Brief Description:

Recruit, book and host live performers to play at the Marina Club on Cape Heron. This is not a full-time responsibility at this time – we only need a performer at the club once each month, and there is a budget set by the VAI Executive Team for paying featured guest performers who play at the Club.

Responsibilities / Expectations:

• The primary role would be to cultivate contacts with different live performers around SL and book them as featured guest performers to play at the Marina Club
• Host performers who play at the Marina Club
• Featured live performers to be booked once per month at the Club
  • Some performers enjoy coming back to perform from time to time
• Give updates on booked performers at the Club to iSkye.
• Create a notecard with information about upcoming live performers with dates and times.
• Acquire a headshot or promotional graphics and information from the performer (or their manager).
• Send the graphics and promotional materials to iSkye Silverweb

Other Information:

• Must be VAI Member Y/N: N
• Frequency: Monthly
• Prerequisite Skills / Qualifications: Knowledge of live musicians and singers in SL
• Skills that can be learned / Training opportunities: Writing announcements for live performers coming to the Club; Graphic skills are a plus
• Supervisor: iSkye Silverweb
• Impact of the role: The community enjoys opportunities for exposure to live talent in SL, and for regular socializing with friends.
• This position can be shared between 2 people.

How to apply:

• Send a notecard with your experience, if any, in club hosting or management to iSkye Silverweb

Brief Description:

• Create one consolidated notecard for each previous Healthinfo Island poster set

Responsibilities / Expectations:

• Open box from one poster set. The box will contain a notecard and textures/images. It may contain other related materials.
• Reformat the notecard text per the sample given by Gentle if necessary.
• Insert images into notecard at appropriate places in the text.
• Create image description if necessary for each image.
• Return completed notecard to Gentle.

Other Information:

• Must be VAI Member: No
• Frequency: Several years of 8 monthly poster sets are available, with each set having between 10 and 21 posters
• Prerequisite Skills/ Qualifications: basic understanding of SL notecards
• Skills that can be learned/ Training opportunities: If needed, instruction on how to write up image descriptions, or how to manipulate image and notecards.
• Supervisor: Gentle Heron
• Impact of the role: These notecards will be collected into “volumes” that will be placed in the Consumer Health Library on Healthinfo Island. This will make information that was provided on poster sets available after the posters are replaced each month.
• This position can be shared by several individuals

How to apply:

• Express interest to Gentle Heron

Brief Description:

• Discover new disability peer support groups to add to the Path of Support on Healthinfo Island.

Responsibilities / Expectations:

• One way to find new potential groups is to use the SEARCH feature, looking under disability terminology. However, this will turn up groups that are not for peer support. They may be for advocacy, education, or fundraising, or even role play. Therefore it is important to determine additional information about a potential group.
• First, determine that the group is not already on the Path of Support.
• Determine the group leader. Contact the group leader(s) to ask if the group is still active. If the group is active, determine if it is a peer support group rather than an education or advocacy group. If not active or not peer support, put that information on the shared Google Sheet.
• If unable to contact the listed leader, join the group and determine if there have been any recent group notices. If there are, contact the person doing the posting for further information. If there are no recent group notices, contact a group member who was recently in SL for further information.
• When you have determined the group is still active and in fact offers peer support, put that information on the shared Google Sheet.

Other Information:

• Must be VAI Member: No
• Frequency: information can be collected at any time, updates will be done annually
• Prerequisite Skills / Qualifications: ability to use SEARCH, and the Group Description to gather information about the group
• Skills that can be learned / Training opportunities: If needed, how to use SEARCH or the Group Description.
• Supervisor: Gentle Heron
• Impact of the role: People looking for peer support for a particular disability or chronic illness can do so at the Path of Support. New groups appear in SL all the time. It is difficult to find information about disability peer support from other sources.

How to apply:

• Express interest to Gentle Heron

Brief Description:

• Check that the information on the Path of Support posters is current

Responsibilities / Expectations:

• Access information on each poster on the Path of Support. Determine the group leader.
• Contact the group leader(s) to ask if the group is still active. If not, put that information on the shared Google Sheet.
• If the group is active, determine if it is a peer support group rather than an education or advocacy group.
• If unable to contact the listed leader, join the group and determine if there have been any recent group notices. If there are, contact the person doing the posting for further information.
• If there are no recent group notices, contact a group member who was recently in SL for further information.
• When you have determined if the group is still active or not, and if the leadership has changed, put that information on the shared Google Sheet.

