Schedule and Event Planning

You do not need twenty events going on at once. You do not need 4 events going on at once. (Well, if your con is over 500 people, you might.) Variety is nice, but it can be spread out as the day goes on. For the Gatherings, the most fun is had simply in hanging out with friends. You do not need a packed schedule. Something should be available during typical con hours (noonish to 10pm+, or however your fandom swings) for people to do, besides the consuite and video room. (However, having an hour or 1 ½ of dead-time as a lunch break and for dinner is not only okay, but a Very Good Idea™. Think of the cons you have been to, and what has worked and what has not, and build off your own knowledge.)

Know from the beginning whether or not you want to have anything "special" going on - Clan Olympics, Clan Wars, Charity Poker Tourney, Ice Cream Social, Musical Concert - and figure out how much time it needs. Is it something that fits into a typical 75 minute block? Is it something that needs several hours in the afternoon, or an entire evening, or to be spread- lik the Clan Olympics have been in the past- in increments over the entire weekend?

Evening activities should be sparse, but existent. Like the Hudson-rant. Or Clan Wars. Or a Blue Mug-a-guest. Or the Thom Adcox Variety Hour. Further, less planned panels at one time = less hotel convention rooms necessary = less strain on your con funds. Hotel room requirements go hand in hand with planned events, so keep that in mind. Feel free to plan your Opening Ceremonies in the afternoon; have this stated early enough and yes, your attendees will plan to arrive the night before. Most do anyway. Most people also don’t think that anything goes on prior to Opening Ceremonies. Make your event planning – once it is concretely nailed down- part of mail-list announcements. Have your skedj up for perusal on your con site. Let people know what is going on- sell to them why they need to attend your con. Make use of your guests...see what they are willing, or want, to hold in the way of panels. Storyboarding, Voice-Acting Seminars, Writing for animation...what you have will depend on whom you get. Also, try to make your event order sensible. If you are having a Voice Acting Tips seminar, have it before the Radio Play Auditions.

HOWever, fully expect to have your skedj changed often, especially during the two months prior to the con. Guests will have requests about their scheduled time slots. Your fandom Panelists may need a later/earlier time to fit with their arrival/departure. You will have to avoid double-booking someone to be part of an event in the same time slot. (Again, avoiding making an event-heavy schedule will help with this.) You will lose panels, and have last-minute event suggestions that are too interesting to pass up.
Actually, being aware of all this, as well as the times needed for certain big events, will save you quite a bit of that reorganizing.

Opening Ceremonies usually takes two hours; Closing about one and a half. Give time in each for next year’s con staff to give their pitch.

Panels tend to fall in the categories of writing-centric, art-centric, Special Guest hosted, and “other”. Look at previous cons to see what they had, and take what you like. Call-outs for whomever is willing to host a panel don’t tend to get much feedback- you’ll have to poll around for good candidates and ask them individually if they feel suited to, and are willing to present, what you have in mind. Give them a frame to work with- in general what you want, like a demo on cel-making, or a discussion on WHY IT IS SO IMPORTANT TO PAY ATTENTION TO GRAMMAR WHEN WRITING FANFIC, but unless you yourself are on a panel, let the hosts of each work out the actual content of their own panels.

Opening Ceremonies: Greet the fandom, introduce your staff and guests, and give a quick spiel about your con’s highlights. The attendees can read about the details in your con booklet/ Skedj guide. Then let Greg Weisman take over with his “Rocky Horror” gargoyles intro. Allow next year’s staff to get their faces known; they will later be selling early registrations for the next Gathering. Recording devices of any kind are NOT ALLOWED during the showing of the Bad Guys leica reel and such things.
Greg Weisman then usually polls the fandom: For whom is this the first Gathering they’ve attended? How many people have been to (xx) cons? Who has traveled the furthest to come here? etc.

Radio Play: Don’t expect to have time to be involved in this. Attendees audition, Greg Weisman does casting (he will need time to do this, like an hour or two after the audition, so be sure to work this free time into his schedule), the cast assembles and rehearses, and the con is entertainment by a voice-acted script of Greg’s choice, usually kept secret until the play itself starts.

Auditions for the radio Play should be held on the first day, and 2 to 2 ½ hours should be enough. (The Consuite can be temporarily vacated for use for this, if there isn't another room to spare.. You will need a couple volunteers to keep order in the waiting line, too. Have a movie of good interest showing in the vid room around then.) There should, however, be a last call on the next morning, for anyone interested who happened to arrive late, or otherwise was unable to make it to the original call. Make this one an hour. Now, give your special guests and your attendees a break. Let them go do other stuff. Then plan for your rehearsal- the Radio Play rehearsal and the Play itself should each be blocked for taking up an hour and a half worth of time, and the rehearsal should be held in the same room as the Radio Play itself will be held. This should be on day two, usually before dinner as dinner is the banquet, which tends to lead directly into time to prep for the masquerade, then the masque and cosplay itself, and the awards ceremony. Many con attendees leave early on day three to avoid having to pay for a third day’s room rental, and as the RP is a highlight of the con, you should plan it for when it can have full attendance.

Banquet: Usually a large sit-down meal catered by the hotel, either buffet or family-style. Often involves a guest Q&A at the end, and if there are enough guests, they're usually divided up to sit at the tables with attendees for the dinner. Banquets are usually treated as elegant and fun affairs, and have often featured door prizes. Tickets for this event are a separate fee, not included with the cost of general registration.

Masquerade and Cosplay: oh, what to say...fans dress up, parade around, hold skits, show off…entertainment abounds. Staff should either get up at 5 am and wear their costume all day, or not expect to have time to change into anything complex for the masque. Also, staff are not eligible to win Masquerade awards (which are usually decided by the Special Guests)...but don’t let that stop you from cos’ing it up, if you can wedge in the time to do so.

Charity is nice, but don’t be afraid to make the auction benefit the con directly, like we did. It may not be recognized as such, but the fandom is a non-profit organization, and it needs money to keep it running. Give to the fandom. Give generously. (Profits can also be split between one con and the next, or even a percent can be set aside to donate to a charitable organization if you feel strongly that such a move is necessary.)

Use somebody’s laptop and Paypal to take credit cards on site at the con. It’s nice, fairly convenient, and it increases your potential take. Just be sure you have a spare receipt book on hand.

Closing Ceremonies: *sniff sniff* the end of the con. Thank your attendees, and those who supported the con but could not make it. Thank your special guests for being such good sports. Wrap it up, and hand it over to next year’s poor bastards- um, the staff of next year’s convention- and let out that breath you’ve been holding for the last fourteen months.

How about a little more specification about the other events?

Okay!

Here is a set of Schedule Blanks for a three-day con - Friday, Saturday, Sunday - that might be useful as a basis to work from. It is going under the assumption that your main event room and secondary event rooms are seperate, not one large room capable of being divided into two, which would change things a little. The extra room on Saturday is of course optional - the whole thing is all about options and what your convention needs - and can be a second Suite (preferably right next to or across from the Con Suite) rather than an additional Event room, depending on what events are to be hosted there.

Here are the Schedules of several previous Gatherings: 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006

Here is a combined list of some Panels and Events that have been held at previous Gatherings: 2001 - 2007

OTHER "TRADITIONALS"

Theme Park Trip: It has become something of a tradition for those who are around the day after the convention ends to go to a local theme park for some extra fun...provided there is a theme park nearby.