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v 2.0
Location:
Pick a place that is of interest, with various local distractions. At least two of your staff should be living in the city of your location. Before you plan your con there, you should know what the place is like. Actually, if you are reading this with designs to be a convention head, you should really live there yourself. Usually bids are put together over the attraction of one’s locale, not the other way around.
Your Staff:
Thses should be people you know, and people you trust. You do not all have to be bestest buddies...in fact, as con strain increases, it is probably for the best that your group is not.
Running a con is not an easy thing, and having staff members who are suffering sever depression because their co-staff member once-best friends now flat-out refuse to speak to them outside of supplying needed con information can be avoided this way.
Plus, you want people you can bitch freely to about the shitty performance, bad attitude, lack of intelligence, poor of personal hygiene, and supposed forbidden biological actions of their parents that must have occurred in order to produce your fellow staffers when you have having a really really really bad day.
Staff Positions, and what they entail:
(this one is going to take a lot of detailing and alterations...)
Con Chair:
Vice Con chair:
Con(suite) Host/Hostess:
Treasurer:
Hotel Liason:
Secretary and general Master of the Con Files:
-Taking care of online registrations (the bulk of your attendees will use this method if it is available)
-Either taking care of mail-in registrations, or constantly bugging the treasurer to update you with ALL the pertinent details about mail-ins. However, if you do this, you are then also required to a) take care of depositing the checks yourself, or b) forwarding said checks to the treasurer to take care of- USING VERIFIED MAIL AND CONSTANTLY CHECKING THE TRACKING NUMBER.
-Keeping track of all the attendees, their special needs, the con merchandise they purchased, etc. Use a spreadsheet. Use one from the beginning. Keep a document of copies of all the original registration forms and their information. Make cross-referenced lists for all separately purchased orders and other relevant material(t-shirts w/ sizes, calendars, banquets, willing volunteers, non-attending mail-out orders)
-Answering general gathering-related mail, including %95 of the stupidest questions you have ever read, while remaining polite about it. There will be %5 that are simply so asanine that you do not have to dignify them with a response, like people who ask three weeks before the con if there are any open staff positions they can fill, or that one guy who keeps constantly writing demanding to know why you aren’t getting Marina Sirtis to come.
-Planning the con events (with much input on the preferences of fellow staffers and the special guests) and keeping the schedule updated through its many iterations, contacting individual hosts for panels, and making sure they coordinate with their co-hosts.
-Arranging the volunteer schedule, which entails emailing everyone who agreed to volunteer and finding out their preferences for jobs/times, then doing your best to give everyone what they want. If your volunteer is skedj’d to work during the one panel they most want to attend, they may flake on you. Volunteer time blocks should last an hour and a half, following most of your schedule block. At least two people (and one security guard, who’s scheduling will be dictated by whoever is in charge of security, aka Hudson) need to be at the registration table at all times, and there may be a time when they are both volunteers. Make sure they know how the set-up goes, including how to make badges for walk-in registrants. The dealer’s room will need a volunteer to help or take over for the Dealer’s Room coordinator. The art room will need three people watching it at all times, two at the table and one free-floating, and the Art Room Head will not be able occupy one of these positions all day. You need a volunteer to watch the equipment in the video room at all times. You should have two “on call” runner-type volunteers at all times, who are simply there to play fetch and deliver information...and help with various room setups...I’m suggesting making big headdresses for them, so staff and security can easily tell who to grab if they need something. Radio Play auditions usually need a couple volunteers for line organization. There may be other times when volunteers are needed briefly for various things. Determine when these times are as far in advance as you can, and block in people’s names accordingly.
On site, you will be required to oversee attendee registration and coordinate volunteers. And get free backrubs twice a day. And sandwiches. And plenty of liquids, preferably ones that have lots of electrolytes in them. You will also be running around to take care of any and all other minor details that slipped through the cracks or simply don’t fall under your fellow staffer’s purveyance. You are Master of the Files, and all random details are your domain.
Guest Coordinator:
Head of the Dealer’s Room :
Head of Art Room:
Website Master:
Head of Security: Yes, Hudson tends to wind up taking this over, for good reason- he’s the best we have at it. If you want Hudson to be in charge of security detail, talk to him about it beforehand. You know what they say about assumptions, and besides, you never know when he’s going to have to go into hiding from those damn MiB’s, and you want to ensure his good feelings towards your con. If on the chance the space aliens are returning for his brain and he cannot make the con, I’m sure he will be at least willing to arrange for one of his lieutenants to take over in his stead, if you ask him to do so. Hudson will require Mountain Dew, and lots of it, so be sure you have some on hand in the consuite.
...If you are not running a Gathering, that is, a convention of the Gargoyles fandom, and thus do not have access to the talent that is Hudson...well, it sucks to be you.
Hotels and Convention rooms:
You want your hotel to be nice, but five-star is not required. Site is important, too- you want your hotel to be easily accessible by various forms of ground transportation. Having it be on route of local airport’s shuttle services is a plus.
Your attendees will likely spend a great deal of their time in the hotel during the con, but they will need to leave to eat and site-see. Having your hotel near your location’s prime attractions is a plus. It is nice to have a list of local eating establishments and their general price level listed in the con packets, as well as how to reach them and Any Other Local Things Of Interest. If there is a mini-golf course nearby, include it. tourist attractions, museums, etc. For the Gathering, having a post-con trip to a nearby theme park has become a sort of tradition (Busch Gardens, Coney Island, etc) so if there is one nearby make use of it. If not, don’t sweat it.
If you are staff, don’t plan to attend this. By the time it rolls around you will likely be too exhausted to leave your bed.
Consuite- try to get an actual suite for this. Big living room area with a door separating the bedroom. The bedroom is useful for people who need a moment of quiet, the con attendee who just fainted from heatstroke, holding RPG’s so as not to take up a whole con room for them, and again, having a couple staff members making personal use as their bedroom will save them that much cost. Whoever is in charge of the consuite should be one of these, for obvious reasons.
The consuite should be open 24 hours a day, for any attendee who would like access.
