The Thanksgiving Science Fiction Society held a general business meeting on 18 July 2021. The meeting was held online via Discord, with no in-person interaction aside from between folks who live together, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. All conversations took place via text chat in Discord. This is a quick-n-dirty Discord transcript of the TSFS General Business Meeting held on 18 July 2021, made on 18 July 2021 by Keith Lynch. All formatting has basically been lost. Meeting was scheduled to begin at 1 PM EDT. Conversations effectively begin at 12:54 PM. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Date: Sun, 18 Jul 2021 16:48:57 -0400 (EDT) From: "Keith F. Lynch" Subject: Transcript of todays TSFS meeting # Welcome to #july-2021-business-meeting! This is the start of the #july-2021-business-meeting channel. Herveus | Con Ops -- 07/15/2021 Sunday, 18 July, 1300 EDT.(edited) July 15, 2021 Herveus | Con Ops -- 07/15/2021 @everyone reminder of business meeting Sunday coming up at 1300 EDT. 2 July 18, 2021 Herveus | Con Ops -- Today at 12:03 PM Agenda: Set next business meeting date Blerdcon Treasurer Video Games Con Chair Programming Publicity/Website/Zambia Registration Gaming Music Mythic Volunteers Vendors ConOps Chime in with additions/corrections.(edited) 1 DrGandalf -- Today at 12:54 PM Harumph Dave/Evan(damont) | Registration -- Today at 12:55 PM Isn't that usually at the end of the meeting? Saria | Videogaming, Website -- Today at 12:56 PM hello Marilyn Mix | Website -- Today at 12:56 PM Hi, all Jim/Blaise | Tabletop Gaming -- Today at 12:58 PM Afternoon, folks Poryshkin | Con Chair -- Today at 12:58 PM 2 minutes. Get your s**t together Herveus | Con Ops -- Today at 12:58 PM Howdy, y'all! Keith Lynch -- Today at 1:00 PM Greetings Herveus | Con Ops -- Today at 1:03 PM Looks like we have a quorum. Poryshkin | Con Chair -- Today at 1:03 PM yay Herveus | Con Ops -- Today at 1:03 PM I'll call this meeting to order. When do we next meet for business? Do we need an August meeting? Poryshkin | Con Chair -- Today at 1:03 PM Probably. WRT the question, when is Pennsic, and who is going? Jim/Blaise | Tabletop Gaming -- Today at 1:04 PM No idea; I'm not. Herveus | Con Ops -- Today at 1:04 PM Armistice (the not-Pennsic this year) thing runs through the first weekend in August, so August 7-8 are out. I'll be there. [1:05 PM] The remaining weekends in August are all open for me. That's 14-15, 21-22, and 28-29 [1:05 PM] I'm figuring one of the earlier two would be best. Saria | Videogaming, Website -- Today at 1:05 PM afaik I have no plans for August Jim/Blaise | Tabletop Gaming -- Today at 1:06 PM Those are all open for me as well. Arguably the last is the best as my wife will be out of town and it won't affect our plans. [1:06 PM] (Out of town on business...) Poryshkin | Con Chair -- Today at 1:06 PM 13-15 August is opening of Montgomery County Fair, I have a good chance of making it to that, so that weekend is problematic for me Herveus | Con Ops -- Today at 1:07 PM OK. We can cross that one off. DrGandalf -- Today at 1:08 PM Lots happening for us August weekends . Aug7,8,14,15,21 busy Herveus | Con Ops -- Today at 1:08 PM So far, the only positive preference is for 28-29; Saturday or Sunday? Poryshkin | Con Chair -- Today at 1:08 PM Saturday; that Sunday is my birthday, don't wanna do meeting crap then DrGandalf -- Today at 1:09 PM 28 OK with me, at least at the moment Poryshkin | Con Chair -- Today at 1:09 PM 3 Herveus | Con Ops -- Today at 1:09 PM OK. Proposed date for August meeting: 28 August (Saturday) at 1300 here in Discord. Yakira - Volunteers and Vendors -- Today at 1:09 PM Hey folks, I'm here, mostly on time for once. I'd like to add website/zambia to the agenda. Dave/Evan(damont) | Registration -- Today at 1:09 PM I'll be with Herveus at Armistice. The 14-15, 21-22, and 28-29 are all currently open for me right now. My parents are in North Carolina and expect to stay there until at least the 20th of August. I will make sure there are no scheduling conflicts. Poryshkin | Con Chair -- Today at 1:09 PM Ah, thought you were at Blerdcon Yakira - Volunteers and Vendors -- Today at 1:10 PM I just volunteerd for Saturday to man the Balticon fan table. Herveus | Con Ops -- Today at 1:10 PM Roger on the agenda mod. Jim/Blaise | Tabletop Gaming -- Today at 1:10 PM 28th sounds good to me. Alex Jack-of-All-Trades -- Today at 1:10 PM My august weekends