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Offline JeffT

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Candidate Q&A - 2012 Director of Publicity
« on: September 12, 2011, 07:31:23 pm »
This thread is for questions and answers for the candidates for the 2012 Director of Publicity.
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Offline RemSaverem

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Re: Candidate Q&A - 2012 Director of Publicity
« Reply #1 on: September 14, 2011, 11:45:21 am »
@ Ally, thank you, I had an absolutely heavenly time working in Publicity this year!
Just one open-ended question. What do you forsee on the horizon, that will make next year even better? (New projects?)
Ellen. 2003: Fanfic panelist & contest judge.
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Offline kylite

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Re: Candidate Q&A - 2012 Director of Publicity
« Reply #2 on: September 14, 2011, 05:28:04 pm »
This year we hit roughly 4000 in out attendance numbers.

What plans do you have to increase this number and make the convention more visable?
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Offline MichaelEvans

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Re: Candidate Q&A - 2012 Director of Publicity
« Reply #3 on: September 15, 2011, 03:29:43 pm »
It's tough being in the same time-frame as PAX; Aside from possibly promoting the local or smaller convention pluses to gaming attendees what areas will you target for showing former, current, and new attendees why they should have fun with us?
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Offline AllyKat

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Re: Candidate Q&A - 2012 Director of Publicity
« Reply #4 on: September 15, 2011, 09:46:13 pm »
Hey guys!

Before I get into questions I just want to do a quick shout out to all my amazing staff. They will all tell you openly that
I have some places I need to improve on, scheduling, recruiting, communication! Some areas I'm really good at making
things work, and others I need a little help, I really appreciate them for being honest with me in all things.

A Director is absolutely nothing without a crack team of elite super staff trained in the ancient arts of awesome epicosity and
self discipline. I can be nowhere near everywhere all at once so what makes publicity such a great department is that there
are a bunch of people who do so much to keep it going! This year has taught me so much trust in my staff and appreciation of them,
next year is sure to be amazing (with or without me) because of how dedicated the team is to making it so!

Now, onto the questions!

What do you forsee on the horizon, that will make next year even better? (New projects?)

This will probably be re-iterated many times in the coming questions, because plans for next year have really been my focus in
the back of my mind; I've learned the ropes, I've got the knowledge and the amazing team, now we can really implement all those
bright eyed dreams I talked about last year!

Something I am particularly proud of is the Publicity-Relations team efforts we have planned. In talking with members of relations
we have realized an area we are BOTH lacking in is local flair and events! And the reason almost always is; "Well, who is gonna head
it up?" We both are busy, both have lots of other tasks and don't always have the time to spear head new little events and local pubs,
deals at eateries, getting new ads for the con book and finding things to put in swag bags... but we WANT to do all that! This year will
implement a new team of some Publicity folks and some Relations folks who will join forces to contact local businesses in and out of
the industry for swag, ads, promotions, gifts and prizes, and other events or plans. This takes a huge burden and question of the two
Directors, and keeps BOTH sides in the loop on a very under-represented section of the work Kumoricon should be doing - getting involved
in our local community! We intend to represent both Vancouver and Portland in these actions, as well as surrounding areas when available.

Elsewise, what I see on the horizon is MORE MORE MORE! Ask my staff and you will know this year made me HUNGRY for more awesome
stuff! We sunk our teeth into CCTV with the help of the amazing Vice Chair Dawn, and Jeff Tyrrill... now my team is excited at the prospect
of live feeds, musical slide shows, same day replays and commercials for other events, as well as CCTV permission anime and live show
titles! This is a project I think fans will love, the more we can do with it the better!

We had a great turnout for Press this year, we were in The Columbian THREE TIMES! (You'll see the links to all the great press soon!) And
still people wanted more! I was actually told The Columbian got calls asking why we weren't in the Saturday paper! I was on KBOO twice,
and had a ton of fun talking about K-Con on the air... and I am sure next year will benefit from all the talk, but now we gotta pump up our
game! Press that haven't taken notice need to be hearing from us as much as possible. I will be giving more autonomy to my Press team to
get in there and get us more (and quality) press representatives!

One more thing I'll talk about for next year is our KumoriTV plans... just sitting there on youtube is an excellent channel that is basically
void of cool stuff, waiting for the Publicity team to go out there and make content! So one of my projects will be getting part of
Kumoricon's inter-conventional team to film and report in on whats going on at places like Comic-Con, Anime Expo, Sakura-Con, and other
more local events like Game Storm, OryCon and Stumptown Comics. Things that not everyone can get to, we will show you whats hot,
whats fun and why you should be stoked about fandom... kinda like our own little mini-tv channel! Keeping you connected to Kumoricon all
year long through fun videos, maybe even skits and games with local Cosplayers and groups! I've been trying to get this off the ground with
some awesome footage our team got at Comic-Con this past year, but it should really start to come into its own this year with a post crew
and some more knowledgeable team mates! I'm really excited!

