Professionalization of festival volunteering from the perspective of a social
network research - Case study
Eliza Bodor-Eranus - Ákos Bocskor - Zsuzsanna Szvetelszky - Károly Takács -
Eszter Vit - Flóra Samu - Júlia Galántai - Judit Pétervári
Abstract
The three-level organizational hierarchy (volunteers, mentors, coordinators) of the Hungarian festival volunteer organization reflects its professionalisation. The mentoring position, representing the middle level of the organization, is a unique learning opportunity for young people applying for the voluntary programme. Mentors are responsible for the work of a group of 20-30 volunteers during the festival, enabling them to acquire skills that can be used in the labour market, such as organising and checking of teamwork, in-group and inter-group communication as well as coordinating tasks and human resources.
Our research investigated the mentor level of festival volunteers during the biggest Hungarian music festival, the Sziget Festival in 2018 with social analysis methodology. The primary value of network analysis is that it highlights the emergence of the functions of the classical task leader and emotional leader in the volunteer community which can be used to make management decisions more successful and effective.
Keywords: festival volunteering, Sziget Festival, social networks, cooperation, communication, job satisfaction, commitment,