[Deptheads] John Paiva's after action report

[Eric M. Aldrich I]

John sent this to me and the list serve choked on it (due to size). I  
reformatted it to plain text and fixed a couple of typos and added one  
note that's clearly labeled as such. Otherwise, this is all from John.  
Good food for thought and some stuff we need to address at Gamex.

from John:

All,

OK, now we get to the part of the Con where you all hate me, so here  
it is.? It
+is an 8 page Word document, if anyone has trouble downloading it, let  
me know.

John

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ORCCON 2008 
After Action Report
(In no particular order…just as they came to mind)

Registration

	I received no complaints about registration. People seemed very happy to be able to register earlier than in the past and start gaming early.

Dealer Room

	Good job filling the dealer room. I heard numerous comments about “finally discounts” available, so hopefully that word will spread and more people will come by to check it out. 

RSI

	Lee and Sandy both noted that their participants were way down from previous conventions, but they were HAPPY about that because it meant more people were playing events and didn’t have time to keep up with their events. Usually they get 80-120 people each Feb and Sept, this con they got about 30. They were also happy with their space and electrical capacity was not an issue.

Game Library

	We need to get an assistant for Larry to keep this open regularly. There were people trying to check out games Saturday morning and unable to because he was in a late game and overslept. As in ALL departments, I am a VERY VERY strong supporter of making sure your staff goes out and plays a couple of games during the convention. As such, all departments need to be staffed with a couple of “extra” people so our regular staffers/volunteers can get some games in and enjoy their experience.

Boardgames

	Good job with the variety of events available. Got good feedback on having the demo games events. People really like to have input on new games and like to see what is coming out. 

Miniatures

	Going into the miniatures room, I felt shut out from the rest of the convention. Regardless of the fact that I am a miniatures player and may be a bit preferential on this subject, the fact is that miniatures ARE the biggest eye candy events we have at the convention. We need to do something to get them to the forefront of the convention (more in a bit). I believe we got Jose a new assistant, so that helps, but I believe we need to get him a third assistant. Reason being, we NEED to start getting miniatures events on Friday and Monday. The convention is growing, and only having 2 days of miniatures weakens us as a whole. 

Boardgames/Miniatures Ballroom

	In order to address the miniatures problem, I am going to suggest Jose and Patrick get together to open up the ballroom a bit and split the room East/West instead of North/South. I believe that there is an airwall that can be closed halfway or whatever they decide, but I feel this needs to be addressed. As I talked to a couple of our regulars from Miniatures, they also said it felt “relegated to the back” this convention.

LARPS

	As of this convention, I am finally completely confident that I can get my hands out of the LARPs and leave it in capable hands that are looking after them without putting them second to another concern. Very nice job getting a variety of LARPS. Hopefully, the Cam will no longer be a problem with staying in contact for their events and we can still work on getting to host one of their major coastal events. We will have to see if getting the bungalows available to us again gives them better spaces to work or they want to stay in the hotel proper.

RPGs

	As with LARPs, nice job getting a variety of types of RPGs going. If anyone looked in that old Gamex program, it shows why I quit going back in the day, same thing, same thing, oh look…same thing. We do have a problem that could shut down the convention as a whole though. We NEED to get a HQ up on the 3rd floor with the events. All we need is one fight to break out, someone not involved to get hurt, and we are guilty of culpable negligence by not having anyone in hearing range of the incident or readily available to render assistance. While I TOTALLY understand the RPG departments desire to not be a blocked off “club” doing their own thing and want to be “in the con,” we need a stationary location within shouting distance of all RPG rooms at a location known and easy to find of all RPG participants. The con itself is at risk by leaving this situation as is. If a non-degreed legal advocate as myself can find 4 laws to file a $150,000+ lawsuit against the convention if something was to happen to me in this situation, what would a real lawyer find? Once again, VERY nice job with the events and handling RPGs, but this must be addressed.

Pre-registration

	This is the 3rd feedback seminar in a row that it has been mentioned about pre-registration and people not showing up for events. I did some checking, and it appears to be most harmful in the RPG section (people pre-reging for an event, then no one showing up). I HATE event fees, so please read all of the following before yelling at me… When people pre-register for a RPG event, charge them $2 per event they pre-register for. When we check to see who is at the games and that they are running, each pre-registered person for the event gets a $2.50 Dealer Dollar certificate. Things that will happen because of this are a) people will be more inclined to show up for games they sign up for. b) others at the event will see them getting the certificate and will be more inclined to pre-register themselves for following conventions. c) more Dealer Dollars floating around to be spent at the Dealer’s Room. d) Each person missing an event pays for 4 people that attend, so financially we should break even. It will be up to you guys to determine things like “unable to attend” break off dates for refunds and the like, but the overall plan should get more people to register only for events they want to attend, and if more people show up and it costs us a little money, it will be worth it not to have events cancelled because they were full and no one shows up.

Special Projects Department

	I talked with Eric during the Con, and it was decided that my department should be called Special Projects or something like that to avoid it being mistaken with regular Miniatures (editor's note -- also to allow it more leeway in what it covers -- it won't always be miniatures). In May, I will be adding 1/700 scale General Quarters (WWII Naval Warfare) to the Mustangs and Messerschmitts. My department needs to do two things immediately, and that is to get something to “border” the 30’ x 20’ floor area we need to use and signage. A white board has already been requested to get “on site” signage taken care of, but I could really use some suggestions as to what to use as a border for the area. For the foreseeable future, I will be at the same location against the half-wall of the staircase.

