A tournament runs on its volunteers. From your tournament's workspace you can build the roles you need into shifts and fill them.
Create shifts
In the Volunteer shifts section, add a shift with:
- a name (e.g. "Head Referee"),
- a start and end time,
- how many volunteers it needs,
- a required role (optional),
- and whether it's remote (for example, pre-event notebook judging).
You can also scaffold shifts straight from your agenda: turn scheduled agenda items into shifts in one step.
Fill shifts two ways
- Open sign-up: volunteers sign themselves up.
- You assign: add volunteers to a shift yourself, entering them by email address (you can add several at once). You can assign people from your own approved organizations, this event's primary host organization once it is approved, and anyone already volunteering or on the crew at your event. An email outside those groups comes back as not found. An admin can assign anyone.
Find the right people
Use the Directory to search for volunteers who've opted in, filtered by role or area, so you can staff specialized shifts like judging and refereeing. A Directory volunteer gets an invite, not a direct assignment; they sign themselves up once they accept.
Event day
Sometimes someone shows up ready to help who isn't on your shift list yet.
- They already have an account, or there's no time to check.
- Keep one shift open for sign-up (an "Open" fill mode) with a generic name like "Walk-in" or "Day-of help."
- Point them to the event's sign-up page. Self-signup has no reach limit, so they can add themselves on the spot.
- There's no open shift, or they aren't someone you can assign directly.
- An admin can add anyone to a shift directly, even outside your usual reach.
- Ask gainingSTEAM staff for help placing them.
Inviting someone by email to a specific shift, without them needing an account first, is planned but not available yet.
Reminders
Volunteers signed up to a shift get reminders as the event approaches, so you're not the only one keeping track.
Tip: set your role requirements on the tournament first. That tells everyone how many volunteers each role needs and helps recruit for your event.