Download the flyer here! (2.6MB .pdf)

Most staff will register at a ConCom meeting. For those staff who cannot attend meetings, the hiring exec will send a request to the Secretary team for that staff member to be sent a link to the Convention Master program, so that they can register.

The Secretary team owns Staff Registration. Katrina Marier will speak about the new registration process at both the exec and ConCom meetings. Cora Booth is acting as Staff Registrar. At the meetings, either Katrina or Cora are the points-of-contact for the Secretary team.

Cora will be available to guide you through the registration process, and will verify your payments in the Convention Master system. Katrina will update the Org Chart and maintain the staff Access database. At ConCom meetings, there will be someone from Registration, as well as Business, available to assist with the Registration process.

The secretary has assembled an initial org chart from information submitted by the exec team. Currently, it contains only the names and job titles for people already hired. She will fill in contact information as staff members register, based on their individual contact and privacy preferences.

Here’s how to register as staff:

1. Get hired!
2. Go to the Staff Registration Kiosk (at any ConCom meeting, or via the link emailed to you by the Secretary if you arranged to register remotely).
3. Update your record in Convention Master. (Don’t have a record? No problem! Just enter your info and create one.) Kat or Cora will be available during ConCom meetings to assist you with this part of the process.
4. Follow the instructions for payment.
   • ForPaypal, follow the prompts on the screen, and when finished, print your AUP (Acceptable Use Policy)/Receipt for your records.
   • For Cash or Checks, choose the “mail in” option. Print your AUP and give it to the Business Department person there at the kiosk with your payment.
   • Lifetime Members have the option of choosing a $0.00 payment. You don’t need to do anything else.
   • If you are, or anticipate being a Pro this year, we are still working on the process. Select the “mail-in” option, print out the AUP, and check with the Business Department person for the next step.
5. Thanks for Registering! Here’s what happens next:

We will verify that you have paid (either from the Paypal report or the cash/check receipts from the Business Department), update Convention Master to show your payment, and update your information in the staff database. The secretary will add you to the Org Chart, and the contact information you have chosen to share with the rest of the concom will appear there.

Additional Information

There will be signs posted to help people go through the registration process. The staff registrar (and all others directly involved with this process) will have an expanded copy (including all opt-in questions) of this checklist to ensure accuracy.

The biggest change for this year is that we are not requiring the half page staff registration forms signed by the execs. The forms were a security gateway to prevent fraud; but since most staff sign up at meetings, we can nip any potential problems in the bud. We trust our staff.

For those staff who cannot attend meetings, the hiring exec will send a request to the Secretary team for that staff member to be sent a link to the Convention Master program, so that they can register.

If a request is received from someone who isn’t an exec, we will ask questions of the appropriate exec or the team as a whole to clarify that person’s position.

We will not be saving staff AUPs or receipts. The AUPs can easily be reprinted as we get closer to the convention. The check/cash receipts are already in triplicate so we will have a copy should need arise.

For the opt-in questions (voting, name in program book, etc.), we have requested that the Convention Master program be set so you cannot leave these questions unanswered. Since that change may not occur prior to the first meeting, the registrar checklist has all of these questions listed, and Cora will check to make certain staff answer them. On the off chance that someone fails to answer them, we will assume that leaving these questions blank means NO.

• The ribbon order must be turned in to the chair by your exec by the end of the meeting on December 14th, 2013.
• The purpose of the ribbons is to let convention attendees know where you work and that you can help them. No personal ribbons may be ordered with the Norwescon order. Feel free to ask your exec if you need ideas for where to order your personal ribbons.
• Please try to reduce the number and quantities of ribbons that you order, as we spend a great deal of money on them. To that end:
  • All swag ribbons for Norwescon must be approved by the chair.
  • Please check your exec’s leftover ribbon list and decide if you need to order more, or if you have enough to skip an order this year.

How to Order the Ribbons

• Please work with your exec to decide if your department needs a ribbon and what it should say. Make sure to indicate your desired ribbon and ink colors.
• If you are making a new ribbon, please send a copy of the font in with the ribbon order.
• If you are reordering a ribbon, do not specify or change the font, as changing fonts requires Norwescon to pay for a new plate.

Thank you!

• You must register and pay in full by December 14th at midnight in order to receive a staff t-shirt.
• You have the option to pick a size S-5 XL, or opt out if you don’t want a t-shirt.
• We will be voting on the color of the t-shirts at the November ConCom meeting.
• We will have them for pickup at the last meeting before the convention.
• They will be available for pickup in the Con Office at the convention.
• Please only pickup your own t-shirts! This is important as we had people get other people’s t-shirts and not turn them over in a timely fashion.
• If you must have someone else pick up your staff t-shirt, you MUST send an email to chair@norwescon.org, or give the person picking up your t-shirt a note saying they are allowed to pick it up.
• Remember, the t-shirts cost money, so if you don’t want one, check no on your staff registration, or update your preferences to indicate you don’t want one.

Extra Staff T-Shirts

• I will have order forms at the November and December ConCom meetings.
• The deadline for ordering extra staff t-shirts is December 14th, 2013 at the end of the meeting.
• They will be $10.00 each.
• They must be paid for at the time the form is turned in.
• We will only take cash and checks.
• These staff t-shirts are only for Norwescon staff who have qualified for the free t-shirt.

Norwescon agendas, meeting minutes, policies, and the current organizational chart are all available through Google Drive.

Each month meeting notices are emailed out. One notice is sent only to convention committee staff. In this meeting notice there are links to the current agenda, last month’s meeting minutes (once approved), the current organizational chart, policies, and any other necessary documents.