This year we hit roughly 4000 in out attendance numbers.

What plans do you have to increase this number and make the convention more visable?

This years numbers were (according to what reg told me) 4060. That's not bad, but its nowhere near what I was expecting! Maybe
my eyes are too big for my stomach in terms of what our convention will/can grow to but I have heard about a lot of people who didn't
come to K-con this year for a couple reasons, and these are things I can address!

#1. Vancouver? WTF???
Many people have stated their distaste for the distance from Kumoricon to Portland this year, and I'll admit, I was one of those people
who felt the pain of it! I bet you wouldn't guess that I, while trying to pick up Todd Haberkorn from the Airport, had the joy of sitting
in ONE HOUR of practically dead still traffic going north on 205 (coming from another errand). The poor guy had to wait for me, and I
had to wade through muck of traffic, so I know how you all feel!

Publicity SHOULD have been broadcasting the incredibly easy public transit steps to get to con from the get go. I was lax on that and
it showed, people just didn't know how simple it was to get from Tri-Met to C-tran and vice versa, but it actually is! I'll also be having
the Pub-Rela team work with the City and Tri-Met to beef up the transit available during this time. It would be great for the bulk of
Kumoricon attendance to let them know that a direct downtown to downtown bus system on both ends would benefit the economies of
both cities (I'm writing up the proposal as I type actually, to convince them to help us all grow) and provide an incentive for Kumoricon
attendees to go back and forth between the 'Couve and the lovely downtown Portland shopping.

But communication is key, and I'll be the first to admit, I need to either get more savvy with the social media or find someone who is,
and start broadcasting the info that will get people back in our doors!

#2 Hotel Rooms are gone? NOOOOOoooooOOooo!
Hotel rooms went FAST and it was very lucky for staff that our Facilities Liaison Phillip Koop held onto as many as he did, for their sakes
lest our staff would have been homeless for con! I heard we were at 60% at both hotels well before March, and registration was still at
less than 1k. This means we need more rooms than ever before, so working with our Facilities Liaison and getting the word out about other
hotel options, working with other hotels to make promotional deals and the cities to provide transit will increase our attendance allowance.
Afterall, if people can't go because they have no place to stay, they just wont come. So more options more notice and more information
are key here!

#3 So many... bad... memories...
I was one of the children of the revolution, I'd like to think. 2009 left a lot of attendees with a bad taste in their mouths, where 2007 had
left them with stars in their eyes and warmth in their hearts. When I joined staff, it was because I loved this convention too much to not
help. My job as Director of Publicity is to make each and every attendee FORGET everything bad they have heard about K-con and focus on
just one thing; FUN! This year, through press and promotions, we've come a long way in giving Kumoricon its face back. 2012, our ten year
anniversary, is going to blow them all out of the water. Those who don't hear about the amazing event we had on Labor Day, will surely
hear about our plans for next year, because the main job the Pub Team will have this year is; making sure EVERYONE on the Columbia River
knows the name Kumoricon, and knows what fun they can have with us, whether they have the ability to attend the con or not, they will
know who we are and what we do for the community, for Japan and for fans!

Short and Sweet: Social Media, Video Promotions, Parades, Billboards, Radio Spots, Television, Charity Work, Flashmobs and Local Events
will all play a factor in making Kumoricon more visible and more accessible beyond the standard Convention crowd. If I can get our
attendees non-convention going friends, family, neighbors or co-workers to get behind the convention as a community organization, I'll
have done my job well!

It's tough being in the same time-frame as PAX; Aside from possibly promoting the local or smaller convention pluses to gaming attendees what areas will you target for showing former, current, and new attendees why they should have fun with us?

I am trying to change my opinion of our relationship with PAX. We need to be symbiotic and stop the negative spin before it gets out of control.
We are an Anime/Japanese Culture fandom convention; PAX is the last of the Corporate/Industry conventions of the year in a line that
goes from AX on into the end of August. They have been treated pretty oddly by their home space as I've been told, and I know from personal
experience as a previous Facilities Director that its not easy to make a convention center work for you. That's a lot harder than hotels. Doing
both is intense. Anyway, my opinion has always been positive towards those who want to go to PAX, I recommend it! There is stuff you can
do at a gaming convention that you will never get to do at a full fandom convention. But that's ALL you are really gonna do. Sure many of the
people there are going to know/like anime, and maybe they will get your off-color Korean TV program jokes, but if you want to do a little bit
of EVERYTHING, and you only have one you can do, why confine yourself to the gaming community? Kumoricon wants to be everyone's
convention, we want to show you that the BEST part about Anime/Japanese Culture conventions is that the culture is 10x more inviting than
any culture convention out there! You think Greedo Shot first? We get you. You can stop Carmelldansen? We... get you (unfortunately).  You
have a bigger collection of dol- er... "Figurines" than your little sister? We get you.

