2019 U. S. Figure Skating Championships

ice coverage said:

Yes, the 2018 Nats jacket was mine to keep.

In general, I do want to be verrrry careful to avoid creating an expectation that 2019 Nats perks will be the same as 2018.

But the jacket is an exception -- I think that USFS does want volunteers to be readily identifiable, and I cannot think of anything to be gained for USFS to make volunteers give the jacket back after the event. (It is a nice little souvenir, but I assume that USFS pays a low-ish cost per unit and would have no use anyway for worn jackets from past events.)

Especially because you are hoping to get assignments as ice monitor, I will add the following unsolicited two cents:

YMMV, but my own preference is for a size that is roomy enough for multiple layers underneath.
The volunteer jacket would need to be your outermost layer, and it is possible/likely that ice monitors would be instructed to keep their jackets zipped up.
Any additional layer(s) of your own for warmth would need to fit underneath the zipped-up volunteer jacket.​

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CoyoteChris said:

Thank you for being a volunteer! Are you going to Greensboro 2020? http://www.ncskate2020.com/

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macy said:

… were any volunteers required to make a visit before the competition to run through everything? i didn't see any info on this for this year, but i think i may have read something on this for past nationals. i would think they would want things to be crystal clear and experience no confusion upon the event, especially for those working in the arena.

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macy said:

you guys...i was picked to be ice monitor for senior ladies SP. i can't right now.

:gclap:

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ice coverage said:

Ohhh, thanks for the news re Greensboro, Chris.

I would be interested in doing more volunteering at 2020 Nats when it is time to cross that bridge.

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Congratulations on getting one of the coveted ice-monitor shifts. (Same to davincisoprano.)

I still am waiting to find out the fate of my shift selections, so maybe by now you already received an answer to your good question re a pre-competition visit to the venue(s).

Anecdotally from 2018 Nats:

An in-person orientation was held for volunteers from the local area. Some days in advance -- maybe a couple of weeks?? (I was not in this category.)

A supposedly required/mandatory/whatever conference call was held for volunteers not from the local area.
A multi-page "hand-out" was e-mailed in advance.
The call basically covered what was in the hand-out. My memory is fuzzy at this point, but IIRC, little or no additional information was covered that was not already in the hand-out. There was an opportunity to ask questions. Mostly the responses were along the lines of, "We'll have to find out and get back to you," but it probably was worthwhile for the organizers to hear that for some of the questions, several/many volunteers wanted to know the answer.

(If someone missed the call, I don't know whether the person's assignment(s) really were revoked, although IIRC, I think that "threat" at least had been implied in the e-mail notices/reminders leading up to the call.)​

Repeating my usual disclaimer: I have no idea whether things will be the same or different for 2019 Nats.​

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ice coverage said:

Ohhh, thanks for the news re Greensboro, Chris.

I would be interested in doing more volunteering at 2020 Nats when it is time to cross that bridge.

---

Congratulations on getting one of the coveted ice-monitor shifts. (Same to davincisoprano.)

I still am waiting to find out the fate of my shift selections, so maybe by now you already received an answer to your good question re a pre-competition visit to the venue(s).

Anecdotally from 2018 Nats:

An in-person orientation was held for volunteers from the local area. Some days in advance -- maybe a couple of weeks?? (I was not in this category.)

A supposedly required/mandatory/whatever conference call was held for volunteers not from the local area.
A multi-page "hand-out" was e-mailed in advance.
The call basically covered what was in the hand-out. My memory is fuzzy at this point, but IIRC, little or no additional information was covered that was not already in the hand-out. There was an opportunity to ask questions. Mostly the responses were along the lines of, "We'll have to find out and get back to you," but it probably was worthwhile for the organizers to hear that for some of the questions, several/many volunteers wanted to know the answer.

(If someone missed the call, I don't know whether the person's assignment(s) really were revoked, although IIRC, I think that "threat" at least had been implied in the e-mail notices/reminders leading up to the call.)​

Repeating my usual disclaimer: I have no idea whether things will be the same or different for 2019 Nats.​

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CoyoteChris said:

Thanks to all you folks who help make these events possible! Dont forget to wear hand lotion so you can clap extra hard for me for Jason Brown and Nathan Chen.

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macy said:

i love volunteering, i've done it at my local club competition every year since about 2004 as well as when we have hosted regionals, sectionals, jr nationals, and collegiates. i know some people see it as extra work and they have better things to do, but for me it's always a treat! (especially getting to ice monitor at nationals!!!) i haven't skated competitively in about 10 years, so i do everything i can to stay involved. my passion will always run strong!

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macy said:

i love volunteering, i've done it at my local club competition every year since about 2004 as well as when we have hosted regionals, sectionals, jr nationals, and collegiates. i know some people see it as extra work and they have better things to do, but for me it's always a treat! (especially getting to ice monitor at nationals!!!) i haven't skated competitively in about 10 years, so i do everything i can to stay involved. my passion will always run strong!

