Come volunteer with us at Stock Show!
Questions?
- 303-299-5562
- [email protected]
- 303-292-1708
Admin Support
International Room: Each January, the National Western International Agribusiness Center hosts near 800 guests visiting the stockyards for business purposes.
Sponsor Lounge: The sponsor lounge is a designated space for corporate partners and media to take a break from the trade show floor and enjoy a quiet, comfortable setting.
Light refreshments are served throughout the day. The responsibility of the host is to warmly greet sponsors and media, sign them in, let them know that limited refreshments are available, and provide information on WIFI access. It is a very quiet setting, but incredibly valuable to the sponsorship and media team.
Volunteer Center: The Volunteer Center is the hub for all volunteer operations during the Stock Show. Positions are available for Greeters and Radio Dispatch.
Greeters love to smile and have fun saying “howdy” when checking in volunteers! They assist with general volunteer questions, answering phone questions from the public, and some clerical tasks. Radio Dispatch volunteers maintain radio communications to ensure proper response to all types of fun questions.
Coors Western Art
This dynamic group of volunteers are the workforce that staff the art gallery for the nationally recognized Coors Western Art Exhibit and Sale. Volunteers in this area greet and work with artists, and the public and are responsible for art sales, and the daily operations of the gallery.
No art background is required. Volunteers will work with a team including NWSS staff, the show Curator, and senior volunteers to share this extraordinary exhibit with guests. Details of the day-to-day functions will be covered during volunteer training sessions. Extra training will be required for volunteers working in this area.
Education
Ames Activity Pavilion: There are a wide variety of kids’ activities in the Big Top heated tent. We emphasize the NWSS Mission of preserving the Western lifestyle through the children’s point of view.
The programs are designed for animal education, entertainment, and agriculture. Some activities include: Top Hogs, stick horse rodeos, tractor pedal races, sheep shearing, and Xtreme Dogs pat and chat. Duties include helping with the setup, checking in kids, cheering them on, crowd control, and changing the floor layout for the specific shows. Some lifting might be involved or other lighter-weight duties are available. Activities are scheduled seven days a week throughout the days, so hours are flexible.
Pony Trails: Share your passion for all things Equine! Become part of the team that creates/builds and engages guests of all ages about horses!
Guests and volunteers age 3-83 will find age appropriate activities covering Horsemanship/Youth Programs/ Special Guests as well as interactive and hands-on activities.
Pony Trails is near the Cinch Arena where you can witness some of the premier horse competitions.
All volunteers are welcome as Pony Trails will need upgrades for the 2025 show.
School Visits: Part of the National Western’s mission is to educate youth in agriculture and the School Visits program is a crucial part of obtaining and preserving this mission.
Volunteers help ensure a positive visit for students and teachers by greeting busses delivering thousands of students to the Stock Show, assist in organizing and preparing the classes for a smooth departure and providing guidance and direction to classes as they tour the Stock Show grounds.
Learn more about school visits
Guest Services
Guest Experience: The role of a Guest Experience Partner centers around creating a welcoming, accessible, and supportive atmosphere.
They proactively identify individuals among the guests who appear unsure or possibly daunted by the experience. Taking the initiative, they engage in meaningful conversations and contemplate, “How can I enhance this guest’s Stock Show experience?” Subsequently, they take tangible actions, such as guiding them to their desired destinations, accompanying them to the nearest information booth, or providing insights into upcoming events.
Hospitality: Want to be on the leading edge of our warm Western welcome? Join our Hospitality Team and enjoy interaction with Guests from all over the world. From Bus Greeter to Gold Buckle Seating, this area provides a variety of experiences each and every day.
Info Booth: Love telling people “what to do”? The Information Booth may be the place for you! New Volunteer or Veteran?
This opportunity is one of the best ways to learn about the offerings and layout of the National Western.
Ticket Taking: Ticket Takers are the smiles that greet visitors coming in from the cold. Be one of the first to welcome guests to the sights, sounds, and…smells of the National Western!
Horse Show Support
Horse show volunteers provide support to the NWSS staff, horse show exhibitors, and guests for horse show events through various positions and areas.
Volunteer assistance is vital to ensuring horse show operations are smooth and provide a positive experience for guests, vendors, sponsors, and horse show exhibitors alike. They assist with arena and paddock gates, doors, gators, arrivals, hospitality, awards, and events.
Incident Reporting
The Incident Reporting group provides assistance to NWSS staff by responding to and preparing detailed reports on incidents, which include personal injuries, illnesses, property damage, vehicle accidents, thefts, disputes, and complaints.