I'm starting to fall into Publicity mode, let me lay it straight; The personality of our convention says that ANYONE is welcome, and our tenth
year anniversary will showcase that. Working closely with relations, we have big plans to expand what we do to help people discover that, you
get way more with Kumoricon than any other kind of convention in the area. Why drive to Seattle when you can experience the warmth of
local flavor and fun right here in your back yard. That's our main claim to fame; no matter if we are 600 or 6000 or even 60,000 attendees
strong, the mentality of our staff, our fans and the community has always been and always will be warm welcoming and a friendly gathering
of fans from all walks. We can't change that, its not possible and making people see that and showcasing it in bigger, better ways is how we
will achieve maximum attendance.

Keep the questions coming, I can't promise I wont slip into my long winded car salesman "Ally talks Kumoricon" voice again... but I'll try to
answer your questions as best I know how!
« Last Edit: September 15, 2011, 10:17:56 pm by AllyKat »
2009 - Attendee
2010 - Facilities Liaison
2011 - Director of Publicity
2012 - Director of Publicity
2013 - Facilities Liaison
2014 - Vice Chair

Offline RemSaverem

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Re: Candidate Q&A - 2012 Director of Publicity
« Reply #5 on: September 15, 2011, 10:53:47 pm »
Wow. Epic response! Love you! Feedback/follow-up, interspersed, below:
Hey guys!

Before I get into questions I just want to do a quick shout out to all my amazing staff. They will all tell you openly that
I have some places I need to improve on, scheduling, recruiting, communication! Some areas I'm really good at making
things work, and others I need a little help, I really appreciate them for being honest with me in all things.
Thank you. You are a true joy to work with and know, and anyone who can honestly inventory themselves and candidly acknowledge whatever would benefit from extra help is miles above anyone unwilling to do such, in fitness for a leadership role, IMHO.
Quote
A Director is absolutely nothing without a crack team of elite super staff trained in the ancient arts of awesome epicosity and
self discipline. I can be nowhere near everywhere all at once so what makes publicity such a great department is that there
are a bunch of people who do so much to keep it going! This year has taught me so much trust in my staff and appreciation of them,
next year is sure to be amazing (with or without me) because of how dedicated the team is to making it so!
Again, <3 you so much. And adopting that term, epicosity :D

Quote
[snip]
Something I am particularly proud of is the Publicity-Relations team efforts we have planned. In talking with members of relations
we have realized an area we are BOTH lacking in is local flair and events! And the reason almost always is; "Well, who is gonna head
it up?" We both are busy, both have lots of other tasks and don't always have the time to spear head new little events and local pubs,
deals at eateries, getting new ads for the con book and finding things to put in swag bags... but we WANT to do all that! This year will
implement a new team of some Publicity folks and some Relations folks who will join forces to contact local businesses in and out of
the industry for swag, ads, promotions, gifts and prizes, and other events or plans. This takes a huge burden and question of the two
Directors, and keeps BOTH sides in the loop on a very under-represented section of the work Kumoricon should be doing - getting involved
in our local community! We intend to represent both Vancouver and Portland in these actions, as well as surrounding areas when available.
Sounds great. Are you envisioning a hybrid department? A subdepartment of one or the other? Or pairing up person X from dept A with person Y from dept B? What do you see as the easiest way to operationalize cross-department projects such as you mention? Will this redefine the work of Street Team, or be a separate project?

Quote
Elsewise, what I see on the horizon is MORE MORE MORE! Ask my staff and you will know this year made me HUNGRY for more awesome
stuff! We sunk our teeth into CCTV with the help of the amazing Vice Chair Dawn, and Jeff Tyrill... now my team is excited at the prospect
of live feeds, musical slide shows, same day replays and commercials for other events, as well as CCTV permission anime and live show
titles! This is a project I think fans will love, the more we can do with it the better!
What kind of support do you need to operationalize CCTV? How would it work? Would it be just within each hotel? Could it broadcast from one to the other? When I was at Renovation World Con, their Hugo Awards Ceremony was streamed live. Is there anything you would try to stream live, or is it simply too cost-prohibitive? I would imagine Facilities (for hotel permissions), Ops (for tech gear), Prog (to arrange where to film to not be in the way of performers/presenters and get panelist consent), Relations (for clearances) would all have to be involved, for either CCTV or live streaming....?