are wide open so that sounds good Yakira - Volunteers and Vendors -- Today at 1:10 PM and I'd like to add a report from Blerdcon too if that's okay Keith Lynch -- Today at 1:11 PM 28th is fine with me too. As an aside, how do I turn off popups from other channels? They're distracting. Poryshkin | Con Chair -- Today at 1:11 PM That's a settign on the individual channel. Marilyn Mix | Website -- Today at 1:11 PM 28th is good for me @Poryshkin | Con Chair Ah, thought you were at Blerdcon Dave/Evan(damont) | Registration -- Today at 1:11 PM Tony was briefly at Blerdcon last night but I was still at Ayrfield. Poryshkin | Con Chair -- Today at 1:11 PM I think you can do the opposite-turn off notifications in general, but allow them on a specific channel, that's a much easier route Dave/Evan(damont) | Registration -- Today at 1:12 PM (Kiddo will also be at Blerdcon this evening, picking up his radios.) Herveus | Con Ops -- Today at 1:12 PM @Yakira, tell us about Blerdcon [1:13 PM] I've put Zambia on the Publicity/Website line. 2 Yakira - Volunteers and Vendors -- Today at 1:13 PM I was just there for Saturday to sit at the Balticon fan table. I brought Chessiecon flyers and business cards with me. We had a lot of really good traffic pass our table since we were in a ballroom with a huge gaming set up and a ton of other fan tables. [1:14 PM] I was able to talk to a lot of folks about both Balticon and Chessiecon. Later in the day I wandered through the dealers room and handed out business cards to dealers who I thought would be a good fit for Chessiecon. [1:15 PM] all in all it was a good day for promoting both Chessie and Balticon. I left the Chessie flyers and business cards with Leona who is there today, She will bring the leftovers back to the BSFS building. [1:16 PM] I'm done [1:16 PM] oh wait [1:16 PM] I was also invited to be on a podcast to talk about Balticon. [1:16 PM] I pitched chessiecon too. [1:17 PM] When that comes out I'll make sure we know so we can put it across social media. Poryshkin | Con Chair -- Today at 1:17 PM excellent, we could use the publicity. Which podcast? Yakira - Volunteers and Vendors -- Today at 1:18 PM I can't find his business car rn, but he's got my contact info and our business card [1:18 PM] I think Leona has his card, I'll text her later Herveus | Con Ops -- Today at 1:19 PM Thank you! [1:19 PM] Anything else? Yakira - Volunteers and Vendors -- Today at 1:19 PM If anyone wants the updated flyer and the business cards I can put the files in the shared drive. Poryshkin | Con Chair -- Today at 1:20 PM Business Cards should be in shared drive already Marilyn Mix | Website -- Today at 1:20 PM Yes. I could add a link to the website to download the flyer Yakira - Volunteers and Vendors -- Today at 1:20 PM didn't know we had some, I made new ones Poryshkin | Con Chair -- Today at 1:21 PM Um, OK, NP [1:21 PM] May as well, not gonna hurt to have more versions of stuff Herveus | Con Ops -- Today at 1:22 PM Treasurer is up next. Poryshkin | Con Chair -- Today at 1:23 PM We have $9961.65 in the various accounts; main bleed off is still storage fee, but we've had a couple of registrations, including at least one dealers' reg in the past couple of weeks. Herveus | Con Ops -- Today at 1:24 PM I've got Video Games up next on the agenda. Poryshkin | Con Chair -- Today at 1:24 PM More about that later-I'll turn my floor over to video gaming, since Saria has to work soon. Herveus | Con Ops -- Today at 1:25 PM @Saria | Videogaming, Website , you're up Yakira - Volunteers and Vendors -- Today at 1:26 PM (I don't have permissions to write to the chessicon general info folder, could someone change that please) [1:26 PM] (Unless there's a different folder I should use, then I need that one too) Poryshkin | Con Chair -- Today at 1:28 PM f Saria has nothing to say, I should reclaim my time Herveus | Con Ops -- Today at 1:28 PM Proceed, Poryshkin | Con Chair -- Today at 1:29 PM OK, as far as con chair stuff goes: [1:29 PM] I have contacted Lee, and verified that the discount links for our hotel block from 2020 are still valid. Saria | Videogaming, Website -- Today at 1:30 PM sorry, nothing to report from videogaming. I just got back from a two-week vacation yesterday 1 Poryshkin | Con Chair -- Today at 1:30 PM So, just yesterday, I sent an e-mail to Marilyn asking that the hotel registration links be put back up on the webpage: I doubt she's had time to