Guardian Schedules Guardian / Gatherings Date: Dec 12, 2003 - 05:55 PM This is how I schedule Guardians, and Guardians-in-training (GIT)... plus some other information regarding GITs... 1) I get a finalized list of those full-fledged ("official") Guardians that will be attending an upcoming event. 2) I send out a letter asking each full-fledged Guardian shift scheduling questions so I can tailor the schedule (as much as possible) to accomodate those attending Guardians. 3) I design the work schedule. Each GIT will be paired with one Guardian for an eight (8) hour shift each day, and a GIT will work a different shift every day. A GIT does not get an "off-day" during his/her one-year-and-a-day plus three (3) approved events apprenticeship -- I make it very clear to the Guardians that "off-days" are a courtesy, not a given! Still interested? Well then, here's the other mundane stuff.... A full-fledged Guardian is comped into the PhoenixFestival events -- for each event, Wade gives me a set number of Guardian positions that he pays for. GIT's are not part of this. For the first event a person works as a GIT, he or she is expected to pay the full registration fee -- the reason for this is that I'm really not interested in people that want to work as a Guardian just so they can get into an event for free, and for many years I worked events all over the US as a full-fledged Guardian and PAID to attend those events that I then worked! So, I'm not asking anyone to do anything I myself have not already done. For the second and third event that a GIT works, he/she pays the "wholesale" cost to attend -- that fee which the land-owner charges Wade for each gathering participant. After the third and final event, the GIT comes up for review before the Guardians, the Guardian Coordinator(s) and the Event Coordinator(s). The GIT is voted either as 1) Acceptable 2) Needs Work 3) Unacceptable. If voted "Acceptable", that person is invited to join with the PhoenixFestival Guardians clan and will be put on the roster of available Guardians to call for each event. If voted "Needs Work", that person is given the option of continuing his/her apprenticeship for a specified period of time or chosing to walk away from this particular path. If voted "Unacceptable", that person is free to approach another Guardian group at another event, but will not be considered for invitation into the PhoenixFestivals Guardians clan. Now, in regards to those who are interested in working with the Guardians, but who may have physical limitations that prohibit walking shifts and such. Eventually I would like for us to establish a Communications center (complete with base station and an operator) and a Hearthkeepers group (a term coined by the members of Scott Russell's Fifth Point Safety Team -- Hearthkeepers are people, often spouses of Guardians, that keep the Guardians on their feet by providing meals around the clock, fresh coffee 24/7, quiet dry safe places to sleep and decompress [especially during the day, for the night-shift Guardians], and act as points of grounding and centering specifically for Guardians -- which means the ability to distinguish confidential matter and to abide by the rules of confidentiality are an absolute requirement!) However, at this point in time, we do not yet have a formal Communications center nor Hearthkeepers group. So... I'm open to starting one! Mind you, the final decision on the Communications center will be up to Wade because there is a financial burden that he would entail -- not only with the purchase of additional radios and/or a base station, but also the added cost of paying for another Guardian position. As for the Hearthkeepers.... I could conceive of these individuals being either "retired" or physically limited Guardians and/or spouses of Guardians, and/or dedicated members of the general community, however the question of registration fees -- who pays and how much -- would again have to be addressed by Wade. And speaking of Wade.... The community (and interested potential Guardians) needs to firmly understand that WADE DOES NOT MAKE MONEY AT THESE EVENTS. Wade covers expenses. Rowan This article comes from Phoenix Phamily - Supporting the Phoenix festivals community http://www.phoenixphamily.com/ The URL for this story is: http://www.phoenixphamily.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=314