Quote
We had a great turnout for Press this year, we were in The Columbian THREE TIMES! (You'll see the links to all the great press soon!) And
still people wanted more! I was actually told The Columbian got calls asking why we weren't in the Saturday paper! I was on KBOO twice,
and had a ton of fun talking about K-Con on the air... and I am sure next year will benefit from all the talk, but now we gotta pump up our
game! Press that haven't taken notice need to be hearing from us as much as possible. I will be giving more autonomy to my Press team to
get in there and get us more (and quality) press representatives!
Very exciting. Looking forward to whatever I can peruse of that. When you say press representatives, does that refer to people who are writing, editing, photographing, and audio or video recording for you? Or does that refer to people who are giving interviews, writing press releases and PSAs, etc? Or does that refer to people who are soliciting members of professional media, to come interview/record/photograph/write or speak about us? All of the above?

Quote
One more thing I'll talk about for next year is our KumoriTV plans... just sitting there on youtube is an excellent channel that is basically
void of cool stuff, waiting for the Publicity team to go out there and make content! So one of my projects will be getting part of
Kumoricon's inter-conventional team to film and report in on whats going on at places like Comic-Con, Anime Expo, Sakura-Con, and other
more local events like Game Storm, OryCon and Stumptown Comics. Things that not everyone can get to, we will show you whats hot,
whats fun and why you should be stoked about fandom... kinda like our own little mini-tv channel! Keeping you connected to Kumoricon all
year long through fun videos, maybe even skits and games with local Cosplayers and groups! I've been trying to get this off the ground with
some awesome footage our team got at Comic-Con this past year, but it should really start to come into its own this year with a post crew
and some more knowledgeable team mates! I'm really excited!
Sounds great, hon. What's our inter-conventional team? Is that a future sub-department of Publicity? Part of press? Part of Promo Force? I would have loved to have written something comparing Worldcon and Kumoricon.

[snip]

I am amazed that, while serving as Director, you also went on a massive driving errand. Wow!
Quote
Publicity SHOULD have been broadcasting the incredibly easy public transit steps to get to con from the get go. I was lax on that and
it showed, people just didn't know how simple it was to get from Tri-Met to C-tran and vice versa, but it actually is! I'll also be having
the Pub-Rela team work with the City and Tri-Met to beef up the transit available during this time.

While I empathize, with the impetus, I have no basis by which to know if the idea is realistic. I want to be sure I'm understanding you. Is there precedence for Tri-Met and/or C-Tran to flex either their hours, or their routes, or their frequency of departures, based on any given event taking place? Would such a request be honored only if Kumoricon pays for the extra drivers' time? Would they even consider such on a Sunday-- let alone on the year's big worker-day-off holiday?

Quote
It would be great for the bulk of
Kumoricon attendance to let them know that a direct downtown to downtown bus system on both ends would benefit the economies of
both cities (I'm writing up the proposal as I type actually, to convince them to help us all grow) and provide an incentive for Kumoricon
attendees to go back and forth between the 'Couve and the lovely downtown Portland shopping.
While I happen to agree with you, are you speaking in your proposal about something just for during our event, or year-round? BTW, I would love to beta read and/or help with initial wordsmithing, on this or any other of your proposals or projects, any time, year round :D

[snip]
 
Is there a thought of working with hotel chains rather than individual hotels?

 [snip] You mention what we do for Japan. Do you envision future benefits for relief efforts? Or?

   
Quote
Why drive to Seattle when you can experience the warmth of
local flavor and fun right here in your back yard. That's our main claim to fame; no matter if we are 600 or 6000 or even 60,000 attendees
strong, the mentality of our staff, our fans and the community has always been and always will be warm welcoming and a friendly gathering
of fans from all walks. We can't change that, its not possible and making people see that and showcasing it in bigger, better ways is how we
will achieve maximum attendance.

I totally agree. I've been telling everyone on the SMoFs list this....

Again, epic answers, and I love you! Thanks so much for the honor and privilege of having served you in Publicity, and I'm super eager & ready to do so again :D Love, Rem.
Ellen. 2003: Fanfic panelist & contest judge.
2004: Beta Station Coord. 2005: Fan Creation Station Coord.;pre-event assistant to the con chair.2006: Fanfic Mgr/C.S. Coord.
2007, 8, 9, 10: Fan Creation Manager. 2011: Writing & Editing Coord (Publicity).

Offline AllyKat

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Re: Candidate Q&A - 2012 Director of Publicity
« Reply #6 on: October 01, 2011, 01:50:21 pm »
Took some time to think about how I would word some of these responses (which I think is a better
excuse than saying "Boy howdy did moving to Beaverton wear me out!" For some reason while in the
process of moving I had this unnatural aversion to answering anymore questions! Sorry bout that ya'll!


I'll try and keep this as organized as I can!