implement it, but that's in the works. Marilyn Mix | Website -- Today at 1:31 PM I haven't checked email yet but hotel links were on my mind Poryshkin | Con Chair -- Today at 1:31 PM More importantly, verified with Lee that the hotel will back up what we want to do with regards to COVID mitigation policies. Marilyn Mix | Website -- Today at 1:31 PM I'll be distracted for a few weeks due to an illness in the family Poryshkin | Con Chair -- Today at 1:32 PM Ug, not fun, hope it's not too horrible. Marilyn Mix | Website -- Today at 1:32 PM Feel free to bug me in Discord if I don't respond to email @Poryshkin | Con Chair More importantly, verified with Lee that the hotel will back up what we want to do with regards to COVID mitigation policies. DrGandalf -- Today at 1:32 PM When you get a chance, can you run over what those poicies are? Marilyn Mix | Website -- Today at 1:33 PM I'll find out on Monday how bad the illness is Poryshkin | Con Chair -- Today at 1:33 PM This same issue (COVID mitigation policy) came up at the WSFA meeting last Friday, and I'm proposing we suitably modify the wording that they mroe or less hashed out. Let me call that up. [1:35 PM] "Capclave will follow all masking and COVID vaccine mandates required by the United States federal government, by the State of Maryland and by Montgomery County. We expect that all attendees over the age of 12 will be vaccinated, and that all attendees will wear facemasks when not eating, drinking, or speaking to large audiences. Attendees will be asked to provide either proof of vaccination or a statement of inability to be vaccinated provided by a reputable medical professional when picking up their badge. Capclave reserves the right to not issue membership badges to anyone whose COVID vaccination status potentially poses a threat to the rest of the convention membership." [1:37 PM] I do see a potential issue with facemasks-again, Marilyn has a good reason to dislike them, and she's not alone among the Chessiecon membership. So, that's potential one of the 'suitable changes" [1:39 PM] The 'reputable medical professional' came about as a result of predicting that there would be at least one dips**t who would get a note from a non-licensed "medical professional". 1 1 Keith Lynch -- Today at 1:39 PM I've noticed that CDC vaccination cards perfectly fit in Chessiecon badge holders. Perhaps everyone can be asked to put theirs behind their badge in the same holder. Poryshkin | Con Chair -- Today at 1:41 PM That's a possiblity, or we could ask fro a photocopy , if people were uncomfortable risking loss of their cards: also, with a photocopy, non-relevant personal information could be blocked out. That sort of thing. DrGandalf -- Today at 1:41 PM The vax cards are the same size as most standard badge holder, which is why I found it amusing to see online vendors selling special "Vaccination Card Holders" for $5 or more which were really just $0.50 badge holders Marilyn Mix | Website -- Today at 1:42 PM I saw that too. Mine's in a extra badge holder right now. Stored with my Passport DrGandalf -- Today at 1:42 PM If you got vaxxed in Maryland, you can got to the MD health web site and print an official vax cetificate Keith Lynch -- Today at 1:42 PM I already put electrical tape over my birthday on my card, and placed it in an old Chessiecon badge holder, which I plan to bring to the con. That will also save the con 50 cents for a new badge holder. Dave/Evan(damont) | Registration -- Today at 1:42 PM I might move my vax card to my Barking Mad / TCEP badge holder for the same reason Yakira - Volunteers and Vendors -- Today at 1:43 PM Blerdcon required we show our card with our ID at reg then they put a gold bracelet on our wirsts. They handed out printed masks that were our badges. If we didn't wear their mask we still had to show the printed mask at badge checkpoints, but no matter what, everyone was masked. Poryshkin | Con Chair -- Today at 1:43 PM But the real discussion should focus on what our policy should read, and possibly be. To whit, how do we feel about the mask thing? DrGandalf -- Today at 1:44 PM https://md.myir.net/rorl?next=/ is the website for Marylanders to get a certificate. Other states probably have similar MyIR.net Keith Lynch -- Today at 1:44 PM One issue is that I don't have a current government-issued picture ID. But lots of folks at the con will recognize me. Poryshkin | Con Chair -- Today at 1:44 PM