Posted by Trey Mosier
"SignUpGenius has given us the ability to invest in making the event better with streamlined management of volunteer logistics. It has helped us work smarter and improve our service to our target community."
Jené Gladstone, Volunteer Database and Communications, Head of the Hooch® Regatta
500+
Volunteers
1,000+
Shifts Coordinated
8,000+
Volunteer Hours
The Hooch Volunteer Team consists of four members — Laurel Kinard (Volunteer Manager), Missy Elliott (Chattanooga Area Recruiter/Coordinator), Alice Kerber (Atlanta Area Recruiter/Coordinator), and Jené Gladstone (Volunteer Database and Communications).
Coordinating 500+ volunteers for one of America's largest regattas used to mean a tremendous amount of configuration, emails, manual schedule changes, and hours of administrative work for the team. The volunteer logistics had become a real challenge.
Each fall, more than 6,200 athletes and 20,000 spectators gather in Chattanooga, Tennessee, for this premier two-day event, drawing 2,250 boat entries and 180+ rowing clubs from across the United States and a few other countries. With an estimated $9.5 million local economic impact, smooth operations are critical.
Behind the scenes, an all-volunteer team coordinates over 1,000 shifts and 8,000 volunteer hours annually, ensuring every aspect of the regatta is adequately supported by volunteers so that the races run on time. For Jené Gladstone, managing this scale of volunteer sign-ups and volunteer communications had become increasingly complex.
After a decade of using a homebuilt volunteer module, and then a bonus feature of the regatta's rowing registration software, the limitations were clear. As the event grew, that system couldn't keep up.
"We really needed something mobile-friendly," says Gladstone. "A lot of people sign up on their smart phones, and our old system wasn't designed for that. We were looking for other features as well to keep up with widespread technology options."
With hundreds of volunteers spread across dozens of job categories — from installing the race course, to assisting rowers launching and returning to docks, merchandise tent support, live streaming on social media, boat safety checks, timing and more — the previous process was consuming a significant amount of time. Gladstone, who works full-time outside the event, needed a platform that was intuitive, mobile-ready, and scalable for a nonprofit run entirely by volunteers.
Support at Scale
Be able to support hundreds of volunteers during the sign-up process, as well as the actual regatta which spans multiple days.
Mobile Accessibility
Need to be able to support volunteer sign-up via smartphones and other mobile devices.
Decentralized Management
Empower Team Captains to run their own reports for each volunteer area and facilitate easy communication between Team Captains and volunteers.
Brand Consistency
Present our volunteer system with professionalism and Head of the Hooch® branding to maintain the regatta's identity.
Work Smarter, Not Harder
Streamline the setup, maintenance, and carry over of the volunteer sign-up information to the following year's event.
Volunteer Database & Communications
Store basic volunteer information to assist with sign-ups, trouble-shoot issues, run reports, and easily communicate to any group of volunteers.
Customer & Technical Support
Access to timely customer and technical support to ensure swift resolution of any issues that arise.
After researching solutions used by other large regattas nationwide and evaluating multiple volunteer management platforms, Gladstone chose SignUpGenius for its balance of power, simplicity, and affordability.
"We chose SignUpGenius because most people are already familiar with it," she explains. "It's easy to use, and if I ever need to hand this off, someone else can pick it up quickly. Continuity is a huge consideration for a volunteer-run organization."
Genius Tip
For volunteer-run organizations where leadership changes year to year, choosing a tool your whole team already recognizes is one of the smartest continuity decisions you can make. Onboarding a new coordinator to a familiar platform takes hours, not weeks.
Mobile-First Experience
"Volunteers can browse open jobs, pick a shift, and sign up in under two minutes," says Gladstone. "They get confirmations and reminders automatically. That's huge!"
The mobile optimization proved essential — a substantial percentage of volunteers now sign up via smartphone.
Custom Branding
The regatta customized fonts, colors, and logos to align with its official branding. "It integrates beautifully with our website," Gladstone adds. "All the branding is our own."
Portal Pages with Intuitive Navigation
Tabbed navigation allows volunteers to move between sections — such as launch driving, dock support, timing, merchandise, media, and more — with great ease. "They can browse different areas and find the right fit quickly and easily," notes Gladstone.
Volunteer Self-Service
Volunteers can modify or cancel shifts before a cutoff date, reducing administrative work substantially. "Before, people had to email us to make changes," says Gladstone. "Now they handle it themselves. This alone saves us significant time."
Access Codes for Priority Staffing
The team uses access codes to fill key positions with returning experienced volunteers before opening signups to the public — ensuring critical roles are covered first.
Team Captain Administration
Area leads have admin privileges to manage volunteers and run reports for their sections — giving them ownership without creating extra workload for the volunteer coordination team. "This is extraordinarily helpful for distributed management," she says.
