@TygerDarkstorm said:
Oh wow this seems like fun and makes me wish I had a suit! xD I’d offer to volunteer as a handler if needed but since I’m still new to the furry community I don’t have experience with that yet. Hope you all have fun! ^_^
Hey Tyger!
As Zepaw stated above, to build the experience on being a handler, you just need to jump in and get your feet wet.
Just to share my past personal experience with ZooBoo…I attended last year as a handler and I was not only very new to the group still, but it was my very first time being a handler. During ZooBoo orientation I was told bits and pieces as to what their version of a handler (non-costumed assistant) was, which was fine and dandy…Then I asked some of the other members of our group which I found much more informative.
A handler keeps a close eye on all attending suiters. Most importantly, they will check to make sure all suiters are hydrated. What I usually do is I will ask for a thumbs up or down…Thumbs up is good and a down is needing water. Most suiters are also good at giving you a signal if they need to get out of the crowd, de-suit, and hydrate, or for other reasons. If this is the case, gently take their hand or arm and get them out of the public crowd and up to our changing room. They will look for any suit malfunctions, for example, if a part of their suit is tucked in somewhere and it comes undone, get their attention and assist in fixing.
What I did last time is I let the suiters know that I would be mingling behind. We were standing on carpet squares in a line so pacing behind seemed appropriate. Then, on occasion, I would step out in front and do a check on whether or not anyone needed to go inside (thumbs up or down). =)
With this being ZooBoo, there are a couple of others things I do as well…First one is making sure children are not tugging at any pieces of a suiters costume…There will be lots around with families. This can be an issue because some suit pieces may be fragile to certain actions. This one can be tricky since it’s a big public setting and we need to also be mindful…Let’s say for example, a child is tugging at a suiters tail very hard and the suiter gives a friendly motion to be careful or do not do that, one thing you can do is to politely motion the child to move away. Do not use any physical contact at any given time…This includes pulling their arm away or any other form. This is inappropriate and can/will get you in trouble with a parent/guardian.
Under any circumstance, do NOT ever try to take any matter into your own hands as this is Como Park’s event. Many employees will be walking around so if necessary, signal one of them.
Second thing…I was told our group will be split up in a couple of spots. If you have another handler working with you, I like to touch base every now and then to see how they are doing as well. They might be with another suiter inside so I will try to be mindful of the suiters he/she was watching.
As the days went on, I really enjoyed being a handler and I got the hang of it rather quickly…We all learn differently though and at different paces. Since it is a new thing for you, it’s normal to feel nervous and/or intimidated. =)
This is a lot of information, but it’s a nice and to-the-point outline of everything based on my experience.
I am signed up for the 20th, 25th, 26th, & 27th. If you decide to sign up, I will see you there =)
~ Drake M.
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I’ll have a chat with the fiance about the event and see if I might be able to set some time aside to volunteer if you guys still need handlers