See Aaron’s guideline notes 22 a-e for more info.
Event Rooms at the con- strike a deal for these. Strike the best one you can. Do your best to make the hotel staff accept your hours of need for the rooms- events have run past 2am before. You will need a Dealer’s Room, an Art room, a (usually smaller) room as a Video room, and two rooms for whatever panels and events you are holding. You will also need a large room for opening and closing ceremonies, and banquet/masquerade, and the radio play...if said room can be divided by an accordion wall into smaller rooms, you have your panel rooms right there. Hotel rooms tend to be rented by the day, but see what arrangements you can make. You do not want to be stuck with large room that is getting no use. Plan your time and space wisely.
Oh, and have whomever is doing your event planning have visited your hotel at least once, so they can be sure of the space limitations when organizing set-ups for the Dealer’s and Art room. This is more important than you may realize, as your room size DOES limit the number of Dealer’s tables / art panels you can fit, and thus will affect the budget. More dealers = more money, as well as more impressed con attendees.
Dealer’s Room:
Tables usually are sold as singles, doubles, and triples. The cost of each should go up as you hit several time brackets, the same as admission to the con itself should.
Tables should be in your hotel contract to be supplied for no extra cost. Just let the hotel know in advance, as it is their job to set these up for you.
Contrary to popular belief, DEALERS WILL *NOT* COME TO YOU. You will have to have someone in charge of the dealer’s room, and that person will have to GO OUT and sign dealer’s to the con. This person should also expect to spend time on both the phone and conversing through email.
10-12 dealers is a good number to have, at least for the Gathering. Think about the dealers at the last cons you attended. What worked best? Usually, a weapons seller (big fantasy swords and such) is good to have. Also, people selling movie posters, anime, costume makeup, clothes (like Ren-gear), jewelry, and gargs merchandise. Alter said suggestions to fit your needs. Go out and find the people who sell these things. Talk to the managers. Make them come.
Then advertise the hell out of your con so you get enough attendees to make both the business of the con and the dealer’s go well, so as to get these dealer’s interested in paying for tables at next year’s con.
Get your pre-reg up early. And have con-updates every two weeks. Even if you have nothing new to announce, it will keep the con fresh in people’s brains, and more likely to be spotted by the random newbie who happened to lurk by that week and gets interested.
Art room set-up:
-tables (These should be supplied by the hotel, but you will have to let them know what you need, and when, in advance.)
-panels (you will have to buy materials and put these together yourself, on site.)
Panel and table spaces are typically rented to the artists for $5 per 4’ x 4’ panel or table surface. Cost for panel material will vary. Home Depot is your friend. So is pegboard and its little art-hooks. Wood will be needed as spines if you choose to go the pegboard route.
As all panel/table space should be pre-bought by the artists well in advance (usually art lists from them are due in a month in advance or earlier, so room set-up has time to be finalized) you should not need to purchase extra materials, or ask for extra tables beyond those your art-room watchers will need to sit at, and one for “Artist’s Alley”, as your artists may wish to sit and talk, show off their sketchbooks, take commissions, etc.
Running the Art Room:
...
T-shirts: traditionally, an open contest is held to whomever can come up with the best design using the con’s mascot. The winner receives a free shirt. Your special guests will receive a free shirt. Your staff probably expects to not have to pay for the shirts, either. A minor point, but this should be cleared up early on. Jen Anderson cut us a very nice deal on producing our t-shirts; shirts that had no limit to the numbers of colors that could be used on their image. If you ask her nicely, maybe she will be willing to do yours as well. If not, there are printing services out there, take a look in your local phonebook.
CONSTANTLY REMIND PEOPLE OF THIS CONTEST. The fandom has many good artists, who are not so much lazy as easily distracted by work, life, and other projects. They will procrastinate. Do not let them forget the deadline.
Shirts usually run $20 for a pre-order; $25 at the con.
They may cost you between $8 and $15 dollars to make, per shirt.
You will want a minimum number to fill your pre-orders, and a small amount to sell at the con. The Gathering has had burdens of left-over t-shirts and calendars in the past. Remember, you can take in orders to mail-out shirts during the con, and send them later. Even with the added postal fee, this will still bring profit to the con.
Have your shirts made up A MONTH IN ADVANCE. “We've [waited to the last minute] twice now and I think it's time now to vow never to do it again.”
You will need to make arrangements for the shirts to be shipped to your locale in time for prepping your con packets. You will want to put together these packets (including badge, schedule, pre-ordered merchandise like t-shirts and calendars, etc.) in advance. Two days in advance, if possible. You will thank yourself for the time concession when you are not spending your last few minutes before registration opens still stuffing envelopes, wishing you’d had time to eat breakfast.
Calendars: Again, open to the fandom. You will want thirteen images total, one for each month plus a cover. See above statement about the contest reminders; you want a calendar that has art in it that people will be willing to shell out for. Usually this art will take a fair amount of time to put together. If you have friends who are good artists, don’t be afraid to pester them mercilessly about submitting. If you get several amazing images from one artist, don’t be afraid to use more than one- like the t-shirt, people who’s submissions are chosen for the calendar traditionally get a free one. You would not have a calendar to sell at all without your artists. But calendars are given out per winning artist, not winning entry. Two images from one artist is one less free calendar you have to give away...but be reasonable. The art should be the focus here, and if your 13 top pieces are all from different artists, just be thankful you have that many talented people submitting. On the same note, you typically don’t want half a calendar all in one person’s style.
Calendars usually sell for $25 pre-ordered, and $30 on site.
I think the last few cons have had them made at Kinko’s, but there may be a cheaper printing alternative available to you. Anyway, Kinko’s has the “Photo-A-Month Deluxe Calendar” — 11" x 8 ½" flip calendar features 13 of your personal photos. This option will cost you (XX) per calendar to make, and (deals for large batches?)
Again, you can take in orders on site to be shipped post-con.
Guests and their costs:
It is considered bad form – indeed, taboo- to speak of your guest’s per diems (the per day costs you have to pay for their attendance at your con, aka their appearance fee) outside of your staff discussion list. Your Guest Coordinator will let you know that side of things.
