Candidate Q&A - 2010 Director of Relations

[kjayers]

Do you have questions for the candidates for 2010 Director of Relations?  Ask here.

[MichaelEvans]

Copied (and one-word modified) to the other currently relevant Q/A thread.

A question set for any potential Relations Directors who will also be running for other departments:

Do you feel you will be able to simultaneously fulfill the duties of multiple departments?  Or would you instead prefer one department over another?

[Rathany]

Copied (and one-word modified) to the other currently relevant Q/A thread.

A question set for any potential Relations Directors who will also be running for other departments:

Do you feel you will be able to simultaneously fulfill the duties of multiple departments?  Or would you instead prefer one department over another?

Well, I have been up to three directors at the same time, officially.  Relations is the position that I want.  Second to that would likely be Facilities. 

[pepito]

I think this is the right place to ask

As a Yoji I was often unaware of who VIPs were and sadly I don't think we provided the VIP service that we intended (priority seating, no waiting in lines, etc) how do we plan to rectify this next year?

[Rathany]

I think this is the right place to ask

As a Yoji I was often unaware of who VIPs were and sadly I don't think we provided the VIP service that we intended (priority seating, no waiting in lines, etc) how do we plan to rectify this next year?

This is more for Vice Chair and for Ops. 

Ops - They print the special VIP badges and train yojis.

Vice - In charge of VIPs in general.  Getting them specialty lanyards, check in with Ops to make sure Yojis are aware of them, this is all Vice. 

[pepito]

Groovy - I'll post it in the right spot

[Rathany]

Ok, since I am getting few questions and not alot of people really understand my department, I am going to go ahead and post a document I wrote up of proposed changes to Relations. 

Changes to Relations for 2010

Dealer’s Hall and Artist Alley:
Ok, my assumption is that people don’t come to a come to buy what you can get in a mall.  So far, the poll and associated thread I am running are confirming that: http://www.kumoricon.org/forums/index.php?topic=11234.0  Yes, it’s a small sampling and I appreciate more input.  There are a few simple ways to ensure more diversity of items and also to make us a more tempting show for some of the more specialty vendors:

Shrink Dealer’s and Increase Artist Alley - Our attendee to Dealer ratio is crucial for getting in the more desirable, less generic vendors.  Also, AA stuff is always going to be unique.  I intend to shift at least three booths to AA, I may do more.  There are certain vendors I am courting for next year.  I went through the dealer’s hall at CCI and took contact info from some booths that I thought would be relevant to Kcon interests.  I cannot guarantee getting them, but I intend to try. 

Also, I want to cap manga selling to local vendor’s only.  We will always want to support Dark Horse, Cosmic Money, Kinokuniya and other local businesses.  We have enough local to fill the manga needs in Dealer’s, there is no reason why anyone trucking in should just be selling manga.  Now, some booths sell a mix of stuff and some might have a few manga here and there.  I was thinking of making a ‘no more than 15%’ rule on manga for non-local vendors.  This increases diversity while helping local stores. 

This year, for budget control, power drops will be available at an additional cost as opposed to included.

Also, chairs in dealer’s in the blank areas.  We kind of have a funky setup in there with gaps between booths.  Some people took advantage of this and used it as hang-out space.  Sounds good to me.  I was thinking about dropping some chairs in there and, if available from our pipe and drape company, smaller tables.  (This assumes we leave vendor’s hall in the same location.  I am 99% sure we will.  But, we will of course look at every possible option to make the best use of space possible.)  Hang out space should be marked off with tape to make it clear what areas are ok to be in and what areas need to be clear for traffic flow. 

Hired in security.  Sorry to have to bring this up, but at least 4 groups of people got into dealer’s hall overnight that should not have.  If we want vendors back, we need paid security this year.  The security flaws are not exactly a secret at this point.  This is a significant hit to my budget, but, a necessary one. 

Charity Auction:
We did not meet our goals for last year.  However, I still think the idea of advertising our lots is a good one.  Next year, I think we just need to do it sooner.  I had about 60 lots photographed and in an online gallery, but it kinda takes time for word about that to spread around.  So, this year, it just needs to be done a lot sooner.  I also intend to have charity auction drop offs at mid-year events.  I would like to thank P:ear for having come by our event personally this year, and I hope to see their involvement in coming years. 

1 Band, 2 Bands, No Bands?:
I’ve been floating the idea of having only one band.  Some other people brought up having no bands.  This needs to be explored.  Taking the stress off of Main Events means more time for the dances.  If people prefer dances to concerts, well happier attendees for less cost = win.  I am still committed to have some live music and have some ideas on that.  However, I cannot discuss those ideas directly as it would involve getting certain guests.  Anyway, I intend to try to get as much feedback as possible as to how to proceed with this.  No hard decision has been made on this yet.  I am just trying to figure out what is best for our attendees.   

Guest Relations:
This went well this year, I felt.  However, I could have informed our Guests of Honor better about Kumoricon and Portland.  The only real change I want to make is a special newsletter for the GoHs highlighting stuff to do in Portland and at the con. 

Due to attendance cap, professional security and the corresponding tighter budget, I may wind up having one or two few Guests.  'Fewer Guests' is not a platform I am running on, but is the reality of the situation. 

Japanese Version Of The Website:
Some of you may remember this being a 'campaign promise' from last year.  I had meant to do this over Xmas break last year but storm damage to my house kinda killed the time I had planned to use to do this project.  Again this year, I do hope to make a Japanese version of the site.  I did get some copy written up last year. 

Industry Relations:
I was pleased with the prize support we got for this year, but hope to do better next year.  I intend to keep my policy about being picky about what goes into swag bags.  Kumoricon is a not a free direct-marketing form for just anyone.  If the swag item is not of direct benefit to attendees, it needs to be offset by something like a charity auction donation.

