Geek Fair Debrief 2008

Mary Kate

Area(s) of Coordination

• Raffle
  • made $350?? discrepancies in what was raffle vs. info booth $$
• Port-a-potties
  • dropped off early, picked up late
  • some coordinators & most visitors did not know they existed
• Front desk was busy, busy for first half of day that I worked there - glad we had 2 folks.
• Tents - went fine, using company to set-up/tear down was great
• Day of "Coordinator" - did a lot of running around for folks, got sweaty, had fun.
• Beancounter - counted all tills with RFS at end of fair, same day.

What, specifically, did you do?

• Raffle
  • disagreement on success of raffle
  • start ticket sales earlier
  • Sophia/Jacob following up with floppy thank you's to donors
• Raffle Flyer - delegated to intern
  • intern no-showed on 2 meetings with MK & left MK hanging with a corrupt file, which delayed publicity
• Other stuff noted above

In hindsight, what would you have changed to make things better?

• port-a-potties
  • out of site = out of mind
  • relocate bathrooms to more visible location
• better band mgmt w/ plan "B" for delays
• do not give $500 to one band, spread it out
• Unable to attend debriefing but really should have been there.
• Second printing of Fair flyers was a waste of money (few were posted, reprint due to errors on original)
• Raffle flyer
  • do not allow intern to make flyer in a program we do not support
  • design it ourselves next time, or get intern who is OpenSource capable
  • make sure intern is accountable and checks in with a final
• 9/4/08 - still have a desktop & 2 zip car certificates to be picked up
  • find a better way to get these distributed in a timely manner to winners
  • set a deadline for picking up prizes?
  • mail gift certificates and small items?

Anything we should note for next year?

• better organization & earlier flyering
• start Events meetings earlier in year
• let us see any print materials before they go to print
• committee should take accountability for their decisions as a group by keeping better notes about decisions made
• start gathering raffle prizes much earlier
• keep raffle sales separate at info booth for accuracy

Laurel

Area(s) of Coordination

• food! music coordination help

What, specifically, did you do?

• contacted food vendors (Staccato Gelato, Whole Bowl, Redwing, Red & Black, Taco Cart), coordinated with vendors about permits, arrival time, menu

In hindsight, what would you have changed to make things better?

• more food! worry less about too much competition, get more options in

Anything we should note for next year?

• make sure they will stay the WHOLE time! whole bowl left and that was sad

Jessica

Area(s) of Coordination

• Music & performers, co-sponsorship

What, specifically, did you do?

• organized & recorded KBOO co-sponsorship, organized bands (Atole, Hide & Go oHustle, Guidance Counselor, Chervona) and performers (Chain Reaction, Stiltwalkers)

In hindsight, what would you have changed to make things better?

• If I was to do this again I would get folky bands (I think Chervona worked really well), also high-energy is a qualification. I would not have given Atole $500 - they were not big enough

Anything we should note for next year?

• If I could coordinate bands for next year it would be less of them - the perfect ones togeher would be Chervona, Sassparilla, Circus Contraption. I'd also ask Chain Reaction back. High energy performances are a must. KBOO Co-sponsorship should be done again (worked wonderfully)

Michael K

Area(s) of Coordination

• helmets

What, specifically, did you do?

• set-up

Anything we should note for next year?

• start way earlier

Ali

Area(s) of Coordination

• overarching keeping stuff on track

What, specifically, did you do?

• picked up barricades (American Barricades, 173 NE Columbia) & Beer (Maletis Distributors, 7000 N Cutter Circle)
• ordered tents from Barbur Blvd Rentals & Portable Restrooms from American SaniCan
• overhauled volunteer task list
• pointed many of the coordinators to previous GF info (i.e. booth list and correspondence from '07)
• helped with Set-up (set-up the Bar)
• helped with tear-down
• floated around and covered areas as necessary
• coordinated volunteer work party the day before Geek Fair to clean up and prepare the building

In hindsight, what would you have changed to make things better?

• more up-beat, audience-rousing music
• less bands
• band needs communicated WELL IN ADVANCE
• place the portable restrooms in sight of the stage AND make sure that everyone (i.e. info booth volunteers, etc.) knew where they were
• fair-style food (i.e. cheap & deep-fried)
• the booths were largely boring, we should have interactive & fun booths and think about who we want to invite
• stuff to do in the bar - last year the bar was packed all day because of the FOSS Panel, Comedians, etc.
• better beer (Captured by Porches Amber was pretty terrible)
• advertise that beer is available

Anything we should note for next year?

• schedule volunteers for Tuesday morning "put everything back together"
• start way earlier
• Geek Fair brochures: "welcome to Geek Fair!" with site plan, sponsors, & schedule of events
• I'd like to find a way to have a beer garden outside
• Come up with a "mission statement" of sorts for Geek Fair so we know how to target our entertainment, audience, and sponsors
• more fun, engaging entertainment (non-scuzzy circus-style performers)
• work out money-handling logistics with Richard earlier
• the donation station was really convenient for hardware donors, we should repeat this