You will be working with NWSS staff, Denver Police Officers, Paramedics, livestock exhibitors, commercial vendors, and the general public, as well as other Incident Reporting team members. This job involves responding to incidents within the entire NWSS complex, including all parking lots, as well as the Coliseum in a timely manner. Extensive walking will be involved and may be for extended periods during the entire shift in all weather conditions. Must be detail-oriented, a team player, a problem solver, empathetic to people in stressful situations, and possess superior customer service skills. The ability to function in stressful situations and remain calm is crucial.
Livestock
Livestock Volunteers are vital to the success of all the livestock events by helping to direct and control the flow of livestock and people. During the processing of Junior Livestock, volunteers help with the collection of samples for testing to assure fair competition among exhibitors. They are the liaisons between the National Western, the exhibitors, and guests of the 100s of events.
Local Rodeo Royalty
Local Rodeo Royalty (LRR) volunteers are current fair and rodeo titleholders across Colorado. The primary goals of this program are to promote the National Western Stock Show, their organization, rodeo, and youth development
The duties vary from assisting at children’s activities, ribbon presentations, meet and greet NWSS guests, and more. Must be 15 years old.
Click Here to Apply
Royalty Assistants are adults that work directly with the Local Rodeo Royalty (LRR) escorting them as they move through assignments. This position requires a lot of walking.
Click Here to Apply
Photo + Video Support
The Photo & Video Support Group provides quality imaging of National Western Stock Show events focusing on sponsor signage, trade show, and marketing elements. We maintain a small team of skilled Photographers and Videographers to fulfill the image-related requests from the National Western staff.
Our team is required to assist in photographing every trade show booth, photographing every sponsor sign and capturing high-quality images suitable for marketing to use on social media or in print. We also have Image Reviewers who assist with sorting through the thousands of images we take in and verifying that we have fulfilled all staff requests while eliminating any images that don’t meet our quality standards. In addition, we have Note-takers who accompany the Photographers and assist with documenting if an assignment is completed and if there are any complications. Lastly, we have Videographers who cover any video-related staff requests.
- Photographer and Videographer positions must provide their own equipment and at minimum understand the basic principles of photography and/or video.
- All positions in this service area will undergo on-the-job training.
- Volunteers must be 18 years or older to participate in this service area.
Note: The Photo & Video Support Group maintains a capacity of (30) thirty qualified and trained volunteers. Anyone interested in volunteering in this service area must be accepted into the NW Volunteer Program by November 15th. Once accepted, interested individuals will be waitlisted and contacted when an opening in the group occurs.
Rodeo Support
The Rodeo Support team is focused on assisting the National Western staff and rodeo contestants within the Denver Coliseum. Formerly known as Coliseum Support, this service area helps in rodeo hospitality, contestant check-in, mutton bustin’, rodeo stalling, arena appearance, and timed event support.
The Rodeo Support team’s history is rooted in providing food service and a welcoming atmosphere for the contestants & rodeo staff, checking-in contestants, and helping with the Mutton Bustin’. Rodeo Support has recently expanded to include assisting in stalling, arena appearance, and a select group helps sort and load timed event cattle along with setting and raking barrels during the rodeos.
Trade Show
The Trade Show service area volunteers assist with managing the different aspects of the retail trade show vendors. Volunteers in this area may help with the Trade Show Service Desk, Package Delivery, Move In/Out and Floor Management.
Package Delivery volunteers assist the NWSS staff with the delivery of packages that arrive for the vendors to replenish their stock or refill their promotional materials. While it is a small crew, they are most important to vendors needing supplies. Please note that volunteers may be asked to lift packages as heavy as 50lbs. Maybe the heavy lifting isn’t for you. Then try Move In/Out. No, we don’t help the vendors unload their trucks, we direct the vendors where to drive their truck in the complex! That’s right, we let them drive into the building to unload their trucks. All a volunteer needs to do is greet vendors with a smile and assist them with directions to their booth. This is a great way to see the inner workings of the NWSS and see how the trade show floor all comes together.
Transportation
The volunteer Transportation service area assists the Show by handling the transportation needs of Stock Show patrons, exhibitors, and guests within the grounds of the National Western Complex.
VIP Pickup: Duties include picking up and dropping off judges from Denver International Airport and transportation accommodations for special guests of the Show.
Golf Cart Drivers: Duties include shuttles to get folks to and from the hill and yards, and driving the people mover tractor.
