Marcon ConCom Meeting June 12, 2005

Wrap up of Marcon 40 (New information at the end of the wrap-up notes)

Called to order at 2:03pm

Raffles: $25 Gift Certificate for JC Penney, Commemorative Patches
Thanks to Rich Stover for space at his table in the Dealers’ Room. Patches are $5 a piece and this information will be placed on the website. Raffle tickets are 1 for $1.00, 6- $5.

Thanks from Kim go to Linda for being a marvelous Vice Chair! From running meetings when I couldn’t attend, sharing dinner at her dining room table for meeting planning, and running around all weekend at the convention fixing problems before they happened!

In Multiple departments: Thanks for Will Smith for seeing problems and fixing them, and for making sure Ops knew what he was doing! Thanks to Cori Callicotte for not only running Registration, but for doing a great job with Accessibility (the “mobies” were very well received). Mike Brim, the chairs keeper – kept the Chair very well!

Someone who helped with every department from audio video needs to physical set up to changes “on the spot”. He is at the hotel before the first meeting with the hotel (way before we begin setting up) and is one of the last to leave on Monday – THANK YOU, JUDSON!

Department Heads: Please remember to put any and all department info up on the front table, like timelines or contact information. This information is going to sit here until after the election; it will then be pushed over in front of the new Chair for dispersal to new department heads.

Accessibility: Very well. Some panelists from this year will help next year. Strongly suggested contact info goes up on the web sight much earlier. Will give names for next year’s dept head. Positive comments on electric scooters, from everyone!

Art Show: 3 years in a row we sold about $11,000 in sales. This year sales seem to have increased by $1000 (pending confirmation by the Treasurer). Positive results are, as always, due to a wonderful staff. This year, there was one artist who had a problem, it was resolved and he went home satisfied (if not happy).

Charity Auction: We did very well, there were lots of donations, and the combined totals of $44 in the canisters, and the $843.47 from the auction equals $985 for the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund. It was also suggested that we not use this charity again – they were very difficult to work with.

Chronicles: I am stepping down from my duties as Chronicles “editor”. I feel that in the upcoming year I will be participating in other activities that will not allow me to attend every meeting. Since this is a job for someone that is willing to attend every meeting, I feel that I cannot fulfill this role. I am still a willing participant for next years ConCom and will be attending as many meetings as I can. I had a great time working with Carrie F. in Programming that I hope to do it again next year. To whoever is willing to take control of this function, I suggest finding someone who can be your second. I also suggest that you keep the deadline for information for the Chronicles remain the first of the month. I would like to thank Mark McKean for stepping in as my second.

At-Con Chronicles: The information that was given, was published: Masquerade winners were brought over immediately after the Masquerade – Thank you, Bobbie. There were very few items submitted; but two editions of the Chronicles were published, Saturday and Sunday mornings.

Computer Gaming: Minus a few issues, everything seemed to go over ok. Nothing was stolen.

Consuite: Had food and lots of it. Dry goods went in to shed or given out to people who were leaving. We have soda left over for the picnic. The couches were a plus, lots of people made positive comments about them. The Ice Cream social was successful. The hotel reminded us that no hot food is to be served in the ConSuite (coffee makers are ok). Jolt cola was a beautiful thing. Thanks to Jeff Urban for persuasion. Dale is stepping down from ConSuite.

Dealers Room: The freight elevator was not functional on Friday, but everyone survived. For next year, we should try to go through Battelle Hall from the start. Marcon 40 had 89 dealer memberships (with 3 refunds), and 117 paid tables. Last minute additions for GOH’s were taken care of. This year, there were Difficulties with at con registrations, there seems to be a flaw in the system. The turn-around-time is slow for getting badges. The Dealers would very much like to stay in the Regency Ballroom. 65 tables have already been requested for next year; so it looks like we’re off to a good start. A company called Tritech was collecting and donating SF stuff to troops overseas. Jim is willing to stay on as Dept. Head.

Fan Liaison: Not present. Barfleet spoke up. Had a great time!

Filk: First I would like to thank Wendy VanOver, my second. I can’t do my job without her. She keeps me sane.

For her excellent work with Tom, we would like to thank Melissa Glasser, our guest liaison to Tom Smith.

We would like to than our sound people Mark Peters, Daniel Glasser and Roberta Slocumb. Without their expertise, filk can’t function. We also thank them for again providing their equipment free of charge to Marcon.

We thank our recruits Karen and Emily. They became invaluable and took the place of the gophers we requested for the weekend.

Thank you also goes out to Tom Smith, our Guest of Honor, for the wonderful job he did. He was number 2 on the attendance list. Barry and Sally Childs-Helton, our Featured Filk guest, with their band Wild Mercy. They were probably the easiest guest, panelist or performer I have ever worked with. They were number 4 in attendances. Of course, all of our panelists and performers need to be thanked, and I won’t do that individually.

There are many people I want to point out on staff and committee that deserve thanks from the filk department. Please forgive me if I missed someone. Programming in general. The many departments that requested filk be part of their presentations this year. Individuals I would like to thank include Nick Winks, Jim Hayter, Carrie Hartwell, Shell Franklin, Sharon Palmer, Mark McKean, Bobbie Rendrick, Linda Winks, Stu Sisk, Gloria Stover, Val with the Hyatt, and Kim Williams for giving a solution to a problem we could all live with.

Many years ago when I was with the IFGA, a live action group, at our annual banquet each game runner gave out three special thank yous we called the Mad Elf Award. We called it thus because you had to be crazy to work that hard to make something right. This year I am going to revive that tradition.

Mad Elf Awards were awarded to Jim Engle, Cori Callicotte and Carrie Franklin.

Filk had 4 of the top 10 attended events at Marcon this year, all of them concerts, Tom Smith, Barry and Sally Childs Helton with Wild Mercy (both were considered Events), Michael Longcor and Ookla the Mok. Thus proving no matter how hard some of these people are to deal with at time, they draw people.

Over all, filk went very well this year. I am proud of what we present at Marcon every year.

