentially work with many different camp teams as they may require your level of experience of setting up databases or just building queries or creating tables.
Project Manager (needed for June 8, August 10 and October GiveCamp weekend)
Your role as a Project Manager will be to lead a project through to success. You will work with single or potentially multiple teams, depending on the type of project, to ensure that development stays on track and that requirements are being met. If you are a Project Manager today, you know what this is going to involve and we welcome your experience. For others that want to enter this role, it is recommended that you have some type of project lead experience and have worked with successful projects in the past.
The volunteers for the Project Manager role are encouraged to attend the June Business Analysis event and are required for the October GiveCamp event. You will be asked to potentially work with many different camp teams as they may need to have guidance and management to help them meet their goals for the project. You will manage projects through the lifecycle of the GiveCamp season (June to October). You will act as an interface to the GiveCamp team to provide status and needs for your project(s). Some interaction with the teams and the nonprofit organization may be required to complete your efforts.
Social Media Advisor (needed for October GiveCamp weekend)
Your role as a Social Media Advisor will be to help guide organizations to how best utilize social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, etc. for their media needs. Your experience with the use of such sites and how they play an important role in the sharing of information and building of awareness is key to many groups and as such, bringing this experience to the GiveCamp will critical. Many groups have no presence in these areas or would like to really make the most of it. For those just getting into this area that would like to participate in this role, you should have a good background with social networking and how it fits into today's world of communications and technology.
The volunteers for the Social Media Advisor role are required for the October GiveCamp event. You will be asked to potentially work with many different GiveCamp teams as well as the individuals from the nonprofit groups. Many nonprofit organizations have very sensitive information and you must be able to protect information as well as share it where possible. Working directly with the nonprofit groups will be a key part of this role.
Logistics Volunteer (needed primarily at October GiveCamp weekend, but also some needs at June 8 and August 10 events)
The role of the logistics volunteer is pretty straight forward - you are the helping hands to keep things going smoothly at the GiveCamp. You will be asked to do various jobs such as helping with sign-in, setting up food, keeping the coffee and other drinks flowing, dumping the trash, maybe even making a quick trip to the store. But you are an important role in the GiveCamp as none of these things would happen without you and everyone is relying on them. This role is a bigger role at the October event as there will be three full days of things to keep on top of. This is a completely non-technical role and the only real requirement is a nice attitude and helpful spirit along with the desire to make our event shine bright and flow properly.
The volunteers for the Logistics Volunteer role are required for the June 8th and August 10th event as well as the October GiveCamp event. However, these need not be the same people. If you are only able to make one of the events or part of the events and really want to help out, please plan to participate.
CampKids Volunteer (needed for October GiveCamp weekend)
Some of our volunteers might want to be involved but may have child responsibilities. As such, we are providing a way to watch their children during their time at GiveCamp. The role of the CampKids volunteer is pretty straight forward - have fun with the kids and lead them in activities and fun times. If you like to do these type of activities, you know what is involved and we certainly would appreciate your registration for this role. CampKids will only be provided on Saturday Oct 19 and Sunday Oct 20 and only for limited times during those days.