Water station 101

Properly training volunteers is often overlooked at events. I want to change that for Maritime Race Weekend. Training needs to be fun, quick and offer helpful tips for volunteers. After brainstorming ideas with friends, we decided to make training videos instead of the traditional approach of slideshow presentations, long instructional emails (which no one will read) or asking volunteers to sit in a classroom.

It was relatively simple to make a water station training video. I recruited a couple pirate crew members and my kids to make our first video. We filmed it, did some video editing, recorded a voice-over and uploaded “Water Station 101” to YouTube.

We didn’t have script, but we did have a list of topics that we wanted covered. Creative genius, Mike Kennedy, took the lead on this project and in less than three hours we had all the footage we needed. In the water station training video we reveal: the perfect Gatorade recipe, how to avoid the spread of scurvy, demonstrate proper cup holding techniques and more.

Even though I’ve run and volunteered for years, until recently I didn’t know you should hold the cup from the bottom. I remember a couple years ago, volunteering at a water station and nearly clothes-lining a runner by reaching out to him, instead of letting him come to me.

What tips do you recommend for a water station volunteer?