Other Information:

• Must be VAI Member: No
• Frequency: information can be collected at any time, updates will be done annually
• Prerequisite Skills / Qualifications: ability to use Group Description to gather information about the group
• Skills that can be learned / Training opportunities: If needed, how to use the Group Description.
• Supervisor: Gentle Heron
• Impact of the role: People looking for peer support for a particular disability or chronic illness can do so at the Path of Support. It is difficult to find this information in other sources.

How to apply:

• Express interest to Gentle Heron

Brief Description:

• Ensure that the three poster sets on VAI’s land on Kitely are maintained and updated.

Responsibilities / Expectations:

• Check poster sets once a month to ensure all are working properly.
• Choose poster sets to use. There are two 10-poster sets and one 20-poster set with an entrance poster on our Kitely island.
• Obtain boxed materials from Gentle Heron.
• Install new poster sets, being sure to rename poster blanks, update the click text, and switch out the entrance notecard (and other materials as needed).
• Check new poster sets, once installed, to be sure they are working properly.
• Report names of new poster sets to Gentle.

Other Information:

• Must be VAI Member: No
• Frequency: check monthly; new poster sets at least every 3 months, but monthly if using a month-related theme.
• Prerequisite Skills / Qualifications: Must have avatar account that will work on Kitely; ability to edit objects, modifying textures and contents
• Skills that can be learned / Training opportunities: If needed, how to modify textures and contents of objects
• Supervisor: Gentle Heron
• Impact of the role: People with accounts on Kitely will have access to health and wellness information, and become aware of Virtual Ability.

How to apply:

• Express interest to Gentle Heron

Brief Description:

• Maintain text transcripts at the two annual VAI conferences (back-up position)

Responsibilities / Expectations:

• Sit directly behind Mook for duration of conference. Take necessary breaks as AFK during the presentation.
• Maintain a text transcript of the conference as a whole, including introductions, presentations, and audience participation
• Submit full, unedited text to Mook immediately following the conference conclusion. Note any particular requests (e.g., sometimes people ask to have their avatar name removed from the transcript)

Other Information:

• Must be VAI Member: No
• Frequency: (very) full day, twice a year
• Prerequisite Skills / Qualifications: strong internet connection
• Skills that can be learned / Training opportunities: N/A
• Supervisor: Mook Wheeler
• Impact of the role: The transcript is posted to the conference website so those who were unable to attend can review it.
• This position can be shared for a single conference, or can apply just to a single conference.
• This position is a back up.

How to apply:

• Express interest to Mook Wheeler

Brief Description:

• Take photos of presenters and other volunteers at the two annual VAI conferences.

Responsibilities / Expectations:

• Take SL snapshot of every presenter and every introducer, showing slide (if appropriate)
• Take SL snapshot of panels as a whole
• Take SL snapshot of each VAI greeter
• Take SL snapshots of each transcriptionist, members of the organizing team, and the VAI Executive Team
• Submit snapshots to iSkye immediately following the conference.

Other Information:

• Must be VAI Member: No
• Frequency: (very) full day, twice a year
• Prerequisite Skills / Qualifications: excellent SL photographer
• Skills that can be learned / Training opportunities: N/A
• Supervisor: iSkye Silverweb
• Impact of the role: Snapshots of conference participation that are sent to presenters and volunteers are greatly appreciated.
• This may be a role shared by two people; different individuals can do this for specific conferences or they can team up for each conference, or a person can apply to do this for a single conference.
• Ideally there should be a backup person.

How to apply:

• Contact: iSkye Silverweb

Brief Description:

• Create “Thank You” certificates for presenters and other volunteers at the two annual VAI conferences.

Responsibilities / Expectations:

• Obtain list of all presenters, introducers, and other volunteers and their roles from Gentle or iSkye
• Obtain conference logo and certificate template from iSkye
• Using PowerPoint or other image program, create certificate for each presenter, introducer and other volunteer
• Convert presenter certificates to PDFs
• Convert all other certificates to JPEGs or PNGs
• Submit certificates for presenters to Gentle Heron within a week following the conference
• Submit certificates for all others to iSkye Silverweb (email or inworld) within a week following the conference

Other Information:

• Must be VAI Member: No
• Frequency: twice a year, complete within week following conference
• Prerequisite Skills / Qualifications: excellent graphic creator
• Skills that can be learned / Training opportunities: N/A
• Supervisor: iSkye Silverweb
• Impact of the role: Giving certificates of appreciation for conference participation to presenters and volunteers is greatly appreciated. Many professionals use these for their CVs.
• This may be a role shared by two or more people; different individuals can do this for specific conferences or they can team up for each conference, or a person can apply to do this for a single conference.