So, feel free to ask me questions and give me feedback based on this post.  I have a year of experience under my belt and feel that I can run Relations much better next year.

[MichaelEvans]

That's a very good idea here's the technical aspect of doing it (once the support is enabled):

http://httpd.apache.org/docs/2.0/content-negotiation.html

The files just have to have two letter language information in them; but that would involve several versions of the file instead of one.  They'd also be right next to each other.

Describing the way it operates, it takes the first section of a request for an invalid file and tries to match it against a list of files that begin with it.

It then looks for a language identifier as the very next part of the file, OR at the very end of match files.

[RemSaverem]

I would like to propose:
(a) that the Disabilities Advocate (or whatever the title may be) be empowered to form an advisory committee.
(b) that the committee consist of
(i) attendees with disabilities, including: visible mobility impairments; mobility impairments not immediately visible; other types of disabilities, such as hearing or vision disabilities; other types of chronic health concerns, such as asthma or diabetes; and mental health, learning, and/or behavioral disabilities;
(ii) staff with disabilities, including as many of the above categories as we have staff who self-identify with them;
(iii) facilities liason;
(iv) someone representing Reg.
How do you feel about this?
Should I make a formal proposal, or is that not needed?
Would you support this proposal?

[Rathany]

I would like to propose:
(a) that the Disabilities Advocate (or whatever the title may be) be empowered to form an advisory committee.
(b) that the committee consist of
(i) attendees with disabilities, including: visible mobility impairments; mobility impairments not immediately visible; other types of chronic health concerns, such as asthma or diabetes; and mental health, learning, and/or behavioral disabilities;
(ii) staff with disabilities, including as many of the above categories as we have staff who self-identify with them;
(iii) facilities liason;
(iv) someone representing Reg.
How do you feel about this?
Should I make a formal proposal, or is that not needed?
Would you support this proposal?

I think that some of our issues have gotten so sticky, like whether we can even put a box on our reg forms to let us know about a disability, that Kcon might need to seek outside help from a legal or advocacy group.  We renamed Andrew D.'s position 5 or 6 times because people, who do have some idea what they are talking about, kept coming up to us and saying Disabilities Manager, ADA Liaison, ADA Coord, etc are position titles with legal implications.

Though, I would like to point out that while I started Kcon on having things like a person-who-helps-with-disabilities and other things to help Kcon start to be more accommodating, this is not currently my department. 

But, what Kcon most needs is something NO ONE has ever done, which is for attendees to inform us in advance if they are disabled or are bringing a severely disabled person to con.  We cannot anticipate every need.  We cannot hire ASL translators for the whole weekend on the off chance we have a deaf person.  The types of disabilities and needs out there are too varied to make plans for each. 

I understand that local non-profits can help us with providing a disabilities training session for our staff, and, also, there is a group that can run staff through proper response to a seizure. (Which would be far better than the current seizure training we have, which is just me randomly threatening terrible revenge if anyone tries to stick a wallet in anyone's mouth under any circumstances.)

If a committee is formed, it will need to meet at least 2x with the hotel.  The hotel is willing to have monthly meetings with us.  While I feel that no hotel staff should be doing crowd control next year, I do feel that it is appropriate that hotel staff help us with helping disabled people.  They did so this year, but next year it can be more of a concerted and planned effort, not thrown together at the last minute. 

[RemSaverem]

Thanks for the details.
Yes, I would strongly concur that someone with legal expertise and advocacy expertise be involved, if such a committee is ever formed.
Of note is that I was not envisioning the setting of policy by this committee. Rather I was envisioning the obtaining of feedback from those who have tried to attend the con and/or work for the con in prior years, and/or who intend to in forthcoming years, whose experiences within con may be impacted by any type of disability; perhaps the processing of that feedback into a summary; and brainstorming possible ways to address the information that was thus accumulated. Drafting policy was something I saw as incumbent upon the board, not empowered to this committee.
Does that make sense?
Please help me understand. If Relations is not in charge of this type of work, is it Ops?
Thank you!

[Rathany]

Thanks for the details.
Yes, I would strongly concur that someone with legal expertise and advocacy expertise be involved, if such a committee is ever formed.
Of note is that I was not envisioning the setting of policy by this committee. Rather I was envisioning the obtaining of feedback from those who have tried to attend the con and/or work for the con in prior years, and/or who intend to in forthcoming years, whose experiences within con may be impacted by any type of disability; perhaps the processing of that feedback into a summary; and brainstorming possible ways to address the information that was thus accumulated. Drafting policy was something I saw as incumbent upon the board, not empowered to this committee.
Does that make sense?
Please help me understand. If Relations is not in charge of this type of work, is it Ops?
Thank you!

There actually is a SOP document, we just are under the understanding that if we make it public, we might be legally liable if we fail to live up to it in even the slightest way during the chaos of the con.  And, that is directly based on counsel I got from a disabilities advocate that a friend of mine was in contact with. 

It's currently under Ops, it will likely move next year back to Vice, where it was started.  Vice is a better place for things where very individual attention needs to be given to things and interdepartmental coordination may be required.   

[RemSaverem]

Thank you and I concur.

[TomtheFanboy]

As usual, Pocky Club needs to know, what is your favorite flavor of Pocky.
(apologies to Rathany, whom I know is allergic).

[Rathany]

As usual, Pocky Club needs to know, what is your favorite flavor of Pocky.
(apologies to Rathany, whom I know is allergic).

Beer.

[TomtheFanboy]

Beer.

I believe I can help you with that.

[kjayers]

Congratulations, Dawn Hewitt!

As elsewhere mentioned, since the election has occurred, further questions may be asked as desired, but this "Candidate Q&A" is now closed.