This guest post was authored by MozFest Volunteers Mark and Mate Varga as a contribution to our MozFest Volunteer Cookbook project. You can learn more about the project in this kick-off post.

It has been 6 years and 4 years, respectively, since we (Mark and Mate) first started volunteering at MozFest when it was hosted at Ravensbourne University in London.

Without exaggeration, we can say that MozFest has such an incredibly friendly and hardworking Volunteer community that is hard to imagine unless you have been part of it.

If you are a new Volunteer, rest assured that you will feel welcome. If you are a returning one, we know you must have your own pleasant experiences We’d love for you to share them with our community on the #volunteer channel of the MozFest community Slack!.

So what makes our community so special?

It is genuinely kind and amazingly social. There is a role for nearly anyone to Volunteer at MozFest who would like to participate. Metropolitan cities and online events for thousands of people can be very alienating, but MozFest has brought together a great community of Volunteers in London and on the web. This community helps people find ways to connect with MozFest and the people who attend. Volunteering for an event with people from all over the world is extraordinary.

It is the great free spirit of Mozilla (which also generously allowed for drinks and chocolates in the past) and the personality of the core of the MozFest team which form the solid backbone of the organisation of the event. Those staff members support the Volunteer Coordinators and Volunteers so that we can do our best to make the other participants at MozFest feel welcome and included.

A faithful core team of Volunteers has become solid over the years, making it easier than ever to Volunteer at MozFest in-person or online. As a Volunteer, you can expect a stable base and clear leadership and support, even now with the new challenges of moving to Amsterdam and supporting more online MozFest events.

Experiencing how volunteering at MozFest has brought like-minded, but highly diverse people together has been a real joy. Some people decide to come together locally even after MozFest just to stay connected and have fun together; others you can meet again at your next MozFest and during the excellent after-party (thank you for the board-game café again), and through your own Mozilla communities, as well, allowing Volunteers to connect with other Mozillians around the world.

It’s difficult to single out any one person from such a great team, but it is clear that MozFest has a strong heart even though it is a light, decentralised, but active event. It’s made possible by the hard work invested in it every year by the whole of volunteers, staff, and community members.

Remember: there is a role for nearly everyone to Volunteer at MozFest. Since MozFest happened online in 2021, there are virtual Volunteer roles for people who can’t make it to the in-person event, too.

We would love for you to join us as a Volunteer online or in-person at MozFest 2022! Keep up with the latest news and opportunities about Volunteering by signing up for the MozFest newsletter and joining us on Slack. You can expect more news about MozFest 2022 in the coming months and more blog posts from our Volunteer Cookbook soon!