How to apply:

• Submit sample certificate graphics to iSkye Silverweb

Brief Description:

• Assist new VAI members to be active in SL and our community

Responsibilities / Expectations:

• Meet with new members (both those new to SL and those familiar with virtual worlds) to acquaint them with Second Life and Virtual Ability, help them customize their avatar and appearance, and aid them in finding supportive communities and interesting activities. Extent and actual needs depend on the individual.

Other Information:

• Must be VAI Member: Yes
• Frequency: When requested (you will be contacted by supervisor by email (preferred) or inworld); sometimes, but not always, we know when a new member will join.
• Prerequisite Skills / Qualifications: experienced in SL (experience with SL viewer and library folder is helpful, as is familiarity with shopping and avatar customization) and active in VAI
• Skills that can be learned / Training opportunities: suggest you take the VAI tours and you attend various VAI events to familiarize yourself with our properties and activities
• Supervisor: any executive team member who has added a new VAI member to the community
• Impact of the role: People new to virtual worlds are more likely to “stick” if they have a mentor to “show them the ropes” and suggest some possible events and activities of interest

How to apply:

• Contact Gentle Hero

Brief Description:

• Show newcomers some of the important features of various sims owned by Virtual Ability

Responsibilities / Expectations:

• There are 3 individual tours:
  • Tour of Virtual Ability Island
  • Tour of VAI Sanctuary
  • Tour of 5 additional Virtual Ability islands (Healthinfo Island, the 3 Cape islands, Independence island)
• To prepare for this task, take the tour with Gentle. She will give you her script, but feel free to personalize it.
• Arrange with Linn Darkwatch when you have selected a date and time to give the tour. Linn will give you information about how to get your tour on the VAI calendar at least 2 weeks in advance.
• If the tour is only on public properties, you can request that the tour be opened to the general SL public.
• Meet individuals interested in the tour at the date and time you have set. Explain the purpose of the tour and any constraints before setting out.
• Conduct the tour, making sure nobody gets lost. Answer questions as they come up.
• Check with Gentle (if she is online) if you are asked a question you don’t know the answer to.
• Report any unanswered questions (and name of questioner) to Gentle.

Other Information:

• Must be VAI Member: Yes
• Frequency: Once every two months, day and time to be determined by volunteer
• Prerequisite Skills / Qualifications: Able to present in voice+text; patience!
• Skills that can be learned / Training opportunities: If needed, how to use SpeakEasy or other dictation tools
• Supervisor: Gentle Heron
• Impact of the role: New community members need to know about all the Virtual Ability facilities. Non-members may be interested as well.
• This task can be undertaken by a team. You may choose to only do a tour of certain properties.
• It is possible that a new member may request an individual tour, or a special destination tour. Those requests can be accommodated at your convenience.

How to apply:

• Express interest to Gentle Heron

Brief Description:

• Help new VAI members who are using assistive technology, or help new or mature SL members who are new to using assistive technology

Responsibilities / Expectations:

• Be available to work with requesting avatar within a week of request: ascertain requesting avatar’s familiarity with the tech and provide support to help them learn necessary virtual world skills

Other Information:

• Must be VAI Member: No
• Frequency: When requested (you will be contacted by supervisor by email (preferred) or inworld)
• Prerequisite Skills / Qualifications: user-level knowledge of one or more assistive technologies, e.g., Radegast viewer, screen reader (JAWS or NVDA), text-to-voice (PC or Mac), screen magnification (PC, Mac or commercial), voice-to-text (PC, Mac, or Dragon)
• Skills that can be learned / Training opportunities: N/A (unless a specialist would like to train others)
• Supervisor: Gentle Heron
• Impact of the role: Ensuring comfortable access to SL for users of assistive technology is critical for equitability
• This position is open for several individuals with varied skills.

How to apply:

• Contact Gentle Heron