Volunteer

PGConf.dev would not be possible without the support of a dedicated group of volunteers! Volunteering is a great way to get more involved in the community, and we'd be happy to have you. Currently, our greatest need for 2026 is people willing to work at the registration desk and as room hosts on site in Vancouver. We are also interested in hearing from people who are willing to help with organizing work in advance of the conference either for this year or future years. If interested, please contact us at contact@pgconf.dev and let us know how you would like to help. Directions for volunteers can be found below.

Registration Desk

Thank you for volunteering at the registration desk during PGConf.dev 2026. The conference would not be possible without the support of a dedicated group of volunteers.

The registration desk is the main point of contact for attendees seeking assistance during the conference. The desk is located next to the escalators across from security. We ask that all registration desk volunteers review these instructions prior to your shift.

Showing up for your shift

You can see a list of your volunteer slots at https://www.pgevents.ca/events/pgconfdev2026/volunteer/. Click the "Access ical version" link if you would like an ICAL version of your slots. Times on the page are in Pacific time; the local timezone in Vancouver.

Please try to show up at the registration desk a few minutes before your shift starts so that the previous volunteers can leave on time.

We ask that you not wear clothing with corporate logos while on shift at the registration desk. This makes it clear that you are representing the conference and not your employer while on shift. However, The PGConf.dev conference t-shirt is allowed to be worn while on shift.

Venue Layout

Above is a map of the venue showing the rooms we will be using during the conference. Attendees might ask you for directions to rooms. All rooms are on the first floor except for the RBC Executive room 2200 which is on the second floor (not shown on the map). The RBC Executive room is only being used on Tuesday for 2 closed meetings.

Note the location of bathrooms (down the hall almost opposite to the entrance of Canfor), as questions for directions are common at the registration desk.

Lunch will be served in the area labelled “Buffet.”

Attendees are encouraged to take their food to “Segal” rooms 1400-1430 where tables are set up or attendees can eat in the concourse.

Checkin Procedures

We expect most checkins Tuesday or Wednesday morning but a few people will check in later in the week.

The overview of the checkin procedure is as follows (more details are provided below):

1. Lookup their registration on your phone using the checkin processing application
2. Give them their badge and Lanyard
3. Remind them to come back for their t-shirt
4. Tell attendees that they can take the sponsor provided items from the registration desk.
5. We will be giving out the conference poster during the welcome session on Wednesday morning. Attendees that miss getting their poster then can get the poster at the registration desk from then on. Attendees can also get a shipping tube(while supplies last) for the poster if they need one.

Attendee check-in is done using the online conference system. You will need a smart-phone with a camera connected to the conference wifi to use the check-in system. You need to check an attendee in using the QR code on their ticket or with their name. Go to https://www.pgevents.ca/events/pgconfdev2026/checkin/

You can either install an app on your smartphone (Android or IOS) using the links on that page or use the web version of the checkin application. You will need tosign into the conference system from your web browser using the same postgresql.org account that you used to register and volunteer.

If you are using the web-version click on the link under “Open By Link” or use the QR code on that page under the link.

Scan the QR code on the attendees ticker or search for them by name

Verify that the attendee has confirmed the policy, if the conference policy has not been confirmed the screen will show as below, the attendee must go to the website (www.pgevents.ca) using their login and confirm the conference policy. Do NOT checkin attendees who have not confirmed the policy

If the attendee has confirmed the policy then it should show “Policy Confirmed” as shown below

You can now locate the attendees badge, give it to them and click “Check In.”

The screen should show success; if it doesn’t, you need to address the issue.

Registrations with no badge

We will be printing the attendee badges a week prior to the conference but will allow people to register (if we don’t sell out) until the end of the conference. Attendees who register late will be given a blank badge and they can write their own name on the badge. Make a note of the registrants name on the list of “Handwritten badges.”

Lanyards

A blue lanyards means that the attendee is okay with their photo being taken and included in social media posts. Red lanyards means that the attendee does not want their photo taken. The registration app will show the attendees photo policy choice. They are allowed to change their mind when they pick up their badge.

T-Shirts

We will start to distribute t-shirts on Tuesday after 10:00am, Wednesday after 10:00am and all day Thursday and Friday. We will not be distributing t-shirts during breakfast on Tuesday or Wednesday.

Attendees selected a t-shirt size when they registered. To process a t-shirt you should scan the QR code on the attendees badge with your phone. You can do this with either the Conference Check in App OR with your phones camera, you must be logged into the www.pgevents.ca site under your conference registration.

Shows the t-shirt size they selected

Give the attendee the indicated t-shrt size and click the “Store Date for T-shirt’ so the system marks the t-shirt as having been collected.

We give t-shirts out on a best effort basis, if we run out of a t-shirt size that the attendee selected then offer them a nearby size.

If the screen says “Field tshirt already marked” then they have already picked up their t-shirt.

T-Shirt Size Exchanges

If an attendee wants to exchange their t-shirt for a different size they can do this after 3PM on Wednesday if their desired size is still available.