Good poihnjt, Dr G: we should add that information to the written policy. DrGandalf -- Today at 1:46 PM I don't think we can decide until closer to the con. If cases spike up real high due to Delta, I think masks are reasonable. If they return to low level, maybe not. Right now, every state has spiking cases Marilyn Mix | Website -- Today at 1:46 PM The facemask policy usually is: Wear a facemask if you can't be 6 feet from people. [1:46 PM] Is that correct? DrGandalf -- Today at 1:47 PM Which almost by definition at a con, you will frequently be less than 6 feet from people, and your interpersonal distance will change suddenly and unexpectedly. Which means for most situation, mask(edited) Poryshkin | Con Chair -- Today at 1:48 PM Most usually, I've seen masks while indoors. But turth is, in Maryland, it's varying by county. Dave/Evan(damont) | Registration -- Today at 1:48 PM Whether the cause is Delta or some other variant, if cases are spiking in November we should require masks in con space if at all possible. If not spiking, we can relax some, perhaps? Herveus | Con Ops -- Today at 1:49 PM I'm still accustomed to simply masking up when I enter a building. We can encourage people to mask up whenever feasible. Poryshkin | Con Chair -- Today at 1:49 PM Montgomery County, Prince George's, and Baltimore Countise AFAIK (important caveat-I coudl be wrong here), are still requiring masks while indoors. DrGandalf -- Today at 1:49 PM If we are publishing a policy, we should set a date to decide. Maybe 2-3 weeks out, and put it on the website. 3 [1:50 PM] If (fingers and toes crossed) things are much better by mid-November, maybe we can relax a bit. Of course if Baltimore city requires masks indoors, we require masks indoor Poryshkin | Con Chair -- Today at 1:50 PM I would actually like to hash out a policy, and put it up a lot earlier than that-with a caveant, of course, that the policy is subject to change, according to developments in the pandemic. Herveus | Con Ops -- Today at 1:51 PM Yep. We should expect to finalize the plan at an October business meeting, and discuss this among ourselves in the meantime to try out approaches. Marilyn's concern merits paying attention to. Marilyn Mix | Website -- Today at 1:51 PM I think the currently statement on the membership page is enough for now. [1:51 PM] Since Chessiecon is a caring community, we will do what is necessary to keep our members safe. We will meet or exceed the current government guidance with regard to COVID-19 protection including face-coverings and vaccination. DrGandalf -- Today at 1:52 PM Oh, definitely put up a policy, but part of the policy should be tat we will make the final mask decidion closer to the con. Part of the policy should say that even if you are not REQUIRED to mask, we encourage you to as much as possible Herveus | Con Ops -- Today at 1:52 PM Will the hotel be expecting its staff to be vaccinated? Or masked? Poryshkin | Con Chair -- Today at 1:52 PM Also, I am aware that whatever we decide, it's going to piss some people off. if we require masks and vaccinations, some people are going to complain that they are getting something else other than what they were offered when they registered. Marilyn Mix | Website -- Today at 1:53 PM As long as I can defer my membership to next year if there is a mask requirement. Due to my hearing loss, I would not enjoy a masked con. Herveus | Con Ops -- Today at 1:53 PM If we offered "meet-or-exceed government guidance", it's hard to fail at that. Poryshkin | Con Chair -- Today at 1:53 PM Therefore, I am aso proposing that if people are uncomfortable with a mandatory vacination for our event, we will refund their membership. I don't think we can do otherwise, actually, @Herveus | Con Ops If we offered "meet-or-exceed government guidance", it's hard to fail at that. DrGandalf -- Today at 1:54 PM Agreed [1:54 PM] Give them a refund or a rollover, if that isn't too much work for registration Poryshkin | Con Chair -- Today at 1:55 PM Yes, well, a lot of people are rolled over from 2019 already. @DrGandalf Give them a refund or a rollover, if that isn't too much work for registration Dave/Evan(damont) | Registration -- Today at 1:55 PM Ask me in November 1 Herveus | Con Ops -- Today at 1:56 PM I think we are as far as we are going to get on COVID measures for now. Let's move on. DrGandalf -- Today at 1:56 PM Just let them keep rolling. Either they will eventually