[snip]
Something I am particularly proud of is the Publicity-Relations team efforts we have planned. In talking with members of relations
we have realized an area we are BOTH lacking in is local flair and events! And the reason almost always is; "Well, who is gonna head
it up?" We both are busy, both have lots of other tasks and don't always have the time to spear head new little events and local pubs,
deals at eateries, getting new ads for the con book and finding things to put in swag bags... but we WANT to do all that! This year will
implement a new team of some Publicity folks and some Relations folks who will join forces to contact local businesses in and out of
the industry for swag, ads, promotions, gifts and prizes, and other events or plans. This takes a huge burden and question of the two
Directors, and keeps BOTH sides in the loop on a very under-represented section of the work Kumoricon should be doing - getting involved
in our local community! We intend to represent both Vancouver and Portland in these actions, as well as surrounding areas when available.
Sounds great. Are you envisioning a hybrid department? A subdepartment of one or the other? Or pairing up person X from dept A with person Y from dept B? What do you see as the easiest way to operationalize cross-department projects such as you mention? Will this redefine the work of Street Team, or be a separate project?

What we discussed was an add on to the duties of certain members of the promoforce - an additional distinction for 2 members who would be in charge of promotions with the local business and industry. Part of this duty requires these two staff to work with and keep in contact with the 1 or 2 or so members of the Relations team in charge of industry/company relations for their department. The (maximum of) 4 of them would plan out there meetings, discuss trades and swag, and communicate it back to both directors either by one person or by a lead from each department, however the team best feels it will communicate. I consider this a connected, but separate part of the Promo Force. So, yeah, it is like Xa and Yb team up!

The easiest way is for the Director of Relations and I to sit down first with our assistants and figure out what companies and goals we have for this project at the beginning of the year. THEN we sit down with our cross-department team and talk about the goals we set up, and if there is anything they want to add. Then we make a plan and time-line, and from there, we just check in periodically throughout the year to make sure things are getting done!

Elsewise, what I see on the horizon is MORE MORE MORE! Ask my staff and you will know this year made me HUNGRY for more awesome
stuff! We sunk our teeth into CCTV with the help of the amazing Vice Chair Dawn, and Jeff Tyrill... now my team is excited at the prospect
of live feeds, musical slide shows, same day replays and commercials for other events, as well as CCTV permission anime and live show
titles! This is a project I think fans will love, the more we can do with it the better!
What kind of support do you need to operationalize CCTV? How would it work? Would it be just within each hotel? Could it broadcast from one to the other? When I was at Renovation World Con, their Hugo Awards Ceremony was streamed live. Is there anything you would try to stream live, or is it simply too cost-prohibitive? I would imagine Facilities (for hotel permissions), Ops (for tech gear), Prog (to arrange where to film to not be in the way of performers/presenters and get panelist consent), Relations (for clearances) would all have to be involved, for either CCTV or live streaming....?

A far as we currently know, the Red Lion doesn't currently support CCTV, so it would most likely be for Hilton only. I will be looking into options for getting all the hotels we use involved in this, but for now, barebones is getting Hilton CCTV stellar!

What support I'd need is;
-The hotel's exact CCTV specs
-My CCTV staff to tell me what that means for the equipment they need
-The Live Events/Main Events teams to tell me what they have and what they want to be responsible for
-The division of duties between Publicity and Programming to be clear and concise
-A general list of what sort of programming schedule we want for CCTV (basic done in April, More specific in July)
-Relations Permissions for things to fill in time we cannot

Streaming live seems like a no-go most likely, what we'd need is probably out of our budget. That doesn't mean we wont try, but it requires extra staff, extra tech and, right now we want to put the money where it will best serve us; and I can't guarantee I want to spend a lot more on CCTV when broadcasting it an hour or so later wont hurt us too bad. 

Its a pretty big cross department task (VICE actually lit the fire for it this year) but if we set our goals now and figure out what we need, we can make it happen.

We had a great turnout for Press this year, we were in The Columbian THREE TIMES! (You'll see the links to all the great press soon!) And
still people wanted more! I was actually told The Columbian got calls asking why we weren't in the Saturday paper! I was on KBOO twice,
and had a ton of fun talking about K-Con on the air... and I am sure next year will benefit from all the talk, but now we gotta pump up our
game! Press that haven't taken notice need to be hearing from us as much as possible. I will be giving more autonomy to my Press team to
get in there and get us more (and quality) press representatives!
Very exciting. Looking forward to whatever I can peruse of that. When you say press representatives, does that refer to people who are writing, editing, photographing, and audio or video recording for you? Or does that refer to people who are giving interviews, writing press releases and PSAs, etc? Or does that refer to people who are soliciting members of professional media, to come interview/record/photograph/write or speak about us? All of the above?

That means people who requested Press Badges who are members of the journalistic industry, or who run a high traffic blog in our genre or who represent a large multi genre website. Examples would include the Columbian, Ani.me, and the Anime News Network.

