Teaching people to play games. You run demos mostly. There are a few other tasks, but most volunteers are just showing off games.
Nice! Excited to see you again!
I guess that nixes the idea then; I'm not familiar/good enough with any board games to teach them to people. Oh well, maybe someday I'll meet someone offline who actually wants to go to geek cons with me. X3
I will say, for you and anyone who may be on the fence: I walked in to PAX East two years ago knowing SotM. That was pretty much it. Craig and all of the other volunteers were very patient and understanding when trying to teach me other games. I think I learned Bottom of the 9th in a half-hour, and ran that more or less all weekend. >G wants people who are willing to chat with people who walk up to the booth, and being able to teach any game is just fine. There is generally a large enough pool of volunteers that the "heavier" games (Fate, Spirit Island, Exoplanets, etc.) get covered by the people who really know it, and the "lighter" games (Bot9, Lazer Ryderz, Isle of Trains, Time Management, etc.) are able to be run by people who have smiles and welcoming personalities, who learned the game themselves within the last 24 hours.
Also, I am pretty sure I spent an entire shift forgetting a fairly significant rule in Isle of Trains this past PAX East, and it turned out to be just fine! People still walked away with a big smile, some liked it enough to buy, and I read through the rule sheet the next day when someone asked about that rule, and modified my demo to include that rule. Not a big deal.
The most fun I have running demos is that people want to play games. They approach the booth wanting to see what's new, and that takes a lot of my hesitation(I don't like feeling pushy), as they ask to play a game, and we can just sit and play a genuinely good game together.
@Jeysie
I want to echo what RySmith6 said and let you know that you'd be more than welcome to join us at a Citizen at a show! Craig sets up an evening before the show starts to teach people games on an as-needed basis, and if you know even one of our games already you'll be ahead of some people we've had help out in the past!
Literally exact same story here - we must have been next to each other or trading shifts off from each other the whole time. I learned Bot9 the night before Pax started, had a super fun time demoing it, and then got to go walk around to try other games.
Actually, I might not have come to completely love Bot9 if I hadn’t run the demo. Seeing the range of stuff that happened to people, and egging on players as they stared each other down, completely made the game for me.
All this is to say, Jeysie: don’t worry if you don’t know the rules. Volunteering for >G entails playing one game a lot, getting plenty of time to walk the con, and having fun. If you’re really on the fence, they also sometimes need volunteers to do other things in the booth than run demos.
Quoting for truth!
- Invest in knowing one game (rather than playing hundreds once or twice) to enjoy it and its nuances deeply
- Run the same demo over and over again to free yourself to enjoy the experience of others discovering the game for the first time.
I am the exact opposite. I try not too play games too much, especially 2 player games. The worst for me is when the skill level of the players is so drastic that the game becomes unfun. Unless I can find someone with the same experience, I will purposely not overplay some games. Especially ones I like.
Keep in mind that running demos doesn’t mean playing a lot of games. 
I ran (some arbitrarily large number) Spirit Island games at Gen Con 2017, but I only played once: the night before while we were all training on the games. 
I just love seeing folks discover how much fun it is…
Yeah, I feel your pain Pydro; I tend to be The Scrub (in PvP) or The Load (in co-op) in any game I play.
I don't think I ever actually played in any demo I've ran during a convention
Does anyone else need a place to stay? Leo9981 is currently looking and wants to know who else is jumping in with us?
We can discuss things a bit more privately over on Discord. It is not just a Voice Chat app, it is also a good Text Chat room app. Come and join us so we can text about the logistics, things to do, local food or anything else.For instance, I know the convention center is close to China town so I plan on eating lots of Red Bean Buns. XD
https://discord.gg/8bvZxpB
Also if anyone is planning on being a Citizen I have a few a bit of info I have gotten from Craig that I am sharing on the Discord.
Pretty sure I'm going to PAX unplugged with my family so yay for that. It's my first convention, wish me luck.
I’m going! Woohoo!!! 
More people to meet in real life. Going to be exciting.
only 2 weeks away
Day -1: I travel from Denver to Philadelphia tomorrow. I arrive late, so there will be little to say about PAXU until two days from now, but I'm getting pretty excited.
Yesterday I met up with friends who happened to have a copy of Brewmasters they'd been gifted but never played. Since I'll be helping manage the GtG room which will have games of Brewmasters, it was an opportune chance to learn the game. We had a good time. Worker placement, economic engine games aren't exactly my cup of tea, but this seems like a very good one.
Also, I won! I got 58 rep in a four player game. Second place was 56, so it was very close. I focused on brewing the 7 rep each Imperial Stout. I had a brewpub and brewmaster Chris Kirkman, plug a combination of other workers and partnerships and advancdement along the first research track that made it relatively easy to get lots of basic ingredients and turn those into the coffee and spices I needed.
Andy! Sent you a PM.
If'n anybody who was a participant in the Discord Sentinels RPG happens to be there and wants to take a crack at sitting down with Dave Chalker to try out the updated character building rules on either Lacuna or the Goalie, I'm all ears as to the results.
I will be all over that like Mist on Nights. . .
I plan to hunt down all the RPG makers and get their thoughts on things.
1 more day and finsihed my genderBend NightMist, So excited, going to finally meet some Forum mates.
Day 0: Successful travel from Denver to Indianapolis, but Russ' flight got canceled. On the plus side, room to myself tonight. Getting the key card to work only required going back down to the lobby once. Hotel wifi is ... acceptable? Walked past three people sleeping rough on the sidewalk, next to the street (13th street) that goes underneath the Pennsylvania Convention Center. And why is it the Pennsylvania Convention Center instead of the Philadelphia Convention Center? Philly people forgetting about the rest of the state? It's not like this is the state capital.
Transit was pleasant. Bus to Union station in Denver than train to the airport. Train from the airport to Jefferson Station here in Philadelphia. I used the flight to catch up a bit on The Letters Page. I'm way behind. Listened to KNYFE, Seargent Steel, and Naturalist episodes. Hard to pay attention to details, though. I kept getting lulled to sleep by the pleasant sound of Christopher and Adam bantering.