attend, or not Poryshkin | Con Chair -- Today at 1:56 PM Unless we run out of convention. That's the whole money in the bank thing. Dave/Evan(damont) | Registration -- Today at 1:56 PM Do we plan to set an attendance cap? 1 [1:57 PM] (Mind you, I'd be thrilled if we get 400, but I don't know what the space is like, never having been there) Poryshkin | Con Chair -- Today at 1:58 PM I doubt we need to-theoretically, Darkover/Chessiecon has had a cap of 600 throughtout the two conventions shared history, but to my knowledge, there's only been two times that we've even broken 500. [1:58 PM] LB can handle 600. DrGandalf -- Today at 1:59 PM Seems unlikely that will be a problem Dave/Evan(damont) | Registration -- Today at 1:59 PM OK. I asked because I found out informally that TCEP is putting a hard cap on for this year (this just hit the informal wire last night, website has not been updated yet) Marilyn Mix | Website -- Today at 2:00 PM What is TCEP? Dave/Evan(damont) | Registration -- Today at 2:00 PM Tad and Craig's Excellent Party. Gaming convention over Labor Day weekend. [2:01 PM] Currently in Sterling VA. 1 Poryshkin | Con Chair -- Today at 2:01 PM POh, thak you, that was the other thing I asked Lee about-possible walk-though for staff unfamiliar with the LB. He needs to defer that, ther'es still contracted witht he city. Herveus | Con Ops -- Today at 2:01 PM ok Dave/Evan(damont) | Registration -- Today at 2:02 PM I'm okay with the deferment, this summer is a mess for me Poryshkin | Con Chair -- Today at 2:04 PM Programming for the convention has been at a standstill-I've been quite ill with a couple of different issues, am just getting back into full-planning mode the last week. Programming meetings I wanted to hold didn't happen, for example. [2:06 PM] As far as other Con chair issues, which bleed into other departments: I've seen a couple of registrations go by, but Dave/Even has more on that: but yakira, at least one of those wa a vendor thing-did that get to you? And do you have a handle on how the change to LB has affected available vendors' tables? Yakira - Volunteers and Vendors -- Today at 2:09 PM the last vendor thing that crossed my desk was Chris, so if there's been something else, then no Marilyn Mix | Website -- Today at 2:09 PM @Yakira - Volunteers and Vendors We need to talk about the vendor web page, offline. Poryshkin | Con Chair -- Today at 2:10 PM Ug, OK, I'll have to go back and look at it-I dont' remember the vendor details off the top of my head, but it certainly wan't Chris Cowan/Undiscovered treasures @Marilyn Mix | Website @Yakira - Volunteers and Vendors We need to talk about the vendor web page, offline. Yakira - Volunteers and Vendors -- Today at 2:10 PM Yes, and the volunteer page Poryshkin | Con Chair -- Today at 2:10 PM Other than that, and registrations stuff, I think that's it for Con Chair. @Poryshkin | Con Chair Ug, OK, I'll have to go back and look at it-I dont' remember the vendor details off the top of my head, but it certainly wan't Chris Cowan/Undiscovered treasures Yakira - Volunteers and Vendors -- Today at 2:10 PM I'm scrolling through my spam to see if anything landed there Herveus | Con Ops -- Today at 2:11 PM OK. Next up is Publicity/Website/Zambia Marilyn Mix | Website -- Today at 2:11 PM The web page currently has as link to a form that adds a record to one of Jo's databases. Poryshkin | Con Chair -- Today at 2:12 PM Well, we've already heard from Yakira regarding Blerdcon. Thanks for the piggybacking there, I wasn't even aware of that convention. Yakira - Volunteers and Vendors -- Today at 2:15 PM re website hosting and moving it off of Jo's hands, BSFS has kindly allowed us to move our website onto their servers, and our Zambia can be set up there too. Mike Rafferty is the contact there. Poryshkin | Con Chair -- Today at 2:15 PM Oh, as far as Zambia goes: it turns out, getting an account is less of an expense than I was thinking. BUT Chessiecon has an offer from Balticon to piggyback on their account, if we need to. I havne't officially taken them up on that yet, pending getting up to speed on this. That ability just becameopen to me via the Capclave meeting on Friday, soI can give Balticon an answer soon. [2:16 PM] ...but I still can't type worth s**t. Marilyn Mix | Website -- Today at 2:17 PM So, I should talk to Mike about setting up a place for chessiecon.org web site on the BSFS servers. [2:17 PM] I need to research