2008 Operations Nominees and Discussion

[EcchiSpice]

Formal discussion will be held during elections. However, it is strongly encouraged that all candidates keep up on the forums during this time. This will give you a better idea of what will be expected of you should you win a new position.

OPERATIONS
*This description is based on my personal experience with the directorship. The following description is similar to, but may differ from, a finalized version of this department's official description in the charter.*

Director of Operations is responsible for the overall support of the convention. Support of the convention includes, but is not limited to:

Providing AV and technical support for the for programming
Maintaining peace and order during the convention
Registration services prior to and during the convention
Securing and supplying work for volunteers
Insuring knowledgable staff are at info desk during the convention

The Operations Director will work with the Programming Director to ensure that all equipment is secured prior to con, and distributed properly during the con. The Operations Director may be required to work with outside sources to procure tech, AV items, lighting, and other for the convention.

The Operations Director will work with the Treasurer to ensure that all expenditures are accounted for in the department budget by the date specified by the treasurer and agreed upon by the Director of Operations.

Failure to actively persue the above responsibilities is legitimate cause for a motion to dismiss by any member of the staff. 

Please post your comments and questions for the nominees who have accepted the nomination for Director    of Operations below.

[EcchiSpice]

Operations nominees,

• Where do you stand on the issue of Yojimbo being full staff members?
• What are your plans for the 2008 Convention Suite?
• What changes will you make to the Registration Department?
• Do you have an idea of what room layout you will suggest be used for the 2008 Hotel?
• In an ideal convention stucture, how would you allocate the responsibility for A/V? How much responsibility should Operations have? How much responsibility should Programming? How much, if any, should be allocated elsewhere, and if so, in what department?

[rictheron]

  Well I guess I will start this off then.
        Jess Shelton, Operations Nominee.
        I will post my credentials in my profile for those that are interested.

  Anyone who is interested should know that if they are curious about anything from me then feel free to ask me anything you like at anytime.  I've always been happy to answer questions. 
   As to the questions from Meg, Rian, Tom, et al:


Where do you stand on the issue of Yojimbo being full staff members?
   It has been a requirement that Yojimbo be full staff members and I feel that this is vital due to the sensative nature of their duty.  Not only does it add a sense of assurance to those whom the Yojimbo delt with, it provides them with the authority of a staff member when they are required to give instructions or deal with problematic situations.  While volunteers can supplament this they can not replace a full staff member for the purposes of liability and the attendees sense of reassurance in them. 

What are your plans for the 2008 Convention Suite?
   I intend to use the suites as office centers and coordination points from which to direct the various departments.  With the ConSuite I would like it to be used as a refreshment and rest area for staffers where they can be away from the convention but keep the company of other staff while also being where we can find them if necessary.  I would also like to acquire an additional room, a double standard for the use of staff which could be used as a 2 hour crash room for staffers who are not staying at the hotel but are too tired to to go to their own residence without a brief rest.

What changes will you make to the Registration Department?
   I must admit to having relatively little understanding of the inner workings of the Registration department as I've been much to preoccupied elsewhere. Pre-Registration appears to be working cleanly with a backup system which supports it even in a no power situation. I would like to implement a possible system with their approval based upon the manufacturing line model. That is, to make registration forms available while still in line to be filled out, with line walkers who can verify ID and stamp the registration forms, remoing the badge info sub section and returning these to the desk. By this means theoretically the time which any person need spend at the reg desk or in line should be minimized by the fact that their information and badge should be ready by the time they reach the desk to pay.

Do you have an idea of what room layout you will suggest be used for the 2008 Hotel?
   The Doubletree has been used by Kumoricon in previous years and has proven to be quite an effecient layout. Vendors room I would keep in the detached center next to the garages. The adult panels, Creation Station, Manga library and debate panels will be held in the office center, both for the seating, access to computer and display equipment and the ability to moniter access easily at all times.

In an ideal convention stucture, how would you allocate the responsibility for A/V? How much responsibility should Operations have? How much responsibility should Programming? How much, if any, should be allocated elsewhere, and if so, in what department?
   I believe that as both Operations is dedicated to the technical aspects of the convention while programming is dedicated to the presentation of the convention both should be involved in the AV department.  I feel that Operations should be responsible for the equipment when it is not in use, storing and keeping track of it, with an inter departmental group of either staff and volunteers (under the Duncan) made up from our experienced AV crew.  This group and Operations would be given a schedule and equipment list for all events during the convention so that Operations can assign equipment to the necessary locations, checking it out to the AV group at location, at which point it is the AV groups responsibility to know where it is until it is checked in with Operations again.  Hopefully by this method we retain our experienced crews doing they job they do so well without requiring them to also locate and acquire the equipment.  Operations would have a record of all equipment so that something misplaced or missing can be tracked by those last recorded as using it and in what location.  Programming would have dedicated delivery of equipment and setup ahead of time for all events without having to send people searching for it themselves.

[kylite]

I have decided to step down from my nomination for Ops. I am quite happy being a yojimbo. good luck to those still running.

[TomtheFanboy]

Operations nominees,

• Do you have an idea of what room layout you will suggest be used for the 2008 Hotel?

In the interest of helping them answer this question, I present this map to the nominees.

