Parenthetical Explanation of a Soapbox

        As I was writing my last essay on matters related to filking at Orycon 18, it occurred to me that some of you have no idea where I'm coming from on all of this, and where I've learned all of these practical bits of trivia (or is that "trivial bits of practice") that I put out over so many of your wonderful ideas. So, before I try your patience any further, or tackle the "NW Filkcon" idea, allow me to explain: I got my start in organized fandom 9 years ago by helping to run a Star Trek/Dr. Who fan club. I was in conventions just over a year when in the course of a weekend I found myself managing security dispatch, volunteer tracking, and con office questions simultaneously for countless hours at Dreamcon 4. Ever since I've had my hand in most of the cons in the NW in some capacity, usually tied to Operations (ie things like security, con office, logistics, and volunteers), though now more & more Programming items. To run this off in a readable format:

• 1988 = Ran club tables for "StarBase Gallifrey" at Norwes 10 & Dream 3. This meant coordinating the attendence of a half dozen adolescents at the con; as well as being involved in the publication, promotion, accounting, and fan knowledge related aspects of the club itself.

*1989
-- "StarBase Gallifrey" table at Rusty 6 and Norwes 11.

• On site registration for the one-day Dr. Who Celebration.
• Security rover at V-Con 16 and DragonFlight.
• Suicidal volunteer at Dreamcon 4, a post that found me managing security dispatch, volunteer tracking, and con office questions for the bulk of that weekend.
• This was also when I became involved with a convention volunteer organization, and because I was one of their more organized and responsible members, quickly found myself promoted up to being in charge of 3 dozen odd creative and rambunctious young adults. I stayed with them until summer 1991.
  • 1990
• Security dispatch and/or rover at Rusty 7, Vcon 17, Norwes 13 (this was the Sunday of what was otherwise Norwes 12 :), and Westercon 43 in Vancouver BC.
• Last minute break-down team and Hospitality dishwasher for Anglicon 3.
• One of 3 security commmanders at I-Con 1 in Victoria, including acting as Nichelle Nichols' on-site liaison.
• Head of Logistics and Volunteers, Asstnt to Security and Con Office, and for all practical purposes the acting Head of Ops for Dreamcon 5. This was my first official pre-con Committee position.
  • 1991
• Head of Volunteers and Con Office, Asstnt to Security & Logistics, and for all practical purposes the acting Head of Ops for Dreamcon 6.
• Security & Dispatching at Rustycon 8, Norwes 14,
• Head of Operations for Impirecon 1, and one of the three people that were involved in creating that 2-day Star Trek con of nearly 200 attendees in less than 3 months. I did not only Ops tasks here, but a little bit of everything from pre-reg, to merchant recruiting, to follow-up hotel arrangements, to programming assistant.
  • 1992
• Official Head of Operations for Dreamcon 7, and co-head of Volunteers.
• Security rover and/or dispatch at Norwes 15, Rusty 9,
  • 1993
• Dispatch supervisor at Norwescon 16.
• Casino at Rusty 10.
• Head of Volunteers for Westercon 46 in Seattle. This was a 5 day con in which I worked 16-20 hours a day, recruiting, supervising, and rewarding some 300 volunteers in a con of 2300. I was also pinch hitting in the Con Office because the two people who had been drafted for that job both had family emergencies that week; and trying to dodge the political fireballs that were flying behind the scenes.
  • Fall 1993 through December 1994 = I was in graduate school, too far away and too busy with my studies to be running conventions. During this time I also discovered I rather enjoyed *seeing* con programming again, and decided not to go back to heavy-duty Ops work for awhile. I did help facilitate some filk circles during this time; and became more involved with a couple of the merchants, helping them pack their tables in & out. Finally, this was the time I began speaking as a panelist at a variety of conventions; predominantly on psychological issues, but also filking, alt religions, and fannish culture.
  • 1995
• Co-ran Filking at Norwes 18.
• PR and Jill-of-all-trades for "Ceili at the Crossroads" an evening of Celtic concerts and folk dancing a couple of us organized as a fund-raiser for the local foodbanks in Seattle.
• Head of Volunteers for Westercon 48 in Portland. (This was a last minute job when the committee couldn't find anyone else, and a couple of my friends in that crowd called me begging. It was too late to run a comprehensive dept, but I at least provided the minimum supervision to keep it functioning.)
• I accepted the post of Convention Liaison for Dark Ages Live Steel Productions, a post which I still hold.
  • 1996
• Ran Filking for Rustycon 13.
• I took up Stage Manager duties for Dark Ages, on top of Con Liaison.
• Panelist for Norwes 19 & Rusty 13
  • 1997
• Head of Performing Arts for Westercon 50 in Seattle.

        That's just my 1am, off the top of my head, "con work" resume too. None of it gets at the hours I have spent in meetings, on the phone, writing letters, sending email, painting ribbons, and collating program books and progress reports; just to put the con together. Nor at the plotting, planning, arguing, negotiating, building; and working with, around, and through a large variety of individuals each with their own strengths, weaknesses, and outright crazy zones. I've paid my membership at every one of these events, just like the rest of you. (Yes, that's how it works here in the NW: ConCom pays reg like everyone else; if they're really lucky they do so only at the first pre-reg rate. And they don't even qualify for the free t-shirts and other trinkets the heavier volunteers can earn. Sucks, doesn't it? Much of the rest of the country either lets senior committee in free; or starts giving refunds if they turn a profit.) Plus put a decent amount out of my own pocket (given that I was a college student during most of this time, & am now a struggling mental health worker) for postage, long distance calls, gas, and trinkets for volunteers. I figure for Dreamcon alone it was 200 hours pre-con over the course of a year, and then I'd work 45 plus hours of the 60 I was onsite. (52 one year: slept 3 hrs each night, and spent the other 2 doing crisis counseling during the Masquerade.) For Westercon, it's been probably 50 so far since last April, 80% of that in less than the last 2 months; and our really busy time is yet to come in Jan - March.

        Based on the above information, I hope you'll forgive me if I pull out my soapbox once in awhile. I really love conventions. (Yes, even working my butt off for them. You don't do this job if you don't love it, because you're certainly not getting any tangible rewards for it.) I've learned a tremendous amount about people, business, security, and management from attending and helping to run them; skills that have made a major difference in my sense of myself as I came of age, and which are useful in my career field. I'd probably do more of it if I didn't have so many other things going on in my life. At the same time, I've learned not to take what goes into organizing one of these events lightly. There's a part of me which is thrilled by the idea of organizing a filk convention, and there's another part screaming "You're crazy! Do you really want to go through all of that first-year con nightmare again?! Not to mention doing so with a largely green group of co-conspirators?! Wake me when it's over!" So far I'm not sure who's winning.

Right. I'll save my specific commentary on this "NW Filkcon" idea for a separate message. Thanks for listening.

                                Quarong Received on 12/01/96