But the Big Names (like anyone who has ever been an actor on Star Trek) will run you to scary fees. Don’t plan on getting Frakes or Sirtis unless you’ve got, like, 15 grand rolling around in your petty cash drawer.
But as for other guest requirements: You will have to pay for their flight to and from the con. You will have to pay for their hotel room for their stay, and most will arrive a day before and sometimes leave a day later than the con dates itself. You will have to pay for their ground transportation from their homes to the airport, and from the airport to the hotel, and back again. (Unless you have your con in LA, 20 minutes from where many of your guests live and work.) They may have special requirements- if you want Thom Adcox at your con (and believe me, YOU DO) you will have to pay to have his dogs boarded.
You are not, however, required to pay for the travel expenses of any family members they choose to bring with them. As for free t-shirts/calendars for said family members, it is up to your discretion. If they offer to pay for these, take them up on the offer.
Random small articles that will take up some funds:
-con badges: in the past, the con has done well by purchasing plastic sheaths (size), and making use of a label-maker. You will also want to order strings/lanyards for your badges, not clips. Clips are a pain. Strings cost only a few cents more, and are very much appreciated.
[How it goes: print your stock image out on tear-off paper (this can be purchased at your local Office Max, Office Depot, or an equivalent...while you are at it, you may want to pick up some sticky label-blanks for your con packets. You will misplace all those just before they are needed and have to do all the packets by hand anyway, but you’ll feel more professional while you are making them up), making sure to have your badge image sized slightly smaller than the space you will be printing on. Having the image a few millimeters over and onto your tear-off lines will result in a) bad-looking badges, or b) a waste of time and paper and ink when you do a re-print.
Type the name of your attendee into the label-maker. Electronic ones make life a lot easier- you really don’t want to have to make up @ 300 name-labels on the older-style hand labelers. Electronic ones typically also make other marks, like a symbol showing that a banquet has been purchased. (this is much easier than having separate banquet tickets printed up, which can be easily misplaced, or stolen. Have a stamp available to mark those who wish to purchase a Banquet on site.
Take your label from the machine. Stick on the printed badge. Tear off the badge and place in the sheath. This way you can easily make up badges for walk-ins, or remove and replace any badges that happen to have the badge name misspelled. There will be a few. This is not a priority, and if you happen to be running a huge con, it is a minor issue. But one your individual attendees will appreciate having taken care of.
Add the cord, and any necessary ribbons. (staff, volunteer, etc.) Put in con packet or hand to registrant.]
- ribbons, for winners of the art show: Usually 1rst, 2nd, and 3rd place for each category you have to vote on. Throw in a couple extra first’s, in case of a tie.
-ribbons for badges: get the appropriate number of ribbons for staff, guests, security, and volunteers. Ribbons for panel hosts are optional, although after my experience helping to host a certain crossover fic panel, I’m tempted to say that only those with ribbons should be allowed on the panelist’s table. But really, our fandom isn’t usually that anal. Panels should be planned well enough in advance that those who are hosting all know eachother, and know who does not belong up front with them.
-trophies: Including but not limited to The Thom Adcox Memorial Award, the Gorebash/Gorelisa award, Fan Guest of the Year, and Whomever can find Lynati’s recollection about the rest of this.
- (recognitions)
badge supplies, ribbons, and trophies can be ordered through catalogues wholesale. These catalogues are your friends. Give me time, and I’ll link you to some online sites.
-extension cords and duct tape : You will use these. You may not expect to, but you will.
-power tools, with accessories : Someone on your staff can likely supply these for free. These will most likely be required to put your art boards together, as well as god knows what else. Cordless ones are not your friends; they tend to die and refuse to charge up again at the worst time. Remember, your convention operates directly under Murphy’s laws. Your cords may not be long enough, hence one reason for having extension cords on hand.
- first-aid kit for the consuite. Throw in an extra bottle of ibuprofen. Actually, stick the bottle on the counter in the bathroom. Staff aren’t the only ones to headaches during the con.
Event Planning:
You do not need twenty events going on at once. You do not need 4 events going on at once. Variety is nice, but it can be spread out as the day goes on. For the Gatherings, the most fun is had simply in hanging out with friends. You do not need a packed schedule. On the opposite side, you never want your con to have “dead air”. Something should be available during typical con hours (noonish to 10pm+, or however your fandom swings) for people to do, besides the video room. Even if it is only an Rpg. (having an hour of dead-time as a lunch break is okay. Evening activities should be sparse, but existent. Like the Hudson-rant. Or Clan Wars. Or a Blue Mug-a-guest. Or the Thom Adcox Variety Hour.)
Further, less planned panels at one time = less hotel convention rooms necessary = less strain on your con funds. Hotel room requirements go hand in hand with planned events, so keep that in mind. Feel free to plan your opening ceremonies in the afternoon; have this stated early enough and yes, your attendees will plan to arrive the night before. Most do anyway. Most people also don’t think that anything goes on prior to OC. Make your event planning – once it is concretely nailed down- part of mail-list announcements. Have your skedj up for perusal on your con site. Let people know what is going on- sell to them why they need to attend your con. Make use of your guests...see what they are willing, or want, to hold in the way of panels. Storyboarding, Voice-Acting Seminars, Writing for animation...what you have will depend on who you get. Also, try to make your event order sensible. If you are having a VA-tip seminar, have it before the radio play auditions.
[Quick digression on the radio play, and its attendant events: Auditions should be held on the first day, and 2 to 2 ½ hours should be enough. (The consuite can be temporarily vacated for use for this. You will need a couple volunteers to keep order in the waiting line, too. Have a movie of good interest showing in the vid room around then.) There should, however, be a last call on the next morning, for anyone interested who happened to arrive late, or otherwise was unable to make it to the original call. Make this one an hour. Now, give your special guests and your attendees a break. Let them go do other stuff. Then plan for your rehearsal- the Radio Play rehearsal and the Play itself should each be blocked for taking up an hour and a half worth of time, and the rehearsal should be held in the same room as the Radio Play itself will be held. This should be on day two, usually before dinner as dinner is the banquet, which tends to lead directly into time to prep for the masquerade, then the masque and cosplay itself, and the awards ceremony. Many con attendees leave early on day three to avoid having to pay for a third day’s room rental, and as the RP is a highlight of the con, you should plan it for when it can have full attendance.]