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davincisoprano said:

Has anyone heard if shifts have been officially set? I'm still waiting on a confirmation email ...

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macy said:

I haven't heard anything since my position was posted (earlier this week i believe). The last email i recieved was regarding when positions would be posted and filled about 2 weeks ago, so hopefully i hear something soon. Thanks for all your insight

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ice coverage said:

Thanks to your posts/insight , the light bulb finally went on in my brain that I should not passively wait for an e-mail and should actively take a look at EMS to see whether I was given any assignments.

I know that sounds like :laugh15: Duhhh :hopelessness:, but IIRC, in 2018, we were warned to wait for confirmation e-mails and did receive them. Although per my own broken-record disclaimers, differences in 2019 procedures should come as no surprise.

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Hello Volunteers,
The deadline to submit your shift requests is TONIGHT!
If you intend to volunteer at the 2019 Geico U.S. Figure Skating Championships, please refer to the attached how to (USChamps_VolShiftRequest) and get your requests in ASAP. I am also including an updated volunteer schedule with new shifts highlighted for your review.
As a reminder, after you submit your requests, you are unable to make changes.
If you would like to ADD or REMOVE any volunteer shifts, please respond to this email with date, time and position.
After the deadline, the shift requests will be reviewed by the Volunteer Captains on a rolling basis.
Updated volunteer assignments/schedules will be available no later than December 1st.
If you have questions with regard to the event and/or the volunteer schedule, email [email protected].
For assistance with EMS, email [email protected].
We appreciate your ongoing support of this event!



Thank you,



Events Department
U.S. Figure Skating

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moonvine said:

I would love to learn how. I volunteer as a timer at local swimming comps, it's fun!

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macy said:

... It wasn't really clear how/when they would be announcing assignments, so i figured i would check this last Monday on the USFS EMS website and it was there.

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When I checked EMS a few days ago to see my schedule, I originally had received only one shift. (One out of many selections that I had submitted.)

But when I checked again just now, I was pleased to see that I have received a second shift .

'Twas a nice surprise that my first look apparently was not the final word.​

macy said:

if you don't have any prior experience with competitions, i would see if you can find a list of local ones coming up and contact the competition chair for whatever one you want to do. they should be able to give you information as to who to contact for volunteer opportunities. anyone can ice monitor...you keep a clip board with starting orders/times for each event and check skaters in before the event starts, and let them on/off the ice for warmup and competition (or practice). you communicate with registration or the announcer regarding music or skaters who are missing/scratched if needed. it's super easy but its the best seat in the house. you get to see skaters up close and communicate with them (although not much past getting their name lol) and watch the event rink side. it really is a treat if you love skating.

if ice monitoring is not your thing, there's a lot of other things you can do to volunteer from bringing food/drinks, helping with replenishment for coaches/judges/volunteer meals/snacks, helping with registration, being a results runner (although these are usually taken by young skaters who skate at the rink the competition is at) or announcing.

i'm not sure if you're from Michigan, but if so Don Korte's website is very useful with upcoming events-

http://sk8stuff.com/

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CoyoteChris said:

Bless you! After retiring from the state patrol as a radio tech, I volunteered at work doing anything BUT fixing two way radios. Filing evidence for detectives on closed cases, taking tickets to the court house, etc. But the most fun was driving an assistance van up and down the interstate, helping people whose vehicles were disabled, winter and summer. But now that my days are growing short in this life, I have decided to see and do more things and work less (OK, I work harder than I ever had to do in my working life but I do what I want to do! I will miss all of you, the usual suspects, at Nats...this is the first one I have missed since 2007, but I have never been to the Veragua Rainforest Research station. http://www.veraguarainforest.com/

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TanithandBenFan said:

According to an email from Little Caesars Arena, all-event ticket holders will not be allowed to watch the practices at the secondary rink in the basement of Little Caesars Arena. This rink has 300 seats, so it doesn't seem problematic to allow spectators. Most of the Thurs-Sun practices are at the secondary rink, so we would be missing out on a lot. I emailed the director of the Friends of Figure Skating to ask if he could speak to the Events staff about changing this policy. If anyone would like to email the events coordinator to lend more voices to this complaint, the address is [email protected]. The more the merrier!

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Brent at FOFS replied and said 300 seats aren't enough because they've sold 600 all event tickets. I find this logic faulty because 100% of ticket holders are never at practice all at the same time. I need some facts to back up my rebuttal - does anyone know how many seats there are at the Skating Club of Boston and the practice rink that was used last year at Solar4America Ice in SJ? Those rinks looked small to me and perhaps hold less than 300?

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