A08 concomm

August 19, 2007

MIT, 2.30pm

Hotel

• The corkage waiver with the hotel suggests that we can bring our own alcohol.  But it's better to hire their bartenders, avoid liability.
  
• Tell hotel that when the Art Show is closed, we will be having a sleeper on 16 to make sure that no one, including hotel staff enters the area. 
• We'll need a cot (will the sleepers actually be sleeping?).
• Remind the hotel to tell us how many rooms they will need for their people (including on-site elevator repairman, visiting staff, ...).
• Murphy bed rooms connection to king on quiet end of 2 might be useful for some groups (Higgins, 501st, Robot Guy).
• Staff on 4 & 5, make your reservation ASAP & email innkeeper@arisia.org with your conf. # & preferences.
  
• Hotel will get rooming list approx. 3 weeks precon, and can order fridges/cots/etc. then.
• For A'07 the hotel had enough mini-fridges for medical requests.  If we need more, we'll need to let them know three weeks in advance.
• Resume (room setups, changes, ...) is due two weeks before the convention.
• Zambia issue: sometimes one room can be two rooms: schedule air wall closings.
• Phi wants to fit hotel food requests into Zambia.
  
• Innkeeper table needs better signage, more light, perhaps move it to one of the niches next to the escalator, but within sight of the Front Desk.
• Info Desk needs to be closer to reg, fan tables & freebies will move 
  
• Escalator signage: Edna w/ "NO CAPES" x2 (or perhaps a picture of a cape being pulled into a jet engine)
• Other suggestions "Show your ankles" (long dresses are also vulnerable to the escalator's appetite).
  
• No apparent movement on the hotel altering gift shop and coat check; keeping an eye on it.
• Parties will be stacked in suites (starting at 11th floor)
  • Use the BU Lounge for parties?  It has a glass door, so it may not be ideal for closed parties.
  • Tech party in 14?  Add comfy chairs to resume (from 12?)
  • Need a way to separate FT stuff from masq stuff
  • Suite request deadline 10/1
  • Balcony room = active king, email hotel
• Need early resume requests (by 12/1 latest, preferably by end of Sept.)
• Especially wrt money, food we need to know NOW as it effects budget
• Look at the budget online for more info, check line items
• Need Green Room door guard (Green Room is opposite elevators)
  
• Elevator situation: do we want attendees? Express elevator? What are they able to do?
• Don't respond to calls AT ALL (can't be abandoned, or it'll be lost) -- needs operator, must be over 18, costs 4 volunteers
• For A'07, the hotel offered to provide  daytime (9-5) elevator operators (if their staff isn't busy with room changes).  Perhaps they'll do the same for A'08.
  
• Express elevator operators could also can handle "Door Open" button (see below).
  • Hotel: express to art show during open hours (start at 2, go to 16; another for 1, 2, 3, 14, 16).
    
  • TEM: Run handicapped sticker ideas for badges by Buzz to get to the head of the line
  • Signs on 1st floor to warn people that the express elevators starts on 2.
    
  • Operate others during daytime peak hours
  • Chairs in 1st and 2nd floor lobby for people waiting for elevators
    
  • People in lobby on 1 & 2 -- max. 2 hour shifts
  • 16th floor lockout might be a special case.
    
  • Attend elevators during peak hours (6-12, 2-3 shifts)
• Lock out 16th floor -- will still respond to a call from that floor, but the riders can't press the button for that floor; may be all 4 or none? Any employee can change the setting.
• We'll need people on 1 & 16 to evict people from the elevators who are "riding down to go up".
• DO NOT TOUCH THE ELEVATOR DOORS.
  
  • Use the DOOR OPEN button to hold open the doors.
    
  • It's not a weight limit thing, the doors derail easily if you use your foot/hand/arm to hold the door open.
  • There is a seeing eye; we could  mark it to show people where to wave their hand.
    
  • Change the timeout?  -- Increasing the timeout would slow all of the elevators.
  • Signs in the elevators and the newletter and web site and ...
    
  • Caution tape the edge of the doors to warn not to use touch the doors.
    
• Volunteers must have the right personality (and physique), and some ID (tag, button).
• Abdou came up with the idea of keeping the repairmen on-site, and feeding/housing them.
• Attendees shouldn't use the service elevators unless the hotel is escorting them.
  
• Staff should be encouraged to only use the Service Elevators if necessary.
  
• Service Elevator lobbies on the 1st and 2nd floors are located within hotel's internal space.
  
• Hotel must know that masq will be using service elevator (14 <--> 1).
• Hotel is 40% sold out (15% of that is Arisia usage).
• Expect hotel to sell out October-ish.
  
• Promote the Stair Walking Club (encourage people to practice walking upstairs before the convention starts)
  

Pubs:

• Crystal needs Lew Wolkoff's email (newsletter)
  
• Pubs now owns restaurant guide
• Membership cap 2000 total (plus 100 wiggle room), print run extra 200 (look at last year's numbers)
• Mini mass mailer will go to attendees that didn't come last year (basically flyer)
• This is now under Tem, not Pubs

Other areas:

• We need someone ASAP for transportation, we have companies looking to bid for it
• Also coat check is unstaffed
• Art show will be running their own on 16.
  
• Art show mailing on Sun. 9/9 at Dr. Karen's, 2pm (fold & stuff envelopes)
• ITA will fund the video room, might have some say on the movies, want bad stuff
• Need better signage, no static-sheets-- use Post-it glue & blue tape
• Easels are low & large from hotel, so be aware of easels
• Get sign shop requests in ASAP
• Marketing DH resigned, we are splitting up its functions
• NCOA is being done by Phi by end of the month.
  
• There's an entertainment meeting next week (8/26) to talk about room allocations at Jill's house.
• Show pirate and ninja movies?  Errol Flynn, The Pirate Movie, Hong Kong films
• Masquerade Green Room food will not come from the hotel (just a water service)
  

Announcements

• If you call Tem, leave a voice mail (especially if you're calling from a number she doesn't recognize)
• Another Anime Con, Oct 13-14, Nashua NH (anotheranimecon.com)
• United Fan Con (Nov. 2-4)
• Smofcon, Dec 7-9, Boston (www.mcfi.org/smofcon)
• Go to PiCon next year
  
• Video gaming room rocks -- DDR mat, guitar hero, getting people moving (overnight)
• Where do we put it?
• Who provides the equipment?
• company demo?
• Also video karaoke

Eric "in the Elevator" appeared, wearing a shirt that says, "Embrace the Tao or ye walk the plank," and "Yin-Yarr! on the front with a ying-yang pirate/ninja. He showed us his presentation

EitE Discussion

• Put a link to the EitE trailer online
• Needs a cameraman and a MiniDV camera
• Camera needs to be wide angle, low light
• He'll send the specs
• Put EitE set in an alcove between the elevators?
• 6 seasons of EitE have been edited (7th season not yet edited)
  
• Has about 1.5 hours of video
• Looking forward to using the Giant Ice House pieces
• we will need to remember to retrieve them from Pandemonium
• Might have an hour
• Theater setup for the Fan GoH event
• The event could be Sunday night to pull in his MIT Mystery Hunt fans
• Could do some sort of Fast Track event and then show the kids the raw video.