HOWever, fully expect to have your skedj changed, at least once a day, for the two months prior to the con. Guests will have requests about their scheduled time slots. Your fandom Panelists will need a later/earlier time to fit with their arrival/departure. You will have to avoid double-booking someone to be part of an event in the same time slot. (Again, avoiding making an event-heavy schedule will help with this.) You will lose panels, and have last-minute event suggestions that are too interesting to pass up.
Actually, being aware of all this, as well as the times needed for certain big events, will save you quite a bit of that reorganizing.
Opening Ceremonies usually takes two hours; Closing about one and a half. Give time in each for next year’s con staff to give their pitch.
Panels tend to fall in the categories of writing-centric, art-centric, and guest-related. Look at previous cons to see what they had, and take what you like. Call-outs for whomever is willing to host a panel don’t tend to get much feedback- you’ll have to poll around for good candidates and ask them individually if they are willing to go for your idea. Give them a frame to work with- in general what you want, like a demo on cel-making, or a discussion on WHY IT IS SO IMPORTANT TO PAY ATTENTION TO GRAMMAR WHEN WRITING FANFIC, but unless you yourself are on a panel, let the hosts of each work out the actual content of their own panels.
THE BIG SEVEN:
Opening Ceremonies: Greet the fandom, introduce your staff and guests, give a quick speal about your con’s highlights. The attendees can read about the details in your con booklet/ Skedj guide. Then let Greg Weisman take over with his “Rocky Horror” gargoyles intro. Allow next year’s staff to get their faces known; they will later be selling early registrations for the next Gathering. Recording devices of any kind are NOT ALLOWED during the showing of the Bad Guys leica reel and such things.
The fandom poll: for whom is this the first Gathering they’ve attended? How many people have been to _ _ cons? Who has traveled the furthest to come here? (that one usually gets an award.)
Radio Play: don’t expect to have time to be involved in this. Attendees audition, Greg Weisman does casting (he will need time to do this, like an hour, so be sure to work this free time into his schedule) , the cast assembles and rehearses, and the con is entertainment by a voice-acted script of Greg’s choice, usually kept secret until the play itself starts.
Banquet: ...don’t use the hotel service. It will be more expensive than the food is worth. Well, classify this as a judgment call, but you can likely get cheaper outside catering. However, your hotel may cut a deal with you, such as drastically discounting the room you need for the day if you choose to use their own catering. It is a judgment call.
You will never ever be able to sell out your hotel-bought Banquet if it is a set-number head count. You will loose money on it. If you can break this tradition, let me know and I’ll note it here.
Masquerade and Cosplay: oh, what to say...fans dress up, parade around, show off, get nekkid...entertainment abounds. Staff should either get up at 5 am and wear their costume all day, or not expect to have time to change into anything complex for the masque. Also, staff are not eligible to win Masquerade awards (which are usually decided by the Special Guests)...but don’t let that stop you from cos’ing it up, if you can wedge in the time to do so.
Awards Ceremony: Generally, the fandom is awarded for its attendance by Thom Adcox showing off his boxers. Oh, and that Greg Weisman guy honors the winners of various things with trophies, like the best masquerade costume and the art show categories.
Charity Auction: Usually the last morning of the con. Your charity can be the con itself; 2003 decided to split their proceeds 50/50 with the 2004 Gathering. You need a lead auctioneer (we miss you, Myhr!), someone to record who bought which lots and for what price they went for, and someone to bring the lots to the auctioneer and then to the “sold” table. Have people sign up for bid numbers prior to the start of the auction. They do not need to hold these up, they simply need to yell out what they are willing to spend.
Closing Ceremonies: *sniff sniff* the end of the con. Thank your attendees, and those who supported the con but could not make it. Thank your special guests for being such good sports. Wrap it up, and hand it over to next year’s poor bastards- um, the staff of next year’s convention- and let out that breath you’ve been holding for the last fourteen months.
The Dead Dog party:
Not really a party. Those who survived the con and are not leaving immediately have a wake for those who weren’t so lucky. Sometimes group theme park trips are planned for after closing ceremonies...the “dead dog” usually implies the posture of those people in the consuite as post-con exhaustion/trauma/medication/emotional breakdowns/depression kicks in.
And on a last note: If you are reading this as preparatory material for running a future Gathering of the Gargoyles...TRY TO CONVINCE GREG WEISMAN TO GET SOME FORM OF INSTANT MESSENGER!!! Trying to run staff chats in a room you need to constantly manually refresh is a pain, as is trying to save and archive copies of those conversations.
Credits:
Thanks go first and foremost to Jen Anderson, Patrick Toman, and Kathy Pogge, who’s advice and direct involvement in the planning and running of the 2003 Gathering kept the con from floundering completely. Pretty much everything I did not learn for myself about conventions, I learned from them. Thusly, a lot of mistakes I would have instead had to learn from were able to be avoided.
Other direct contributors of both small and large nuggets of information to this guide:
(obviously not complete as I have yet to go around pestering people to add to this list, but a few have already seen and commented on this draft.)
Aaron Wheeler and Mara Cordova, whose lives were sadly claimed by the running of the 2003 Gathering. The knowledge they gained during their tenure shall be passed on to future generations.
Dreamie, Queen of the Art-related con experiences: thanks to your competency, I didn’t have to become involved in the art room in any way, other than to put up my work.
I’m thanking you ahead of time for your contribution to this since I rather expect you’ll be writing that section. If I’ve been presumptuous, let me know.
Greg Weisman, Carol Wagner, Siryn, and Winterwolf for various things of importance.
And Leo.
