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<blockquote data-quote="Thunderfoot" data-source="post: 5540467" data-attributes="member: 34175">I have to admit I'm not the most experienced convention goer - I get to GenCon every year and have been to Winter Fantasy (now D&amp;D XP) once and a couple of regional game days.However, there are certain things as a professional musician/roadie that I have noticed make things work at ANY convention.&nbsp; 1) A comprehensive schedule managed in a central location.&nbsp; Regardless of the number of sub-coordinators, the ultimate smackdown lies on the head coordinator.&nbsp; If they don't know where an event is, who is running it or where it has been moved to in the case of a re-schedule, something has failed and that would be the HC.&nbsp; &nbsp; They don't have to micro manage, just have the info available to them.2) Reliable staff.&nbsp; Okay, stuff happens.&nbsp; Vehicle break downs, sickness, missed flights, event location mistakes (the locations personnel not the conventions) and a host of other things.&nbsp; These are things that are controllable, having a DM/GM that has stayed out drinking with his buddies until 5 a.m. and then has an event scheduled at 8 a.m. is NOT considered an acceptable application of &quot;stuff happens&quot;.&nbsp; Staff personnel that have consistently or heinously erred in judgement should either be replaced or removed from their current position.&nbsp; It doesn't happen enough and when it does, they usually end up back in that position next year.&nbsp;&nbsp; (Also, as stated earlier if you do relieve someone of their position, make sure you fill it with someone else.3) Make sure you have enough room.&nbsp; Nothing is worse than booking forty events for 12pm only to find out you have 28 rooms available at that time.&nbsp; It doesn't happen much at larger cons, but at some of the smaller ones a hosting company will schedule events before confirming the space.&nbsp; That is never a good idea.4) Know the local labor laws, specifically, if you want that light fixture turned off can you do it yourself or do you have to have a union electrician to come in a do it for $40 an hour.&nbsp; This usually isn't an issue for most events, but if you have sound, lights or video, in most places, you better budget for a union contractor or bring someone along who has a union card in that state.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Thunderfoot, post: 5540467, member: 34175"] I have to admit I'm not the most experienced convention goer - I get to GenCon every year and have been to Winter Fantasy (now D&D XP) once and a couple of regional game days. However, there are certain things as a professional musician/roadie that I have noticed make things work at ANY convention. 1) A comprehensive schedule managed in a central location. Regardless of the number of sub-coordinators, the ultimate smackdown lies on the head coordinator. If they don't know where an event is, who is running it or where it has been moved to in the case of a re-schedule, something has failed and that would be the HC. They don't have to micro manage, just have the info available to them. 2) Reliable staff. Okay, stuff happens. Vehicle break downs, sickness, missed flights, event location mistakes (the locations personnel not the conventions) and a host of other things. These are things that are controllable, having a DM/GM that has stayed out drinking with his buddies until 5 a.m. and then has an event scheduled at 8 a.m. is NOT considered an acceptable application of "stuff happens". Staff personnel that have consistently or heinously erred in judgement should either be replaced or removed from their current position. It doesn't happen enough and when it does, they usually end up back in that position next year. (Also, as stated earlier if you do relieve someone of their position, make sure you fill it with someone else. 3) Make sure you have enough room. Nothing is worse than booking forty events for 12pm only to find out you have 28 rooms available at that time. It doesn't happen much at larger cons, but at some of the smaller ones a hosting company will schedule events before confirming the space. That is never a good idea. 4) Know the local labor laws, specifically, if you want that light fixture turned off can you do it yourself or do you have to have a union electrician to come in a do it for $40 an hour. This usually isn't an issue for most events, but if you have sound, lights or video, in most places, you better budget for a union contractor or bring someone along who has a union card in that state. [/QUOTE]

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