CONvergence Convention Committee Meeting Notes
Saturday, October 18th, 2014

Board Announcements

Concom Meetings:

Change in Concom Meeting Layout: We will be trying out a new layout of the meeting and we will be utilizing the overhead speaker system.

Department Announcements: Please submit your Department announcements to your Divisional Director. If you have a last minute department announcement, please bring it up during your divisional meeting and let your director know. Divisional Directors will be announcing their departments that have announcements at the Concom meeting.

Concom: Heads, Subheads, Specialists: Those considered ConCom members are Heads, Subheads, and Specialists. ConCom meetings, therefore, will be open only to those on the ConCom.

We will be having additional meetings for members, similar to the open meetings, which will be open to all members. We will be taking attendance at these meetings and this will be counted towards the two meetings needed to become a voting member. There will be four of these meetings a year. More information as to the time and dates of these meetings will be communicated soon.

Talking during the meeting: Please refrain from talking while announcements are being made at the ConCom meetings. Please remember, although you may be able to multi-task, not everyone else can.

Expectations: Heads, Subheads, Specialists: In response to feedback from the post mortem breakout sessions and survey, we have come up with some general expectations of those who are in various roles within the Concom (Director expectations will be discussed later).

Expectations of

ConCom (Heads/Subheads/Specialist)

  • When representing the organization, you will do so in an appropriate manner.
  • When posting on a CONvergence Page/website, you are then representing the organization.
  • Obtain information from Concom meetings (or other meetings including those during the working portion) and ensure that information is communicated out to the rest of your departments.
  • Work at least 25 hours throughout the convention cycle.
  • Keeping up to date on the current policies and practices of the organization.

Heads

  • Arrange for at least one representative of your department to attend ConCom meetings.
  • Communicate, Coordinate, and manage the Subheads and/or Staff in your department.
  • Keep your Division Director aware of the vital issues in your department.

Subheads

  • Have the knowledge to cover for a head in an urgent situation.
  • Communicate, Coordinate, and manage the Staff in your department.
  • Keep your Heads aware of the vital issues in your department.

ConCom Meeting Sign In

We will be trying a new way to sign in for the ConCom meeting. We will be sending out a Google for to those on the Google Group list. For those who have an electronic device with them, they will be allowed to fill out the form and sign in. For those who do not have a device with them, there will be several laptops set up to provide a way to sign in. Someone will be nearby to provide assistance if needed. The form will be available for about an hour after the beginning of the meeting.

Sheraton Space update

We are still working with the Sheraton on space. We should have more information in January.

Department Budgets Due Today

Department Budgets are due to your Divisional Director today. Please contact your Divisional Director if you will have an issue making this deadline.

General Communication Expectations:

72 hours no response, escalate: If other departments are not responding to an email within 72 hours, please escalate up to your divisional director. Within the first 72 hours, please try to reach out a few times before escalating.

Vacation Notifications: Expectations that the Concom heads let their department and division director know if they will be out on vacation 48 hours before that person goes. Can be a simple email letting all of the relevant people know. (Note that the same goes for Directors)

Leaves of Absences: Concom leave of absence should be requested through your divisional director, who will give approval.

Election for Director Positions

Expectations: Directors: In response to feedback from the post mortem breakout sessions and survey, we have come up with some general expectations of those who are elected to a Director Position.

Description and Expectations of those serving on the Board of Directors

The Board of Directors are those individuals who are elected by the voting membership to serve a term of three years. Listed below is a general list of expectations of those who serve on the Board of Directors.

Directors:

  • Are legally responsible for the organization.
  • Have a fiduciary responsibility and are fiduciarily responsible and need to understand what that means.
  • Are representatives and ambassadors of our organization
  • Are considered no longer a private person and are representing the organization at all times.
  • Are considered on call to the organization
  • Average 200-600 hours per year working for the organization.
  • Need to have good communication skills, both written and verbal.
  • Need to respond to emails within 48 hours.
  • Need to be somewhat comfortable with technology and/or willing to learn.
  • Need to attend a vast majority of Board Meetings and other meetings of the organization.
  • Need to attend all Board Summits, these are considered mandatory
  • Need to have Leadership and Management Skills.
  • Need to communicate, coordinate, and manage the departments in the division.
  • Required to attend the CONvergence Conventions in the years in which they have been elected.

