The following story was shared by Dawn Adams Miller, business engagement manager in the internal learning and development solutions group at Cisco, and Michelle C. Braun, president of Roadmaps to Success.

Client

The Democratic National Convention Committee (DNCC)

Problem

The DNCC wanted to ensure exceptional customer service for the anticipated 90,000 attendees of the presidential nomination acceptance event, planned to take place at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, North Carolina, on September 6. The committee contacted the ASTD Charlotte Area Chapter for help with this effort.

Diagnosis

Led by Charlotte Area Chapter President Keith Vincent, the chapter recruited training professionals who designed, developed, and delivered a training experience for the general volunteers serving on nomination acceptance night.

Methods

With eight weeks until the event, the Charlotte Area Chapter partnered with local businesses and sister organizations to recruit 100 volunteer trainers to train 3,500 global volunteers. It did not have access to the venue until the month prior to the event, and stadium and event regulations required a high level of security and a Secret Service background check for all workers. These stringent guidelines and the short training timeline required a great deal of adaptability.

First, Charlotte Area Chapter members created the training content. They designed a PowerPoint presentation with facts about the stadium and event for all volunteers, and created customized job aids with responsibilities outlined and potential problems described for each of the eight volunteer roles. They also created facilitation guides for each role that included role-play scenarios.

The Charlotte Area Chapter conducted a three-hour face-to-face train-the-trainer session the week before the event and offered a virtual session for remote participants. The trainers then instructed volunteers during six sessions on the two days leading up to the event.

The training sessions began with the one-hour general information PowerPoint presentation. Then volunteers split into groups based on their stadium locations—inside or outside—and functions. Trainers conducted 30-minute sessions with each group, and then rotated to each of the other functions to deliver 15-minute cross-trainings. Each session concluded with a stadium tour for all attendees.

Results

Because of weather, President Barack Obama's nomination acceptance speech was moved to the indoor Time Warner Cable Arena, which had its own trained staff. Although the volunteers were disappointed that they could not attend the event, they understood the situation. All of the DNCC volunteers for both venues were invited to a volunteer party following the event, and to a conference call with Obama who thanked them for their efforts.

The experience was uplifting for trainers and volunteers. There was plenty of excitement among volunteers who were chanting the event tag line, "Fired up and ready to serve!" The Charlotte Area Chapter received a great deal of positive anecdotal feedback, including the following:

"As I sit and watch the beginnings of the DNC, I reflect on what we as a team accomplished this past weekend. ... It was an honor, privilege, and blessing to have served with you all and all of the facilitators this past weekend, and I couldn't have asked for a better group of people to train beside."

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Training professionals in Charlotte, North Carolina, volunteered their time and talents for the 2012 Democratic National Convention's presidential nomination acceptance event.

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