How many cons have I helped run? Let's see...I've worked Baycon in the past, Silicon, Westercon, ConFrancisco, LACon III, Conterpoint Too!, and I'm chair of Consonance. My experience goes back 15 years.
When I referred to "turnover," I meant multiple staff changes within one year, as opposed to something like a typical Westercon or Worldcon where a different group runs it every year.
Quite bluntly, I felt the hotel stuff sucked this year. You can tell me till you're blue in the face about how wonderful it was. I paid, I attended, and I experienced problems. You know the saying:
1. The customer is always right. 2. When the customer is wrong, refer to Rule #1.
I was a consumer. As for the programming stuff, I was merely reporting what I'd heard from other folks. Don't shoot me -- I'm just the messenger!
As for communicating, I didn't just mean the conops stuff going on during the con; I meant all the pre-planning stuff. It's hard to contact a department head before the con when a) you don't know who the department head is because the name on your last PR doesn't match reality and b) the "department-head@baycon.org" e-mail addresses on the web site point at the wrong person. For example, I e-mailed to music and got Seanan instead of Kierin. James Daugherty never got my e-mail I'd sent him in advance of the con. In fact, the PR I'd had said someone else was doing programming.
I know about radios and conops. Ask me in person sometime about the time the person in charge of programming at a different con once squealed, "There's a fire here that needs to be put out" over the two-way radio when she really meant, "I need help answering a question." (Rule #1: Never yell "Fire!" over a two-way radio unless there really is one -- literally -- and you can't extinguish it on your own.)
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Re: BayCon Commentaries.
Date: 2002-06-02 11:41 pm (UTC)When I referred to "turnover," I meant multiple staff changes within one year, as opposed to something like a typical Westercon or Worldcon where a different group runs it every year.
Quite bluntly, I felt the hotel stuff sucked this year. You can tell me till you're blue in the face about how wonderful it was. I paid, I attended, and I experienced problems. You know the saying:
1. The customer is always right.
2. When the customer is wrong, refer to Rule #1.
I was a consumer. As for the programming stuff, I was merely reporting what I'd heard from other folks. Don't shoot me -- I'm just the messenger!
As for communicating, I didn't just mean the conops stuff going on during the con; I meant all the pre-planning stuff. It's hard to contact a department head before the con when a) you don't know who the department head is because the name on your last PR doesn't match reality and b) the "department-head@baycon.org" e-mail addresses on the web site point at the wrong person. For example, I e-mailed to music and got Seanan instead of Kierin. James Daugherty never got my e-mail I'd sent him in advance of the con. In fact, the PR I'd had said someone else was doing programming.
I know about radios and conops. Ask me in person sometime about the time the person in charge of programming at a different con once squealed, "There's a fire here that needs to be put out" over the two-way radio when she really meant, "I need help answering a question." (Rule #1: Never yell "Fire!" over a two-way radio unless there really is one -- literally -- and you can't extinguish it on your own.)