It’s come to our attention that most, if not all, of our trained volunteers have been informed that we, the Gig Buddies Sydney team, can access free tickets to any live music event.
Sadly, that’s simply not true.
To suggest that we are capable of scoring tickets for any event is frankly inaccurate. In the past we have spoken with select Sydney venues and promoters, requesting guestlist entry for gig buddy’s and their volunteer, and there have been occasions where we have landed the odd ticket here and there, or we have found some venues happy to waive an admission charge.
However, we’re not in the art of making false promises. We’re a volunteer initiative that is blessed to have so many amazing people who give up their time to help make a difference; if we’re unable to fulfill a promise will they become disenchanted with the program? That is a genuine concern.
We’re all for having open communication with our volunteers and gig buddies. Consequently, following last week’s blog highlighting the logistical challenges faced when pairing gig buddies and volunteers who do not live within close proximity of each other (as shown by our example below, indicating the problems faced by a volunteer travelling from the Inner West to Hornsby), we have potentially made a pairing that, on face value when looking at the map, wasn’t viable.
Following on from these discussions, we have made an alteration to the volunteer online application, explaining that our insurance does not cover any trips the volunteer and gig buddy undertake in the volunteer’s own transport.
We now ask if a volunteer is happy to travel to their buddy’s place of residence or an agreed location prior to attending a gig together (bearing in mind they will likely make the same return journey to drop the buddy home) and if so, how far would they travel?
This practical addition to the volunteer application came following a response to the said blog post and potentially makes pairing gig buddies and volunteers much easier.
We’re grateful for all feedback we receive and we’re willing to action where applicable. If there is something you feel we could do better or different, we’re an email, Facebook post or tweet away. We’re also contactable via LinkedIn, Instagram or the seemingly old school manner of telephone.
Matthew Collins
Gig Buddies Sydney Social Media Coordinator
matt@assistcom.org
All donations are gratefully received. If you would like to revel in legendary status please support us in our cause to get more people out to live events in Sydney.