Volunteering at the Canadian exhibit can be a rewarding and exciting venture. This short document is put together to help you get the most out of your time at the exhibit and to make it more enjoyable.
The Canada exhibit represents a cooperative venture of several federal government departments, provincial and territorial governments and several national non-governmental organizations. There are over 35 organizations involved in this exhibit. The exhibit, USB and resources further represents over 100 organizations from across Canada working in many different areas of HIV/AIDS.
There are some key objectives set for this exhibit. Ultimately the exhibit is about putting Canada’s best face forward to our colleagues from around the world. We have set the over-arching objectives and you will find that within them, a way to meet some of your own organizational and personal objectives for the conference. The goals of the Canada Exhibit are:
- To serve as a showcase to highlight work by Canadians across many focus areas in the field of HIV/AIDS nationally and internationally,
- To provide an opportunity for Canadians attending the conference to interact with conference delegates from around the globe,
- To ensure Canada is visible, well represented and recognized for the work undertaken nationally and internationally around HIV/AIDS
Working an exhibit is different from doing business anywhere else. The experience can be broken into a few key steps:
- Approaching strangers
- Developing rapport
- Presenting information
- Engaging them to interact
- Gathering information
- Disengaging
Approaching strangers is never comfortable. It is worth keeping in mind that they are just as uncomfortable approaching the exhibit. Making eye contact and a warm "Hello" never fails... keep in mind that there will be people from around the world attending the conference and you may have to adjust as the social norms in others countries can vary. Be aware of this and just try to make the person comfortable. Once you have "broken the ice", it is important to introduce yourself and invite them into the exhibit.
Developing rapport with strangers is sometimes difficult, but many people fail to realize how easy it is. As people approach the exhibit, there will be a video playing outlining the 30year history of HIV/AIDS in Canada and regularly scheduled Presentations on specific issues will take place. We will also try to engage them by having some interaction with our Wish Tree and have them fill out a "Maple Leaf" with a wish or desire and post it on our virtual tree. These will hopefully be helpful to attract attention and can be a conversation starter.
There is no "set" formula for success at developing rapport and it is important you be comfortable with whichever approach you use. Sometimes it is as simple as just saying, "Hello, how are you today?" Other time it requires a bit more effort. Here are a few tips that might help in breaking the ice when approaching strangers...
It can be as simple as noticing something about the individual and taking an interest in them...
- Sometimes traditional clothing, a hat or something the person is wearing… "Nice hat, where did you get that?"
- Recognizing they are from another country and asking "Where are you visiting from?"
- Sometimes people are more comfortable talking about their work; "What area of HIV/AIDS do you work in?"
Establishing rapport can be the greatest challenge and it can also be the greatest reward of working the exhibit. Once you have people engaged, remember that they have a lot to do and see so watch for signals that they want to move on... every now and then you will come across someone that it is difficulty to disengage in conversation... no different than day to day, use the most effective and polite method you know. Certainly the easiest part of working the exhibit is presenting information, answering questions or giving away the USB of resources.
Sometimes this is as simple as handing out the buttons or the USB of resources... other times it is sharing your own experiences working in HIV/AIDS. Each interaction will be unique and you cannot determine in advance where things might lead. People are interested in Canada and finding out what is happening here.
The tools for doing this will be shown to you when you show up for your shift. We will have process for things such as collection of business cards with requests for follow-up information that we can target to the right partner back home.
Disengaging the conversation can sometimes be the most difficult part of the dialogue you will find yourself in with multitudes of very interesting people with interesting stories from around the world. If you are having difficulty, there will be a staff person on-site to assist you.
This document is not meant to be a comprehensive "how to", but hopefully it has answered some questions you may have and eased you into the idea of volunteering a few hours while in Washington to help represent Canada on the exhibit!