I will state my disappointment in the Morrow room. The room echoed, which we knew was a problem before it was decided to move filk there. Unfortunately, my sound engineer was unable to completely compensate for the problem. I received several complaints over the weekend about how loud Filk is when other panels are going on. And the first complaints were during Bill and Brenda Sutton’s concert, which were mostly quiet. I would strongly recommend that filk be moved back to Union E. Our numbers justify the consideration.

Lastly, I urge Marcon to work on communication. Not only within departments, but also between departments, and both up and down the command chain and with our attendees. Perhaps I should have taken time to learn all of our unwritten rules. But I highly recommend that all of these unwritten rules and agreements with the hotel be put down in writing and communicated with the committee and the public. If it’s something that is in our hotel contract but not generally known I urge the next chair to put these rules on our website.

Thank you your time… Trace Hagemann

Gaming: Problems related to registration. Picking up badges. 2 gophers that we wonderful. Stave Jackson games and Wiz kids. 109 scheduled events, 4 were not run. 6 impromptu games. But there were a lot of impromptu games that were accounted for. Communications could’ve been better. Cost of shipping Chaos game. Thanks to Steve Jackson. Made his presence known.

Green Room: Thanks to staff, especially Lisa for enforcing Wendy to leave. There were many compliments from guests and panelists. Special thanks to Steve Saffel; he is a very gracious guest! We had complaints that brewed coffee was not in room; it seems that they would rather have Starbucks rather than no coffee. (Can’t win situation – they complain a lot about Starbucks, too.)

Guest Liaison: Guests rooming info needs to be passed on from year to year. We had guests saying, “I’ve been here before, why don’t you have my preferences?” Many thanks go to Kyle, Amber, Matt Ryan, Hannah Rosner, and Jenni Bohn. There were no hotel issues with guests; they enjoyed panels and were pleased with turnouts. Compliments even came from fans in hallways. Thanks to Trace and Carrie for Programming. Autographs went less than well: there were no signs, pens or markers. Badge issues with GOH’s – if the Guest Liaison is in front of the desk, PLEASE just make up the badge being requested – we’ll do paperwork later. There are bound to be occasional mix-ups but this year, they all happened with one guest: Mike Reznick. Mix-ups with Mike included Registration, Masquerade (thanks to Chris Kramer for a solution!) and Programming (Metal Tears was not available). Mike knows that the Marcon Committee appreciates him, and he will come back to Marcon, if invited, even with all the stuff that went wrong. Ann Lockhart was very gracious, but kept commenting that we are not a media con. All of our guests were sent written thank you notes from the Chair and Guest Liaison within 5 days of the con.

Info Booth/Hall tables: Hall tables: 16 groups took 25 tables and all groups were pleased. Thanks to Filk for hall music. Gophers: Only 18 time sheets were only turned in. One gopher got close to 30 hours. Thanks staff, you’re great!

Hotel/In-house Engineering: The hotel did great job with room set up. The elevator situation was a problem with the convention center, but the Hyatt helped us settle it by Friday evening. Logistics: appreciated having the truck being donated; but there were problems with crew’s communications although they did work really hard. Dennis mentioned that the most recent shed inventory has some minor mistakes; and suggested that we redo the inventory this summer or fall. Logistics kept track of went out to departments at the con, and what tubs were not used. For next year, color-coding tubs that are needed sooner than the others might be a good option. Carts were handy this year. Had a problem with convention center locking the gate between the GCCC unloading area and the Hyatt function space. (NOTE: we are not supposed to be parked in the GCCC area – we are supposed to use the North loading area right outside the glass hallway.) IN-House Engineering: Hughie’s did a great job. Judson didn’t notice an item that was missing from our request list, but it was sent in a very timely manner.

Break: 3:30 till 3:55pm

Masquerade: Started On Time! Thanks to Will Smith and Randy Lachlin, helpers extraordinaire! We saved $100 on trophies, this year. The Masquerade had 19 entries, 18 went across stage. Thanks to our judges: Animal X, Christine Shamblin, and Chris Kramer. Chris helped out a lot with presentations and setup, too. The Pre-show was great; but there were mixed comments on Ookla the Mok (mostly that they were too loud). Judges only took ½ hour (because the papers were organized for judging). In the audience area, chairs were moved that needed to stay put. Bobbie suggested that next year they be marked or guarded. The Judges’ table wasn’t in the right spot, so they didn’t have a really good view. Masquerade needs more people; Stu needs 4 people for tech crew. Afterwards, Programming should schedule at least ½ hour before next panel.

Ops/Security: Thank you for calling Ops; we got a good deal of positive response from hotel. Thanks, also, to all who helped out in Ops. We had a good year: no arrests, no fire alarms, no serious accidents. There was 1 incident of flashing lights, but it was a private, not a Marcon issue. MIA items: Marcon radios-box went in to Logistics. Anything found that’s not in your dept, give back to Logistics ASAP. Jim Hayter – we especially appreciated help from your staff, thank you. The cell phone list worked extremely well – all problems stayed internal.

Programming:
Carrie H. I would like to thank my staff; Heather Motto, Jan Legg, Julie Hunkar, Jenn Christ and Mark McKean. There are some things that we’re going to revamp for next year, but I won’t go in to detail on those. Panel schedules on the badges and the Panel attendance tote board were a big new hit this year. I enjoyed working with Carrie F. in Programming and I hope to do it again next year.
Track Management: We could have used more gophers. There were 48 panels and events of 25 or higher in attendance.

Teen Programming: I would like to thank you Kaucha for all of her hard work. I am so glad that she stepped forward to help with this. I also want to thank my kids because they were the reason I wanted to revive Teen Programming. We would like to thank the staff Deja, Kaucha and April. Also, we would like to thank all of the panelists who helped us out. Great job.

A few people to mention. Dale Mazzola, Wendy Carlson, Jason Winks, Carrie Hartwell; also Kim Williams for agreeing to revive Teen Programming. Linda and Nick Winks for letting me go on and on about what I would like to see for teens.