Documentation Links (Where do I go to get the agenda?)

Bookmark and save those links! They are your passport to Norwescon documents and are good for the entire convention planning year.

Each link will send you to a Google document, which is labeled with the convention planning year and type of document. Example: NWC37_OrgChart.pdf

Click on the link and you will see the current version of the org chart (or other document).

Version Control (I need to see last month’s ConCom agenda ASAP!)

What if you want to check on a previous version of the org chart or a meeting agenda from two months ago? It’s easy! Open “View Revisions” under the File menu and select the version with a date closest to the meeting date or time period you are looking for. You will be prompted to save the file, or the file will be saved to your computer. Open it and you will see the version of the file you need.

Meeting minutes and agendas are all labeled with the month in question. Each version of the org chart is labeled DRAFT plus the month/date/year it was created.

Personal Copies (I want to keep copies on my own computer)

All Norwescon documents are PDFs and can be downloaded but not altered. You are welcome to download a copy to your computer for personal use, too.

Please do not make copies and distribute them in any way, as there is personal information about staff in many of the documents. Please respect right to privacy of our staff and refrain from giving out the documents without consent.

Public vs. Private

Unlike other documents, Norwescon’s policies are available to everyone, including the general public. While the link makes it easier to find our policies, they are also easy to find via a search engine or the Norwescon website. On the opposite end of security is the org chart. Not only must you have the link from the Norwescon meeting notice, you also must have joined the Norwescon ConCom Google group in order to access the org chart. Norwescon makes every effort to safeguard the privacy of our staff and prevent personal information being distributed without consent. Meeting minutes, agendas, and other documents fall somewhere in the middle. For example, you must have the link to the agenda to access it.

FAQ

Q. Do I have to have a Gmail account?
A. You DO NOT need a Gmail account to access Norwescon Google documents. You can access Norwescon Google documents with any email address, regardless of provider.

Q. Why can’t I access the org chart?
A. You join the Norwescon ConCom mailing list in order to access the org chart.

Q. I’d like to be able to look at the files when I don’t have internet. Is that possible?
A. You can save a copy for your personal use.

Q. I need to see a really old document. How can I get it?
A. If you need access to a document from a prior year, please email the Secretary team at secretary@norwescon.org. Please try to include the type of document and convention year as this will help narrow the search. We will do our best to accommodate you!

We have had several ConCom members sign up with their employers for this type of employer matching program. As a result, in the last fiscal year, we received approximately $2,000 in employer matching funds. This amount could pay for Green Room supplies or it could cover almost all of the Special Events budget.

If you would like to learn if your employer has a matching program, the process is simple: Contact your human resources representative and, if this is a benefit that your employer offers, they will be able to start the process on your end. During this process, they will ask for contact information for the organization. Please give them the Norwescon business email address: business@norwescon.org. If this benefit is something that you are able to access, thank you for thinking of donating your hours to us.

If this benefit is not something that your employer offers, don’t worry. We still love you and value your volunteer contributions as well.

¹ Unfortunately, our mission is not to explore strange new worlds. It is slightly more earthy and achievable. Our mission, slightly edited, is to promote science fiction, fantasy, and science through the written word, art, and educational programs. We accomplish this goal by holding a yearly convention.

1. May Norwescon publish your contact information in the org chart?
2. May Norwescon publish your name in the program book?

But what do these questions MEAN?

What is the organizational chart?

Norwescon’s organizational chart (org chart) lists all departments, all positions within those departments, and all people in those positions and contact information for them.

Who is it intended for?

The org chart is ONLY for current Norwescon staff. Only staff who have registered (or who are going through the registration process) and have been added to Norwescon’s ConCom Google Group have access to this document.

Where can I get a copy?

Again, registered staff who are members of Norwescon’s ConCom Google Group have access to the most current electronic copy. Paper copies are available at ConCom meetings.

Why are the privacy controls on the chart so strict?

The org chart is kept private because there is personal contact information on it and many staff DO NOT want their information available to the public. That is why Norwescon asks its staff to save a copy for personal use, but not to distribute the org chart or make it public in any way.

If you answer “NO” to Question #1 mentioned above, your contact information will not be listed on the org chart. If other staff members need to contact you, they will be unable to do so directly.

If I choose not to have my contact info listed, how can people get in touch with me?

If people need to get in touch with you, they will go to your exec first, and then the secretary. Some departments have email aliases as well, which will allow you to contact a staff person without their personal email address.

What if I want my email listed but not my phone number (or vice versa)?

Please contact the secretary at secretary@norwescon.org with your specific request.

How to Read the Org Chart

The org chart is organized by department as listed below:

Chair

Vice Chair

Secretary

Business

Member Services

Publications

Convention Services

Programming
Personnel

Special Events

Each department lists their positions, then the names of those currently in the position, their status, email, and phone number.

What DOES the Pd column mean?

“.” indicates staff who have been hired but have not yet completed the registration process. You will see the person’s name but no contact info. Until the Secretary has permission to publish contact info on the org chart, it cannot be included.

“$” means the staff person has registered as staff AND paid.

“L” means the staff person is a Lifetime Member of Norwescon. They have registered as staff, and do not need to submit payment.

A “P” means the staff person is also a Pro. They have registered as staff, and do not need to submit payment.

Now what about the Program Book?

Norwescon publishes a staff list and staff photo every year in the Program Book. If you answer “NO” to Question #2, your name will not be included in the staff list.

It is then your choice as to whether you opt in or out of the staff photo (which is generally taken at the December ConCom meeting).