dandelionreport: How does a good concom work with a guest?

The Dandelion Report (

dandelionreport) wrote,
@ 2004-09-14 22:10:00

How does a good concom work with a guest?
Related to the previous poll question about what makes a good Filk Guest:

How does a good concom work with a guest?

I'm especially interested in replies from concom members and those who have been Filk Guests in the past.

Please do post your suggestions by using the form at the bottom of:
http://www.filking.net/columns/filkfaq/archives/002381.html
or post below.

Thanks for your help in making the Dandelion Report FilkFAQ a useful resource for the filking community! You can find the full list of FilkFAQ questions here.

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bedlamhouse
2004-09-15 05:14 am UTC (link)

Communicate with your guest early and often.

Don't assume your guest knows the drill. He/she may never have been a guest before, in fact may never have travelled on someone else's dime before. Be prepared to walk through every part of the process, from arranging transportation through checking in when the billing is to the convention.

Be specific and explicit when offering the guestship as to: what the con is paying for, what the con is NOT paying for, what activities are expected from the guest, what activities are NOT expected, requested arrival and departure dates. Specify treatment of "guests of the guest" such as partner, children, groupies, etc. in terms of memberships, banquet tickets, room arrangements, and such like.

If the guest is arriving by public transportation, provide someone from the concom to pick up at the particular terminal/airport/station. The only exception should be when the guest is spending time before or after the convention on his/her own - in this case, it is OK to leave transport to or from the hotel up to the guest, but be sure everyone understands the plan.

Don't monopolize your guest! You brought the guest in to be available to attendees of the convention, not as private entertainment for the concom. The reason I like to ask guests to arrive Thursday and leave Monday is so the concom can spend some time with them before and after the convention.

Don't Overprogram! A guest who is doing a concert should have at least an hour and a half (preferably more) of completely free time (time when it is understood he/she will be totally unavailable) prior to the concert. A good rule of thumb is no more than 2 hours of focal point programming (panel/concert where heavy contribution is expected) and no more than an additional 2 hours of "being there" programming (banquet, "meet the guests" session, etc.) per 12-hour convention day. Pro-rate for Friday and Sunday, of course, and remember that autograph sessions can be exhausting for some guests.

Don't expect that your guest will automatically become a regular attendee of the convention in future years. Sometimes this happens, but frequently guests simply get invited too many places to add them all to their list. After all, you probably brought this guest in because your convention isn't a normal stop for him/her.

I may post some more as I think of them.

(Reply to this)(Thread)

	oreouk 2004-09-15 05:49 am UTC (link)
	If you're running a UK con and talking to a US/Canadian guest, don't forget to tell them that breakfast is incuded in the cost of their room. That's not how it works over there usually and has come as a surprise to several I have worked with. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

bedlamhouse
2004-09-15 04:50 pm UTC (link)

Well, not so much that "breakfast is included in the cost of the room" as "everyone else at the convention will be getting up for breakfast and will be fully attending programming after breakfast and if you keep the hours you're used to keeping at US cons where no one gets up much before 11 or noon then you will miss some of the things people want you to go to and you will develop a reputation that will follow you everywhere and you'll never be able to live it down ooh what a giveaway..."

(Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	oreouk 2004-09-17 03:24 pm UTC (link)
	Especially it will be hard to live it down if one combines keeping US hours with an appreciation for British beer and the bar in the hotel... (Reply to this)(Parent)

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