Volunteering for APEC Worth the Wait
There鈥檚 something really cool about being chosen by the State Department as a volunteer for APEC, one of the largest and historically significant events to come to Honolulu.
On my first day as an APEC Media Center volunteer, I felt like I was preparing for my first day at high school. I laid out my perfectly ironed 鈥 yes, I do still iron my clothing 鈥 black slacks and Hawaiian quilt-print aloha shirt. Tori Richard specially designed the shirt鈥檚 Lokahi pattern to represent the 21 APEC economy nations.
Official volunteer credentials, black kukui nut lei and black comfortable shoes completed my uniform. I even remembered to print out my volunteer parking pass.
When the APEC Volunteer Committee, including local and national members, gave us our volunteer packets last week, they said nearly 1,800 local and international media had registered for the conference. I was prepared for an eight-hour shift of running around.
I was supposed to start 8 a.m., but I left home at 6:30 a.m. because I figured traffic was going to be a bear.
A normal commute from the East side of Oahu to Kapiolani and Kalakaua, at that time in the morning, takes me about 20 minutes. But on that APEC Tuesday, the trip took me nearly two hours.
I hit the first wall of cars stopped at Kalanianole Highway and West Hind Road, about five minutes into my commute. I had jazz to keep me company as I waited for the traffic light to cycle through three times, so I was okay with the wait. I kept glancing at the clock to gauge the time. I had less than half an hour to make it to the media center, but I was on my way to meet and greet the press.
The highway traffic jam into town was like rush hour on the Philadelphia Schuylkill Expressway. To put it into perspective, 鈥渢he Schuylkill鈥 is a major highway in the City of Brotherly Love that connects with at least 10 other major highways in the Philadelphia area. The surprise is when you鈥檙e not stuck waiting in traffic there.
The radio traffic report suggested avoiding the Kapiolani exit because of road closures near the convention center. It looked as though people were listening. The two lanes that merge into the exit were empty. I was amazed and made my way through the exit. Almost no one was on the road.
The media center looked very impressive with row upon row of 624 media stations setup with lamps and power outlets for the local and international press to work on their stories. Large television projection screens hang from rafters around the more than 88,000 square foot room, ready to broadcast some of the meetings for those members of the press who are unable to attend in person.
Maybe that drive in was tip-off about the day.
I spent the morning getting to know my co-volunteers as we helped out with tasks like putting wireless Internet connection instructions at media stations and learned information about how the media could sign-up for press events. It鈥檚 amazing how excited I got doing something normally as routine as making and stapling 50 copies of revised press event schedules while waiting for the media to arrive. It wasn鈥檛 the mad rush that I had geared up for, it was only Day 1 and things weren鈥檛 crazy, but I still got to help three journalists sign up for press events.
At the end of my shift I got to meet the next shift and let them know the sign-up process.
The press did not swarm the media center on Day 1 of APEC, and I didn鈥檛 field tons of questions, but I got the chance to be involved with a major event in my own small way.
Friday, I鈥檒l be ready to pitch in at the Moana Surfrider with my dependable stapler and highlighter.
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