Volunteer!

Help make Something Else amazing!

Something Else is the party you bring. We have no paid staff. It's a labor of love for everyone who participates. The backbone of the event are our amazing volunteers.

These are all the ways you can make the event truly something else!

Some lead roles are unfilled, and we would love to support enthusiastic participants who want to take this on—as a fifth-year event, we can definitely help you hit the ground running as a lead! Most teams with leads also need volunteers to do their magic.

Volunteers earn discounts on their tickets, up to the full price of their ticket. Usually a shift is about 4 hours of your time and will earn 1/3 off the price of your ticket. See below for details.

Volunteers should still buy a ticket and we'll reimburse you after the event. If this is a hardship, please email us and we'll work something out.

Don't know what you want to do? Sign up anyway! We'll find something useful for you to do.

Questions? Email us!

🎨 Sign up to make art 🎭

🍳 Sign up to make food 🧑‍🍳

Volunteer Tickets & Reimbursements

  • How does this work?

    1. Buy a ticket.

    2. Earn credits for every shift you work.
      Most shifts are around 4 hours and earn 1 credit. Some jobs are easier and earn less, some are harder and earn more.

    3. Accumulate 3 credits for a 100% reimbursement. Fewer credits gets you a proportional reimbursement (2 credits = 66%, etc). More credits gets you a gold star and our everlasting gratitude.

  • FAQ

    • Where can I see a list of open volunteer shifts?
      Right here!

    • Why do I need to buy a ticket up front?
      Because we're a small party and can't afford to front tickets to folks who may not show up for their shift.

    • I can't afford to buy my ticket up front, can you help?
      Yes! Email us and we'll work with you. someone@somethingelse.fun

    • How do I know if my volunteer shifts will get me X credits?
      Almost all shifts are 1 credit. If you really want to earn more with a hard job or less with an easy job, communicate with our awesome Volunteer Coordinator via the volunteer form or via email.

    • Can I get a reimbursement for my car camping pass?
      Sure, 1 credit for car pass, 1.5 for RV pass.

    • When will I get my reimbursement?
      Within 30 days post-event. Paypal or Venmo preferred. You'll get an email with details after the event.

    • I love volunteering so much and want Something Else to have everlasting success. Can I forgo my reimbursement?
      Absolutely! We're a scrappy organization that runs entirely on volunteer effort with a solid track record of losing money every year. We'd love to lose a little less. Thanks!

Volunteer Roles

Setup

Leads: Chuk & Gene

• Setup Team

Setup volunteers commit to being onsite a day early (for 2022 this means Wednesday afternoon) to assist event and art teams in setting up their stuff. Familiarity with basic tools is a plus, as is having your own. Unload stuff from trucks, put them where leads determine. Set up before Gate opens: community outdoor kitchen, sound stages, teahouse/cozy/safe space, dome.

• Sign Boss

Events need signs! Can you make them? We can provide sign materials, some paint, and some markers. Signs need to be simple, legible, and quick turnaround.

Dome

Lead: Renee

• Squish Commander

The Dome is a soft, fluffy quasi-indoor chill space with no set programming. We have an 18’ covered PVC dome and enough 2’ foam tiles to cover the floor. Dome lead coordinates squish/fluff temporary donations and makes sure everything gets back to their donor. Setup and Strike volunteers help with those aspects of the dome, but volunteers to contribute squishy stuff are always welcome.

Shuttle

Leads: Chuk & Gene

• Shuttle Driver

The lake is ~15m walk up a hot, exposed hill. Getting a ride is nice! Shuttle drivers need to be sober enough to drive a pickup truck (we have a rented one, but you're welcome to add your own) and safely transport folks and equipment up and down the hill. If you're a responsible driver on a dirt road and you like making new friends, this is the job for you. The truck manager will show you how to drive the truck, put it in gear, how to put on the parking brake, and where the key will live.

Strike

Leads: Chuk & Gene

• Strike Team

The strike team commits to being onsite until all campers and infrastructure are gone (this means staying until Monday afternoon or later, as you can). Familiarity with basic tools is a plus, as is having your own.

Raptors (ranger team)

Lead: John

• Raptor

Who’s in charge here? A Raptor is the responsible one for a shift: sober, carrying a radio, floating around and making sure things are going ok for everyone. You’ll work with a lead to understand what’s worth your attention and how to help people deal with problems as they come up and when to radio for backup.

Gate

Lead: Manda

• Gate Crew

Greet people when they arrive, process their paperwork (ticket? vaxx? waiver?), direct them to drop off their stuff and park!

