Smaller conventions are typically run by non-profit organizations, and as such, are a labor of love put on by volunteers. I spent last weekend at Capricon, an awesome winter convention in Chicagoland.
You won’t see a lot of big name media guests and lines for signatures at this type of convention. Instead, you’ll have a handful of guests – authors, artists, musicians, and others – who enjoy interacting with other geeks. Take a look at WindyCon’s website for an example of guests coming to Chicagoland this fall.
Conventions don’t magically happen. They’re the result of extensive planning, typically starting more than a year before the event. If this year’s convention can announce the dates and location for next year, that means there’s a contract for the location and somebody has already been working on next year, all while preparing this year’s convention. And that’s just the beginning.
There’s a schedule, generally provided in the program book and a portable version called a pocket program. The schedule encompasses the various departments within the convention – areas that have to be staffed with department heads and more, along with volunteers to help during the convention. Most small conventions have a con suite, which offers food to attendees. That means shopping for food and drinks ahead of time, and having people available throughout the hours that con suite is open, including people who can handle food. (I don’t know what is needed for that, I just know there’s something special.)
There are typically panels – multiple rooms running various topics concurrently – and gaming. Somebody comes up with panel topics and finds people who are willing to discuss those with whoever shows up. If there’s a game schedule, that’s another set of volunteers that somebody needs to coordinate. Even if there’s no game schedule, there’s a games library and a checkout process. Plus registration, operations, security, art show and auction… a lot of people are needed to make these conventions happen.
And then there are the parties, typically run by groups of fans or other conventions… maybe I’ll talk about those next week.