Thou Shalt Understand our Policies and Procedures, and Follow Them. We are not going to stand over you to make sure you're following our procedures -
we would not have chosen you as a volunteer if we didn't trust you to take responsibility for knowing what you need to do when volunteering for COC.
If you're unsure of anything, ask your mentor, and if you haven't got a mentor, ask Julie, (volunteer@calgaryoutdoorclub.com).
Thou Shalt Follow the Law. For events that are covered by specific laws, for example, helmet laws, bicycle bell laws, speed limits and dog restraint laws,
you and your attendees should abide by those laws. This includes Alberta's Personal Information Protection Act.
Please note that as a volunteer for COC, you are provided access to members' contact information, including their phone numbers and e-mail addresses
EVEN when members have chosen to hide that information from the member network. This information is provided for official club business only (i.e., following up with members regarding an upcoming event that you're coordinating). It is not to be used for personal contact purposes - COC is in violation of this law if volunteers use that information for anything other than official club business when the member has chosen to hide the information. On the member's bio page, you can easily tell what information is hidden because it is flagged with an asterisk (*).
Thou Shalt Collect Waivers for ALL events:
Online acceptance of our waiver is required for all members attending an event.
There are two ways that a member can get on an event without going through the online waiver, (1) the event coordinator, added during event creation, and
(2) using "Add Member to Event" feature. It is your responsibility to ensure they have followed the instructions to accept the online waiver.
Additionally, guests (including children),
do not accept the online waiver at all. For them, you are responsible for collecting signed paper waivers for each guest and e-mailing them to
manager@calgaryoutdoorclub.com.
Thou Shalt Provide Accurate Website Data: Make sure that your distance and elevation are entered and accurate. Make sure that your round-trip kms are accurate for carpooling.
After your event is completed, make sure that you update the attendee list so that our attendance records are accurate.
Thou Shalt Follow Our Difficulty Ratings: Be sure to follow our difficulty ratings when
setting up your events (even if your guidebook says otherwise, or you personally disagree with them). Our members have come to expect consistency throughout the Club based on the ratings described.
Thou Shalt Not Discriminate: COC is an "everyone welcome" club. This means we do not post events which discriminate against anyone based on age (except for adult-only for obvious
reasons), marital status, gender, or anything else. No singles events, girls-only events, etc. please.
Thou Shalt Consider Others When Changing Events: If you have to (or want to) make a change to an event, please make sure you consider how it may affect those who are signed up.
For example: - Do not change the time or meeting place with very little notice. If you do change the time of the event or meeting place
(no matter how far in advance) use your "E-Mail" feature (under "Coordinate", "Future Events") to e-mail those signed up to let them know. If you make the change with short notice,
or just before the weekend (some people only have their e-mail at work during the week), phone everyone on the list to confirm that they got the changes.
- If you change the details of the activity (e.g., switch to a different hike) for whatever reason (weather, etc.), use your "E-Mail" feature (under "Coordinate", "Future Events")
to e-mail those signed up to let them know. - If you are going to significantly change the maximum number of people on the event, send out an email to those already
registered to notify them of the change. Some people choose an event based on group size and do not wish to be part of a much larger group, so you should provide adequate
notification for these folks to withdraw if they wish.
- If you change whether an event allows kids, you must give attendees enough notice. If you are going from "no kids" to allowing them, you should get the consent of
everyone on the list before making that change - make sure you do this with enough time to give everyone at least two days to respond. Use the "E-Mail" feature (under "Coordinate",
"Future Events") to send out a note such as:
"We have had a request to allow children on this event. Please let me know if you have any concerns or objections about making this change.
If I don't hear from you by Thursday afternoon, I'll assume that it's ok with you." Give everyone at least 48 hours on that deadline. If someone asks you to change your
event to allow kids at the last minute, please refuse the request with a reply such as: "Regarding bringing your children, I'm sorry but for this particular event,
you won't be able to bring them. The event was originally set up to not allow them, and since we are now only two days away from the event, it is too late for me to follow
up with everyone to make sure that they are 'ok' with changing that aspect of the event. It is our policy to not make last minute changes to events involving inclusion of
children, just because many people look for this when they sign up for an event. In the future, if you're able to give me a bit more notice that you'd like to bring your
kids, I can send out a note to the group to confirm that it is ok with everyone to make that change." NOTE that your opinion counts too! If you do not
want to allow kids on your event, you can simply refuse (or tell the requestor that there was an objection from the group to making the change).
Thou Shalt Not Switch to Dogs Allowed: In early 2007 our lawyer advised us to NEVER change a posted event from "no dogs allowed" to "dogs allowed" because if participants
do not check their email/voicemail before the event and show up not expecting dogs on the hike, they will be upset and likely to sue in the event they are bitten or attacked
by wildlife the dog irritates/rustles up.
Thou Shalt Not Line Jump: Our events are first-come, first-served. If your event develops a waiting list, please be sure to take folks in the order in which they signed up.
If you line jump, this will cause hard feelings among the membership. There are a few exceptions to this rule. Please see
our associated FAQ for more info. Some examples: If someone has 2+ no-shows on their account, you may skip over them. If you do not have enough drivers on your event, you may take people willing to drive before you take those who can't, or prefer not to.
Thou Shalt Keep Reasonable Group Sizes: Set your maximum as the true maximum number you want to take. Generally, you should never add more than 20% over your maximum
to the list (to account for last-minute cancellations and no-shows). Coordinators are required to check with the respective Park Authorities on the maximum permissible group
size before posting their events. You could potentially receive a warning and/or a fine if you take a group that is larger than permitted.
- For K-Country see this link: K-Country Group Sizes
- For the National Parks, the maximum group size for backcountry trails is 10.
- Where there is no specified group limit, the maximum group size is 15 per event.
- For more difficult events the maximum should be set lower (e.g., 8 people for moderate and difficult scrambles, trips into avalanche territory).
- Trips to the same location should be set at least 2 hours apart, although the preference would be to do something else - there are lots of locations to choose from.
Thou Shalt Not Set Up Events for Unapproved Coordinators: All COC events must have a coordinator who either has their star or has been approved to work towards their star (Volunteer In Training) in attendance, who holds primary responsibility for the event. See Helping Others for more information about this commandment.
Thou Shalt Do No Harm (or at least do everything you can to minimize harm): Although COC's mission is to get people into the Great Outdoors for fun and fitness,
we consider it to be of high importance to do our best to do no harm (or at least as little as possible). Please ensure that your events follow this guideline, including:
- Fostering a positive reputation for COC in the community (by following the laws and guidelines of any area where you take a group)
- Respecting the environments and ecosystems that your events occur in and minimizing harm (particularly in more delicate areas, e.g., the alpine)
- Respecting the purpose of the area you're recreating in and not spoiling it for others (e.g., hiking or snow-shoeing on groomed cross-country ski areas)