...Leo, what the hell are you doing reading my Livejournal??? ; )
Location:
Pick a place that is of interest, with various local distractions. At least two of your staff should be living in the city of your location. Before you plan your con there, you should know what the place is like. Actually, if you are reading this with designs to be a convention head, you should really live there yourself. Usually bids are put together over the attraction of one’s locale, not the other way around.
Your Staff:
Thses should be people you know, and people you trust. You do not all have to be bestest buddies...in fact, as con strain increases, it is probably for the best that your group is not.
Running a con is not an easy thing, and having staff members who are suffering sever depression because their co-staff member once-best friends now flat-out refuse to speak to them outside of supplying needed con information can be avoided this way.
Plus, you want people you can bitch freely to about the shitty performance, bad attitude, lack of intelligence, poor of personal hygiene, and supposed forbidden biological actions of their parents that must have occurred in order to produce your fellow staffers when you have having a really really really bad day.
Staff Positions, and what they entail:
(this one is going to take a lot of detailing and alterations...)
Con Chair:
Vice Con chair:
Con(suite) Host/Hostess:
Treasurer:
Hotel Liason:
Secretary and general Master of the Con Files:
-Taking care of online registrations (the bulk of your attendees will use this method if it is available)
-Either taking care of mail-in registrations, or constantly bugging the treasurer to update you with ALL the pertinent details about mail-ins. However, if you do this, you are then also required to a) take care of depositing the checks yourself, or b) forwarding said checks to the treasurer to take care of- USING VERIFIED MAIL AND CONSTANTLY CHECKING THE TRACKING NUMBER.
-Keeping track of all the attendees, their special needs, the con merchandise they purchased, etc. Use a spreadsheet. Use one from the beginning. Keep a document of copies of all the original registration forms and their information. Make cross-referenced lists for all separately purchased orders and other relevant material(t-shirts w/ sizes, calendars, banquets, willing volunteers, non-attending mail-out orders)
-Answering general gathering-related mail, including %95 of the stupidest questions you have ever read, while remaining polite about it. There will be %5 that are simply so asanine that you do not have to dignify them with a response, like people who ask three weeks before the con if there are any open staff positions they can fill, or that one guy who keeps constantly writing demanding to know why you aren’t getting Marina Sirtis to come.
-Planning the con events (with much input on the preferences of fellow staffers and the special guests) and keeping the schedule updated through its many iterations, contacting individual hosts for panels, and making sure they coordinate with their co-hosts.
-Arranging the volunteer schedule, which entails emailing everyone who agreed to volunteer and finding out their preferences for jobs/times, then doing your best to give everyone what they want. If your volunteer is skedj’d to work during the one panel they most want to attend, they may flake on you. Volunteer time blocks should last an hour and a half, following most of your schedule block. At least two people (and one security guard, who’s scheduling will be dictated by whoever is in charge of security, aka Hudson) need to be at the registration table at all times, and there may be a time when they are both volunteers. Make sure they know how the set-up goes, including how to make badges for walk-in registrants. The dealer’s room will need a volunteer to help or take over for the Dealer’s Room coordinator. The art room will need three people watching it at all times, two at the table and one free-floating, and the Art Room Head will not be able occupy one of these positions all day. You need a volunteer to watch the equipment in the video room at all times. You should have two “on call” runner-type volunteers at all times, who are simply there to play fetch and deliver information...and help with various room setups...I’m suggesting making big headdresses for them, so staff and security can easily tell who to grab if they need something. Radio Play auditions usually need a couple volunteers for line organization. There may be other times when volunteers are needed briefly for various things. Determine when these times are as far in advance as you can, and block in people’s names accordingly.
On site, you will be required to oversee attendee registration and coordinate volunteers. And get free backrubs twice a day. And sandwiches. And plenty of liquids, preferably ones that have lots of electrolytes in them. You will also be running around to take care of any and all other minor details that slipped through the cracks or simply don’t fall under your fellow staffer’s purveyance. You are Master of the Files, and all random details are your domain.
Guest Coordinator:
Head of the Dealer’s Room :
Head of Art Room:
Website Master:
Head of Security: Yes, Hudson tends to wind up taking this over, for good reason- he’s the best we have at it. If you want Hudson to be in charge of security detail, talk to him about it beforehand. You know what they say about assumptions, and besides, you never know when he’s going to have to go into hiding from those damn MiB’s, and you want to ensure his good feelings towards your con. If on the chance the space aliens are returning for his brain and he cannot make the con, I’m sure he will be at least willing to arrange for one of his lieutenants to take over in his stead, if you ask him to do so. Hudson will require Mountain Dew, and lots of it, so be sure you have some on hand in the consuite.
...If you are not running a Gathering, that is, a convention of the Gargoyles fandom, and thus do not have access to the talent that is Hudson...well, it sucks to be you.
Hotels and Convention rooms:
You want your hotel to be nice, but five-star is not required. Site is important, too- you want your hotel to be easily accessible by various forms of ground transportation. Having it be on route of local airport’s shuttle services is a plus.
Your attendees will likely spend a great deal of their time in the hotel during the con, but they will need to leave to eat and site-see. Having your hotel near your location’s prime attractions is a plus. It is nice to have a list of local eating establishments and their general price level listed in the con packets, as well as how to reach them and Any Other Local Things Of Interest. If there is a mini-golf course nearby, include it. tourist attractions, museums, etc. For the Gathering, having a post-con trip to a nearby theme park has become a sort of tradition (Busch Gardens, Coney Island, etc) so if there is one nearby make use of it. If not, don’t sweat it.
If you are staff, don’t plan to attend this. By the time it rolls around you will likely be too exhausted to leave your bed.
Consuite- try to get an actual suite for this. Big living room area with a door separating the bedroom. The bedroom is useful for people who need a moment of quiet, the con attendee who just fainted from heatstroke, holding RPG’s so as not to take up a whole con room for them, and again, having a couple staff members making personal use as their bedroom will save them that much cost. Whoever is in charge of the consuite should be one of these, for obvious reasons.
The consuite should be open 24 hours a day, for any attendee who would like access.
