THE EVENT
What do they do all year?
The power behind the Service Desk
In photo: Hannah Prins en Hanneke Burgers
You could say that the Service Desk is the heart of the 4Days Marches organisation. They take care of all record-keeping for all participants, from individuals and groups of civilians to military participants. Coordinators Hanneke Burgers and Hannah Prins take you on a year’s tour of the 4Days Marches.
A tour through the year
‘A 4Days Marches year runs from August to July,’ Hannah explains. ‘As soon as the new year starts, the Service Desk starts preparing all the registration modules and regulations. When that’s done, all the walkers who participated in the previous edition are notified of when they can register for the new edition. There is a significant peak in the workload as soon as the first registration period starts. The other peak is in the actual week of the 4Days Marches.’
Registration period
When the registration period starts, an additional 10 to 12 on-call workers join the Service Desk staff. They have direct contact with the walkers and answer questions by email and phone and on social media. They are supported in this by permanent staff member Ellen Elens.
Coordinating, and much more besides
Hanneke and Hannah coordinate the entire process. ‘Actually, the title Coordinator doesn’t cover everything we do,’ says Hannah. Hanneke chips in, ‘We also arrange all medals and certificates, from orders with Van Veluw to counting and sorting in our medal room. And of course, we make sure that the medals end up with the right people.
After the 4Days Marches, we arrange aftercare for the walkers, handling matters like ordering a medal to replace a broken one and ordering a certificate on request. We also closely evaluate the last edition with all departments. And in September the whole cycle starts again.’
Week of the 4Days Marches
During the 4Days Marches, contact with the walkers is no longer remote, but in person. ‘We work in the office all year round, but during the 4Days Marches we move to De Wedren, where we stay the entire week of the 4Days Marches,’ says Hanneke. ‘And the working hours are different then. The earliest shift starts at 3.30 hrs so that we can be there for the participants right at the start. This shift ends at 9.00 hrs, and then you can join the breakfast table. Every year there are a number of diehards who prefer to continue working after the early shift, but this doesn’t leave you much time for sleep.’
Assisting participants
During that week, the Service Desk’s activities mainly consist of solving little problems that crop up. For example, they provide information to walkers and ensure that any issues with wristbands are resolved. Aside from this, staff continue to answer questions by email and phone and on social media.
Full capacity
The team increases to 20 on-call workers just before the week of the 4Day Marches. Several Service Desk team members work at Heumensoord to support the military participants.
The Barometer
Updating ‘the Barometer’ at De Wedren is also an important task of the Service Desk. ‘At the end of each walking day, a different person from the team has the honour of carrying out this task. It’s a special moment and is often attended by many team members and walkers,’ says Hannah. ‘The numbers on the Barometer are like super magnets. You can’t simply remove them: that’s done with a special suction device. After updating the figures on the Barometer, we all go and enjoy a meal together.’
Careful record-keeping
During the week of the 4Days Marches, there is also close contact with the staff working the various service desks and with the officials who inspect the checkpoint cards. Because the 4Days Marches Cross is a royally approved decoration, there are strict regulations.
The Service Desk processes the disqualifications each day of the event. A walker may be disqualified, for example, if they took the wrong route, used an assistive device or falsified a checkpoint card. However, this also includes walkers who arrive at the finish on the sag wagon (i.e. too late). There the wristband is officially cut. A record is kept of all these operations and these are all processed by the Service Desk.
Varied work
Hannah says, ‘It’s great to be able to help people on the phone and solve their problems. But the best thing about working for the 4Days Marches is of course the actual week of the event. It’s nice that there is so much variety in the work.’ Hanneke exclaims, ‘That’s what I wanted to say! You’re really working towards a common goal with everyone else. The pace increases rapidly and, just when you’ve had enough, the rush is over and a quiet period starts again.’
The 4Days Marches is an important week for many people. You meet so many cheerful people, and that makes it all worthwhile. What’s more, we have a fantastic team. Our on-call workers vary in age from 19 to 67, and we always have a great time together. The 4Days Marches is simply a brilliant experience!
