[Deptheads] Meeting Minutes from 11-6-16

[Strategicon Department Heads]

Greetings folks,

Below you will find the minutes from the last meeting, and I know you have
all been on pins and needles to see how it turns out. If you wish it in
another format, please let me know.

Thanks,

Mike James



11-06-16

In Attendance: Mike James, Chris Carlson, Fred Upton, Dave Holt

Via Skype: Eric Aldrich, Victor Bugg, Tim Keennon, Mei Dean Francis, Jason
Duvall, Shane Sauby, Jim Sandoval, Mike and Tracy Fryer, and the good ol’
college try from William Hillstrom.

*. Lunch – *Fend for yourself, hippy. This isn’t a soup kitchen.

* I. Announcements – *Art Director Kevin Hill had to step down to increased
workload, currently Mei is working with Renee to handle art. Conbook cover
is done.


* II. This Year     A. Gateway 2016 *– 2100, up from last year, but not
much. Noticeably fewer Dealer Badges, possible hit from hotel food policy.
*     B. Overall – *Relaxed food enforcement was a good thing. New Library
location was received very well. RPG and Minis getting some good
manufacturer interest. Need to go back to the Open Gaming layout of Gamex.
Adventurers League might need more tables. Video Gaming has less tournament
interest, but overall attendance is up. Flea Market move was well received.
Probably going to raise lot prices for the auction.

*    C. Goals from last year         1. 10 percent increase per con – *Was
really reaching, but we did see 5 percent growth. Gamex did hit 10 percent.
*         2. Complete Game Library inventory – *Done and done. Good job,
Mr. Holt
*         3. Utilize Lower Lobby and space in general better, improve
lighting – *More of a hotel thing, but yes to both. Although still need to
work out optimum table placement.
*         4. Better signage – *Very much so. Got actual compliments on
signage.
*         5. Fix map in con book – *Textual equivalent of uncomfortable
silence.


*III. Next Year     A. Goals – *

   1.

   A 5 percent attendance increase
   2.

   More 101/Demos across ALL departments. Possible rebranding of them to
   make them more accessible.
   3.

    Fix food situation, or at least improve it.
   4.

   Full website overhaul. This is actually in process. Stop Laughing, we
   mean it this time. No really.
   5.

   Avoid burnout, remember when this was fun? Make it so.
   6.

   Traditional Card Games. Eric wants to write a mission statement to
   address the track as a whole.
   7.

   Business Cards. Stop Laughing, we mean it this time. No really.
   8.

   Strategicon emails. Stop Laughing, we mean it etc.

*    B. Special Guests – *Michael Eskue, Michael Tan, Todd VanHooser, and
Laughing Moon. Tom Vassel in May. Mei should have bios and will clean them
uop and send to Tanya.
*     C. Marketing – *Directing interested sponsors directly to department
heads, please involve Mei in the process prior to any and all ball-dropping.
*     D. Budgets – *2015 was so good that the IRS wanted their share, and
my what a share it was. Keep it tight, hotel costs have increased.
*     E. Web Site overhaul – *As stated in goals, it’s happening. No
laughing, yada yada yada.
*     F. Hotel changes – *Making the first room block groups of 3 nights to
reward the early folks. Links should be up, working on having those up
faster in the future. The aforementioned food issue.
*     G. Price Changes – *Raising prices on dealer tables slightly, looking
at raising the auction lots, raising kids badges slightly.


* IV. The Future and Beyond     A. At Hilton until 2020 – *Finalizing plans
now.
*     B. If we can’t fix the hotel issues, we have to move in 2021. – *Whether
we fix them or not, we need counter proposals to keep them honest, so we
will be working on getting those. Will investigate possibly 2 holding con
over 2 hotels next to each other. Not ideal, but an option.

* V. Q&A*

GAMA in March.

Shane is fairly certain we have more than enough ribbons.

There will be some changes in the logistics procedures. Mike James will be
contacting supervisors directly soon to discuss your particular needs to
shape the policy moving forward. Please respond to him in a timely matter
or your stuff might just get left at the storage. Seriously. Try me.
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