[rictheron]

  Thank you for the Maps, Tom, they have proved quite helpful in figuring out room placement.  So here is my plans for convention setup.  First, Lloyd set aside entirely as it's own room to accomodate our largest events and expected attendee growth.  If this is more space then needed, Lloyd a can be seperated into a seperate room. The Pacific Northwest Ballroom would be used as a single room as last time, as would the paired rooms of Cascade 1&2, Cascade 3&4, Willamette a&b, Willamette c&d, and Adams & Jefferson.  Each of these will provide a larger area for our rooms.  By this we will have 16 rooms total available.  With this in mind I would arrange the rooms as follows:

Main Events   -   Lloyd Center Ballroom
Gaming      -   Pacific NW Ballroom
Panels 1   -   Adams/Jefferson
Live      -   Cascade 1/2
      -   Cascade 3/4
Workshop   -   Portland
Rounds      -   Willamette a/b
Karaoke   -   Willamette c/d
JRock      -   Washington
Creation   -   Hamilton
Panels 2   -   Roosevelt
Video 1      -   Madison
Video 2      -   Lincoln
Tabletop   -   Grant
LAN      -   Jackson
Vending/Art   -   Exhibit Hall

With the meeting setup and pre-existing network hook ups in the executive center it will provide a perfect location for the LAN gaming.  Projectors in the rooms will prove perfect for the video rooms while the arrangement of rooms will be useful for Creation station.  By this, all the room which require a quieter environment are as far removed from the main rooms as possible and within an area easy to locate, and patrol during the curfew hours, allowing for secure adult panels.  The Workshop in Portland room is a larger room for such events as mask making, and again are further from the louder rooms so as to be easier to be heard.  The Vending room and Art area will be in a seperate center where it will be easy to protect merchandise during both the day and evening.  If more vending and art booths are required than the space provides, Art can be moved inside, with minimal re-adjustment of rooms.  Live events can be placed in the Cascade rooms allowing for a room size second only to main events for such things as the live chess or masquarade ball.  Karaoke and Rounds would be in the Willamette area where impulse rooms would be in the most heavily trafficed areas.  Rounds can also be seperated by simply putting up a screen while it is operating as the cosplay green room, providing a larger privacy area.
   This is, of course, a preliminary plan as I do not currently have figures on room occupancy, square footage, fire restrictions, power, sound proofing, and popularity of events.   

[RemSaverem]

Thank you very much for including a room for Fan Creations in your outline for room assignments. Thank you also for putting us in the EMC. Our first "Fan Creation Station" (incorporating art into the fanfic room thatwe first hosted at KC as the "Beta Station" in 2004) was at this hotel, in the EMC, in '05. We enjoyed being able to hear each other, though we did need some extra signage. We were a much smaller con at the time, so having extra signage to find that wing was a lot easier to just set up standing sandwich boards in the halls. We would need to consider how to best place directional signage without interrupting flow of traffic

[TomtheFanboy]

We would need to consider how to best place directional signage without interrupting flow of traffic

Note: This has already been mentioned to Kyuubi, Sign King.

[RemSaverem]

That's great, thank for whomever did that.

Meantime I was wondering if there might be value in some kind of pre-con meeting between ops & programmming (maybe an hour after or before a general meeting) together, to iron out any potential lack of communication or arrangements to be made such as av delivery, i.d. checks, room arrangements (though that might be relations) etc.

[TomtheFanboy]

That's great, thank for whomever did that.

Meantime I was wondering if there might be value in some kind of pre-con meeting between ops & programmming (maybe an hour after or before a general meeting) together, to iron out any potential lack of communication or arrangements to be made such as av delivery, i.d. checks, room arrangements (though that might be relations) etc.

Rem, this should be discussed in the meeting thread. 

[RemSaverem]

i am not talking about for the elections meeting itself.
i am asking whether ops would consider this a helpful ongoing preventative measure so that there is more reliable consistent flow of info between programming and ops throughout the year.therefore i felt it was a candidate question. but thanks

[staze]

Ellen, this is off topic. These are not election issues... these are meeting issues.

[RemSaverem]

Ellen, this is off topic. These are not election issues... these are meeting issues.

Ok, but honestly, there were nominees listed whom I'd never met, and I wanted to know, before deciding on whom to vote, how open each was to working with programming to avoid some prior problems.

[staze]

Ellen, this is off topic. These are not election issues... these are meeting issues.

Ok, but honestly, there were nominees listed whom I'd never met, and I wanted to know, before deciding on whom to vote, how open each was to working with programming to avoid some prior problems.

Which is a valid point... though it should really go without saying that whoever gets a position should be willing to work with all the other departments. These departments aren't fiefdoms, and while they may have been run like that in the past, it's not the way it should be. The con relies on everyone to be successful: It's not just whether publicity and ops will work with programming... it's everyone working together to accomplish something that is more than just them. I know everyone does what they do because they really enjoy that part of the con, and that they fight for their area because they really do enjoy it, and want it to succeed. But, it gets a bit concerning when all you ever hear is a bunch of people all saying "I want this, I want that", and not "how can we make this all work together in some way? I'm willing to do this if it helps that, and I'm willing to give up this if it's a PITA for them". And ultimately, that's what the board, and directors are here for... to try to balance their departments needs with other departments offers.

Directors are here to both support their department, and to work with other departments to make sure the con as a whole runs well... not just their department (because even if programming runs flawlessly, if ops, publicicy, or relations flounders, then the con will not do well). And really, communication is two (or more) ways here... so even if Ops was the most chatty, communicative department ever, if programming isn't listening, then it's worthless.

Sorry... I just get defensive about things when I perceive the notion that the con is not a collection of really great things rather than one thing with a bunch of backup singers.