One more thing I'll talk about for next year is our KumoriTV plans... just sitting there on youtube is an excellent channel that is basically
void of cool stuff, waiting for the Publicity team to go out there and make content! So one of my projects will be getting part of
Kumoricon's inter-conventional team to film and report in on whats going on at places like Comic-Con, Anime Expo, Sakura-Con, and other
more local events like Game Storm, OryCon and Stumptown Comics. Things that not everyone can get to, we will show you whats hot,
whats fun and why you should be stoked about fandom... kinda like our own little mini-tv channel! Keeping you connected to Kumoricon all
year long through fun videos, maybe even skits and games with local Cosplayers and groups! I've been trying to get this off the ground with
some awesome footage our team got at Comic-Con this past year, but it should really start to come into its own this year with a post crew
and some more knowledgeable team mates! I'm really excited!
Sounds great, hon. What's our inter-conventional team? Is that a future sub-department of Publicity? Part of press? Part of Promo Force? I would have loved to have written something comparing Worldcon and Kumoricon.

The Inter-conventional team is a program I'm still working the kinks out of. We've experimented with Comic-Con, taking video, getting swag and the like and are trying to find ways to more effectively go to other conventions and bring the experience back to our attendees who may not be able to go, as well as utilize the time to increase Kumoricon's fan base, connections and industry representation and get more cool prizes without having to pay full price. It's a very small project with a LOT of other projects a head of it in line as far as importance and priority, but I think reaching out to the community in the Northwest, Canada, Idaho, California and maybe even Hawaii might be adventageos for special events, and gaining more staff and quality in the stuff we do. It will get a new name hopefully when I have the time to really make it a project, but that will be after I talk with conventions around the nation who have similar programs. I think it will have to end up being sort of a Sub-Action Committee chosen by the board but headed up by the Directors of Publicity and Relations, because those are the two departments that other conventions speak to and we profit from. But like I said, its way too infantile to know exactly how it will end up being shaped for now, we are watching the numbers and the results and figuring out how best to implement it for the future!

I am amazed that, while serving as Director, you also went on a massive driving errand. Wow!

Yeah, that was something I actually wanted to do personally. I have a great interest in Relations, it was originally the department I felt I most wanted to join. There were areas where I was busy and needed to do other things but when I had a break and a moment to myself my "rest" was spent "liaisoning" guests with the Guest Manager, Kate Fletcher. She and I were the transportation team, I can't say that it was the best situation, what would be better is to have a staffer dedicated as a schauffer who is either well trusted or trained to car them around. That's not really my department though, the vehicle thing was a last minute decision which saved the convention some bucks on rental fees :) Yay savings! Plus I had fun talking to the guests when we drove them to and fro!

Publicity SHOULD have been broadcasting the incredibly easy public transit steps to get to con from the get go. I was lax on that and
it showed, people just didn't know how simple it was to get from Tri-Met to C-tran and vice versa, but it actually is! I'll also be having
the Pub-Rela team work with the City and Tri-Met to beef up the transit available during this time.
While I empathize, with the impetus, I have no basis by which to know if the idea is realistic. I want to be sure I'm understanding you. Is there precedence for Tri-Met and/or C-Tran to flex either their hours, or their routes, or their frequency of departures, based on any given event taking place? Would such a request be honored only if Kumoricon pays for the extra drivers' time? Would they even consider such on a Sunday-- let alone on the year's big worker-day-off holiday?

There may not be a precedent for Trimet changing frequency for an event, but there is a first time for everything. I am not afraid to start asking for stuff. Of course I can't guarantee it will happen, but I can guarantee I will try. We need to look at all our options and figure out what best serves the convention; will it benefit us monetarily to purchase tour buses with drivers and have them run back and forth from certain locations throughout the day? What is the cost of increasing trimet/ctran to us? Are there other options we haven't noticed?

Public Transit is a Holiday ON sort of business, they work harder when most people are off, like a mall. Statistically busier days for them are days when people are NOT working, and can go out on the town. Not necessarily during the summer as rates of use flux constantly, but there is a difference.

I am going to help work on solutions, but more importantly, what is already THERE, I am going to publicize more.

It would be great for the bulk of
Kumoricon attendance to let them know that a direct downtown to downtown bus system on both ends would benefit the economies of
both cities (I'm writing up the proposal as I type actually, to convince them to help us all grow) and provide an incentive for Kumoricon
attendees to go back and forth between the 'Couve and the lovely downtown Portland shopping.
While I happen to agree with you, are you speaking in your proposal about something just for during our event, or year-round? BTW, I would love to beta read and/or help with initial wordsmithing, on this or any other of your proposals or projects, any time, year round :D
I would love to see the City of Portland (the people) and the metro area rally the city and Trimet to increase useability across the river for the WHOLE year, but if we start small with just during special weekends or our event, we might open that door to what is possible. They may be prohibiting it for a reason, but we will never know unless we try. And you know I'd be sending you any write-ups for your thoughts!