Robust Reporting and Year-Over-Year Tracking
The system helps track volunteer participation for future outreach. "We can see who served in previous years and reach out directly when planning the next event," Gladstone notes. "Our volunteer retention remains strong."
Seamless Integration via Zapier
Head of the Hooch® connected SignUpGenius to Zapier via an API to create an automated volunteer check-in system. "When someone signs up, it feeds straight into Zapier for check-in tracking during the Regatta. It works beautifully," says Gladstone.
Switching to SignUpGenius transformed how the Head of the Hooch® manages its massive volunteer operation.
Exponential Reduction in Administrative Time
"It's much easier on the backend," Gladstone says. "I work full-time, so having a tool that's simple to use with great customer support is a huge bonus."
While initial setup was an invested effort to design and create the volunteer entries, branding, icon creations, exploring configuration options and other considerations, ongoing management is now streamlined. "My annual time commitment has dropped exponentially, it's very straight forward to roll over to next year's event."
Dramatically Improved Volunteer Experience
Post-implementation surveys showed a solid satisfaction rate with the new system, with positive feedback on the ease of use, seamless integration, management of sign-ups, and reminders.
"The volunteers love how the sign-ups present, how it integrates with our website, and how easy it is to use," Gladstone says. "We've received overwhelmingly positive feedback."
The intuitive, mobile design also eased volunteer registration beyond the rowing community, which was a key goal for the organization.
"We want spectators to volunteer between races," Gladstone explains. "The friendly and inviting signup process makes it easy for people who are rowing spectators (but not actual rowers) to get involved. We've seen a bump in first-time volunteers."
Genius Tip
Spectators are an underutilized volunteer source for most large events. A mobile-friendly sign-up that's easy to find and complete on-site converts curious attendees into active contributors between sessions, without any additional outreach effort from your team.
Smoother Shift Fulfillment
The struggle is real to fill 1,000+ shifts in about 4 weeks, but the sign up system runs smoothly thanks to a user friendly and intuitive process.
Expanded Demographic Reach
Word spread quickly. "We've drawn volunteers from across the United States and even a few internationally," says Gladstone. "The professional presentation and ease of use give people confidence in the event."
Outstanding Support When It Matters
When a technical issue arose during the critical planning season, SignUpGenius support resolved it within 24 hours.
"It was fixed in less than a day," Gladstone recalls. "The customer support has been outstanding. When you're running an event of this scale, that responsiveness is invaluable."
Industry Recognition
Other regattas took notice of the smooth operation.
"We've had other events reach out asking what we're using and how we set it up," Gladstone shares. "We all try to learn from each other, and we are happy to share our approach. Several regattas use SignUpGenius and we each leverage and share ideas."
Event Scale
2,250 entries. 6,200 athletes. 180+ rowing clubs. 91 rowing events. 20,000 spectators. $9.5M local economic impact to Chattanooga, TN.
Volunteer Operations
500+ volunteers. 1,000+ shifts coordinated. 8,000+ volunteer hours annually. Majority of volunteers now sign up via mobile devices.
Results with SignUpGenius
Exponential reduction in volunteer logistics time and work. Tremendous volunteer satisfaction rate. Improved ease of use for first-time volunteers. Smooth volunteer registration. Invaluable 24-hour support response time. Real-time Zapier integration for volunteer sign-in and sign-out, for volunteer sign-ups as well as volunteer walk-ins.
Head of the Hooch® plans to expand its use of SignUpGenius with text message notifications for race delays as well as tighter integration into their website.
As a charitable nonprofit promoting the virtues of sportsmanship, teamwork, inclusion, and personal responsibility by delivering a world class competitive rowing event, the regatta values tools that help them serve their community efficiently while maintaining their volunteer-powered model.
"For the investment, SignUpGenius was a great choice," Gladstone concludes. "It's easy to use, cost-effective, and our volunteers already knew how to use it. Most importantly, it's given us the ability to invest in making the event better with streamlined management of volunteer logistics. It has helped us work smarter and improve our service to our target community."
The Head of the Hooch® Regatta is currently the second-largest rowing event in the United States. The regatta began in 1982 on the Chattahoochee River in Roswell, GA. The growing regatta was moved to Lake Lanier in Gainesville, GA in 1997. In 2005, the still expanding regatta was relocated to the Tennessee River in Chattanooga, TN where it has remained for the past 20+ years. Operated entirely by volunteers through the nonprofit Friends of the Hooch, the organization promotes rowing through competition, community outreach, scholarships, and para rowing programs for athletes with physical or intellectual impairments.
Head of the Hooch® is eternally grateful to the City of Chattanooga, TN for hosting this amazing and friendly event, along with the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) and the many other supporting sponsors.
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Jené Gladstone