Sound & Lighting

Lead: Truckstop

We will have two amplified sound stages this year at Something Else 2022 - One daytime stage at Mud Beach (Tar Pit Stage) and one night stage at Loggers (Petrified Forest). Check below for descriptions of specific roles with the Sound/Lighting Team!

• Setup

We’ll be setting up on the two stages on Wednesday evening and Thursday morning. Moving speakers & lights into place, plugging things in, and testing them. No technical knowledge needed.

• Stage Manager

Show up 30 minutes before the music begins at the stage for the day. You’ll start up the generator and add fuel if needed. The rest of your shift will be ensuring the stage is functional and calling for assistance on the provided stage radio if needed. No technical knowledge needed.

• Lighting Collector Angel

Sometime before noon, you’ll be collecting our battery powered lights between Great Oak and Loggers and bringing them to the Central Camp Kitchen and placing them in a case for charging. We’ll have a cart for making this task easier! Quick shift but super important…. You’ll thank yourself later at night when the lights are on!

• Lighting Deployer Angel

At sunset, you’ll put the fully charged lights at the Central Camp Kitchen into a cart and place them beneath trees between Great Oak and Loggers. Then you’ll return the cart to Central Camp Kitchen. Quick shift but super important!

• Strike

We’ll be breaking down both stages on Monday mid-day. It’s a nice easy breakdown with tasks such as unplugging things, wrapping cables, and putting speakers/stuff into a vehicle.

Kitchen

Lead: Monster Chef

Kitchen crews help us make meals! Something Else is a food party because dinos like to EAT; these dinos eat Brunch and Dinner.

• Meal Maker

Decide on a community meal you want to make (some budget provided), work with the Kitchen Lead to plan it and purchase ingredients, cook and serve.

• Cleanup Crew

Support meal makers by keeping the kitchen tidy. Make sure we clean up after brunch and after dinner, and not leave any food rotting in the sun. Healthy dinos are happy dinos.

• Snack Boss

Repackage meal leftovers, oversee cleanup crew, put out donated snacks.

• Community Camp Kitchen Manager

All-event, low-touch role. Support community camp kitchen to be regularly usable and un-fucked.

Bar

Lead: Dave LeB

• Barkeep

Dave’s Bar is back! As Barkeep, you will help Dave with important Bar tasks, like slicing fruits, serving drinks, replenishing ice, and sorting bar waste (boxes, bottles, crushing cans, etc). Daylight or nighttime shifts; check in a couple times each shift.

Tea Lounge

Lead: Michael Whelpley & Rochelle

• Tea Team

People really like tea and tea house vibes. Tea team will help set up infrastructure and refill kettles as necessary.

Leave No Trace

Lead: Sophie

Setup systems so people can reliably handle their trash, compost, recycling, etc. Move around some bags and sort some recycling as needed.

• Intermittent Trash Fairy

Sort daily recycling stream from the beach, un-fuck trash area, and sweep for central kitchen area moop: 1 hour Fri/Sat/Sun

• LNT Striker

Stays to Monday early evening with LNT Lead to make sure we truly leave no trace.

• Lost & Found Coordinator

The dinos need you! Make a Lost & Found area, tell people about it, make signs, take everything in it home at the end, take photos, share them, help people pick up their stuff. You should live in Oakland or San Francisco. People will thank you!

Volunteer Coordination

Lead: Will Ho & Renee

Something Else runs on volunteers! The Volunteer coordination team helps identify what needs help and who is available to provide it.

• Pre-event Volunteer Coordinator

This is a high-touch pre-event role. People will say they’re interested in a team, then you work with the team lead to match them to a shift.

• During-event Volunteer Coordinator

Work with pre-event volunteer coordination team to clarify any role or team need ambiguities. Help confused volunteers find something to do. It happens.

Art Support

Leads: Gene & Renee

• Placement

​​This is a high-touch pre-event role, handling all people who want to bring arts. Handles placement and resource allocation. Places camps. Helpful for someone who knows the property.

• Event Management

Point person(s) for anyone wanting to host an activity. Scheduling and logistics. Coordinating with Placement and Setup.

Photographer

Take a mix of close-up happy-people-Doing-A-Thing shots and farther-away look-at-all-this-joy scenic/crowd shots and anything relevant in between. Target: 50% images of identifiable people, 30% art, and 20% scene/landscape/crowd.


Our goals with these photos are:

  • A persistent visual history of the event over the years

  • Images that communicate the brand/experience to future attendees

  • Images that illustrate volunteer tasks, events, and amenities—so people know what they’re signing up for.

  • Images that make current attendees look (and feel) like rockstars—reinforcing their good feelings about the event and encouraging repeat attendance.

Communications

Lead: Renee

Write emails and social posts, mostly.