We Want You!

The Board of Directors of Phandemonium would like to remind you that Capricon is always looking for dedicated individuals to apply their skills and efforts to the cause. Currently, the Board is seeking qualified individuals to apply for Chairperson of Capricon in 2008! This is a chance for you as a member of the Capricon fannish community to get involved at a high level.

Are you interested in chairing Capricon 28 in 2008?

Have you ever said, "If I ran this convention."?

Whether you have just helped someone out running a convention department or if you're a seasoned convention volunteer/runner, we would like to give you the chance to bid for the Chair in 2008.

Qualifications (not written in stone, but good guidelines) are as follows:

• Potential Chairs should have a minimum of 5 years of convention attending experience, preferably at multiple conventions in different cities.
• Chairs should have served on at least three concoms as a department head, and have run at least two different departments.
• The Chair should be willing to commit at least 20 hours a month of their life during the year working on convention business, and should be reachable by phone and e-mail at all times.
• In the months before the convention, the Chair should expect to have to take some time during the day (at least once or twice) to get things accomplished.
• The Chair should expect to take a full week off of work the week of the convention, with one of the days being the following Monday for meetings with the hotel and other last minute details.
• One guideline that is written in stone per Phandemonium by-laws, is that a Chair may not concurrently hold a position equivalent to Chair or Board member of a similar Science Fiction corporation or convention.

Still interested?

The process involved in bidding for Chair of Capricon is as follows:

1) Prepare a written report of why you want to chair Capricon 28. Include such things as who you are and the experience you have (see above guidelines).

How will you make Capricon 28 a unique experience for the attendees? How might your theme/focus/concept be carried out in various departments, such as programming, special events, gaming, films, etc.? Who would be some of your possible Guests of Honor?

Then email your proposal to boardpresident@capricon.org.

2) Be prepared to make an oral presentation of your bid on Saturday, November 12th at the Phandemonium board meeting, which will be held at the Wyndham Hotel at O'Hare during Windycon. (No you do not have to have a Windycon membership to attend the meeting.)

3) Shortly after the presentations, the Phandemonium Board will meet to review and vote on all the proposals made. You will be notified of the results. If you are chosen as the Chair, you will be given further instructions at that time.

Running a convention is tons o' fun, great experience, and a way to meet some awesome people and get to know them really well over the course of a year. It's a challenge, and not something everyone should try, but if you've ever said "I could run it better if given the chance" -- then here's your chance!

Not sure you're ready to Chair, but still want to be involved?

Gretchen Roper, Chair of Capricon 27 (2007) is seeking candidates of all skill levels to serve on her Concom. Potential Concom members should have a few (or more) years of con-going experience, preferably having served as a volunteer in the department you would like to run. However, if you're really enthusiastic but a newbie to concoms, that's okay too! You should be willing to make monthly meetings, and spend a significant amount of personal time before the con to get things organized. During the con, expect to spend most of the weekend running your department.

If you aren't sure that you're up for heading a department, but would prefer to act as a 'second' to a department head and learn the ropes, please let them know that as well.

General traits of a good concom member are: attention to detail; a willingness to be 'hands on'; commitment to tasks that you take on; the ability to meet deadlines and work within a set budget; the ability to lead small groups of people to complete tasks as a team; a strong desire to see things "go well"; being willing to take criticism from people you've never met; and yeah, being a little crazy doesn't hurt.

Gretchen can be reached via chair27 @ capricon.org if you're interested in becoming part of Capricon.

Are you up to the challenge?

Capricon is an all volunteer-run convention. As a past attendee and a member of Phandemonium, we hope that you will rise to the occasion and become part of the community that brings you the fabulous, four-day, fun-filled experience that is Capricon! We look forward to hearing from you.

Cary Williams
President of the Board, Phandemonium, Inc.