Open Gaming

	We need to get an Open Gaming department re-established so that open gaming is not relegated to “whatever space is left.” Some possibilities are a) use the foyer where The War Game was as strictly open gaming. My department is being made for “join as the game progresses” anyway, so this will fit in with open gaming as well. b) move the computer room and movie room elsewhere, and use the 3 rooms right next to the Hotel entrance as “Open Gaming Alley.” c) Use the San Jose Room for open gaming. If anyone has any suggestions, they will be very welcome. I want open gaming to be given the dedicated space it deserves.

Flea Market

	Seemed to go well. It was real slow on Sunday, maybe lowering the number of tables available will extend it through both days?

Program Book

	It was decided at the Feedback Seminar to go back to 8 ½ x 11 program books. OK, it wasn’t … BUT we need to get the overall schedule back into the book. It was brought up that the old books used a smaller font, and this may help our problem. I suggest that a couple of ORCCON books be printed up using different fonts so we can look at them during the next meeting for use in future conventions. HOWEVER, the rate we are growing may require that either a larger or thicker book be used in the near future. We may want to start getting quotes on this now to prepare.

Food

	This was the number 2 issue brought up at the feedback seminar (gee…wonder what was number 1…) and with a bit more research, we should get a better list of eating establishments (and not HQs). Also, it was brought up to ask around and see who would deliver that normally does not deliver. The sandwich stand by registration will be worked on to get longer hours as well.

Parking

	Yeah.

Movie Room

	The desire to have real action movies surfaced during the feedback. At this point, having 2 movies rooms is not probable, so we need to split the 2 genres somehow. Also the question remains…what action movies to show? Probably a mix of war and cult films would work, like Charge of the Light Brigade, Robocop, Patton, Conan, something like that.

Special Guests

	We have been doing great in this department and need to keep it up. Maybe next time around we could include a “Dinner with…” on the program, selling tickets for the dinner at either $20 (meal cost not included) or $50 (meal cost included) with the proceeds going to a charity of the guests’ choice. I have known Steve Jackson for about 13 years now, and KNOW he is not one to “blow off” anyone who wants to talk to him. He was so burned out at Orccon, however, that I got 2 comments about how he didn’t talk to people. Having something like this would help matters, and MOST of the people who would be our guests would like the charity thing and gladly participate in it.

Web Site

	A suggestion was made at the feedback that sounded great if it can be done. Can a “calendar style” listing of events online be possible showing people the events they register for and blocking off the appropriate hour bars on a graph-type listing? Also, after thinking about the idea a bit, I am suggesting that online, we list the Name, Game System, Day, Time, Duration and GM of each event along with a button to click for a full description of the game itself. It will save browsers from having to scroll down constantly, and by keeping the description whole in a separate box should keep it just as easy to use the online information to directly feed the book information.

Collectibles

	Very good turnout. Good selection of games and all appeared to be well run. Which leads me to:

D&D 4th

	Ever since I was contracted by WotC and worked briefly with Chaz on ideas for what became Chainmail, WotC discovered the money to be made selling miniatures. I am NOT an expert on what 4th edition will entail, but apparently it is more combat based and has a “screw role playing” mentality. I have seen the suggestions on the listserve, and offer my own compromise on the subject. In May, we give D&D 4th edition its own space. Keep D&D 3rd edition (or 3.5 or 3.75 or 3.927384, whatever the hell they are up to now) in RPG where it belongs. Most people still think of D&D as the original Role Playing Game, and moving it to collectibles right away would be a mistake. Giving it a space of its own will give people a rallying point if they want to learn what it is or see how it works. Conventions work best when you “give the people what they want” (hence the feedback seminars), so I suggest we see how it goes, and decide after May what to do with it afterwards. Even if it is more of a miniatures/collectibles game, the players and GMs may still want the separate rooms that RPGs have for any token/miniscule role-playing they come up with. Note, Chaz and myself were trying to sell Chainmail as a large-scale miniatures battle in a D&D world system, so in the end maybe the Miniatures room will be best for it. Version 3.0 had a book called the Miniatures Handbook that had/has rules for large scale battles with D&D figures and rules(where did they get that … hmmm). From what I’ve heard, however unreliable, D&D 4th may best be served by its own space and own HQ separate from RPG, Collectibles, and Miniatures because it is a blend all its own.

Staff Break Room

	As the room in the back of the Dealer’s Room is fairly unknown, I am going to suggest it be turned into a Staff Break Room. If the Con could stock it with things like sodas, quick snacks, stuff like that would be nice, but here’s what we need. This could be a place on site where conversations can take place that might be better not in random ears. Idea out there … expand on this at your leisure. 

Ok, that is all my little mind can come up with at this time. I ask that NO ONE take anything listed personally, as it is NOT directed at anyone specific in any instance. This is what you have me on staff for, and I am coming up with any remedies for problems that I can think of.
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Eric M. Aldrich I
Apple Core Audio Engineering
Audio Codecs