Thanks guys, your helping out on this event is just too cool
Some thoughts and lessons learned:
1. People still enjoy, scream, and yell when they see "Star Wars", they want to shake hands, take pics which can be disrupting for the costumes trying to keep pace on the route. Please keep a positive attitude - we may not be in the parade directly but we still have an effect on peoples experiences in the exercise of our responsibility. An assertive attitude works best when trying to keep people back. Laughter is a great diffuser of people's tensions - some times people would get snarky when I have asked them to stand back and ask me "who are you suppose to be" and I'd tell them "George Lucas" - that always got a laugh and we'd move along
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2. Wear dark clothing - if you have a cool SW or a CCG /GT/KB shirt please wear it. And comfortable shoes
3. You will be positioned along the parade unit and assigned a section of the parade. These will be your costumes to watch over, look for those who need help. If you see pieces of a costume or prop laying on the ground please pick them up. I will be handing out to each spotter a couple of small rolls of duct tape - just a few feet in each (both white and black) in case you have costume malfunctions in your group - they're purposefully small so they're easy for you to carry.
4. Watch for costumes who maybe struggling, all spotters are to stay to the sidelines but inquire if they need help - however, do not stay out on the route, move back to the sideline when prudent or ask them to move to the sideline as well. If you have one of your costumes drop out please make sure they are accompanied back to the assembly area - if you need help, let fellow spotters know. If they're rebel scum, just leave them
j/k!
5. At the end of the parade route our spotter duties do not end, transiting back to the assembly area keeping our unit pretty much together is like herding jello cats across a barnyard - but there have been a few incidents when some participants ran into "over enthusiastic" fans (i.e. drunk). Also, two years ago one of the costumes didn't show up for over 40 minutes after we got back to the assembly area! While Portland is small, its still easy to get lost as they discovered.
6. Ice Water will be very readily available this year before and after the parade. Grab bottles
specially after the parade from my car and make sure everyone is offered. There will also be shop towels for costumes to wipe down with - grab as many as you need, they can keep them
That's about it for now, if anyone has anything they would like to add, be my guest! Thanks again for the help, it's a great event and what we do helps our performers shine.
