By submitting a volunteer application for City of Oaks Comicbook Odyssey (COCO), you acknowledge and agree to the following terms and conditions:
1. Volunteer Status - Volunteers are not employees of COCO and are not entitled to wages, benefits, or compensation. Volunteer positions are unpaid and are intended to support event operations.
2. Application & Placement - Submitting a volunteer application does not guarantee selection or placement. Volunteer assignments are based on the evolving needs of the COCO event. Applicants/Volunteers who commit to two (2) or more shifts may be given priority.
3. Schedule Commitment - If selected, volunteers must arrive, on time, to assigned shifts and must work the full duration of each shift assigned them. Some volunteer shifts will include expected work times before and after the posted hours of the event. Volunteers will be notified in advance of shift start times and durations. Volunteers unable to attend a scheduled shift must notify the Volunteer Director immediately.
4. Conduct & Event Protocol - Volunteers, at all times, must remain professional, respectful, courteous, and welcoming. Volunteers must adhere to all event rules and safety procedures. Volunteers must follow all instructions from event staff, department leads, and the Volunteer Director. COCO reserves the right to reassign or dismiss any volunteer whose behavior is disruptive, unsafe, or otherwise non-compliant with the above.
5. Privacy & Interaction - Volunteers must respect the privacy of guest artists, special guests, and public speakers at all times. Volunteers may not request autographs, photographs, special treatment, discounts, or personal interactions with vendors, artists, or special guests either while on duty or while otherwise representing COCO in any manner, real or implied. Only as directed, and only when off-duty, volunteers will be given at least one (1) opportunity (if not more) to attend the convention, as would a customer, without having to pay for an entry ticket. When attending the convention under these circumstances or any other, volunteers must continue to adhere to all aforementioned and hereafter provided rules, guidelines, and expectations; and must also adhere to the same procedures, purchase prices, wait times, orderly wait lines, and other requirements expected of paying customers. Volunteers may not use their volunteer status to bypass lines, request special access, or receive complimentary benefits of any kind.
6. Confidentiality & Representation - Volunteers who encounter access to non-public information related to COCO event operations, special guests, COCO event staff, or Sheraton Hotel/s must keep said information confidential. Applicants/Volunteers may never represent themselves as official spokespeople for COCO, Sheraton Hotel/s, special guests, or the like.
7. Media & Photography - Volunteers may sometimes be photographed or recorded during the COCO event and/or during COCO event preparation. By applying and/or volunteering, you grant COCO permission to use event-related and event-prep-related images and recordings that may include your likeness/voice or both for promotional/documentational purposes.
8. Assumption of Risk - Volunteering at COCO may involve standing for extended periods of time, lifting light materials, and/or working in crowded environments. Volunteers acknowledge and accept these risks and agree to participate at their own discretion.
9. Changes & Cancellations - COCO reserves the right to adjust and/or cancel volunteer assignments, schedules, shifts, or roles as needed.
10. Transportation - By filling out an application to be a COCO volunteer, you acknowledge your ability to arrive on-site, on-time for all assigned shifts under your own power and at your own expense. You further acknowledge the ability to depart COCO immediately after your shift is completed under your own power and at your own expense. COCO does not provide transportation nor does it reimburse for the same.
11. Communication - By filling out an application to be a COCO volunteer, you acknowledge that you will be providing the Volunteer Director and the COCO event staff a manner in which to reach you, in real-time, that will be functional and to which you will have access, during your scheduled volunteer days.
12. Legal Compliance - By filling out an application to be a COCO volunteer, you acknowledge that no part of its application process, selection process, training process, rules, instructions, directions, or guidelines are to be interpreted, in any way, as superseding city, state, or federal law. You further acknowledge that your behavior and comportment must remain within the confines of the law, lest you face individual prosecution as a completely stand-alone entity from COCO and its affiliates. COCO does not provide legal representation or legal fees. In the event you infringe upon the law, you remain solely responsible for making injured parties whole again.
13. Interview & Selection - By filling out an application to be a COCO volunteer, you acknowledge that you may be called for an interview prior to the selection process. You further acknowledge that applying and/or interviewing does not guarantee selection.
14. Training & Orientation - By filling out an application to be a COCO volunteer, you acknowledge that, in the two months leading up to the COCO event, you must attend any and all assigned trainings and orientations, be they online or on-site, and that failure to do so may result in removing you from the volunteer pool and the cancellation of your volunteer status. Dates and times for trainings and orientations will be announced following the selection process.
15. Assigned Event Area - By filling out an application to be a COCO volunteer, you acknowledge that a volunteer status will, in no way, grant you the right to explore, visit, spectate, use, or happen upon any part of the host venue not open to the public for the COCO event, including, but not limited to, food preparation areas, hotel rooms, storage rooms, reception desks, roofs, basements, stairwells, lobbies, foyers, mechanical rooms, and elevators, all excepting requisites for emergency egress under emergency conditions.
16. Room Accommodations - By filling out an application to be a COCO volunteer, you acknowledge that COCO will not be providing any daytime or overnight room accommodations at the host venue or elsewhere. You further acknowledge that volunteer status must not be used to insinuate any special treatment or priority when and if seeking room accommodations of your own.
17. Students - By filling out an application to be a COCO volunteer, you acknowledge that volunteering at COCO is not an excused absence from school or any course of instruction. Student applicants, are encouraged to approach their educational institution well ahead the event to determine and adhere to that institution's standing on both volunteerism in general and the COCO event.
18. Adults Only - By filling out an application to be a COCO volunteer, you acknowledge that COCO cannot, at this time, select any volunteers under the age of 18.