Is there a thought of working with hotel chains rather than individual hotels?

This is more of a Facilities Question but I can still answer; the difficulty with working with the chains is, you are making your in person contacts become a middle man to the action. Keeping everything local and asking your connections to speak up the chain may be less quick or may not receive as many laurels for us, but it is professional courtesy, and gets us the brownie points we need to get good rates; as they are the ones that choose those. Also, every hotel that is Franchised may run just a tad bit differently that the main office back in Such'n'such Nebraska or what have you may run its corporate locations. For instance; the Hilton Vancouver Washington is actually partially run by the City itself! And the Red Lion on the Quay is a franchise location which used to be corporately run (I believe, they may have changed back!). Those things mean different things for us in how we deal with them. Working with the overseeing corporation can be helpful sometimes, but not necessarily here.


You mention what we do for Japan. Do you envision future benefits for relief efforts? Or?
We should be doing more to benefit relief in Japan AS WELL AS connecting with the culture there. I'm thinking participating in things that make our convention known in our Sister cities of Joyo (Vancouver) and Sapporo (Portland). Also helping out peoples in those cities who are in need could be a part of what we do. Bringing art to under privileged youth? Helping with at risk kids and families with single parents? Our Charity Auction should benefit local charities which return assistance to our community, but we should also be a driving force in getting better life quality in the country and culture we so dearly love. Not just for the vicitims of the tsunami but to share our passion and drive with everyone. We can connect with real people in Japan, and also increase the Japanese-American community awareness here in our backyard. So yes, future benefits for relief, and much much more.

Why drive to Seattle when you can experience the warmth of
local flavor and fun right here in your back yard. That's our main claim to fame; no matter if we are 600 or 6000 or even 60,000 attendees
strong, the mentality of our staff, our fans and the community has always been and always will be warm welcoming and a friendly gathering
of fans from all walks. We can't change that, its not possible and making people see that and showcasing it in bigger, better ways is how we
will achieve maximum attendance.
I totally agree. I've been telling everyone on the SMoFs list this....

I hope one day to truly be considered a SMoF! For now, I'll just hope to continue to be called Director of Publicity!
2009 - Attendee
2010 - Facilities Liaison
2011 - Director of Publicity
2012 - Director of Publicity
2013 - Facilities Liaison
2014 - Vice Chair

Offline RemSaverem

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Re: Candidate Q&A - 2012 Director of Publicity
« Reply #7 on: October 02, 2011, 06:48:04 pm »
Wow, tons of details. I'll reply only briefly (for me). Oh and you're totally a SMoF in my estimation :D

(1) I like the idea of Relations/Publicity cross-pollination, but think more than 2 people would be logical. Do you envision this as special for the 10-yr, or ongoing, and for understandings as to who'd do what, across departments, to be spelled out in writing or oral understandings?
(2) Just clarifying: Albeit live streaming may exceed our budget and gear availability, CCTV would be within our budget and gear availability?
(3) * nod * When you envision whom to court as Press, how much is your focus on those who are local vs national or international? Print media vs radio vs TV / cable / cable access vs 'net? Or is it more that they all come to you?
(4) Ok, if you pull together an Inter-Conventional team, I'd be glad to help, vis-a-vis any I attend or for which I volunteer from a distance.
(5) Glad you had fun.
(6) I admire your enthusiasm for trying to work out transport issues. Renovation had a dedicated shuttle about every 15 minutes most hours of the day, but it was spread across 3 locations -- 2 hotels and a convention center-- that were *much* further apart, and it has a lot of elder/senior attendees.
(7) :D You absolutely made my day, and of course, I will be delighted to beta anything for you and/or for the department, any time! :D
(8) Thanks for the insight into the complexity of Facilities Liason work. IMHO your background therein was great training for either Publicity or Relations, in terms of having to learn how to present KC consistently, professionally, to corporations, with high stakes.
(9) I agree (re: relief efforts, & dovetailing with Sister Cities). If there is a Japanese immersion school in Portland or Vancouver, as there is in Eugene, it would be fun to reach out to them, as well.
Ellen. 2003: Fanfic panelist & contest judge.
2004: Beta Station Coord. 2005: Fan Creation Station Coord.;pre-event assistant to the con chair.2006: Fanfic Mgr/C.S. Coord.
2007, 8, 9, 10: Fan Creation Manager. 2011: Writing & Editing Coord (Publicity).

Offline AllyKat

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Re: Candidate Q&A - 2012 Director of Publicity
« Reply #8 on: October 02, 2011, 11:36:39 pm »
(1) I like the idea of Relations/Publicity cross-pollination, but think more than 2 people would be logical. Do you envision this as special for the 10-yr, or ongoing, and for understandings as to who'd do what, across departments, to be spelled out in writing or oral understandings?

