The Global Activism Expo took place this weekend at the UIC Forum. Early Saturday morning I headed there, north on the Halsted bus from Chinatown, to spend some time volunteering. I was curious about the event and I love the programming WBEZ has to offer. A few hours helping out, it turns out, makes for happiness on a cold, gloomy day.

I’d received one of the station’s emails which discussed volunteer  opportunities. I almost wet my pants when I saw there was a chance to help out for Wait, Wait… Don’t Tell Me one of my favorite broadcasts. Eeek! It turns out the only days available were times I already had plans. Grrr! Then I saw the information on GAX and decided to sign up to help out. They confirmed with a 9:00AM call time for Saturday. I felt kind of cool and geeky all at the same time.

It was a drizzly, windy and cold Saturday morning so of course my hair arrived to the Forum first. Don was the first person I met and he turned out to be our enthusiastic and fearless leader. It was a small group of us and we were all on the same page, looking forward to the morning’s routine. We were given a really cool t-shirt which we wore to help people identify us for questions from the organizations and food vendors.

We were assigned the big room with dozens of tables, in place, and ready to be taken over by global activists. We were then given a responsibility and mine was helping at the loading dock, which didn’t really have a dock, just a door to the back entrance of the auditorium. It was cold. So, so cold and windy but this gave us even more energy… probably because we liked running back into the warmth of the building. Brrr!

I was one of two girls in our group. Her name is Jeanette and she’s a mom who enjoys volunteering, especially for WBEZ. She’s a fan of the station and so were the rest of us. It was nice to be able to connect that way. So we kept going back and forth helping the activists bring in their materials, learning a bit about their mission, and constantly checking our paper maps for table locations. It was fast and fun.

One of my favorite moments was helping the guys from Intelligentsia. Yes. Oh, yes. I got to carry their sign! What? Yes! Intelligentsia. Repeat it. Go ahead. Ohhh. And even though they made us suffer for a long, long, long time while they created perfection, when I finally took that first sip of heaven, I almost passed out. Good lord! Shivers.

After a few hours of pushing dollies and carrying all sorts of bags and boxes and signs, things looked about ready to rock. There was a quick reminder of the day’s plans and we were assigned new tasks. I helped out with the photo booth, letting people know it was there and to take advantage. Some people were a little hesitant but most took advantage of the free publicity, especially when I offered to watch over their table so they could be photographed. They were happy and that made me happy.

As I walked throughout the area I began to learn more about each organization. There was so much information, so much need and so much work being done. It was really empowering. There was also a live Skype session with children in India and they played a quick round of Simon Says with children here. Technology, yo! Oh, and the live music portion was outstanding, as only WBEZ knows how. I also ran into Jesse Menendez, host of The Music Vox on Vocalo and Silvia Rivera, managing director.

There were so much to learn, so many ideas to support. As my time to leave approached I wished I would have had more time to spare and stay. It was a great event and a great opportunity to help in whatever way I could. I encourage you, as well, if you are willing and able, to take some time to volunteer… if you don’t do so already.

See you at next year’s Global Activism Expo!