how to move the chessiecon.org domain or whatever. Poryshkin | Con Chair -- Today at 2:18 PM I'm not sure we need to move website: Jo's good with us using her servers for that, I believe. It's the programming & registration stuff she needs moved. [2:18 PM] I could be wrong about that. Doesn't hurt to talk to Mike in case I'm wrong, of course. Yakira - Volunteers and Vendors -- Today at 2:19 PM I think if we move programming and reg we might as well have it all directed to chessiecon.org and on the same server [2:19 PM] that way we can also bring the website into the 21st century too Herveus | Con Ops -- Today at 2:21 PM When does our domain name expire. Dreamhost is saying to me "1 mon+ left" in red, but I can't dig deeper. Poryshkin | Con Chair -- Today at 2:21 PM It was actually auto-renewed already. Herveus | Con Ops -- Today at 2:21 PM OK. Just making sure, since the display was slightly ominous. Keith Lynch -- Today at 2:22 PM Only if "into the 21st century" doesn't mean that it won't work with lots of browsers, please. Marilyn Mix | Website -- Today at 2:23 PM If we use WordPress, the web site will work better on devices. Keith Lynch -- Today at 2:23 PM It looks like chessiecon.org will expire on 9/15. Unless there's some non-visible auto-renew. Marilyn Mix | Website -- Today at 2:23 PM and still be compatible with browsers on computers. Herveus | Con Ops -- Today at 2:24 PM I just checked the ICANN lookup and saw what Keith saw. Marilyn Mix | Website -- Today at 2:25 PM Maybe the auto-renew hasn't kicked in yet. Herveus | Con Ops -- Today at 2:26 PM So we have an offer to move stuff to BSFA servers that is probably worth doing. And to use BSFS's Zambia account. And we need to make sure the domain name actually renewed. Jim/Blaise | Tabletop Gaming -- Today at 2:26 PM I need to leave in 5 minutes; can I quickly interject the Tabletop report? Herveus | Con Ops -- Today at 2:26 PM OK. Poryshkin | Con Chair -- Today at 2:27 PM Ah, OK, I just went back an read the renewal notification. Jim/Blaise | Tabletop Gaming -- Today at 2:27 PM Nothing to report yet; at next meeting I hope to have a preliminary schedule. Herveus | Con Ops -- Today at 2:27 PM Thanks. Poryshkin | Con Chair -- Today at 2:27 PM It technically hasn't happened yet, it will auto-renew 31 days before expiration. Herveus | Con Ops -- Today at 2:28 PM Ah. Then it should renew on August 15. Poryshkin | Con Chair -- Today at 2:28 PM Yep, that's what the ntoe says. Back to baordgaming Herveus | Con Ops -- Today at 2:28 PM Board gaming was concise. More later. [2:29 PM] Was there more on publicity, the website, or Zambia? Marilyn Mix | Website -- Today at 2:29 PM Website [2:29 PM] I sent around a schedule for when I plan to put up addition content. [2:30 PM] After I get the hotel reservation link up, and work with Yakira on vendors and volunteers, we don't need anything until September. [2:31 PM] I plan to update the About page to make a blurb about what Chessiecon is, and typical attendance. [2:32 PM] I may call a meeting to discuss the website design. especially if we port it to the BSFS server and use WordPress. [2:33 PM] I like the idea of WordPress because you don't have to know much computer stuff or HTML to use it. [2:34 PM] That's all from me about the website. Herveus | Con Ops -- Today at 2:35 PM OK. Thanks! [2:35 PM] Anything else on Zambia? Or was that "BSFS made us an offer"? [2:36 PM] ...an offer we should probably take... [2:37 PM] Shall we move on to Registration? Dave/Evan(damont) | Registration -- Today at 2:38 PM We currently have 79 completed regitrations. This represents a slight increase over last month. [2:39 PM] I think there are also a few new UNfinished registration attempts. [2:42 PM] I se NO new vendors in the completed reservation list, though the current totals say "7 dealer tables" but I only see 6 in the completeds. There is one unfinished vendor registration - Justin Bryant, no business name listed. [2:42 PM] So there may be some communication issues between the vendor info system and the Reg system.