Mad Elf Awards were given to: Carrie Franklin and Shell Franklin.

I have to say I feel Teen Programming will need more advertising to be a success. I feel I could have been more proactive in spreading the surveys, getting updates to Shell for the web page and insisting that Teen announcements be on the front page of the web to attract attention. I would recommend signage for the suite next year.

Kaucha: There were only 2 teens per panel; and she feels that teens will not go to teen programming because they like to come to con because people see them on a higher level. Does not think that Teen Programming is needed.

Publicity: Thanks to Kathy Hamilton, Mark McKean, Tammy Thomas-Palmer. Thanks for paper contributions to Dr. Barbara Houk and Tobe Conn. Final figures are showing that the Publicity Department has come in fairly close to their budget. Local PR was more successful than around the State; we need to maintain or improve local sequence of local publicity. Most importantly we learned that we MUST maintain congruence between pr and website. Nick suggested that we continue the post cards in November – they produced greater early reg numbers than we have had in recent years. We need to improve the look of the PR we send out in January. We need to look for more local PR opportunities to work in April and May. We have been on the Experience Columbus calendar for a couple of years, now we need to be in the State of Ohio version (FREE).

Registration: Thanks to Dennis and Sharon for help with labels. Thanks to Trace, and staff. Thanks all who assisted with bag stuffing. Suggest a separate line for dept heads, second or trusted staff members.

Video: Thanks to Carrie for Star Wars questions. Thanks to Brian, Wayne and Trina, Jim Young, and Jason
Channel 12: Thanks to hotel for cooperation, Thanks to Penny, Ops, and Gopher who helped.
Anime: staff kept leaving – they would start the film and then leave the room (leaving the equipment in an empty room, at times).

Printing: Thank you to Shell for nice program book; especially with the AOL / rr problems causing difficulty getting things to the program book this year.

At Con Video: 4 hours of video tape, 3 hours of it is masquerade. Lee will have it ready by picnic.

Problem issues were discussed in a closed session.

Break 5:45pm to 5:55pm

Returning from break, Kim thanked everyone for the hard work. “It has been an interesting year; we did some things we haven’t done before – hosting NASA will forever be a highlight to look back on. In fact, all of our exhibits were marvelous – if our Dealers’ Room stays the same size, I’d suggest including exhibits in there. It makes an impressive ‘Welcome’ to Marcon. Kim officially stepped down.

SOLAE, Jim Engle with Tax Update: The 2003 tax return has now been sent by certified mail (with Schedule A completed) and the IRS has responded with a note that said our return is now incomplete. However, the IRS responded with the fact that there are fines owed. Jim will Email the resolution of his discussions with the IRS and our CPA (who seems to think that everything will be ok) to the SOLAE board.

Elections for Chair:
Candidates for Con Chair: Matt Ragsdale and Dale Mazzola, Linda Winks, Dennis Palmer, and Will Smith came forward. The floor was then opened for nominations or volunteers. There were none.

All candidates spoke for 3 minutes about why they want to be Con Chair.

Questions were opened to the ConCom.
Ballots were voted, then counted by Jim Engle, Trace Hagemann, and Carrie Franklin.

Linda is Con chair for Marcon 41 – Congratulations, Linda!

Raffle took place: winners won

Linda would like everyone to send her an email listing 3 choices of where you would like to work with Marcon 41. Please have them to her by the Marcon picnic (July 16, 2005).

Linda’s email address is: lnnwinks@iwaynet.net and her phone # is: 614-890-6104 and 614-205-1442.

NEW BUSINESS

From the Chair: First of all, I want to thank you all for having belief in my ideas to improve Marcon. I would like to put into practice good processes as quickly as possible. The first thing we must do as a member convention of SOLAE is to meet the minimal requirement for written procedures. This should not be to restrict or limit chairs and annual changes, but should address generic, common practices that recur yearly. These procedures should be simple, clear, and open. Several things occur to me that I would like people to think about, and hopefully, we can address them and discuss/debate them in September.

1. Repeatable process for conducting the annual election. This should be simple and definitive.

2. Generic requirement that mailed business should go through the Marcon PO Box. This keeps all correspondence within the corporate structure, and insures that all information is exposed and open.

3. Generic description of how monies and contracts are to be authorized.

4. Generic description of bid processes, how they are to be conducted and posted.

5. Just a thought – since every year, we all talk about our communications problems, I would like to require that department seconds are to give a status report in February, or March, or April, as a insurance that internal communications are happening – regardless, I will be requiring that of departments for Marcon 41.

I am sure that putting this down in print will improve our efficiency, and save us money, while meeting the SOLAE requirements.

I am filling positions rapidly, and thank those that are communicating on their desires.

I believe we can work together and make Marcon 41 one of the best ever! Again, thank you all!

Marcon Picnic, July 16^th:
23 South to Rathmell Road, the first light south of I-270. Turn left. At the second light (Lockbourne Road), turn right. Go 1 mile, turn left onto Rohr Road. There is a little sign pointing down that road for the Y park. Go approximately 1.2 miles, turn left into the Hoover Y Park. Marcon will provide beverages, meats, chips, breads, condiments, and paper/plastic products. Please bring a side or dessert for yourself and others. Park is open at noon and we have the shelter on the far right. We’ll start cooking around 1-2 pm.

September meeting will be posted as soon as confirmed.

Below is a note just received from the publicizers of the movie mentioned. Please read and act as appropriate to your wishes.

Hello! I’m a representative for Lions Gate Films. We are releasing the Rob Zombie horror film THE DEVILS REJECTS on July 22nd. We’re having a screening for the press on July 7th that we’re inviting fans of the genre to as well. I was hoping some of the members of your organization would be interested in attending? If so let me know ASAP so I can get the tickets to you immediately!
Thanks!
Randi Burns
The Owens Group
800 Compton Road, Suite 37B
Cincinnati, OH 45231
513-521-7500, ext. 211
513-521-7515 (fax)
I’ve already asked Randi to send 6 tickets for the July 7^th showing at the AMC Lennox to the Marcon PO Box – everyone interested in that showing should email me ASAP, if needed, we can try to get more. Anyone interested in a preshowing at the Arena Grand on July 20^th should let me know ASAP so I can request tickets from Randi for that as well.

