[Deptheads] Final numbers

Wed Feb 19 19:13:19 PST 2014

Not a Kids' Room.....a Kids' Track. They want to be with the adults and a Room will be seen as a kid drop off point.

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Victor B <fhoenix88 at yahoo.com> wrote:

>A "Kids Room" will have it's own supervisor like any other dept.
>For now we maintain the seldom used option to list a game as "kids only" and in our conbook we can start  listing a "kids events" section like we do for boardgames, collectables, miniatures, etc. 
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>We are not taking charge of or responsibility for kids and not walking them from place to place. The kids room (kublacon calls it "young players" room)  is the department with it's own schedule and is for kids 8-12 (under 8 if accompanied by parent or guardian) and like video games room it does not move. Our conbook can have the kids track listed but the kids room schedules events for that room as well as handles open gaming for kids in that room. No one has to coordinate other events for kids of all ages (4-17).....just coordinate and supervise that room. 
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>An 11 year can enter settlers of catan tourney or play warhammer fantasy battles then later that day go chill out in the kids room doing arts and crafts or whatever was planned. No one needs to coordinate anything but what is in the kids room. As long as we have kids programming listed in conbook and on website we cover all kids not just those going into that room....but that room is where we need a supervisor and they can organize it, schedule events, and get their volunteers. Do not worry about coordinating kids events from other dept. so they don't overlap since we found out in the past that varierty is better than saying "here is the only event we offer from noon to 4 on Saturday for kids". Adults like choices when they come to our con and so do kids. The supervisor can coordinate their events based on what is going on outside that room if they see a need to. They will see things from ground zero and will take a few cons to see how the room flows
> and what is normal and what was a one-time spike. No one else needs to change a thing--just make sure to keep listing "kids events" as such and be willing to work with the kids room supervisor if they call upon you to adjust times for a kids event if you can.
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>As far as the ball goes----The ball got dropped so much in past it was like watching a basketball being dribbled. It was because we had no kids room. We simply had a bunch of kids events all over and asked the volunteers to gather kids and march them from place to place and it did not work and it burned out the volunteers and everyone involved...The ball wasn't just dropped it was punted and like a hot potatoe no one wanted to pick it up and simply asked someone else to do it. 
>We will work out the details and find an appropriate location for it and such. In the meantime the key is not just talking about it but to find someone that want to be about it and step up and volunteer to run the strategicon kids room (actual room name yet to be determined).
>Thanks for the ideas everyone.
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>V
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>On Wednesday, February 19, 2014 7:00 PM, "evil5757 at aol.com" <evil5757 at aol.com> wrote:
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>If we have one it needs to be it's own department or the ball will be dropped. "Kid's Track" by definition must be ALL departments, with department supervisors suggesting events for the track to the "KT" supervisor so they can make a true KT schedule and handout for kids when they register.
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>John
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>"Kryssie M." <phantom.hopscotch at gmail.com> wrote:
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>The kids room is what I was suggesting as it's own department.
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>Sent from my iPhone
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>On Feb 19, 2014, at 4:49 PM, Victor B <fhoenix88 at yahoo.com> wrote:
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>I echo what John said. I personally have explored several childcare options and talked to several other conventions about how they handle it. From co-op where all the parents take shifts watching all the kids to paid services. In most all these cases the convention is not offering any child care...it is either parents getting together or an outside service.
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>>Kids are not responsible adults (many adults aren't responsible adults).Hotel security on Sunday night was walking in a group of 3 room to room looking for a lost little kid. The brother of the kid was in security office lost. I talked to security and told them I could talk to the child and locate his parents. I sat down with him in the security office, relaxed him, and got the info of who his parents were and went and got his mom from boardgames. Then we found his little brother 10 minutes later. He had gotten booted out of video games at 10pm and started wandering. Video games is not a daycare center...but that said we need to have rules for parents getting little kids so they don't wander lost in the hotel after kicked out of video games while parents are thinking they are still there. Maybe require all kids under 12 to have parents fill out info sheet so they can be contacted if their kid is still there at 10pm. Call them to get the kid while
> he stays at HQ. Any problem parents cannot drop off kids there anymore. It could have been worse with kid getting nabbed and parents thinking the kid was in video games room because they did not read the hours and rules of the video games room. Video Games room is not babysitting service and too much gets put on them with little kids dropped into their laps..But even being right we have to make sure little kids at night get picked up by someone. 
