"Thank You Historicon Volunteers!" Topic

While standing in the registration line at Historicon I noticed that staff seemed to be having trouble with the computers, the line was barely moving, and friends told me about lost pre-registrations and lost game submissions.

And then I noticed that I was standing in the registration line and would eventually get my pass and zip to Wally's Basement, the dealer area, and the exhibit hall to buy toys and play games. Meanwhile the volunteer staff would still be in the registration area doing the grunt work needed for the rest of us to have fun.

I've had my share of frustrations with HMGS cons but remain eternally grateful to the many volunteers with whom our convnetion fun would not be possible!

So, thank you Historicon volunteers for spending so much of your time and effort so the rest of us can have fun. Thank you for arranging the venue, coordinating vendors, scheduling events, managing the flea market, handling game sign ups, etc., etc., etc. Sometimes I feel like you're too ambitious in your efforts and create headaches for yourselves by aiming a little too high. But I truly appreciate what you do.

We should all remember that while we're bent over a table rolling dice and killing lead figures there are volunteers who are still back at that registration table doing some pretty mundane clerical work. If you think that a long and slow registration line is boring just remember that the guy or gal on the other side of the desk will be there after YOU leave! :-)

To Brenda and the reg crew, I know them all because I help out during CW and Fall In, THANKS! You got me and my GF squared away with no muss and no fuss (and we got there after hours). Well done to you all!

To Bill Rutherford: Thanks for getting my game's location squared away and making things as smooth as you could on your end.

I'd like to also say thanks to the volunteers as well. Many of them are gamers who take time away from running and playing games for the largely thankless job of making the convention go.

Buck Surdu

As one of the volunteers, and my wife being another, we both appreciate your positive comments. I work all morning to early afternoon so that I can run games in the afternoon and evenings, so I don't get much chance to see the other games and I never get to actually sit back and roll dice to play. We also have a 12 hour drive one way…so you are most welcome!! Hope to see everyone again next year.
Regards,
Hitman

+1 to the above comments.

We should also thank the GMs (like Col. Buck above) and the Clubs (like his HAWKs) who put on the games we enjoyed this past weekend. Without them, the convention would just be a shopping trip, and a poorly attended one at that.

Not to start (another) sectional fight, but in case you don't know it already, many GMs spend more hours a day hosting events than HMGS convention staff do in performing their respective duties, all without the benefits received by convention staff. Running events, plus a little shopping for reinforcements for the next game, is all some GMs do all weekend. (I've seen plenty of GMs even eat at their tables between games.) Plus, those figures didn't paint themselves. Literally thousands of hours of effort went into putting on the games we enjoyed last weekend, all before anybody got in their car to go to the convention.

Reminds me of that old saying, "if you like your freedom, thank a veteran." Well, if you enjoyed your convention, thank a game master.

So here's my thanks to the GMs for a great weekend.

Hope to see you at Fall In.

I agree that GMs deserve all the thanks we can give them, but please don't over-generalize with regard to how many hours Convention Staffers put in. The Flea Market staff, for example, remains on duty virtually the entire time it is open, plus more time is put in setting up and cleaning up. (And we're not the only ones who stay on duty most of each day.)

So long as we all do our share, plus a little bit more (as my 6th grade teacher used to say), an HMGS convention will remain a great experience. And for what it's worth, I was discussing the differences between American conventions and those in the UK with a couple of Brits during one of the FM sessions. They were dazzled by almost everything they saw, and said those who put on games, the FM, etc., in the UK could learn a lot from us!

Chris Johnson

Well, Thank you for the GM comments. Our team ran 9 games throughout the weekend and met a lot of great gamer's that left their email addresses.

I do need to thank the Registration Staff at Historicon for all their help with all our pre-reg badges. I was in and out of line Thursday morning in about 3 min with correct Badge, Booklet and Figure.

I also need to Thank Joe Swartz (Deputy CD operations) Joe was there at 11:00 PM when I got there Wednesday evening to allow us to unpack our stuff in the Club Lockup. He was there again around 7:30 AM to let us back in for set up the next morning. This process continued throughout the weekend.

Thank you for making this a great show for us. Hope to see everyone at Fall-In.

Not an over-generalization at all, Bumbydad.

Most games run 4 hours, plus or minus an hour or so for set up and take down. That's 5-6 hours a day right there.

Many GMs run "doubleheader" games: one session starts in the late morning; another one in the early evening, with a short break in between. Once you factor in set up and take down, you have a 10-12 hour day. Some GMs do that everyday of the convention and, no, they're not trying to sell anything.

I'm sure someone at HMGS will correct me if I am wrong, but those numbers above are beyond the daily requirements for a share of a staff room, plus whatever other benefits a convention director deems appropriate for his staff members.

I know one club where one of the leading GMs couldn't make it this weekend due to an unexpected situation coming up at the last minute. He was scheduled to run four 4 hour games. Rather than cancel those events (all of which were filled with pre-registered players), other GMs (one in particular) in the group picked up those games in addition to their own previously scheduled events.

Like I said above, I wasn't looking for a fight with anyone (even though I suspected I might get one). Convention directors and staff members (past and present), many of whom I have known for decades, do a great job, including those in the flea market where I have been a buyer and seller for years. (FYI, I once worked as a staff member at an HMGS convention years ago after being asked to do so, but after that convention I concluded my contribution was more valuable (and enjoyable) as a GM.) But if we did a bar graph or a pie chart of all the hours that went into a convention put in by various groups, I suspect the GMs would win in a landslide.

My thanks, Bumbydad, to you and your fellow workers for a well run flea market. I was there as a seller for more than one session. Check in was especially efficient this time around.

Hope to see you at Fall In.

I too respectfully tip my hat to the convention volunteers. It's not just the work and effort they put in, but the sacrifices they make in limiting their own gaming opportunities. Unselfish people.

I plan to randomly hand out a few unsolicited cold beers to some of these folks next year.

B

Yes, great job to the volunteers who move things along. I really only deal with the people in the Dealer Hall but they are always on top of stuff and keep things running so smoothly that you don't even need them during the show most of the time.

By that I mean that they have done all the work so that during the actual time you are there you don't have to call them over about problems.

I would like to add the Hobby University staff to the list to thank. My son was attending his first con. He decided he wanted to attend the Reaper conversion class. Cheryl Storm was running the class. We were 5 minutes late getting there but she welcomed him into the class. He had a great time. So good that he went back to see if there was room Friday and there was so he took the class 2 more times. Cheryl made his day by taking pictures of the two models he made the last time and praising his work. She definitely went above and beyond in her efforts. I went to Reaper's website to try to find contact information to thank them but couldn't find any way to do that. Reaper provided the minis and Cheryl's time for this event. It was my son's favorite part of the convention. We had a great convention that couldn't have occurred without all of the volunteers.

John

+1000 to the thanks to all those that make the con happen, be that volunteers or GM's. I had an excellent time and one of the best so far.

Still travelling at moment hope to post a report with some photos in August when I return home.

I offer my thanks to all that gave up some of their time to volunteer to make this convention happen. It is easy to criticize the things that went "wrong", but these are volunteers doing their best. In the end, the convention was successful.

So, thanks for your valuable time..