Good Afternoon (or whenever you’re reading this),
            I’m excited by the start of this year! Guest Relations is already starting to work on the “Roddenberry Universe”, and we are linked to Rod’s web page already, and our web master has got our guests up and we are rolling! Gib of The Laughing Ogre is helping sponsor George R. R. Martin to Marcon, and we are working on the financial problems successfully, and I hope to be able to have our Treasurer report that success by our September 11^th meeting at Fudruckers at 5271 E. Main Street, starting at 1:00 PM that Sunday. No one has to purchase anything, but we are combining this with a SOLAE fundraiser that Trace has set up, and we do intend to eat there after the meeting – all receipts should be turned back to your server as “for the benefit of SOLAE”. Our October meeting will be on October 16^th at 1:00 PM, back at the Northwest Library on Hard Road. The entire week of September 18^th-24^th, we have a fundraiser at all four of the Columbus Fudruckers, and Trace will be getting us flyers to pass out for that whole week. Trace will have a fundraiser report at the meeting.
            Last year, publicity was offered a 30 second TV spot, and we had nothing prepared. Standard Midwest speech patterns run at 140-180 words per minute, so I hope some of our concom will put their creativity to work on a 70-90 word presentation for TV “or” radio, and give some thought to what video we can relate to such a spot for THIS year!
            Please remember that all contracts and business correspondence need to go through the Marcon P. O. Box, to maintain the convention’s continuity. We have already had a damage claim that went to an individual that should have come to the Marcon post office box, and I’d like that not to happen again.
            I’d like to propose a $10 staff membership fee this year – we do not seem likely to end up negative from Marcon 40 – to cover the usual postage and PR costs. Be prepared to speak for/against this in September.
            An important part of September’s meeting needs to be discussion of establishing certain general policies for Marcon, as required by SOLAE bylaws, to govern our repeatable processes, such as elections and similar guidelines. These should NOT be straightjackets for future concoms, just guidelines, including how to retain records such as the guidelines themselves. Besides being a good idea in general, they are required by our membership in SOLAE.
            Something new, at least for this year – in March, the SECONDS for each department will be expected to provide that status report – so communicate! That goes for everyone, including me!
            Attached is our Org Chart to date – if you see an opening you would like to fill, please don’t be shy! And if you see incomplete or incorrect information, PLEASE send me an update/correction! And for the September meeting, Candy Crislip will be bringing her overall contact information for update and correction, please help her update – among other things, it will get you the Chronicles correctly!
            All please note – there will be a SOLAE meeting on August 23^{rd (Tuesday)} at 7:00 PM to discuss the current status of our tax bill, penalty, and filings.
            Thank you for the trust that you have given me, and I believe we can make this a great year, for Marcon and all our attendees!

Linda

In addition, if anyone is interested in or has ideas for Merchandising please contact Candy Crislip
By phone or email, email would be best during the day.
I hope to have a list of ideas and staff by the next meeting.
Also I am still looking for a second for the Chronicles.

Candace/Candy Crislip

Opening                                  Linda Winks, Matt Ragsdale, Carrie Hartwell (will not be here, previous commitment)
            Note SOLAE raffle at end of meeting

SOLAE report
            Taxes                          Jim Engle

            Fundraiser                  Trace Hagemann

Marcon Financials                 Jim Hayter will not be present, Linda will relay Hyatt door report ($1723 paid, insurance will be filed)

Marcon written policies         Per SOLAE requirements, we must have some written procedures. We need a healthy discussion, this should NOT be a limitation on the future, just guidelines to insure good practices are followed (Example re door on Ops, why we want the hotel to deal with individuals, but why we need to know about problems)

Org Chart distribution           Linda Winks

Contact list distribution/adjustments            Candy Crislip

Art Show panel rentals          Matt – any problems with $5/panel/weekend? Proposed plan for rental usage.

Set date for Fall inventory     Donald Westenberger

Think about Charity, selection in October

Think about Programming Brainstorming for October

Does anyone have any thoughts on a social event later in this year (October pretty full)?

Department reports               remember, 2^nd will give reports in November and March – this is when you need to have a second!

Registration
            Publicity
            Guest Relations
            Marcon Merchandising
            Others?

We have proposed to host Saturday lunch at Context – waiting to hear back on that.

SOLAE raffle                         Trace Hagemann

October 16 - Linda Mason's Birthday celebration, held @ Wayne & Katrina Souder's.

The Souders live at 326 Frambe Drive and are fairly easy to get to by going north on Worthington (Route 3) to State Route 36, making a left to Miller, a right to Reed Way, and a left to Frambe. They have a club house in their complex that will do very nicely for the meeting and the party. MapQuest:
mapquest.com Address =)
We thought a pot-luck would work out well, so everyone would have something to eat, and no one would go hungry due to whatever dietary restrictions they may have.

October 23 - Candy Crislip's Birthday. There is no party planned but do feel free to celebrate as much as you like.

October 31- Tammy and Andy Riffle's Wedding Anniversary(and they said it wouldnt last....guess we can call off the intervention and counselling....)

The orgchart sent out in September is not correct, a new and improved chart will be coming as soon as corrections and updates are complete.

Congrats go out to Wendy Carlson for snagging the GIANT EAGLE gift card and to Carrie Franklin and Jim Engle for winning the CONTEXT memberships!

The chairperson and all of the members of SOLAE would like to thank everyone who participated in the fundraising efforts by patronizing FUDDRUCKERS.

An email confirmation has been received for the Jan. 12 fundraiser @ MAX & ERMA'S.

In closing Trace encouraged everyone to check with their employers to see if they are willing to donate gift certificates/cards to SOLAE or to match volunteer hours/contributions. Many will do this if asked. And remember donations are TAX DEDUCTABLE!