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>>No to con provided daycare...but we will look into a kid's room for sept and beyond (8-12 year olds only and under 8 if accompanied by parent) It is not babysitting...it is a room with scheduled events for kids as well as a library of kids games like jr. catan, apples to apples jr., pokemon boardgame, etc. and the kids are free to come and go. Any kid not playing well with other will be asked to leave. ALL kids that get dropped off into the room must go to the HQ of that room and check in. The first time they check in they fill out info sheet with their contact info (these are rules all cons use).The room is easy. Getting someone dedicated to running it is the hurdle. Kublacon has it at 8-12 with younger needing a parent with them while in room. Every night the room closes at 9 pm with the last hour being bedtime stories (8-9). They have a big sign that states "This is NOT a childcare center!" 
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>>Strategicon MUST have a dedicated room for kids 8-12 (and under with guardian) plus more kids programming that incorporates events like paint n take, pokemon workshops, and charades. We will. We just moved so be patient on new stuff as we adjust old stuff to new surroundings.
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>>Twice in recent years we have had kids programming tracks....everyone has ideas of what they want done but no one wants to step up and be the person doing it. We don't need more ideas--we need people to get in the trenches and actually do it and those people can pick their own volunteers and organize it . The last 2 volunteers who were in charge of the kids years ago both left in tears because they had some parents drop off their kids like it was day care and were difficult to get ahold of, kids crying for parents and hungry, etc. ..and they had screaming kids then screaming parents when they had to leave a game early to get their kids who they should have gotten hours earlier. Think it is easy? Let me hand you 6 kids ages 3-8 that are not related and have you keep them occupied, entertained and behaved inside a room for 4 hours. That is why most all cons (including kublacon) went to 8 as minimum age to be unaccompanied by parent. You cannot just
> give kids snacks or drinks because you do not know their dietary restrictions or allergies. Kids are a handful. So are grandkids but I got to hand her back to her mom and laugh saying that this is how she was as a kid.
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>>Free babysitting service is not an option. Too much liability. Outside service or attendees get together and work out something amongst themselves. Remember also--we are 3 times a year not once. We don't have a year to plan or organize nor do we do things once. It is a blessing and a curse....sorta like vampirism.
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>>V
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>>On Wednesday, February 19, 2014 3:44 PM, "evil5757 at aol.com" <evil5757 at aol.com> wrote:
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>>This has already been explored and the services that fit our needs are all reservation and prepaid services. It can be looked at again but we would be responsible for any money under their minimum.
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>>Jim Sandoval <plustentoawesome at gmail.com> wrote:
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>>Too bad there isn't an Ikea near by. But how about asking around at other events to see how they handle it. There might be ideas out there we havn't thought of or resources we are unaware of. Liability and overhead are a huge concern, but I would like to konw how events like KublaCon go about providing such a service. 
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>>Jim
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>>On Wed, Feb 19, 2014 at 2:06 PM, Nekojin <nekojin at gmail.com> wrote:
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>>Speaking unofficially - having an actual child care department is just opening a HUGE can of liability without much upside. It's almost all positive for the parents; all negative for the convention. 
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>>>On Wed, Feb 19, 2014 at 1:24 PM, Tim Keennon <tim at stugiii.com> wrote:
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>>>I suspect it is more about increasing our focus in that area.  We don’t need anymore overhead though. 
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>>>>Tim 
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>>>>From:deptheads-bounces at strategicon.net [mailto:deptheads-bounces at strategicon.net] On Behalf Of Kryssie M.
>>>>Sent: Wednesday, February 19, 2014 1:09 PM
>>>>To: deptheads at strategicon.net
>>>>Cc: deptheads at strategicon.net
>>>>Subject: Re: [Deptheads] Final numbers
>>>> 
>>>>Theoretically, we could make it a separate department...
>>>>
>>>>Sent from my iPhone
>>>>
>>>>On Feb 19, 2014, at 1:03 PM, Melinda Keller <melinda_keller at yahoo.com> wrote: 
>>>>So,  the reason I go to KublaCon over StrategiCon is that they have a place to store my kid.  I think if you really want to close that gap, you need to handle the young ones.  
>>>>>On Feb 19, 2014 12:30 AM, "Eric M. Aldrich I" <ealdrich at mac.com> wrote:
>>>>>Official Orccon 2014 attendance: 1820. Up 120 from last year. Our largest show ever, by, er, 120 :-)
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>>>>>>So yes, it was as crowded as we thought and seemed. Sunday was easily our best Sunday ever by the numbers.
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>>>>>>And we have some obvious stuff to fix -- much more so than usual, and it should help us grow even more. But for this week let's be happy with a job well done.
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>>>>>>Tentative meeting is March 23. Yes, that's early. Our goal is to dramatically close the Kublacon gap. More to follow. It's not an all hands meeting. More on it later.
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>>>>>>Eric
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>>>
>>>
>>>-- 
>>>"Would you like another drink, sir?" asked the bartender.
>>>"I think not," replied Descartes, and promptly vanished.  
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