| Friday 2pm | Two Year Worldcon Planning -- a continuation of the brilliant workshop Elaine Brennan started last year. We've developed a pattern of when things are done with a three year period from vote to con. With a change in lead time, what really needs to be done when? What assumptions do we need to change, what do we need to examine to plan adequately? What aspects of management are helped by the change? |
| Friday 3pm | Lessons Learned from This Year's Worldcon -- in the interest of not continuing to re-invent the wheel, what can we learn from Vince Docherty's experiences this year? What did he use from a similar talk done by Deb Geisler on N4 the year previous? What are the lessons that a con of any size can learn from careful observation of what goes on at our largest event of the year? |
| Friday 4pm | Laying Out Space for Effective Traffic Flow and Usage -- for today's lesson, Christian McGuire and others from next year's worldcon bring the convention center plans, we supply the pencils, and you help supply the ideas. (And if you have fun, LACon is looking for a few good fen to help work next year, come to their open meeting on Saturday.) |
| Friday 8pm | Ice Breaker and Reception -- come and nibble, while recreating the Orycon hotel search (with a few minor changes to make it more. interesting). How does a group make a decision on a major move, and how do you tell 1300 people about changes that are necessary, but won't make them happy, without the traditional fannish necktie party? Patty Wells lets you choose and deliver the news that the rock mines of Saturn's Ring is your chosen location. |
| Saturday 10am | Managing in Times of Change -- How to Make Tough Decisions -- What information do you need to make a good decision with a volunteer group? How do you gather it in time for it to be useful? How do you communicate tough decisions effectively? Bobbie DuFault, Dave McCarty, Linda Pilcher, Patty Wells |
| Saturday 11am | Keynote Speaker: Tyra Hilliard speaks on what to expect in hotel contracts for the next decade, what is dangerous contract language, and answers questions from the audience, with Bobbie Armbruster moderating them. Tyra's handouts are available to attendees. |
| Saturday 11am | Party, Party, Party -- Room parties that provide a memorable atmosphere and get your message across Renee Babcock, Jane Dennis, Grant Kruger |
| Saturday 1pm | Promotions and PR -- Effective Techniques for Fans It is one of the areas we are collectively weakest on. Our panelists aren't, and share some key ideas. Margene Bahm, Gary Blog, Elspeth Kovar, Craig Miller |
| Saturday 1pm | What Running a Con Has in Common with Military Planning -- We're not sure ourselves, but it was our favorite suggestion for an item all year. Ed Green, Sue Mohn, Andrew Nisbet |
| Saturday 2pm | Budgeting for Change Workshop --The program book is going to cost what!!!!!! Get out your red pencils folks. Don Glover, John Lorentz, Elayne Pelz |
| Saturday 2pm | New Chair Interviews the Pros -- what can we learn from different leadership styles, as the Orycon 28 chair tries to find out if she really knows what she's getting herself into. Christian McGuire, Mary Olsen, Mark Olson, Peggy Rae Sapienza |
| Saturday 3pm | Event Planning and Tech, for the Non-techie Manager What are the questions you need to ask, what are the answers you need to know to plan a great event instead of a memorable disaster? Kent Bloom, Marc Gordon, Martin McClure, Bill Parker |
| Saturday 3pm | LACon Open Meeting -- Come on, you know you're just dying to work on it. Come and hear how you can help. |
| Saturday 4pm | Emails, Extra Flamey, and How to Respond -- Lady Asbury: Mr. Churchill, if you were my husband, I would put poison in your wine. Winston Churchill: Madam, if you were my wife, I would drink it. We can't always respond as cruelly (or nearly as cleverly) as Mr. Churchill. However, our panelists and their artful readers for tone, present some emails, ask for your responses, and discuss the gentle art of responding as effectively as possible. Margaret Austin, Martin Easterbrook, Seth Breidbart, David Levine, Ariel Shattan |
| Saturday 4pm | Presenting yourself to a Hotel -- How to sound like a professional when you're not, how to present yourself professionally. Kim Marks Brown, Mark Herrup, Suzle Tompkins |
| Saturday 8-11pm | Fannish Inquisition -- Scott Dennis, John Lorentz, and Vince Docherty ask probing questions of upcoming bids and cons. The order will be John -- Westercons, Scott -- Smofcons, then Vince -- Worldcons. Other later evening activities will include: Are You a Werewolf, an interactive game in which Aaron Curtis demonstrates that undercutting your enemies and getting them hung is a lot like working on a worldcon, and Name That Worldcon, in which Laurie Mann challenges the memory in a game of identifying photos and where they're from. |
| Sunday 10am | Running Multiple Cons Effectively -- Very often we don't. How do the groups that do perform well? Gene Armstrong, Karen Meschke, Tom Veal |
| Sunday 10am | Worldcon 101 Powerpoint Presentation -- Margene Bahm has been working on this as a tool to help explain the bidding process. If you're new to this, tell her what's missing, if you've done it for years, tell her what's missing. |
| Sunday 11am | How Do You Train People -- Using a real example as a model. We do this with everything from ops to reg, but sometimes we just plain throw people into a job at con. How do we do this for real? Tom Whitmore, Sue Mohn, Becky Thomson |
| Sunday 11am | Programming Part 1 -- What is the theory of producing and what do you have to have by way of support to pull it off? Janice Gelb, Andrew Nisbet, Priscilla Olson, Ian Stockdale |
| Sunday noon | Programming Part 2 -- Show us the software, and let us see if it matches the needs of the people designing the program -- in which software is demonstrated. Previous folks, plus: Jim Mann, Dave Schaber, Alex von Thorn |
| Sunday 12:30 | Town Meeting -- In Which Effective Meeting Running is Practiced The audience is expected to help as Deb Geisler and Vince Docherty take you through some meeting paces and then discuss effective techniques. |
| Sunday 1pm | Web Bake-Off -- You know the information in your website already, but can the folks who need to know the information find it effectively? Janice Gelb puts a few websites through their paces with your help. |
| Sunday 3pm | Wrap-up Panel -- When Shall We Three Meet Again. |
| 2pm | Flyer Mark-up and Design Principles -- Geri Sullivan |
| 2pm | Bad Contract Mark-up -- What Language Will Kill You and What Will Merely Cripple You? -- Sally Wohrle, Ben Yalow |
| 2pm | Kids at Cons -- Naomi Fisher |
| 2pm | Hospitalities -- Rules and Cultural Differences -- Debra Stansbury |
| 3pm | Wiki Discussion TBA |
| 3pm | Newsletters -- Can they be replaced with a few good computer monitors? -- Michael Nelson |
| 3pm | Bylaws and What Trouble They Can Mitigate -- Kevin Standlee |
| 4pm | Choosing an Artist GOH to Help Set a Tone for your Con -- Ruth Sachter |
| 4pm | Setting Up an Environment for Volunteers -- Glenn Glazer |
| 4pm | Scrounging for Fun, Profit and What Your Group Needs to Survive |