My Experience as Volunteer ambassador for ASNT

 Hei Inspektører!

This was my experience as a volunteer ambassador for ASNT.

The fragrance of coffee had awakened me when there was hardly any sunlight outside, although in reality the excitement had done so long before. I left the hotel and walked to the street and 8 minutes later I was entering the convention center. 

A large building in downtown Phoenix had greeted me the evening before just after arriving in the city from my home in Monterrey, N.L. I had arrived one day before on a hasty visit just to introduce myself to James. He  and his team are those kind of people who greet you with a friendly smile and make you feel welcomed. They explained to me briefly what things we would do as an ambassador the next day and he handed me a t-shirt, but not before thanking my presence and that of my fellow volunteers.

Tuesday, 7:15 am and I was arriving to this great building. I went down the escalators and there was the event.

 I showed up proudly wearing my yellow t-shirt that with its bright color reminded me of the fluorescence of penetrating liquids and after saying good morning and waiting a couple of minutes, they assigned me an area.

I was first supporting a little with the arrangements of the day, that allowed me to discover the details and effort of the ASNT team to make this event possible. One of the things that seemed most interesting to me was the attention they paid to printing a newspaper every day. 

This was very useful when guiding the participants who came to look for their registration and even more exciting was the fact of seeing a photo of me on the second page. I immediately showed it to my new volunteer friends and that made me feel delighted about this newspaper, and, of course, shared this photo of this in my facebook. 

People began to arrive little by little, first the exhibitors, who apparently started the day with a great attitude and who were hoping to start before 9:00 am. Then the participants, people who made their enthusiasm notice and inspired great experience and knowledge of many years.

   I realized that some people found the red, yellow and green ribbons a great idea to identify who was most comfortable with a handshake and close conversation and also who preferred to keep a little more distance when speaking.

I had placed 3 ribbons on my ID at the time of completing my registration the day before, and each one felt like a badge worthy of being honorably worn. (mine could read "Volunteer, International and ASNT Level III")

I liked being able to meet some acquaintances and briefly guide them on how to print their identification or even comment on the use of the app and where the conferences of the day were located.

I also loved meeting new people, I was able to talk with inspectors, collegues and other levels III from other parts of the world who traveled to Arizona with the sole purpose of visiting this event. Each talk was an opportunity to get to know a bit of the NDT perspective from the voice of the main actors in each area and little by little I was infused with encouragement and good humor knowing that we could finally be at a main event again. And what a great way to do it!

After a few hours more fellow volunteers would have arrived, I asked them to take a photo to remember with our yellow shirts and with a smile I said goodbye at the end of my shift. 

At the end of the day I was able to enter the showroom where I found advanced ultrasound and MFL equipment that I would be very pleased to have in my company very soon, I greeted some friends that I met in the corridors and I bought as many ASNT books as they could fit in my luggage.

I look forward to and excited about next year's event.

Thanks to ASNT staff for allowing me to participate in this great experience!

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