Also if you have the matching form from your employer please see Jim Hayter or a SOLAE board member to have it validated.

Jim Engle announced there has been a resolution on the tax penalty from filing late.

Nick and Linda Winks has graciously loaned the money to SOLAE to pay off the fine.

The Accountant feels he has some responsibility in this situation and is also paying a portion.

In August the 2004 taxes still owed were paid in full and the goal is now to pay the 2005 taxes in February. This will bring us current on all taxes.

Letters have been mailed out for the MARCON Charity and we are now waiting for confirmation replies.

Candy asked that everyone check the information for errors/updates and to add to the list anyone they knew not present that would like to received the Chronicles and mailings.

Also she requested feedback on any mailings received that are incomplete, unreadable, etc.

Linda reminded everyone to follow the chain of command. If you have questions/problems go to the dept head or 2nd to start, if that doesnt take care of the issue go to the Vice Co-chair covering that dept/group, as a final step go to the Chair...these people are in these leadership roles because the Chair believed they could lead and problem solve...let them....

The discussion was opened to the group concerning the establishing of procedures, policies and/or guidelines. Kim Williams said that she had helped to write some broad guidelines that could be used without binding/hampering future chairs.

She reminded everyone that once rules are submitted to SOLAE they must be followed to the letter, so it was VERY important to choose the wording/phrasing with care.

After many suggestions it was decided that anyone interested in giving their two-cents worth could do so through email to Linda @ lnnwinks@iwaynet.net and she, Carrie and Matt would review and discuss them with the results being presented at a future meeting.

Matt Ragsdale proposed purchasing 15-20 new ArtShow panels. That we then can rent out along with our existing stock to other cons to help defray our costs and then turn us a profit.

Also he suggested purchasing the taller grids in the black finish because they offer more visual space vertically and more impact displaying the art and lastly they cost LESS than the chrome panels!

Donald Westenberger (Logistics) scheduled a shed inventory for 9/24 which was cancelled due to torrential rains...the new date to be announced along with directions.

Please make time to participate in this tedious but VERY NECESSARY task....it would be a real shame to lose needed equipment and materials because no one could be bothered to show up and say "Hey dont get rid of that my dept uses that!"

Tammy Thomas-Palmer (Charity Auction) gave a list of MARCON's previous charity recipients. All very worthy causes, however she did pointout that if we were to go with a childrens charity it would greatly improve our chances of getting Patrick Steward as a guest, possibly for little to no cost..

Carrie Franklin suggested scheduling the Programming "brainstorming" session for October.

Carrie Hartwell suggested that the Dept. 2nds report at the November and March meetings. This will ensure they are "in the loop" and help the dept heads to practice CCD(communication, cooperation and delegation) and everyone else will get to know who the 2nds are.

John Callicote asked on behalf of Cori that any questions concerning registration or accessibility be emailed to Linda and Linda can forward them to Cori.

Nick Winks reported for Publicity. He is checking with Mark Mckean to see if he is doing the bookmarks again.

He would like to get them out to the bookstores by November for the big holiday push.

There was a previous offer of a 30 sec. public service message from a Washington Courthouse tv station to promote MARCON.

The offer is still open, video is going to put together several segments and now Nick needs creative soundbytes to go with.

If you have what he needs or need more info please contact Nick at lnnwinks@iwaynet.net.

Kim Williams has agreed once again to print the postcards to be mailed to previous Pre-regs.

Dennis Palmer is following up a lead for a color laser printer for MARCON's use.

Tammy Riffle and Tammy Thomas-Palmer are teaming up to assist Nick in creating/updating the Donor Database so that we can keep valid contact information and send 'thank you's.

Gib @ LAUGHING OGRE is sponsoring our Guest Author, George R.R. Martin this year.

As a token of our appreciation Linda and Nick will be arranging a dinner for Gib with Mr. Martin and dedicated space in the Program book.

Guest Relations has mailed out letters requesting attendance confirmation for MARCON41.

In October suggestions will be taken for additional possible guests for MARCON42.

Douglas Adams will be our focus and Lisa Ragsdale has made the suggestion of contacting anyone that he has worked with as possible guests.

He is British, so we may have to dig a little deeper to find contacts in the U.S. If you know of any please contact Lisa or Linda.

A seperate mailing will be coming with a list of upcoming conventions you may be interested in attending.

Linda Mason has a birthday coming up and would like everyone to help her celebrate.

She and Cheryl invite all to join them at Wayne and Katrina Souders, directions listed at top.

Aug. 29 after a long battle with cancer, Sally Kobe's father passed away. He provided the storage unit for MARCON for many years. Unfortunately many of us missed the announcement until too late to attend the funeral. But it is never too late to pass along our heartfelt condolences and sympathy. Our prayers are with her and her family.

It is November – some of us are gearing up publicity like bookmarks (Mark McKean) and the prereg mailing (Kim Williams), programming panelist invitations (Carrie Franklin), letters to potential guests (Lisa Ragsdale), and other preparatory activities. It would greatly help if many people came prepared to help distribute the bookmarks for Thanksgiving from the meeting on November 20^th at the Northwest Library. All please note that the December meeting will also be at the Northwest Library on December 18^th.

Please refer to the notes from October’s meeting – we have chosen the charity, as it was a huge majority, but we need to help Guest Relations fine tune their aims for Marcon 42 guests this month.

Kim Williams would like to nominate Butch Honek to the list of Artists for Guest of Honor for next year. He has mentioned that he is considering when he is going to retire and Kim would like us to say thank you before that happens as well as just being a fantastic artist.

Candy would like to personally thank Mark for taking notes from the October meeting, family obligations kept her from attending at the last minute.

