By being a volunteer, be it for one hour a year or as a part time job, is one of the most important ways to support the Blue Sage.  Sure, money makes the world go round, but donating time is like donating a part of your life, which we believe is where our organization’s soul comes from.  That being said, here are some things you might like to know about volunteering:

What it Takes

We make no demands, although we only ask for help when we need it.  How much and at what you volunteer for is completely up to you.  Of course, if you sign up for something we do take you seriously, so please don’t sign up for things you might back out of. . .

What it Gives

In addition to the warm fuzzies and points towards your wings, we offer small tokens of thanks to our volunteers through free free event admission or Blue Bucks.  If you volunteer for an event, you will receive free admission (although paying guests will have a higher seating priority than you at limited admission events).  If you volunteer for something that is not event related, we offer you 1 Blue Buck (basically a $1 gift certificate to the Blue Sage not valid on gallery items) for every hour you spend, up to 5 per month (but you must log your hours in our system).

Preparing to Volunteer

Some volunteer tasks require a little bit of training before we allow you to perform them.  This is not because we are elitist, but because we have certain ways of doing things that help us to function efficiently, and keep us sane. Here are volunteer trainings we require:

• Gallery Host – Gallery Hosts (a.k.a “Creative Industry Brokers”) are the faces of the Blue Sage at events, on Saturdays, Monday mornings, and other times when the staff is not available to receive gallery customers.  Gallery host training involves learning how to use the cash register, record sales, sell reserved seating tickets, and how to open and close the bank building.  The entire training takes less than 30 minutes.
• Events Factotum – Events Factotum is simply a strange way of saying you are qualified to help with anything at events.  Events Factotum training involves learning everything the Gallery Hosts do, in addition to bartending, cleaning, using the elevator, and accessing the basement.  This training takes a little longer, but is valuable because it means that you are able to jump in at anything in a pinch.
• House Manager - Being a House Manager is like being a Sage of the Sage.  It means that in addition to learning everything the Gallery Hosts and Events Factotums do, you receive additional training in using the sound system and lights.  Most importantly, however, it means that you have taken on a higher role of dedication, and can be hired to help Blue Sage renters navigate facility usage.