[Deptheads] Minutes from last Sunday's meeting

[Eric M. Aldrich I]

Courtesy of Mike James

Strategicon Meeting 13 Jan 2012

In attendance:  Jason Duvall, Robyn Nixon, Ken Bernard, Tim Keenon, Eric Nyquist, Kryssie Mackey, Chris Moody, Tracy and Mike Fryer, John Paiva, Eric Downing, Mike James, Eric Aldrich (via Skype), and Victor Bugg (via, Skype).

0. Lunch- Aldrich was actually here for this one, but I can’t email lasagna.
1. Welcome and Announcements
               a. Tanya is no longer pregnant! Welcome James William Aldrich, and congrats Tanya and Eric.
               b. Personnel changes – Chris Moody will be taking over for Dean Taylor for the next 2 cons. Eric Downing will be stepping down after Orccon and Kryssie will be taking over as head of Marketing. Thank you Eric for five years of service.
2. Orccon
               a. Budget- Conference room rates have doubled, so admission also had to go up. We have some room but this is the money maker that needs to get us through, so keep it tight.
               b. Special Guests and Events- Catan qualifier for national tournament at Gencon, which we will also do at Gamex.
               c. Publicity -- Marketing Email #2 soon- Kryssie wanted to do the email this week, but due to the deadline schedule, Eric A. wants it to go out Jan 24th. Third email to follow, so get any relevant info to Kryssie so she won’t have to make up things for you to do. Also, get any important events you want photos or video of to Eric Downing so he can it on the photog’s schedule. Geek News Network wants to come and report on the con in exchange for rooms, causing Eric A. to have an aneurism.
               d. Department reports-
VGs- Will have a dedicated Minecraft server and tournament., and League of Legends.
Dealers Room- Expanded to all four rooms, estimated 70 tables. Will have 2 separate t-shirts for the first 2 cons, and people will be able to pre-order shirts for all 3 as bundle. All raffles will be listed as general events. Enough artists to start the Artist Alley again. There will be coffee for staff and volunteers during dealer room hours. Please get a list of any hot games you want the dealers to have to John ASAP. This is the first con will we not be using dealer dollars, they will be dealer tokens (or Victors) of laser cut wood that will be valid for all of 2013.
RPGs -  RPGA and 5th edition play tests will be there. Pathfinder increased number of events by a third.  In need of some more tables and will talk with Tim to arrange.
Quartermaster- Moving storage facility during Orccon. New place has better hours and is open every con. Roughly 15 minutes away in Gardena.
BGs- Mega-Mondays tournaments will likely change from Dominion. Orccon will be 7 wonders. There are four managers of BGs and training of noobs is ongoing.
Minis- Adding some new games with manufacturer support. Warlord games likely, Hawk wargames confirmed. Socal Malifaux will be there in full force like usual and looking to get more HMGS events in.
Registration- Paiva is the world’s biggest suck up. Tracy needs the artwork for the badges in 3x4 format. Kryssie had an idea to use the burning castle as a watermark on badges and someone else thought we could use the different art for attendees vs staff. Rewards will be the awesome oatmeal and coconut cookies, so get your badge lists to Tracy early in Excel format.
Eric A- 386 events so far with around 20 in the queue to go. Excellent work so far.
Collectibles- 2 new Magic judges and double the Magic events.
LARPs- running into a possible space issue
               e. Signage- Tanya will not be there so Eric N, Ken B, and the 2 volunteers who usually help will handle signage this time. Department heads, be sure to walk your areas and check your signage. If you want something new you might need to make it yourself. Mike Fryer was greenlighted to get banners made.
               f. Website changes- Tanya will work in the Submit button issues. Eric A is supposed to be working on the department list bouncing some people. Kryssie suggests a page for embedded video. Get special events to Tanya ASAP.
               g. Conbook- We are not changing printers, Eric N gets railroaded again into helping. Shawn sold the back page. Any color art for the book needs to be to Eric A by Jan 25th.
               h. Parking- Unofficially the parking north of the Hilton looks ok, but we can’t recommend it. Eric N will again be looking into parking around the Sheraton.
               i. Sleeping Rooms- Since Conference rooms doubled in cost, we have to be careful with the budget, so watch your room count. Might need to start rationing rooms. Volunteers can get reimbursed for parking instead of room if they want to.
               j. Hotel Layout Space- Losing 105 on Sunday again as the church group meets every Sunday and has a long-term contract with the hotel. Room layouts will be submitted to the Los Angeles Fire Department and they will be doing walkthroughs to verify it is up to code. No cooking appliances on the con floors, and watch the moving of your tables. Cables will need to be taped down. Be very polite and do what they want since there is the possibility of fines for non-compliance. We have a very small window for the moving or adding of tables so heads need to walk their areas and verify the layout. Any special requests of space to Tim by Jan 25th.
               k. Annual Awards et al- Tanya will get to work but Gateway data does not display properly. Kryssie volunteered Ken B to help since he is some sort of wizard at Excel.
               l. Art-Double art due to a miscommunication. Need to get John as the Governor from Blazing Saddles in the con book.
               m. Eric A's schedule- Now that Tanya has 3 kids, she will be staying with the newest and send the older 2 south, and is greatly looking forward to time away . Eric A will need help watching Keith and asks Robyn and Eric B to ask the people who helped last time to do so again. Eric will even pay money. Also needs an assistant for the auction (as the current assistant will be at a wedding), someone comfortable handling money. Mike James stupidly volunteered as a plan B.
3. Deadlines
               Fri, 1-25 Event Submissions
                    Special Facility Requests due
                    Con Book Ads
               Sat, 1-26 Event Pre-reg turned on
               Mon, 1-28 Room lists to Chris Carlson and Eric A.
                    Conbook proofs start
                    Badge list to Tracy
               Fri, 2-1* Hotel Reg
               Mon, 2-11 Con Pre-Reg turned off
                    Event Pre-Reg turned off
4. 2013 Planning
               a. Special Guest(s)- Gamex: Vlaada Chvatil and Aldie from BGG.com. Gateway: Bruno Cataltha and Rich Hasenauer.
               b. Marketing- Art will be done for the whole year soon, with John handling it. There was a discussion about do we need an art director, and a uniform style vs differing artist styles. This will be determined later primarily between John and Kryssie.
5.  Board Report- needs to have a plan if the minimum money isn’t reached for paying off those owed debt by the current corporation. Still need a list of shareholders and percentages. New board will meet at Orccon, time TBA.
7. Q & A- Recommendation for a Kickstarter area at con. Make a Wish charity at Gamex- Idea to sell dice with profits going to Make a Wish. Inquiry to the outstanding personality conflict with the Men in Black demo group from Steve Jackson Games to be handled by Tim and Mike F. HMGS- Eric A needs to respond to Adam Hammer so we can get a greater presence. Need Hilton floor plans sooner rather than later. Need paperwork for the Catan qualifier to Mayfair. John will look into a new case for the painting contest. Check to make sure wireless internet is included on the current contract BEFORE the hotel meeting.
See you all in February!

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