See Aaron’s guideline notes 22 a-e for more info.
Event Rooms at the con- strike a deal for these. Strike the best one you can. Do your best to make the hotel staff accept your hours of need for the rooms- events have run past 2am before. You will need a Dealer’s Room, an Art room, a (usually smaller) room as a Video room, and two rooms for whatever panels and events you are holding. You will also need a large room for opening and closing ceremonies, and banquet/masquerade, and the radio play...if said room can be divided by an accordion wall into smaller rooms, you have your panel rooms right there. Hotel rooms tend to be rented by the day, but see what arrangements you can make. You do not want to be stuck with large room that is getting no use. Plan your time and space wisely.
Oh, and have whomever is doing your event planning have visited your hotel at least once, so they can be sure of the space limitations when organizing set-ups for the Dealer’s and Art room. This is more important than you may realize, as your room size DOES limit the number of Dealer’s tables / art panels you can fit, and thus will affect the budget. More dealers = more money, as well as more impressed con attendees.
Dealer’s Room:
Tables usually are sold as singles, doubles, and triples. The cost of each should go up as you hit several time brackets, the same as admission to the con itself should.
Tables should be in your hotel contract to be supplied for no extra cost. Just let the hotel know in advance, as it is their job to set these up for you.
Contrary to popular belief, DEALERS WILL *NOT* COME TO YOU. You will have to have someone in charge of the dealer’s room, and that person will have to GO OUT and sign dealer’s to the con. This person should also expect to spend time on both the phone and conversing through email.
10-12 dealers is a good number to have, at least for the Gathering. Think about the dealers at the last cons you attended. What worked best? Usually, a weapons seller (big fantasy swords and such) is good to have. Also, people selling movie posters, anime, costume makeup, clothes (like Ren-gear), jewelry, and gargs merchandise. Alter said suggestions to fit your needs. Go out and find the people who sell these things. Talk to the managers. Make them come.
Then advertise the hell out of your con so you get enough attendees to make both the business of the con and the dealer’s go well, so as to get these dealer’s interested in paying for tables at next year’s con.
Get your pre-reg up early. And have con-updates every two weeks. Even if you have nothing new to announce, it will keep the con fresh in people’s brains, and more likely to be spotted by the random newbie who happened to lurk by that week and gets interested.
Art room set-up:
-tables (These should be supplied by the hotel, but you will have to let them know what you need, and when, in advance.)
-panels (you will have to buy materials and put these together yourself, on site.)
Panel and table spaces are typically rented to the artists for $5 per 4’ x 4’ panel or table surface. Cost for panel material will vary. Home Depot is your friend. So is pegboard and its little art-hooks. Wood will be needed as spines if you choose to go the pegboard route.
As all panel/table space should be pre-bought by the artists well in advance (usually art lists from them are due in a month in advance or earlier, so room set-up has time to be finalized) you should not need to purchase extra materials, or ask for extra tables beyond those your art-room watchers will need to sit at, and one for “Artist’s Alley”, as your artists may wish to sit and talk, show off their sketchbooks, take commissions, etc.
Running the Art Room:
...
T-shirts: traditionally, an open contest is held to whomever can come up with the best design using the con’s mascot. The winner receives a free shirt. Your special guests will receive a free shirt. Your staff probably expects to not have to pay for the shirts, either. A minor point, but this should be cleared up early on. Jen Anderson cut us a very nice deal on producing our t-shirts; shirts that had no limit to the numbers of colors that could be used on their image. If you ask her nicely, maybe she will be willing to do yours as well. If not, there are printing services out there, take a look in your local phonebook.
CONSTANTLY REMIND PEOPLE OF THIS CONTEST. The fandom has many good artists, who are not so much lazy as easily distracted by work, life, and other projects. They will procrastinate. Do not let them forget the deadline.
Shirts usually run $20 for a pre-order; $25 at the con.
They may cost you between $8 and $15 dollars to make, per shirt.
You will want a minimum number to fill your pre-orders, and a small amount to sell at the con. The Gathering has had burdens of left-over t-shirts and calendars in the past. Remember, you can take in orders to mail-out shirts during the con, and send them later. Even with the added postal fee, this will still bring profit to the con.
Have your shirts made up A MONTH IN ADVANCE. “We've [waited to the last minute] twice now and I think it's time now to vow never to do it again.”
You will need to make arrangements for the shirts to be shipped to your locale in time for prepping your con packets. You will want to put together these packets (including badge, schedule, pre-ordered merchandise like t-shirts and calendars, etc.) in advance. Two days in advance, if possible. You will thank yourself for the time concession when you are not spending your last few minutes before registration opens still stuffing envelopes, wishing you’d had time to eat breakfast.
Calendars: Again, open to the fandom. You will want thirteen images total, one for each month plus a cover. See above statement about the contest reminders; you want a calendar that has art in it that people will be willing to shell out for. Usually this art will take a fair amount of time to put together. If you have friends who are good artists, don’t be afraid to pester them mercilessly about submitting. If you get several amazing images from one artist, don’t be afraid to use more than one- like the t-shirt, people who’s submissions are chosen for the calendar traditionally get a free one. You would not have a calendar to sell at all without your artists. But calendars are given out per winning artist, not winning entry. Two images from one artist is one less free calendar you have to give away...but be reasonable. The art should be the focus here, and if your 13 top pieces are all from different artists, just be thankful you have that many talented people submitting. On the same note, you typically don’t want half a calendar all in one person’s style.
Calendars usually sell for $25 pre-ordered, and $30 on site.
I think the last few cons have had them made at Kinko’s, but there may be a cheaper printing alternative available to you. Anyway, Kinko’s has the “Photo-A-Month Deluxe Calendar” — 11" x 8 ½" flip calendar features 13 of your personal photos. This option will cost you (XX) per calendar to make, and (deals for large batches?)
Again, you can take in orders on site to be shipped post-con.
Guests and their costs:
It is considered bad form – indeed, taboo- to speak of your guest’s per diems (the per day costs you have to pay for their attendance at your con, aka their appearance fee) outside of your staff discussion list. Your Guest Coordinator will let you know that side of things.