News and Notes as reported in agenda

Raffle items are Half Price Books $20 gift card donated by HPB and TI
calculator donated by Nick and Linda

SOLAE fundraiser tonight at Fuddrucker's

Nov. 8 SOLAE meeting will be rescheduled due to change in Dale's work
schedule

Financial Report (Jim):
Finishing getting M40 data entered into Quicken to finish bookkeeping

Candy and Carrie are not able to be here today due to family matters

Contact lists will be e-mailed

Hotel (Kim):
Officially our room block is 860
We have made 800-900 for the last several years
Hotel will allow con suite to bring in drinks and cold food items
Con suite is not permitted any heating elements (coffee and tea are OK)
Finalized program of events (space planning) must be to hotel by April 1,
2006
Minimum $2000 in "banquet food" (includes W&C, green room)
Phone lines in Art Show, Reg, Ops
Hotel will extend checkout to 4 pm for approved staff (list needed by May
10)
Attendee checkout is automatically extended to 2 pm
Once room block is filled (>900), we can get up to 20 rooms at $79 staff
rate

*** SPLIT FOR PARTY PLANNING AND PROGRAMMING BRAINSTORMING 1:31 PM ***

Programming Brainstorming (results in separate list)

Weird Sisters have been invited for Filk M42

*** BREAK 2:30 PM ***

*** RETURN FROM BREAK 2:51 PM ***

Charity Selection Choices:
Perkins Observatory
Toys for Tots
Firefighters for Kids
Adult Literacy Project
Ohio Wildlife
Cat Welfare
County Humane Societies/Hurricane Relief
Red Cross

Voted on Top Three for further research
Perkins was overwhelmingly selected
Perkins will be our Charity for M41

Marcon 42 will be Douglas Adams-themed: "Life, the Universe, and Marcon"

* Suggestions for M42 guests:

Art:
LA Williams
Dave Ziels (featured)
Darrel K. Sweet
Nene Thomas
Michael Whelan
Boris Vallejo
Frank Frazetta
Frank Wu
Teresa Mather
Laura Reynolds

Author:
Terry Pratchett
Glen Cook
Lynn Flewelling
Alan Dean Foster
JK Rowling
Tonya Huff
Diana Wynnes Jones
CJ Cherryh
Keith DeCandido
Garth Nix
Tamara Pierce
Patricia Wyrd
Steven Brust
Lois McMaster Bujold

Costuming:
Pierre and Sandy Pettinger

Editor:
Peter Guzzardi (Douglas Adams' US editor)

Gaming:
Greg Costikyan
Andrew Looney/Looney Labs
Red Orb
Timeline Ltd.
NCSoft
Blizzard
Out of the Box Games
Margaret Weis
History Channel
Decipher

Fan:
William Henley
Bob Hillis
Larry Smith
Kim Williams

Science:
Mark Abrams
Neil Armstrong
Paul Tibbetts
Mythbusters
Weather Channel
Bob Nunnally
Dr. Broughton
Tom Burns
Richard Preston

Toastmaster:
Stephen Brust
Timothy Zahn
Andy Offutt
Kim Stanley Robinson
Archie Griffin
Juanita Coulson
Bob Beese
Nancy Janda

Media:
Hayao Miyazaki
Leiji Matsumoto
Terry Gilliam
Mel Brooks
Mos Def
Sam Rockwell
Michael Boisert (sp?)
Serenity cast
Ian McKellen
Kevin Smith
Clancy Brown

Bio, photo and info requests have been sent to guests
Diane Duane has been requested as a Featured Author
Rod has been asked to judge a short story contest
Carrie Hartwell has gotten us several media contacts - Lisa will be
following up on them soon

Exhibits (Kim):
We have a letter to send to the NASA people
Looking for other exhibit ideas/requests
Trying to get Roddenberry personal memorabilia from Rod

Events (Kim):
Looking for ideas for events

Publicity (Nick):
We have a big pile of current flyers here
As soon as OVFF is over, Kathy Hamilton will be updating the flyers
Mark McKean will be designing the bookmarks
Lee Wetmore is building a 30-second and 60-second spot, one pair of general
Marcon stuff and one of youth at Marcon
Two TV stations have offered to air our spots at no charge
The new flyer should be on the web page shortly
Will do a postcard mailing next month to those who've prereg'd at last three
Marcons
Big PR in January
E-mail stuff to Kim for PR (short departmental paragraph, etc.)
We will be at the May Gallery Hop
Publicity volunteers needed!

Children's Programming is looking for good quality used T-shirts (nothing
offensive), clean baby food jars with lids, leftover pony beads, unmatched
socks (no holes)

Party Liaisons are looking for good cool prizes for parties

*** MEETING ADJOURNED 4:23 PM ***

POINTS OF INTEREST.........

Wayne Souder has a rocker recliner that he would me more than happy to let us use or even sell to us for the Consuite. Also he can hold it till the con in May but would really prefer that it be picked up sooner if possible.

Jim Hayter is looking for an address for Chad Walsh. Chad was a gopher for MARCON40 and the address we have on file has been deemed "UNDELIVERABLE" by the Post Office.

Jim Hayter is accepting staff fees in check, cash or moneyorder (please no farm animals or their offspring.)

Make sure to include name and department....neatness and readability does count.

1 Artshow, 1 Dealer room, 1 Programing room, 1 Movie room, and 3 Hospitality suites.

Happy Holidays to All! Now the hard work starts! Get your equipment needs in to Will Smith immediately, if not sooner, as he will be submitting his requests for proposals in January. I would like someone to volunteer to be a co-director of Logistics with Donald Westenberger, who is being buried by school and work. Job requirements: He/She needs to be energetic, able to lift and carry repetitively on Friday morning and Sunday afternoon of the con – and enjoy the con a lot in between! Minor work with Engineering during the con – a thankless job that makes the con run!

We as a whole did not do well in promoting or patronizing the fundraisers we had at FUDDRUCKERS.

We really need to pull together and get behind our fundraisers so that we can pay our bills(SOLAE), if we are not able to do that then is will fall to MARCON to cover the difference which will then put MARCON back into financial distress <-- THIS MUST BE AVOIDED!

Jim Engle gave us the treasury news...nothing from the IRS yet...which ain't a bad thing. Also a repayment of part of the loan from the Winks has been made. Again a heartfelt "thank you" for the timely offer.

