We are moving to a new space for the 2016 convention year. How will you ensure that all contracts, facility walkthroughs and other related issues are being completed both on time and accurately?
Moving Kumoricon to a new venue for 2016 is going to be challenging, but we are fortunate to be working with the amazing folks at Travel Portland, who will be assisting with all the details that are necessary to ensure a successful event. For 2016, attendees will be able to reserve hotel rooms online using Passkey. This system is designed for monitoring multiple hotel contracts, reservations, and deadlines digitally, with reports being accessible by members of the Board, and our team with Travel Portland. In this way, there will be several “eyes” monitoring deadlines, which will help in completing necessary tasks on time. It also keeps our hotel contracts bundled together, which will lessen the likelihood of missing critical deadlines.
We also have a team of amazing people working with us at the Oregon Convention Center. It is their number one priority to assist us in delivering a quality event. I will be relying on their expertise, and using their established system of checklists and timelines, which will make completing tasks within the proper timeframe a straight-forward process that is easy to follow.
Another way that I am attempting to improve the timely completion of tasks is to create a “checklist” (visible to other board members) of mission critical items that must be completed, dates for completion, and additional resources that can be passed along to Board members, future Directors of Infrastructure, or Assistants. In this way, there will be a physical “job description” for the Infrastructure department, which helps in understanding what is required of the job, establishes a simple-to-follow checklist system similar to the ones that are used by other large events, and creates a physical document that can be reviewed, updated, refined, and monitored.
What, in your opinion, are the primary responsibilities of the Infrastructural Directorate?
I feel one of the primary responsibilities of this position is to be the liaison between each department and the venue, contractors, and necessary support staff. I found that the task I did most often in planning for Kumoricon 2015 was coordinating meetings with the venue and contractors as well as walk-throughs for Directors and Assistants. This made it possible for all the critical people to have the opportunity to give input, ask questions, and participate in the finalization of their most important details.
Another important responsibility of this position is coordinating with individual departments in ways that provide the opportunity to increase our high quality content. For example, I am working with relations staff to address the opportunity to provide invited guests with accommodations that will be special, inviting, and create incentive for bigger names to want to attend Kumoricon in the future.
Finally, I feel it is important to remain open to new ideas, and ready to take on different responsibilities as they are identified. Moving to a new venue is going to require flexibility, and a willingness to take on new tasks so that we can provide an outstanding event that retains the family feeling that keeps attendees returning to Kumoricon while providing interesting content to attract new attendees.