But the Big Names (like anyone who has ever been an actor on Star Trek) will run you to scary fees. Don’t plan on getting Frakes or Sirtis unless you’ve got, like, 15 grand rolling around in your petty cash drawer.
But as for other guest requirements: You will have to pay for their flight to and from the con. You will have to pay for their hotel room for their stay, and most will arrive a day before and sometimes leave a day later than the con dates itself. You will have to pay for their ground transportation from their homes to the airport, and from the airport to the hotel, and back again. (Unless you have your con in LA, 20 minutes from where many of your guests live and work.) They may have special requirements- if you want Thom Adcox at your con (and believe me, YOU DO) you will have to pay to have his dogs boarded.
You are not, however, required to pay for the travel expenses of any family members they choose to bring with them. As for free t-shirts/calendars for said family members, it is up to your discretion. If they offer to pay for these, take them up on the offer.
Random small articles that will take up some funds:
-con badges: in the past, the con has done well by purchasing plastic sheaths (size), and making use of a label-maker. You will also want to order strings/lanyards for your badges, not clips. Clips are a pain. Strings cost only a few cents more, and are very much appreciated.
[How it goes: print your stock image out on tear-off paper (this can be purchased at your local Office Max, Office Depot, or an equivalent...while you are at it, you may want to pick up some sticky label-blanks for your con packets. You will misplace all those just before they are needed and have to do all the packets by hand anyway, but you’ll feel more professional while you are making them up), making sure to have your badge image sized slightly smaller than the space you will be printing on. Having the image a few millimeters over and onto your tear-off lines will result in a) bad-looking badges, or b) a waste of time and paper and ink when you do a re-print.
Type the name of your attendee into the label-maker. Electronic ones make life a lot easier- you really don’t want to have to make up @ 300 name-labels on the older-style hand labelers. Electronic ones typically also make other marks, like a symbol showing that a banquet has been purchased. (this is much easier than having separate banquet tickets printed up, which can be easily misplaced, or stolen. Have a stamp available to mark those who wish to purchase a Banquet on site.
Take your label from the machine. Stick on the printed badge. Tear off the badge and place in the sheath. This way you can easily make up badges for walk-ins, or remove and replace any badges that happen to have the badge name misspelled. There will be a few. This is not a priority, and if you happen to be running a huge con, it is a minor issue. But one your individual attendees will appreciate having taken care of.
Add the cord, and any necessary ribbons. (staff, volunteer, etc.) Put in con packet or hand to registrant.]
- ribbons, for winners of the art show: Usually 1rst, 2nd, and 3rd place for each category you have to vote on. Throw in a couple extra first’s, in case of a tie.
-ribbons for badges: get the appropriate number of ribbons for staff, guests, security, and volunteers. Ribbons for panel hosts are optional, although after my experience helping to host a certain crossover fic panel, I’m tempted to say that only those with ribbons should be allowed on the panelist’s table. But really, our fandom isn’t usually that anal. Panels should be planned well enough in advance that those who are hosting all know eachother, and know who does not belong up front with them.
-trophies: Including but not limited to The Thom Adcox Memorial Award, the Gorebash/Gorelisa award, Fan Guest of the Year, and Whomever can find Lynati’s recollection about the rest of this.
- (recognitions)
badge supplies, ribbons, and trophies can be ordered through catalogues wholesale. These catalogues are your friends. Give me time, and I’ll link you to some online sites.
-extension cords and duct tape : You will use these. You may not expect to, but you will.
-power tools, with accessories : Someone on your staff can likely supply these for free. These will most likely be required to put your art boards together, as well as god knows what else. Cordless ones are not your friends; they tend to die and refuse to charge up again at the worst time. Remember, your convention operates directly under Murphy’s laws. Your cords may not be long enough, hence one reason for having extension cords on hand.
- first-aid kit for the consuite. Throw in an extra bottle of ibuprofen. Actually, stick the bottle on the counter in the bathroom. Staff aren’t the only ones to headaches during the con.
Event Planning:
You do not need twenty events going on at once. You do not need 4 events going on at once. Variety is nice, but it can be spread out as the day goes on. For the Gatherings, the most fun is had simply in hanging out with friends. You do not need a packed schedule. On the opposite side, you never want your con to have “dead air”. Something should be available during typical con hours (noonish to 10pm+, or however your fandom swings) for people to do, besides the video room. Even if it is only an Rpg. (having an hour of dead-time as a lunch break is okay. Evening activities should be sparse, but existent. Like the Hudson-rant. Or Clan Wars. Or a Blue Mug-a-guest. Or the Thom Adcox Variety Hour.)
Further, less planned panels at one time = less hotel convention rooms necessary = less strain on your con funds. Hotel room requirements go hand in hand with planned events, so keep that in mind. Feel free to plan your opening ceremonies in the afternoon; have this stated early enough and yes, your attendees will plan to arrive the night before. Most do anyway. Most people also don’t think that anything goes on prior to OC. Make your event planning – once it is concretely nailed down- part of mail-list announcements. Have your skedj up for perusal on your con site. Let people know what is going on- sell to them why they need to attend your con. Make use of your guests...see what they are willing, or want, to hold in the way of panels. Storyboarding, Voice-Acting Seminars, Writing for animation...what you have will depend on who you get. Also, try to make your event order sensible. If you are having a VA-tip seminar, have it before the radio play auditions.
[Quick digression on the radio play, and its attendant events: Auditions should be held on the first day, and 2 to 2 ½ hours should be enough. (The consuite can be temporarily vacated for use for this. You will need a couple volunteers to keep order in the waiting line, too. Have a movie of good interest showing in the vid room around then.) There should, however, be a last call on the next morning, for anyone interested who happened to arrive late, or otherwise was unable to make it to the original call. Make this one an hour. Now, give your special guests and your attendees a break. Let them go do other stuff. Then plan for your rehearsal- the Radio Play rehearsal and the Play itself should each be blocked for taking up an hour and a half worth of time, and the rehearsal should be held in the same room as the Radio Play itself will be held. This should be on day two, usually before dinner as dinner is the banquet, which tends to lead directly into time to prep for the masquerade, then the masque and cosplay itself, and the awards ceremony. Many con attendees leave early on day three to avoid having to pay for a third day’s room rental, and as the RP is a highlight of the con, you should plan it for when it can have full attendance.]
