Every Office Hours show is produced live by volunteers on three continents — a broadcast truck rebuilt in the cloud. These aren’t made-up titles: they map directly to real roles used in professional TV, live events, and streaming. Nobody starts as an expert. You start by watching one show from the inside, on comms, seeing how it’s made. Pick a chair that sounds like you.
On the Air
Panelist
Bring what you know: good audio, good video, raise your hand, and join the Zoom panel to answer real questions live. You don’t need to know everything — panels work because everyone knows something different. Come for the topics you love; sit out the ones you don’t.
You’ll gain: on-air experience and industry visibility — and it’s the chair most of our hosts and crew sat in first.
Host
You run the room on air: opening the show, calling questions from On Deck, drawing out the panel, keeping the conversation moving, and landing the plane on time. Every host here started as a viewer or panelist first — you’ll co-host with a veteran before you ever fly solo.
You’ll learn: live hosting and moderation — the most visible chair in the building.
Reader
You give every question its on-air moment: reading the asker’s words clearly, with their name and city, so the panel — and the asker watching — hear it done justice. Real mic time with no pressure to carry the show, and a natural stepping stone toward hosting.
You’ll learn: mic presence and broadcast delivery — on-air experience without the deep end.
On the Crew
Technical Director (TD)
You cut the show: switching between panelists, taking graphics, managing picture-in-picture, following cues on professional switching software — from wherever you live. Miss a take? Everyone has. The next one comes ten seconds later, and a veteran is on comms with you the whole time.
You’ll learn: real multi-camera switching — the exact skill live event production hires for.
Engineer in Charge (EIC)
You own the plumbing: signal flow from Zoom into the switcher, audio routing, stream health, backups. When something breaks mid-show — and live means sometimes it does — you’re the calm voice that reroutes around it. Most EICs started in another chair here first.
You’ll learn: broadcast systems engineering — architecture, monitoring, and decisions under pressure.
Pre-Show Coordinator (PSC)
The show starts on time because of you: panelists confirmed and checked in, mics tested, cameras framed, green room calm. You hand a ready room to the host at the top of the hour — and your job ends when the show starts. If you’re the friend who makes group plans actually happen, this is your chair.
You’ll learn: live event production management — the quiet role every production lead started in.
Question Manager (QM)
You’re the audience’s advocate: watching the Mukana queue in real time, spotting the great questions, curating On Deck so the host always has the right next question ready. You will learn everyone’s name, and everyone will learn yours — this chair is how half our regulars became regulars.
You’ll learn: editorial judgment and live production rhythm — and the fastest route to knowing the whole room.
Panel Liaison (PL)
You manage the Zoom panel: who’s on, who’s up next, who needs a hand with audio before they’re live. The connector between talent and production — panelists see your name more than anyone’s. Great chair if you’re good with people; the tech you can learn on comms.
You’ll learn: talent coordination — the skill behind every smooth broadcast panel.
Room For Improvement (RFI)
You watch the show like a coach watches film: what broke, what confused, what could be smoother tomorrow. Your notes go straight into how the next show runs — the feedback loop that has kept this running daily since 2020. Zero live pressure, total influence.
You’ll learn: quality systems thinking — continuous improvement on a real daily production.
Opening Soon
Archive & Publishing (ARC)
Office Hours is evolving: we’re building a system that turns every live show into a written answer page, so the knowledge shared on air keeps helping people long after the broadcast ends. As it comes online, we’ll need a new kind of volunteer — editors who review each episode’s draft pages, fix names and product terms, and press publish. No live pressure, flexible hours, twenty quiet minutes a day.
Why join a role that’s still forming? Because the first people in it will shape how it works. If reviewing and publishing sounds like your kind of chair, tell us below and you’ll be first in line when the archive opens.
The First Step for Every Chair: Shadow One Show
No commitment, no experience needed, cameras stay off. You sit on comms and watch a live show get made from the inside — how it’s called, cut, mixed, and saved when the plan meets reality. Then you decide if a chair is for you.
Already know which chair you want? Tell us here and we’ll connect you with the crew for that role.
Office Hours Global is a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization (EIN 87-2070606). Volunteering with us is real training in real broadcast roles — free, mentored, and welcoming to beginners.