Other candidates: What would be your personal goals as far as personal availability at con, and how would you strategize towards being able to match the qualities referenced above?
My goal towards personal availability is always to have an open door policy, all the time, year round and during con. If someone needs anything, I'm a phone call, email, pm away. That is the way I have ALWAYS been, it won't change if I'm a volunteer, staffer, or board member. It doesn't change with my position with the convention, and it won't change pre-con/at-con. If someone needs help, I'm always more than happy to do everything I can for them. And if I'm not the best person to assist, I will hunt down the person who is. The only thing that has ever held me back from being helpful is conflicting time commitments. This year, it won't be an issue.
The best strategy to make sure things go smoothly at con is to manage all the preamble effectively throughout the year. Set a time line of deadlines, and make sure that everything necessary is being done to keep those deadlines. No one can do it alone. It is going to take effort and effective communication through the entire board, managers, and staff. We all depend on each other, and I want to do a lot this year to bring a change in our personal attitudes and the way we relate to each other.
Bad things can and will happen. There's so many variables that cannot be controlled, that it's just a fact that there will be somethings that won't go smoothly. The point is to not only be prepared for eventualities, but to also do what you can to preemptively qwell sparks before they turn into the fires we all see put out. If we have an effective system for progress updates, and to make sure we're making the deadlines we've set, we can keep a slight snafu from snowballing.
Other candidates: What are your feelings about events between Kumoricons? What would you like to offer? How involved do you feel the Con Chair should be therein? What is your personal availability in terms of free time, flexible work schedules, transportation opportunities, etc., to help promote these events and KC's presence therein?
I think this year Kumoricon did a great job of expanding on the Mini-Con idea started in 2007. The Masquerade Ball, Kumori-Lite, and Swing Dance were very well received. And from the buzz on the forums, people really want more events like this. One thing I really would like to focus on, while themed events are fun, I would like to have events that are more inclusive.
Perhaps we could also have smaller get togethers like small anime viewing nights on a periodic basis, as well as the bigger events once a season. The smaller viewing nights could be coordinated with college campuses and their anime clubs through the outreach program.
As far as how involved should the Con Chair be? I would say as involved as they are with other aspects of planning the convention. I do like the idea of creating a position to manage the outreach events. I can understand Mike wanting to oversee outreach coordinator especially in its first year. When you come up with an idea, you have a lot of personal vested interest in it, and you want to make sure it goes right. However, I don't see it extremely necessary for this position to report directly to the chair. I think it could be handled just as effectively under publicity. Almost every position within this convention in some way touches some other position or department, or several all at once. It fits well with what publicity does. The chair can be involved with the planning on a peripheral level and can be at the event, promoting and socializing at the events.
My current work schedule is Monday through Friday 12:30pm - 9:30pm. I will have a shift bid in December, at which point I will be attempting to get a shift that will let me out earlier in the evening, to open up availability in the evenings during the work week. At the very least, unless there's a major emergency, such as a sprawling power outage stretching across the west coast, I am guaranteed to have weekends off from now on. I am available any Saturday or Sunday for outreach, meetings, and any other projects we may have.
I currently have a very large van, so I am able to commute, as well as drag others/cargo along with me.
Absolutely agreed. All candidates: How, other than in selecting your own assistant, will you support this need?
Plain and simple, by listening to our directors and our staff, supporting their requests and helping to organize the expansion by making sure that the new subgroup is developed with all of the resources it needs under the best department to aid it. There's a lot of people talking out there right now about new ideas for new positions within the organization and about the possibility of developing new departments.
No matter what happens, what is decided in the end, and who is on the board next year, I'm very happy that people are at least standing up and getting involved and speaking their mind.
It's through new ideas that we grow. It's progress.