HOWever, fully expect to have your skedj changed, at least once a day, for the two months prior to the con. Guests will have requests about their scheduled time slots. Your fandom Panelists will need a later/earlier time to fit with their arrival/departure. You will have to avoid double-booking someone to be part of an event in the same time slot. (Again, avoiding making an event-heavy schedule will help with this.) You will lose panels, and have last-minute event suggestions that are too interesting to pass up.
Actually, being aware of all this, as well as the times needed for certain big events, will save you quite a bit of that reorganizing.
Opening Ceremonies usually takes two hours; Closing about one and a half. Give time in each for next year’s con staff to give their pitch.
Panels tend to fall in the categories of writing-centric, art-centric, and guest-related. Look at previous cons to see what they had, and take what you like. Call-outs for whomever is willing to host a panel don’t tend to get much feedback- you’ll have to poll around for good candidates and ask them individually if they are willing to go for your idea. Give them a frame to work with- in general what you want, like a demo on cel-making, or a discussion on WHY IT IS SO IMPORTANT TO PAY ATTENTION TO GRAMMAR WHEN WRITING FANFIC, but unless you yourself are on a panel, let the hosts of each work out the actual content of their own panels.
THE BIG SEVEN:
Opening Ceremonies: Greet the fandom, introduce your staff and guests, give a quick speal about your con’s highlights. The attendees can read about the details in your con booklet/ Skedj guide. Then let Greg Weisman take over with his “Rocky Horror” gargoyles intro. Allow next year’s staff to get their faces known; they will later be selling early registrations for the next Gathering. Recording devices of any kind are NOT ALLOWED during the showing of the Bad Guys leica reel and such things.
The fandom poll: for whom is this the first Gathering they’ve attended? How many people have been to _ _ cons? Who has traveled the furthest to come here? (that one usually gets an award.)
Radio Play: don’t expect to have time to be involved in this. Attendees audition, Greg Weisman does casting (he will need time to do this, like an hour, so be sure to work this free time into his schedule) , the cast assembles and rehearses, and the con is entertainment by a voice-acted script of Greg’s choice, usually kept secret until the play itself starts.
Banquet: ...don’t use the hotel service. It will be more expensive than the food is worth. Well, classify this as a judgment call, but you can likely get cheaper outside catering. However, your hotel may cut a deal with you, such as drastically discounting the room you need for the day if you choose to use their own catering. It is a judgment call.
You will never ever be able to sell out your hotel-bought Banquet if it is a set-number head count. You will loose money on it. If you can break this tradition, let me know and I’ll note it here.
Masquerade and Cosplay: oh, what to say...fans dress up, parade around, show off, get nekkid...entertainment abounds. Staff should either get up at 5 am and wear their costume all day, or not expect to have time to change into anything complex for the masque. Also, staff are not eligible to win Masquerade awards (which are usually decided by the Special Guests)...but don’t let that stop you from cos’ing it up, if you can wedge in the time to do so.
Awards Ceremony: Generally, the fandom is awarded for its attendance by Thom Adcox showing off his boxers. Oh, and that Greg Weisman guy honors the winners of various things with trophies, like the best masquerade costume and the art show categories.
Charity Auction: Usually the last morning of the con. Your charity can be the con itself; 2003 decided to split their proceeds 50/50 with the 2004 Gathering. You need a lead auctioneer (we miss you, Myhr!), someone to record who bought which lots and for what price they went for, and someone to bring the lots to the auctioneer and then to the “sold” table. Have people sign up for bid numbers prior to the start of the auction. They do not need to hold these up, they simply need to yell out what they are willing to spend.
Closing Ceremonies: *sniff sniff* the end of the con. Thank your attendees, and those who supported the con but could not make it. Thank your special guests for being such good sports. Wrap it up, and hand it over to next year’s poor bastards- um, the staff of next year’s convention- and let out that breath you’ve been holding for the last fourteen months.
The Dead Dog party:
Not really a party. Those who survived the con and are not leaving immediately have a wake for those who weren’t so lucky. Sometimes group theme park trips are planned for after closing ceremonies...the “dead dog” usually implies the posture of those people in the consuite as post-con exhaustion/trauma/medication/emotional breakdowns/depression kicks in.
And on a last note: If you are reading this as preparatory material for running a future Gathering of the Gargoyles...TRY TO CONVINCE GREG WEISMAN TO GET SOME FORM OF INSTANT MESSENGER!!! Trying to run staff chats in a room you need to constantly manually refresh is a pain, as is trying to save and archive copies of those conversations.
Credits:
Thanks go first and foremost to Jen Anderson, Patrick Toman, and Kathy Pogge, who’s advice and direct involvement in the planning and running of the 2003 Gathering kept the con from floundering completely. Pretty much everything I did not learn for myself about conventions, I learned from them. Thusly, a lot of mistakes I would have instead had to learn from were able to be avoided.
Other direct contributors of both small and large nuggets of information to this guide:
(obviously not complete as I have yet to go around pestering people to add to this list, but a few have already seen and commented on this draft.)
Aaron Wheeler and Mara Cordova, whose lives were sadly claimed by the running of the 2003 Gathering. The knowledge they gained during their tenure shall be passed on to future generations.
Dreamie, Queen of the Art-related con experiences: thanks to your competency, I didn’t have to become involved in the art room in any way, other than to put up my work.
I’m thanking you ahead of time for your contribution to this since I rather expect you’ll be writing that section. If I’ve been presumptuous, let me know.
Greg Weisman, Carol Wagner, Siryn, and Winterwolf for various things of importance.
And Leo.
...Leo, what the hell are you doing reading my Livejournal??? ; )
