Today I went to my very first SAG/AFTRA meeting! It was the Volunteer Orientation meeting for members who are interested in helping out at the events, board meetings, and other activities held by SAG/AFTRA. The meeting was held at the SAG/AFTRA building in Los Angeles (it was my first time going to the building too!) and it went great. The purpose of the meeting was to involve members of the guild in the activists held so that they can keep guild members busy and networking!

     We touched upon a number of subjects in the meeting, mostly about the different events that SAG/AFTRA holds. They are surprisingly cool and if you haven’t checked out any of the board that they hold or the events they put on, I would strongly suggest it. Our Union is one of the only ones that holds open board meetings, which is pretty awesome because you get to go and watch how all of the decisions are made. If you’ve ever wondered how something came to be in SAG/AFTRA, why certain policies are that way, you need to attend one of these board meetings. They’re held in Los Angeles and New York.

     They have some very interesting volunteer programs that are not meetings or events as well, such as their MOVE program. This is a very cool program wherein members can help other members, as well as others as volunteers for the Union! There are several programs MOVE offers including the Senior Buddy Program, where you would be assigned to a SAG/AFTRA member who is a senior and needs your assistance with anything from grocery shopping to computer use. They hold panels as well; the most recent one was for safety education delivered by Stunt Performers.

     All in all, it was great to be able to see my own Union, with the people involved in it. I am so excited to volunteer for my first event; they are super lenient with schedule and time slots because they understand that when it comes to actors, jobs come first! I’ll let you all know how the first event goes, which will be a health fair this May 18th! See you there!