Staff run Otafest’s departments: contests, meetups, sponsorship, people services, among many others. There are two kinds of staff:
- Planning staff plan Otafest throughout the year and lead the teams that run the festival (more say, more responsibility).
- Support staff run part of the festival during the weekend with minimal year-round duties (less say, less responsibility).
If you’re looking for non-leadership roles and still want to help out over festival weekend, apply to volunteer.
Staff are volunteers
We want to be upfront about this: nobody on staff is paid, including leadership. We work hard to make attendees’ experience a good one and we have fun doing it together.
What you get
- Your own part of the festival to run, whether that's a contest, a stage, sponsors, recruiting, or anything else you're passionate about.
- A staff badge with all-access admission, including behind the scenes.
- Weekend passes for your friends and family.
- Lunch on festival days, plus a per diem for breakfast and dinner.
- Parking costs covered during the festival.
- Leadership experience you can put on a resume.
- A hand in raising money for charity. Otafest has raised over $340,000 so far!
- Planning staff: a hotel subsidy for the festival based on your role.
What we ask
- Be 18 or older.
- Be on site in Calgary for the whole festival, from setup on Thursday until strike ends on Sunday, at 10 pm at the earliest. In 2027, the dates are May 20 - 23.
- Planning staff: attend the planning meetings, held about once a month, in person or online.
- Support staff: attend the kick-off, final, and debrief meetings.
- Answer emails within 7 days. Planning staff are also expected to keep up on Slack.
- Keep what you hear confidential, as you'll know about plans before they are announced.
- Sign and follow the staff Code of Conduct and staff policies.
- Be flexible and comfortable handling unexpected plan changes. We work with a lot of external partners and moving parts.
How we work together
- Treat everyone with respect, whatever their role, team or rank.
- Give people the benefit of the doubt before you draw conclusions.
- Put attendees first. Be friendly, explain the reason behind a rule, and look for ways to make people smile.
- Bring a solution along with a concern, and try to solve problems without creating work for someone else.
- Be a proactive communicator. Let your team and other teams know before you make a change that affects them.
- Pitch in where you're needed during the festival, even outside your role.
Open roles
Contests
Cosplay Stage Coordinator (Planning staff)
Lead the Cosplay Skit Contest and the Cosplay Fashion Show over the festival weekend, reporting to the Head of Contests.
What you’ll do
- Review registrations and run check-in for both events.
- Handle email with applicants, performers and other Otafest teams.
- Run the stage: MCing, audio, and coordinating performers backstage.
- Support performers during both events.
- Write the performance schedule, judging criteria, check-in process, running order and audio needs, and keep them up to date.
- Look for ways to make both events better for participants and attendees.
What you’ll bring
- Comfortable working on your own, and good at delegating.
- Good at communicating, and you work well with others.
- Organized, and able to juggle several tasks at once.
Cosplay Contest Staff (Support staff)
This is a Support staff role. You work during the festival weekend and skip the year-round planning.
Support the Head of Contests in running the cosplay contests over the festival weekend.
What you’ll do
- Organize contests, help Line Control usher contestants and attendees, and get supplies.
- Register contestants.
- Work as a stage ninja for the contest MCs.
- Work with other teams, including Main Events and Line Control.
What you’ll bring
- Comfortable working on your own and finishing what you’re given.
- Good at communicating, and you work well with others.
- Organized, and able to juggle several tasks at once.
Idol Festival Coordinator (Support staff)
Support the Idol Festival Lead in running the Idol Festival events.
What you’ll do
- Coordinate registration and check-in.
- Run the stage: MCing, audio, and coordinating performers backstage.
- Support performers during the events.
- Run the events when the lead is away.
- Look for ways to make the festival better for participants and attendees.
What you’ll bring
- Knowledge of the local idol community.
- Experience MCing or hosting events.
- Comfortable working on your own and finishing what you’re given.
- Organized, and able to juggle several tasks at once.
Before you apply
- You can’t take part in selecting or judging an idol group you’re affiliated with, or see its application status.
- A group you’re affiliated with may be waitlisted automatically, because a member is on staff.
- Your group can perform in the showcase only if time allows; waitlisted groups go first.
Prize Lead (Planning staff)
Get the trophies, ribbons and certificates for every contest at Otafest, reporting to the Head of Contests.
What you’ll do
- Work with Sponsorship, the Head of Contests, the Cosplay Stage Coordinator, the Idol Festival Lead and every other team running a contest. Together you work out how many trophies, ribbons and certificates to order.
- Order the trophies and ribbons.
- Prepare the certificates.
- Have each contest’s prizes sorted and ready for its winners.
What you’ll bring
- Comfortable working on your own and finishing what you’re given, and good at delegating.
- Good at communicating, and you work well with others.
- Organized, and able to juggle several tasks at once.
Meetups
Cosplay Meetups Staff (Support staff)
This is a Support staff role. You work during the festival weekend and skip the year-round planning.
Support the Meetups Lead in running the cosplay meetups over the festival weekend.
What you’ll do
- Check in meetup hosts, make sure they have what they need, and help when something goes wrong.
- Manage the crowd during meetups, and clear the space for the next one.
- Work with other teams when needed, including the Venue Manager and Line Control.
What you’ll bring
- Comfortable working on your own and finishing what you’re given.
- Good at communicating, and you work well with others.
- Organized, and able to juggle several tasks at once.
People Services
People Services Manager (Planning staff)
Lead the team that makes sure Otafest has the people it needs to plan and run the festival.
What you’ll do
- Lead a team that keeps the org chart and role descriptions up to date, recruits and hires, and supports interviews.
- Make sure your team can keep up with hiring, and that leadership’s requests (new roles, role changes, hiring) get done on time.
- Help write the documents and policies for staff and volunteers.
- Help teams and staff work through disagreements. For sensitive matters, bring in outside counsel.
- Coach and support your team through the year.
What you’ll bring
- Experience coordinating people in volunteer or non-profit organizations.
- Experience leading teams and supporting an executive team.
- Project management skills.
- Strong written and spoken communication.
Sponsorship
Sponsorship Staff (Planning staff)
Build relationships with local businesses and organizations that support Otafest.
What you’ll do
- Reach out to local businesses and organizations for their support.
- Write the contracts that set out each partnership.
- Collect the cash and in-kind support sponsors committed to.
- Work with other Otafest teams to get sponsors’ branding onto signs and social media, and send those teams the sponsors’ files on time.
- Look after sponsors during the festival weekend.
What you’ll bring
- Comfortable working on your own and finishing what you’re given.
- Strong written and spoken communication.
- Organized, and able to juggle several tasks at once.
- A schedule that lets you reach businesses during business hours helps, but isn’t required.
How to apply
- Decide on the role you want.
- Fill in the application. To apply for multiple roles, send the form again for each role.
- If you’re selected to move forward, we will get in touch!