VOLUNTEERING @ DESIGN TRAILS 2017

Mar 13, 2017
3 min read

Last Saturday, me and my classmates volunteered for Shophouse & Co's Design Trails 2017, part of the Singapore Design Week 2017 event lineup. This is the general recap of that day.

We checked in at National Design Centre (near Bugis MRT) at 8.30am. On the spot, we were briefed on which stop are we assigned to. I got National Design Centre (NDC). That's where I had spent my morning. From others' stories, they stayed at the same stop for the whole day, but I didn't. More on that later.

The first thing we did was helping to cut out some props for an upcoming activity. We did that for a good hour or two. It didn't bother me much since I'm really used to being hands-on with projects. After that, the Shophouse & Co team distributed the lunch catering to us.

I was helping out with registrations of participants at Level 1 of NDC when one of the Shophouse & Co coordinators asked for extra help at other stops. Well, I'm all out in exploring, so I volunteered as tribute (Sorry that meme never gets old).

A maxi cab took 10 of us to Tan Boo Liat, where the last two stops are located. The first one we stopped by was Journey East, an industrial-style interior shop. We sat down for a talk by an Australian interior designer. When that's done, we moved to Sing Mui Heng, a textile shop. We oversaw the fabric tinkering activity, as well as a scheduled talk. After that, it's another trip back to Journey East to help out during a talk on furniture collecting with Joseph Lim, Daniel Boey, and Liz Kassim. I know some people who would totally took this as a networking opportunity, but I wasn't one of them - mainly because I was on duty. By the way, we're down to 5 from 10.

The clock is showing 5.00pm. There seem to be nothing I can help out with here anymore. Stella, our main in-charge, offered 3 of us to help out at Oasia Hotel at Tanjong Pagar for an art installation for the next day. I was one of the trio.

Before heading to Tanjong Pagar, we stopped by Chong Wen Ge at Telok Ayer, the third stop of the trail. And may I say that this is the stop I enjoy the most. I love heritage locations. With the Peranakan tiles, batik cake rolls, and the fact that a historical spot has been repurposed for the society (AND it's close to the hip dining spaces), I feel at home. Well we did nothing volunteer-related here, just literally transiting between stops.

(Off-topic: There should be a drinking game for how many Song Joong Ki beer posters I see from the car during the trip from Telok Ayer to Tanjong Pagar)

We went to the 12th floor of the Oasia Hotel to find sacks of Salvation Army clothes that will be used for an art installation on sustainable fashion (this sound all too familiar Raffles). There was a designer-in-charge who briefed us on what we could help with. First thing? Sort out the Salvation Army clothes to neutrals/black/white/grey and colours. i never though having my nose blocked could be helpful. Also, someone donated a hot pink g-string (why). Second thing? Unwind yarns. The fellow volunteers found a super-speedy method to finish the job, that even the designer-in-charge was mildly impressed.

I was dismissed from volunteer duty at 7pm. Since I had plans at Tanjong Pagar, Stella didn't have to take me back to NDC. I was hoping to get to know new people through this event, and in a way I did that. Overall, among all the other volunteers I did, this one stood out because of the different stops. I was kinda lucky to be able to be unofficially following the trail, and I even got a sneak peek on the next day's activity.

A few things I learned in terms of event organising:

Communication between event committee members is super-crucial.
To have participants enjoying the event, it is important that the committee design the event's activities with participants in mind.
Be proactive.
Good management and clear delegation of duties can make the event run smooth.