Jim Hayter says to come see him to get your departments budget for last year along with what was actually spent. If changes need to be made please get with him asap.

Candy Crislip has drafted a letter to be mailed out to invited new talents to the PSYCHIC FAIRE. With any luck we will be able to have it again with some new faces and good energy!

Also the Contact List was again passed around for everyone at the meeting to review and add, delete or edit the information. Please have anyone not currently getting the Chronicles and emails to contact me if they wish to be added or need to change any existing information.

Matt Ragsdale conveyed a message from Tammy Thomas-Palmer asking for any suggestions for Contribution companies and organizations so that we may broaden our pool.

Lisa Garrison-Ragsdale and Dale Mazolla gave us a list of names in several catagories that we voted on to pursue as guests.

Keith Ra de Condido, Alan Dean Foster, Tanya Huff or Tamara Pierce, Steven Brust

Joss whedon and any of the members of SERENITY CAST, Keven Smith, Sam Rockwell, Mos Def, Michael Boisvert

Dennis Palmer let everyone know that Mark McKean did a FANTASTIC job again this year on the bookmarks and they are available to be distributed to the bookstores.

If you are willing to help with that distribution please let Dennis, Nick or Linda know so they can get them to you...and thanks!

It was suggested that we get a copy of the list of stores used last year so we can make sure we get the bookmarks out to all the stores without duplicating our efforts.

Pre-regs have been mailed and we are now linked in about 50 websites. We are trying to coordinate with other cons to reach wider audience. Kim Williams got the pre-regs mailers out a week early and we already have 50 pre-regs confirmed.

Also Lee Whetmore is putting together several 30-60 second press releases to use.

Carrie Hartwell reminded everyone that the bid letters need to be ready by January.

Will Smith is looking for equipment bids and will be tapping into Judson's vast experience with this process.

Lisa Garrison-Ragsdale is looking for guest transportation. The last 2 years have been less than stellar and everyone agrees we need to look for a service that will be reliable, professional and reasonably priced. Due to the cost of insurance and the liablity risks, a licensed service will be used.

Carrie Hartwell will be checking out DJs to compare with the one we have used previously. Decisions will be based price as well as perks. So if you know of any please get the information to Carrie asap.

Sharon Palmer would like to get a letter from Nick so a printer can be selected by the end of the year.

Dennis Palmer graciously volunteered to head up the next shed inventory and has a spread sheet he set up last year that would be helpful. He is sending a copy of the spread sheet to Carrie H. and Matt R. which they will split and send to each department.

ARTSHOW-Tricia Noble says it is ALL MATT'S FAULT! that we always seem to have the same artists. If anyone has suggestions please get with Tricia.

It was suggested to contact COLUMBUS COLLEGE OF ART AND DESIGN, COLUMBUS STATE COMMUNITY COLLEGE and OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY for new artistic talent.

Also Tricia is asking for ideas, suggestions, constructive input on style and scheduling for the Artshow as a whole and the room in general to make it better.

PROGRAM BOOKS- Sharon Palmer would like everyone to keep in mind that the deadline for changes is APRIL 1......and please email what you have, this will save her time in having to retype.

SOLAE - meeting will be late December, first half of January. Date to be annouced. This will take place before the election. Dale Mazzola will be running for reelection.

Mark Mckean says the Panelist invitations are scheduled to go out the beginning of December and the rules for the shortstory contest are being fine tuned and will hopefully be on the website by end of year.

FILK- Kaucha(sorry if spelled incorrectly) is asking for anyone who would like FILK in their department/room to please contact her asap for scheduling.

On January 29, we went over the budget with many directors, figures for actual and for original budget for last year. All are encouraged to review their budget and address any problems they anticipate in meeting the budget. Any receipts are expected to be turned in prior to the July picnic, or you will have to get approval from both the outgoing and incoming chairpersons – which may be difficult – get your receipts in, so we really know where we are at the September meeting!

February 11 – PR mailing at the Hyatt, 5^th floor suite (check at desk), 6:00 PM. We will be sealing, addressing, and stamping approximately 2700 PRs to mail.

February 12 – Marcon concom meeting at the Northwest (Hard Road) Worthington Library, 1:00 PM – 5:00 PM, hopefully less. Note that forms will be available for concom staff registration (thanks to Carrie Hartwell for the forms), and the fee has been set to $10, due to our relative financial success. We will be going over a purchase order form to be used at con, and recap any budget questions. An agenda and further details will be published after the 4^th of February.

Merchandising is off to a really good start...since there is no protocol...and I am working with an imaginary budget.... I have had to come up with some creative alternatives to just picking a few products to slap MARCON's logo on and calling it go. I have asked for suggestions, ideas anything however far fetched and once I stopped laughing, trying to poke-out my minds eye and double checked our contract, insurance and the LAW...it was decided to go with a selection of glass ware...(wine goblets, shot glasses, pilsners or pub glasses and steins..cost permitiing) custom etched by MARCON devotees, ID pouches that can be worn around the neck, boxers in a variety of colors and patterns, custom keychains, and some more possibilities that I am still working on. My goal is to have a top quality selection of merchandise at very affordable prices. Also I let everyone know that the cookbook fundraiser started under the current Chairperson will not be ready for print by MARCON41 but I will continue to work with Lisa and Carrie to get the letter and recipe collection forms out to everyone in our database so that we can collect as many entries and pre-orders as possible so that the book will be Big, Beautiful and ready for market by 42. Also I will have information out at Con at the Merchandise table. Watch for future emails on how you too can have your favorite recipe in the BEST COOKBOOK IN THE UNIVERSE!

Matt & Dale, thank you for the memory add-on that has brought the server up to 1GB – hopefully, this will cut down on the database freeze problems.

March 12 – Marcon concom meeting the Northwest (Hard Road) Worthington Library, 1:00 PM – 5:00 PM. By this meeting, all bids for printing, equipment, and any other services Marcon must purchase should be in and you should have chosen your vendor and be ready to speak on it to the meeting. Also, your seconds will be giving your report, so keep them posted and current!