(edited) Poryshkin | Con Chair -- Today at 2:43 PM Gargh, yes, the vendor information I jsut forwarded to yakira was for an entirely different name. Dave/Evan(damont) | Registration -- Today at 2:44 PM I apologize if I'm being slow today. [2:44 PM] Tony's AC conked out on Friday so it is rather warm in here. 1 Poryshkin | Con Chair -- Today at 2:44 PM You're not being slow, there does seem to be some major communications things with the reg/vendors system Dave/Evan(damont) | Registration -- Today at 2:44 PM I meant slow in general, really. Poryshkin | Con Chair -- Today at 2:45 PM I think I saw 4 regiastration payments go by since last meeting. Dave/Evan(damont) | Registration -- Today at 2:46 PM 1 Deal, 2 Howards, 1 Rogow == 4 total? Poryshkin | Con Chair -- Today at 2:46 PM Makes sense, but the number 4 was just something from memory, which may not be exact. Dave/Evan(damont) | Registration -- Today at 2:47 PM Those are the new ones in completed. Poryshkin | Con Chair -- Today at 2:47 PM OK, so maybe not a problem after all. Dave/Evan(damont) | Registration -- Today at 2:48 PM So... from an at-con Ops perspective, check-in at Reg is going to take a little longer this year because of checking vaccination/medical stuff DrGandalf -- Today at 2:50 PM If we have an extra laptop we can let people use it to go to the Maryland website for a vax certif Dave/Evan(damont) | Registration -- Today at 2:50 PM And,as much as I hate to say it, Reg is going to need either a radio (which we normally don't have much use for) or an actual Security person stationed at Reg, because we WILL have disgruntled people, though hopefully not many. Herveus | Con Ops -- Today at 2:51 PM I can see ConOps hanging out near registration as much as possible when appropriate. Yakira - Volunteers and Vendors -- Today at 2:52 PM If our covid policy is clearly stated on the website, social media, and email updates, and we have a huge sign at reg, we will have a lot of our bases covered. Berdcon had 4 people at con reg and two people at covid check table. You stopped at the covid check table to get your bracelet, then moved through to the reg table, it actually moved fairly quickly DrGandalf -- Today at 2:52 PM Con Op to act as official gruntler? Herveus | Con Ops -- Today at 2:52 PM As needed. It seems to be part of the job... DrGandalf -- Today at 2:52 PM Are we going to have bracelets? Yakira - Volunteers and Vendors -- Today at 2:53 PM it depends on our final policy, but I was just using that as an example of the process for reg [2:53 PM] they separated out the covid check from reg DrGandalf -- Today at 2:53 PM I think I hate bracelets more than I hate masks Dave/Evan(damont) | Registration -- Today at 2:53 PM We've rarely had more than two people at the reg table in recent years. Number of laptops is a limiting factor, as is table space. DrGandalf -- Today at 2:54 PM (not saying I don't wear masks, I was a surgeon after all, I just don't like them)(edited) Dave/Evan(damont) | Registration -- Today at 2:54 PM And in the new space, I have no idea what sort of layout will be feasible for Reg and covid check. Herveus | Con Ops -- Today at 2:55 PM So this is another thing to keep in mind as we plan but we don't have to settle it now. 1 Dave/Evan(damont) | Registration -- Today at 2:55 PM Right. Herveus | Con Ops -- Today at 2:55 PM I'm trying to keep things moving sort of. I've got about half an hour of slack time left today. Dave/Evan(damont) | Registration -- Today at 2:56 PM So... deep breath... Is Jo willing to let Reg continue on the current server through this convention or do we need to migrate beforehand? Poryshkin | Con Chair -- Today at 2:56 PM Through this convention, certainly. Dave/Evan(damont) | Registration -- Today at 2:56 PM Okay. [2:57 PM] Then I don't need to be concerned about that before September at least. [2:57 PM] I think that's it for me then, unless anyone has questions. Herveus | Con Ops -- Today at 3:00 PM OK. [3:00 PM] Music is not here, right? Nor Mythic? [3:00 PM] That means Volunteers are up. Yakira - Volunteers and Vendors -- Today at 3:02 PM I will be working with Marilyn to clean up the volunteer page on the website. I also spoke about the advantages of volunteering at both Chessie and Balticon while I was at Blerdcon yesterday. [3:02 PM] other than that, I have nothing else for volunteers Herveus | Con Ops -- Today at 3:03 PM OK. [3:03 PM] Vendors? Anything to add there? Yakira - Volunteers and Vendors -- Today at 3:03 PM As for Vendors, I now have 4 that have applied. Hopefully some of my contacts from Blerdcon will come through. I still have to sit down with graph paper and plot out our new space though. [3:04 PM] do we have a contact list of past vendors? Poryshkin | Con Chair -- Today at 3:04 PM In the reg database, yes. Dave/Evan(damont) | Registration -- Today at 3:05 PM I could put together a list dating back to 2014, of all the vendors that show up in the Reg database. Yakira - Volunteers and Vendors -- Today at 3:05 PM could I get a copy of that and if there are any that I should not reach out to? Dave/Evan(damont) | Registration -- Today at 3:05 PM That last bit, I cannot speak to. [3:05 PM] Um. Marilyn Mix | Website -- Today at 3:06 PM You or I should ask Jo for a dump of her database. I assume the current vendor info form is stored in a database table. Dave/Evan(damont) | Registration -- Today at 3:06 PM Reasonable first assumption. Herveus | Con Ops -- Today at 3:07 PM I have just filled out a request for two tables for my wife... 1 Dave/Evan(damont) | Registration -- Today at 3:07 PM I don't know if the "vendor" DB tables are perfectly reflected in the view I can see of the Reg database. @Dave/Evan(damont) | Registration I don't know if the "vendor" DB tables are perfectly reflected in the view I can see of the Reg database. Marilyn Mix | Website -- Today at 3:08 PM Probably not, but it may have more descriptive info. Dave/Evan(damont) | Registration -- Today at 3:08 PM For that matter I don't know if the tables are even in the same DB. [3:09 PM] Anyway, I might be able to help out some this week, but not today. This past month has been a hot mess and the coming month doesn't look any neater yet. Marilyn Mix | Website -- Today at 3:10 PM The whole Chessiecon IT setup needs to be documented. 2 1 1 [3:11 PM] We have many single point failures in IT and on the committee. Poryshkin | Con Chair -- Today at 3:11 PM Yes, well, that's a large feature of having a small committee. Marilyn Mix | Website -- Today at 3:11 PM Hopefully when we switch to the BSFS server the IT things will be clearer. Dave/Evan(damont) | Registration -- Today at 3:12 PM "Bus numbers" of one are never a good thing. Marilyn Mix | Website -- Today at 3:13 PM I made a hand-over document for Programming, and I'm keeping one for the website. [3:13 PM] At least every department head should have one so it is easier to do the "brain dump" and hand-over if necessary due to illness, etc. 2 [3:15 PM] So, do we want the Chessiecon committee to be larger? If so, how do we do that? [3:15 PM] Topic for the next meeting. Poryshkin | Con Chair -- Today at 3:16 PM Yes, but that's a matter of getting people to step up. Marilyn Mix | Website -- Today at 3:16 PM It's a matter of recruiting and retention and mentorship. Herveus | Con Ops -- Today at 3:16 PM I've made a note on the draft agenda for next month. [3:17 PM] I only have ConOps left on this month's agenda. I need to get with Poryshkin to understand what I've signed up for more better. But not here and now. [3:18 PM] And with that, I think a motion to adjourn would be in order... Poryshkin | Con Chair -- Today at 3:18 PM second Marilyn Mix | Website -- Today at 3:18 PM So moved Herveus | Con Ops -- Today at 3:18 PM all in favor harumph Poryshkin | Con Chair -- Today at 3:18 PM harumph DrGandalf -- Today at 3:18 PM Harumph. and Harumph again Yakira - Volunteers and Vendors -- Today at 3:19 PM harumph Marilyn Mix | Website -- Today at 3:19 PM harumphi, harumpha, harumphos Keith Lynch -- Today at 3:19 PM As before, I can email a transcript of this, or any previous Discord TSFS meeting, to anyone who wants it. Include your email address unless you're sure I have it. 2 Herveus | Con Ops -- Today at 3:19 PM Thank you for coming out today. I get to drive up to Frederick to have dinner with friends from Arizona. Yay! 2 4 [3:20 PM] I've already set up a channel for next month's meeting. It is not wrong to drop notes in there in advance. DrGandalf -- Today at 3:21 PM And so, our hero Chessie swims off into the sunset Yakira - Volunteers and Vendors -- Today at 3:21 PM and I'm getting ready for my third meeting of the day, BSFS board 2 DrGandalf -- Today at 3:21 PM See you there, Yakira 1 1 Dave/Evan(damont) | Registration -- Today at 3:22 PM Talk to you all later! (My bladder interrupted at a most inconvenient time, I see)(edited) DrGandalf -- Today at 3:22 PM Gladder now that your bladder is flatter? Dave/Evan(damont) | Registration -- Today at 3:23 PM You could say that. DrGandalf -- Today at 3:23 PM Time for a snack before BSFS meeting. Later all Dave/Evan(damont) | Registration -- Today at 3:23 PM @Keith Lynch -- yes I would like a transcript sent to me please. I believe you have my email