Since staff is at a premium, new programs like this can old take so many of my staff. Plus remember, its two per department, that's 4 people. I also like quality over quantity. Those 4 people will have all the information about all of the companies, as opposed to a bunch of people only knowing a little and losing stuff in the shuffle. This is first thing a 10 yr special but I intend it to continue for years and years!

All of the requirements, staff assignments and what have you would be outlined by myself and the Relations Director. They aren't quite done yet since the new board is not in place; but by the Exec Retreat we should be good to go.

(2) Just clarifying: Albeit live streaming may exceed our budget and gear availability, CCTV would be within our budget and gear availability?

I can't really speak regarding the live streaming thing. There are so many parts to that as you know; the point of our meetings is not JUST the information you get during the general reports. In fact, the MORE important part is the part we would have an incredibly difficult time streaming; all the breakouts, the meetings with Directors and information you get during the mix.

Me personally? I'm sure I could set up a web-cam and my computer and U-Stream a meeting straight up for people; but what would be the point of that? That part of the meetings is available audio filed for all staff anyway, and the minutes are posted as soon as they are finished on the forums. It seems redundant. There is no simple and efficient way to stream the meeting, have those involved be able to ask questions, respond and be involved without some serious equipment and restructuring of our meetings.

The differences are these: this meeting isn't like ones across companies where 1-3 people are at individual computers across the world linked up to other meeting locations so you have a few people at a bunch of locations and can orchestrate a format for communication and protocol. We also are not like meetings where two groups are corresponding each other across space so you can have a screen and set up at each end and the conversation flows between two people on each side who act as moderators.

The type of meeting we do is quite a lot more chaotic than I can figure to manage for video streaming. We will keep working on it but, for the amount of people it will BENEFIT vs. the possibility that a lot of people will just say "Why GO to the meeting when I can just stream in" We really have to be careful about how we do it. First and foremost we WANT people to show up to the meetings. We can make concessions for those who can't but I still haven't seen the data that says this is the way to do it. I also haven't seen a really huge drive from the staff to actually implement this. Normally when the staff want something this bad I've seen them sort of grass roots it; asking permission to go out and get the requirements, make the plan, find the costs and learn the setup and then bringing all that to the board to give them all the pros and cons before they say yes.

But we will see, never say never you know! On the CCTV side, most of the equipment we probably already had. Also, the CCTV benefits us by allowing more people to be at the con by having content in their hotel rooms; you don't have to be out in the meeting rooms to see awesome stuff which allows people to hang out in the hotel rooms and open up space in the lobbies and panel rooms.

(3) * nod * When you envision whom to court as Press, how much is your focus on those who are local vs national or international? Print media vs radio vs TV / cable / cable access vs 'net? Or is it more that they all come to you?

I think I want to do almost a 50/50 on local vs national. As much local as I can get is great, but having people from the national/international industry helps us on a bigger level. How many of our attendees listen to KBOO vs how many watch G4TV. We want to cover both grounds because the options to grow come from both demographics; local and those who watch only mainstream press outlets. We may have TONS of anime fans in Oregon area we aren't reaching because they have forgotten/don't know we exist. I know I was living in Portland, watching Anime all the time, on forums and the internet for 2 years during college and never heard one word about K-con until a few of my friends who staffed it reminded me about it. So we have more work to do.

I also want a good mix of all of them, but as you said at the end; I take what I get, and what agrees to come to the convention. I haven't gotten to the point where I need to be picky yet!
2009 - Attendee
2010 - Facilities Liaison
2011 - Director of Publicity
2012 - Director of Publicity
2013 - Facilities Liaison
2014 - Vice Chair

Offline RemSaverem

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Re: Candidate Q&A - 2012 Director of Publicity
« Reply #9 on: October 03, 2011, 01:05:04 am »
(1) Thanks, I must've missed that; I had thought it was a total of 2, not a total of 2 per department.
(2) Although I have in other threads, I was not here referring to live streaming of meetings. Rather, I was referring to the possibility of live streaming of certain main events, notably cosplay. The reason I was wondering if it might be feasible is that Renovation, IIRC, set up live streaming for the Hugo Awards, so that supporting members (those who pay to be part of the Worldcon community, without being able to attend), could watch in realtime. If it happens that we always run out of tickets for, say, cosplay, then I wondered if there might be ways to watch it, elsewhere in the con hotels, for those unable to get tickets for inside. Perhaps CCTV does that, without requiring live streaming. I have zero tech savvy.
(3) *nod*.
Ellen. 2003: Fanfic panelist & contest judge.
2004: Beta Station Coord. 2005: Fan Creation Station Coord.;pre-event assistant to the con chair.2006: Fanfic Mgr/C.S. Coord.
2007, 8, 9, 10: Fan Creation Manager. 2011: Writing & Editing Coord (Publicity).