Gaming is going to get more space this year....it will be moved to Harrison and Carrie Franklin and team will be in Garfield.

I have sent out letters to a number of talented individuals to be a part of the PSYCHIC FAIRE this year. If you know of anyone that would be a good fit for this please pass on the name and contact information so that a letter of invitation can be sent.

And last...if you know that someone is not getting the Chronicles that would like to or have recently changed their email information please let me know so that I can update my mailing information and get them on the Chronicles list.

Staff fees are $10, they are due BY April 15....There is a form to complete to ensure we have accurate records .... the form will be available @ the meetings or can be requested by email from

Childrens Programming has volunteer opportunities available: as a extra set of hands and eyes during the actual program segments (volunteers do NOT need to teach anything) or during the 15 minute break between segments so we can break down and re-set for the next program.

Childrens Programming is looking for babyfood jars (with lids, preferably washed out), the cardboard cores from papertowels and toilet paper rolls, and shoeboxes.

We are working on the "Roddenberry's Universes for Children" game and while we are very familiar with the Star Trek universes, we know very little about the Andromeda universe and next to nothing about the Earth: Final Conflict universe. Anyone who would like to enlighten Stephanie and myself about these Universes would be appreciated. For those who don't know about the game, take living chess, mix it with Candyland, and play it in two man teams.

The room block is down alittle from the same time last year but our pre-regs are up!

Budgets......if you have not reviewed them yet......RUN DO NOT WALK to do that now....check it twice, make sure you are spending it wisely...if you foresee a problem keeping to your departmental budget please see your co-chair team leader.

The DEALERS ROOM has been set and we look to have a pretty good selection this year.....

Shed Inventory is tentatively scheduled for April 1st. All volunteers are encouraged, requested and maybe even bribed.

The Artwork design- there are 3 ... Lisa has emailed Ray Roddenberry but has not heard back on his choice yet.

Think of the color you want imprinted on the ribbon, the number of ribbons you will need(be realistic), the text on the ribbons.

Send this information with your name (first and last), phone# and e-mail address.

If you have leads or suggestions for Tammy Riffle to persue for Acquistions please email them to her.

Lee Wetmore has put together multiple 15 second videos for FOX28, with luck they will give us a really good price to air them.

It was suggested that other PBS channels in Ohio also be contacted to air the spots.

PC, XBOX, PLAYSTATION2 and if anyone has a the newest "HOLY GRAIL" that you would like to loan Kevin would REALLY, REALLY like to schmooze ... I mean talk to you!

Also there will be DDR available (with metal dancepads) and there will be tournies for atleast HALO & UT (please forgive me if I spelled anything wrong....I am game-challenged) but do talk to Kevin at DINGO3@GMAIL.COM.

Chandra is looking for help, need atleast 12 people so noone will have to work their butts off and everyone will get some down time.

Chandra is planning a Sushi event on Friday and an Ice Cream Social on Saturday.

Also if you are Diabetic or a Cilliac (spelling?) please see her for special dietary needs.

And there will be decorations....members of the OHIO RING COUNCIL will be assisting Carrie Hartwell.

The applicants have been juried and selected. We will have approximately the same number of vendors this year and a table setup just for MARCON MERCHANDISE, if you are interested in pre-ordering any glassware see or e-mail Candace Crislip (she's the one sending you this e-mail.....)

We will be going with the same equipment company again this year. They give us a great deal that so far no one else has been able to beat.

If you have anything you wish to exhibit please contact Judson ... not just now but RIGHT NOW!

SG7 is a is a group that would like to join us, they would like to do some panels on prop making, costuming and they also do a STARGATE+ATLANTIS online game.

Also they are volunteering to distribute MARCON flyers at other cons they attend.

12 hours of LARP, board games, card games and Nick is not done sending out letters...

There will be 80-100 games going on but there is still space available you interested.....

Dan is receiving e-mails on tables but if you are interested in having a table please contact Dan asap!

If you want to be a GOPHER also see Dan, e-mail him before con if you can specialize or see him at con if you just want to help out wherever.....

Also if you need gophers get your requests to Dan asap, please include quantity and times.

MYTHBUSTERS can not come, that is a very busy shooting time for them and they are not available.

Lisa will be contacting MYTHBUSTERS to see if we can get some autograph pix for Charity Auction.

Hotel space layouts MUST be done by 4/23/06 so if you have questions or concerns see Judson immediately.

There will be a variety of glassware available with the MARCON logo etched on it, keychains, neck id pouches and some surprises too!

Also be looking for the COOKBOOK RECIPE COLLECTION letter coming to you very soon.

The goal is to have Bookmarks and Flyers distributed in early April and 3 press releases.

Kathy Hamilton has redone the flyer to make it more General Public friendly to hopefully draw in a wider crowd.

Dennis Palmer got MARCON a color printer that can do 11x17 double sided copies...

HERE IS A SIDE NOTE PASSED ON FOR THE BETTERMINT OF ALL................................................

If you make artwork, perform, sell crafts, are part of an arts-related OSU student organization, etc. join the OSU Fiber Arts Club-Stitch n Snitch-in showcasing OSU's talent.

On Saturday, April 29, 2006, we will be sponsoring a festival for students in the Ohio Union East Ballroom from 12-5. It was a big success for all participants last year, and is another chance to get your work out there!

For an application and more info, visit:
http://stitchnsnitch.org.ohio-state.edu
or email: artsfestosu@gmail.com

The deadline for applications is FRIDAY, MARCH 31, 2006. Early application is strongly encouraged.

Display and even sell your 2D, 3D, 4D artwork; crafts; or reserve a performance spot!
Past performers include: Scott Stein-piano; Noelle Karnott-opera soprano soloist; 3D Urban Dancers; Off The Lake Productions; Sean Benjamin-guitar/vocalist

Dennis Palmer let slip at the last meeting that he was going to be a grandfather.....but that was not meant to be at this time.

Please give your sympathy and condolances to Sean and Tara Palmer as well as the whole family.