A few hours into the start of the first Student Edition of our well-loved Startup Festival, DevFest — GeekTutor, the ogapatapata of them all said, and I quote verbatim “Volunteers are many, but we are not seeing the effect”.

After a few back and forth, we both concluded that it's not that Volunteers weren't doing the work, they were. It's just that it wasn’t making the expected impact aka No evidence.

Think of a time you attended a big event

There’s a ton of stuff happening.

At DevFest Lagos, for example, the air is filled with excited chatter from a quite diverse crowd of developers, tech enthusiasts, and industry professionals. People are constantly moving around, exploring booths and stalls that line the venue — who no wan collect swag?

Meanwhile, the main stage hosts dynamic presentations from cutting-edge technologies to sparking discussions where participants can gain ideas and insights from experts in the field.

Now imagine you are the Organizer who has to ensure all things go as planned

The reality is that the unexpected will surely happen. It doesn’t matter that you’ve spent months planning this event or that you sacrificed your sleep for the past week. So when such things happen, you must quickly figure out the issue and fix it as soon as possible.

It could be Speaker Coordination

Delays and last-minute changes may occur as they did at DevFestSE where the hall numbering was changed so that certain people could use a certain stage. How do you ensure Speakers are at the right place and at the right time?

How do you help them manage time, handle any unexpected changes in the schedule, and ensure a smooth presentation flow? Projector stops working or starts flickering? How do you get the technical guys to the scene ASAP?

Maybe it was a VIP Guest that just arrived

They are VIP for a reason. Their time is very very important. And any slight delay is a potential dissatisfaction to them. How do you ensure their comfort — provide a high level of personalized service like coordinating their movement in and out of the hall, and prompt response to their request so they will be more inclined to grace our occasion or be a sponsor in the future?

Okay, what if it’s a lunch break

You know food makes people very irrational.

Without effective coordination, things can quickly turn into a logistical challenge. It’s a Hungry Horde. Lines will become disorganized, food will run out at some stations, causing some attendees to wait longer than expected or worse, not getting any food packs: Terrible Experience.

So you need your volunteers to coordinate the situation and ensure everyone gets something to eat. How do you strategically position volunteers at key points so they can direct traffic, address supply shortages, and ensure a steady flow of attendees through the lunch stations?

How do you ensure unexpected issues are quickly resolved resulting in a well-coordinated lunch break that not only satisfies hunger but also leaves attendees impressed with the event's organization?

Fast and Efficient communication

That’s the only way to ensure that the moment issues pop up, they are instantly escalated to the appropriate team, with no running around, and no delays. That’s the only way to ensure everyone knows what role to play.

Its the only way Organizers can quickly share last-minute adjustments and location updates for critical happenings. It’s how Volunteers can report findings, Leads can request for prompt assistance.

You are thinking Walkie Talkie?

I’m thinking something Better

Because if you think about walkie-talkies, they are not just bulky, they are also expensive gadgets that end up collecting dust most of the time since they won’t be used always (hence, cost can’t be justified)

Thankfully, we all have a high-tech walkie-talkie already. It’s light, pocket-friendly, and best of all, there's no extra cost. If you can’t guess the name, it’s your Smartphone. So we are thinking of building a Walkie Talkie App on it.

This is a community open-source project

And our plan is that every participant in all Study Groups has a part to play. Whether you are in Backend, Mobile, Frontend, Design or ML, there’s something for you to make this a success.