Positions/terms: The following three Board of Director positions are up for election.

Director of the Hospitality and Member Experience Division
The elected person will serve a three years term (From August 15, 2015 through August 14th, 2018)

Director of the Administration Division
The elected person will serve a three years term (From August 15, 2015 through August 14th, 2018)

Director of the Data Transmission Division
The elected person will serve a two and a half years term (From January 18th, 2015 through August 14th, 2017)

Timeline:
Saturday, November 15th at 11:59pm:
Intent to run for a position up for election is due by that date and time.

Sunday, January 18th:
Election Meeting will be held.

The Election Committee will communicate out more information at a later time.

The Election Rules are located on the Convergence Events Website:

http://www.convergenceevents.org/about-2/board-elections/election-rules/

Division name change:

Data Transmissions: We were decided to rename the Communications Division Data Transmissions. It is our hope that by renaming the division it will create less confusion for those who we interact with outside of the ConCom.

Email that was sent out to the ConCom:

Greetings Convention Committee –

Thank you to all who have provided feedback and/or asked questions about the change in the division name from Communications to Data Transmissions.

The name “Communication” turned out to be somewhat misleading, both to members of the Convention Committee and to our membership. This name gave the false impression that this division was responsible for all communication within the organization, as well as with our membership and community. The actual function of this division is, primarily, to transmit information to our membership and community. The departments in this division are our primary methods of sending information out from the convention.

Based on feedback we’ve gotten (thanks in particular to Foro!), the name of the division going forward will be Data Transmissions.

As always, if you have questions or concerns, please bring them to your Divisional Director, or to the Board as a whole at Dire…@convergence-con.org.

Department Announcements

Ho.M.E. Division:

Hotel (Resume) (awaiting write up of announcement)

Guests (awaiting write up of announcement)

Ops
Ops Outing Information:

Date: November 23, 2014
Time: 2pm
Location: Memory Lanes – 2520 26th Ave S, Minneapolis, MN 55406

Facebook event: https://www.facebook.com/events/541245745976817/

  • Memory Lanes has a full menu and a bar as well as video games and things for the kiddos.
  • Free parking in the lot.
  • Bowling on Sunday after noon is $4.49+tax per game. (I figure we will probably bowl 2 games)
  • Shoe rental for $2
  • Happy Hour starts at 3pm!
  • Things change there all the time, but usually there is a specials menu that is reasonably priced.
    A burger with all the fixins and awesome tots or fries runs about $9.
    The Appetizer specials are always a good deal.
    Even if you don’t want to bowl, feel free to join us. Comments from the peanut gallery/cheerleaders/hecklers make things even more entertaining!
  • Please RSVP!

Activities Division:

Programming
We would like to let you know about the annual programming brainstorming session on the 2nd of November from 1pm-4pm at the DoubleTree Bloomington, located at 7800 Normandale Blvd, Bloomington, MN 55439. We’ll meet in the Atrium 6 room.

For those who are not aware, many of our panel ideas are generated at the November meeting. Once we have a list of ideas, we proceed to enter them all into our database. By February 1st, our list of ideas goes live and we invite people to volunteer for panels.

Productions Division:

Harmonic Convergence
Harmonic Convergence will be back at the Crown (Plaza?) hotel. If you would like to be consider for the head of Harmonic Convergence please conta…@convergence-con.org

Updates To Meeting Notes

Below are the remaining write ups of Department Announcements from the 10/18/2014 ConCom Meeting. Also, we have added brief descriptions of the Specialist and Staff positions.

Reminder: The next ConCom Meeting will be held on Sunday, November 16th at 2pm.

If you have any questions or feedback on the below, please feel free to contact the Board of Directors at [email protected].

Specialist:
A position within a department that specializes in serving a specific need for that department. Although a specialist is not in the management line, they are still a peer of a subhead. They have been assigned the authority and thus have the responsibility as well for a specific item, section, or focus within the department. This position will report to a Head or Director, depending on the department. (Considered a member of the Convention Committee)

Staff:
A position in a department that serves the needs of that department. Departments will specify if there is an expectation for hours volunteered to be considered staff. Staff members report to the Subheads or Heads depending on the department and will receive updates and information from those individuals.

