Below are typical roles that a planning team can divide up to ensure the smooth running of a CAW. Some people will need to take on more than one role, and people can trade roles during the CAW to gain different experience. Also, if you have a small planning team, you may have key volunteers that can be asked to take on certain roles.
CAWs are wonderfully lively and unpredictable and can seem a little chaotic as everyone gathers and finds their place. Plan ahead, choose roles and be clear about responsibilities before the CAW day. Every CAW is different so modifications of these roles or new roles may be needed – the point is to match roles with your proposed CAW workflows.
Lead Site Organizer(s)
- 1-2 people
- lead contacts for the partner and site
- deal with any logistical issues that arise during the CAW
- keep track of time
- make sure the group moves along on the agenda
- can coordinate the answering of questions that are useful for the whole group – getting the group’s attention and facilitating or answering the question(s).
- These workers can also lead the discussion of accomplishments and next steps at the end of the day or recruit someone to do that.
Welcome table
- 1 person typically
- greeting participants, signing them in, and assigning each person to a table
- create a sign-in sheet with Name, Email, and Affiliation.
Evaluation Coordinator
- 1 person (everyone)
- no one leaves without filling out an evaluation form.
- may also take on the job of summarizing the evaluations for the post-CAW meeting with the partner.
Table captains
- 1 person per inspection/inventory table
- facilitates that table’s work
- greets their team and helps those with computers load the data template/spreadsheet on their laptop(s)
- make sure that everyone names their template files correctly
- Checks data input by volunteers for accuracy and consistency
- consults with their colleagues as needed for any questions about how inspection or description is being done
- collects all of the files from the participants at that table at end of day
Box table
- 2-3 people in this role
- keep track of the totality of boxes that are being inspected and inventoried
- distribute and retrieve the boxes to the tables
- may need to re-box the items
- responsible for tracking what item numbers ultimately end up in what boxes
Presentations
- 2-4 presenters are needed
- slides for the presentation time may include:
- welcome and intro of the partner, the collection and CAW goals
- instruction on media and film or both
- presentation of the CAW workflow
- the introduction of the template