Staff Reference

Staff registration includes free premium/platinum weekend admission to the convention. One of your payments for being on staff is this completely free upgraded/special badge which includes entrance to convention events and activities.

You must get approval, in advance, from a Division Head if you want to be reimbursed for spending money. We will reimburse certain expenses for the convention, like if you buy equipment or supplies, ONLY if you have gotten permission in advance. We do not pay for your personal items or your personal transportation. If you are a DH, you should ask Mission Control or your Division Head. If you're not a DH (Department Head) you should ask your DH to ask them. Why? Imagine for example that you desire to buy snacks for ConSweet. Only Mission Control/Division Heads will know with certainty how much to get and if we don't already have someone out getting it. It also enables us to work on making fewer trips to stores, etc. If you are in the Guest's department, we usually pay for gas for transporting the guests, and we will pay for part of meals if you eat with the guests (this depends on each guest, some like to be left to themselves or only with other guests). Don't expect reimbursement for expenses that have not been properly authorized!

Being on staff is expected to be its own reward, with awesome new friends and fun experiences... but we have more, depending on what we have available at the convention. Sometimes we have special staff-only T-shirts and gift cards to the dealer's room. Usually we at least have lots of Pizza. You also meet a ton of cool people.

The order goes a bit like this: Regular Staff -> Department Heads and their Assistants -> Division Heads -> The Office of the President. If your DH or the next person up doesn't answer you, keep asking upwards until we get to you. Communication is absolutely a big priority for us, so if you don't hear from someone, we want to fix that ASAP! In the last resort, email Molly who welcomed you to staff. During the con: always ask your DH. Your DH may ask Operations, and will communicate with Operations regularly.

The majority of staff reserve and pay for hotel rooms at the con on their own, and the Facebook Group is a good place to find roommates (or chat with your department head too). In short, please try to find your own hotel room. Some staff may qualify for "crash space."

Crash space is usually only available for ADHs and DHs. You must be 18+, have staffed for at least 1 of our events in the past, and be scheduled for 8+ hours a day at the con. No exceptions - get your own hotel room if you don't qualify. Crash space is sleeping space for certain con staff - usually on the floor with a sleeping bag/blankets. Rules: You can not use it as personal storage. No air mattresses without prior approval. No alcohol. No parties. Rules are being revised for crash space this year. For the safety and security of staff, and their belongings, you may NOT bring "friends" or ANYONE into staff rooms. If you bring an unapproved person into a staff room, you will be KICKED OUT.

Of course! We order pizza or pasta or sandwiches at 1pm and 7pm every day, however the amount is limited and the priority order goes: people who are on duty all day, people who have been on duty for more than 4 hours already, people who are currently on duty, and lastly any other staff. We usually try really hard to make sure that staff who don't have time to get food on their own get real nourishment; it's much easier to do your job when you're not hungry. :) There is always the ConSweet which has free soda and free ramen, but you are required to eat "real food" at least once a day. If we run out and you're on time to these times, we will order more.

We ask that you try not to bother con guests unless they are your assigned responsibility. They have a ton of panels to do, and they may be confused if approached by multiple staff members... they could ask you for sharpies, for example, and the convention will look bad if we don't get it to them. If you're scheduled on duty but you'd like to get an autograph, ask both your department head and the guest's staff member at least a day in advance.

Please arrange these questions through Con Ops, and never ask any hotel staff member yourself. If you are running a room, a panel, or something, and you need extra chairs, tables, changed trash, or anything of the sort, use a walkie talkie to ask Con Ops. Never ask anyone who works for the hotel, as they can try to charge the convention $150 every time you talk to them! (Honestly, some hotels are tricky here.)

Please just let us know as quick as possible as soon as you find out. The earlier we know, the easier we can find replacements.

We try to give you unlimited ability to get involved further in the conventions - but we're not here to interview you for it. The people who best succeed are the people who "do things," and go out of their way to make the conventions awesome experiences. Strong communication skills, and asking us a lot of questions (you know, insightful ones), are a good start. If you want to be in charge of something or improve the con somewhere, take a note of what at the con seems to be stressing people out the most or what isn't working. Try to volunteer for that area in the future, show up early, communicate (a lot), and help solve problems.

The hardest part is to solve problems without making it cause other people more work. Let's imagine you notice ConSweet runs out of food a lot. You can point this out and complain about it all you want, but if you don't offer to personally go out to get it, then you're probably not helping as much as you think.