T-Shirts for hand-written badges

Ask the attendee what size they selected and make a note that they have picked up their t-shirt on the “Hand Written Badges” list, a list of hand written badges issued.

Organizer Contact

If an attendee has a question you can't answer or needs to speak to a member of the organization team for any other reason, you can locate someone in person or ping the #onsite-volunteering in the conference Discord. If you can't see this channel, join the server first, and then send your Discord username to contact@pgconf.dev.

Common Questions

Below are some common questions attendees might ask.

Food & Beverages

We are serving a light breakfast, lunch and a morning and afternoon snack. Food is served in the buffet area behind the escalators. Food should be labelled (Diary free, Vegetarian, Gluten free), we have tried to provide food options to accommodate dietary restrictions. If an attendee has a question about the food ingredients they should ask the catering staff.

Meet & Eats

There will be a meet and eat event Tuesday and Thursday evenings, attendees should sign up following the instructions at https://2026.pgconf.dev/attend/social. We will email people who signed up their groups on the day. Group leaders will have signs and we will meet in the Foyer at 5:00pm. Attendees pay for their own meals.

Wednesday Conference Social

At the Rogue Kitchen and Wet Bar, just across the street from the SFU Harbour Center, the Gala Reception starts at 18:00 on Wednesday, and includes lots of reception style food for dinner and two drinks from the bar. Attendees should bring their conference badges.

Room Hosts

Please arrive at the room at the beginning of your shift, which should correspond to 10 minutes before the first scheduled talk in that room.

Find and introduce yourself to the other room host for the scheduled slot.

Find and introduce yourself to the AV technician in the room. They should be located near the back of the room and should be easily identifiable.

There are two separate jobs to do. Decide with the other room host which person will handle which job.

Job A

Take the time cards, which should be located near the A/V technician.

Introduce yourself to the upcoming speaker. Help them get set up with the A/V equipment and anything else they need.

Ask the speaker how they want to be introduced, and whether they want to allow questions during the talk or only at the end.

Let them know that you will hold up cards to indicate how much time they have left.

Indicate to them where you’ll be sitting. Put your time cards on that seat to reserve it.

Remind the speaker to ask the audience to fill out feedback for this and all other talks they attend. Feedback links are on the schedule page.

Introduce the speaker on time so that the session starts on schedule. If the speaker doesn’t want to answer questions during the talk, inform the audience to hold their questions until the end of the talk.

Don’t allow the audience to interrupt or heckle the speaker. If necessary, remind them of the Code of Conduct.

Keep an eye on the clock and hold up the time cards at the appropriate times.

If there is time for questions and the speaker wants to answer questions, bring the microphone to people so that they can be heard while asking questions.

When time is up, if the audience is still asking questions, politely inform them that the room must be cleared.

Remind the speaker to pick up their speaker gift at the registration desk.

Don’t forget to leave the time cards near the A/V technician before you leave the room!

Job B

Remain near the door to the room as people are entering, and make sure that it remains open. If anyone needs help finding a seat, help direct them.

If a talk is popular, politely ask the audience to move toward the center of the room. Look for open seats and ask people who’ve already sat down to shift over. You may need to repeat this process as people enter the room.

Once the talk starts, quietly point late attendees toward open seats. If there aren’t any open seats, inform them that they will have to stand in the back of the room. If the speaker doesn’t want to answer the questions during the talk, quietly inform late attendees that they should hold their questions until the end of the talk.

Once it looks like no one else will be joining the talk, close the door.

About ten minutes into the talk, count how many people are in the room. Post the talk name and your count of attendees to the #talk-counts channel in the Discord server. It's not important that the count is perfectly accurate, but knowing which talks were popular helps the program committee make decisions in future years. (If you can't see this channel, join the conference Discord and then send your Discord username to contact@pgconf.dev.)

When time is up, open the door. If necessary, i.e. if people are talking instead of exiting the room, politely inform the audience to quickly exit the room in preparation for the next talk.

Photography

Volunteers are encouraged to take photos during the event and to share them via the conference's social media accounts. It is very important not to take photos including anyone who is wearing a red lanyard. A red lanyard indicates that this person has not consented to be photographed at this event.

To post photos, go to your conference registration page. For historical reasons, it is called "Twitter Posting". We no longer use Twitter. You can use the web application found there to submit photos, and they will be sent out via social media once approved by a member of the organization team. If you do not see the "Twitter Posting" option on your registration page, speak to a member of the organization team or email contact@pgconf.dev for access.

Complimentary Registration for Volunteers

Most volunteers are people who are already planning to attend the event and help out in exchange for no consideration. Therefore, we only offer free tickets to people who are willing to commit to at least eight hours of volunteering during the event and who are willing to have their volunteer shifts assigned by the organizers. We currently do not anticipate awarding any more free tickets to volunteers for this year's event; however, we are still looking for a few more people to fill up our remaining volunteer slots.