Department Announcements

Guests
The Guests Department is looking for a few more people to serve as Guest of Honor Liaisons for the next convention cycle.

Guest of Honor Liaisons are responsible for making sure that our Guests of Honor have everything they need while they are with us. This includes providing for transportation, food, and beverages for our guests, as well as ensuring that everything is prepared for each scheduled activity that our guests do with the convention. It is a demanding, but rewarding, position that will require at least 10 hours of time before the convention, and a lot of time at the convention. Due to the nature of this position, we require all Liaisons to be 18 years of age or older.

If you are interested, please contact the Guest Department Heads at [email protected]. Please give us your name and volunteer experience with CONvergence.

Hotel (Resume)
Hello Departments! Welcome to the Resume portion of the CVG 2015 cycle!

We, the Resume Team, are here to help you get what you need from the DoubleTree, when and where you need it. The Resume is the documentation which is used to convey your requests to the DoubleTree. Clarity and cooperation is key in having your departments come in to the convention finding rooms set up as close as possible to what you had envisioned. The process starts with your ideas. Within your department you decide how you would like your space to be. Then the things you need from the hotel in order to meet your vision must be communicated to us, the Resume Team, who can help determine whether or not the DoubleTree will be able to fulfill your requests. With early and accurate communication we can help find solutions for things the DoubleTree may not be able to provide.

As your information is gathered we compile it into the Resume. We use the time between the Resume Deadline and the Sign-off to check, recheck, and check again that the information you have given us has been integrated as accurately as possible into the documentation making up the Resume. After the Sign-off the Resume is turned in to the DoubleTree. They then need several weeks to use the information in the Resume to develop their plan for supplying CONvergence’s needs for the convention. The more time they get to prepare, the better they can meet our needs. That’s why we have the Resume Deadline in April.

There are some significant changes to the Resume process this year. We are intending to do far more of the work face-to-face. This should allow the Gurus and Department Heads to help each other get the needed information gathered more efficiently, accurately, and easily.

A head or co-head from each department will be required to speak with their Guru face-to-face in the January meeting. The Gurus will have electronic copies of the resume and will sit with you to discuss your resume needs for this cycle. If you are prepared before that feel free to speak with your Guru at one of the earlier meetings. And of course, if you have questions you are still free to contact your Guru by email at the [email protected] address. If you are emailing we request that you include your Guru’s name (Amy, Jennifer, or Theresa) and your department’s name in the subject line. If you do not remember who your Guru is don’t worry about it, just send the email. We’ll let you know. 🙂

Another change this year is that the Resume Team now has an inventory list of available hotel equipment. We’ll be keeping track of items requested by departments and comparing quantities against available DoubleTree inventory. Department needs will be filled on a first-come, first-served basis so speak to your Gurus early and maybe often!

The Resume Deadline continues to be the April CONcom, same as in previous years. Your Resume information needs to be in to the Resume Team on or before (preferably before) the day of this meeting. If your information is not in by this deadline you may receive an empty room. Please, again, speak to your Gurus early and often!

The May CONcom meeting is the final sign-off. A head or co-head from each department will also be required to speak to a Guru face-to-face at that meeting.

Thank you all for your time, effort, and cooperation in helping make this awesome thing we call CONvergence!

Resume Guru and assigned Departments:
Amy

  • Dock
  • Logistics
  • Mainstage/Masquerade & Masquerade Green Room
  • Nerf Herders
  • Hotel (DoubleTree)

Jennifer

  • Artist Alley
  • Art Auction
  • CVG Central
    • Masquerade Sign-up Table
    • Volunteers Table
    • Merchandise
    • GOH Signing Table
  • GPS (all GPS resume needs including the GPS Charity Auction and Room Party)
  • GOH Reception
  • Programming (DoubleTree only)
  • Registration
  • Video/CVG-TV
  • Volunteers (Table and Den)

Theresa

  • Art Show
  • Cinema Rex
  • Consuite
  • COF2E2
  • Connie’s Space Lounge
  • Connie’s Quantum Sandbox
  • Gaming (22nd Floor & Consuite)
  • Operations
  • Smoker’s Paradise
  • Theatre Nippon
  • Teen Room