Our Program Guide & Its Inevitable First Update

With JOFCon starting tomorrow, we have The JOFCon MSP 2015 Program Guide.

Of course, given that no battle plans survive first contact with the enemy, we do have one exciting addition! We've added a program item at 3 pm on Friday! Jessica Jutz from the City of Bloomington Health Department will be presenting to us on "How to neither kill your guests in the ConSuite, nor make them wish they were dead."

Our Schedule!

Here is our schedule! We aren't listing participants here, and by the nature of the con I expect people in the audience will get drafted! Note that even when we don't have panels we will have open discussions!

Friday
-4 pm- 5 pm- Opening Ceremonies

5 pm -7 p.m.- Dinner.  “No One Eats Alone.”

7 pm- 8 pm- Getting To Know You.

8 pm-9 pm- Disability Access.

9 pm-10 pm- Code of Conduct Violations:  Pros & GoHs.  How does a con that has invited a guest deal with guests public behavior after an invitation has been extended and accepted.  Does the Con-running community play a role in informing
publishing houses about unacceptable behavior on the part of its writers?  How to avoid a “situation” and have a policy in place to deal with it if it happens anyway.  Missing stair problems (Geek social fallacy).

Saturday

10 am-11 am – The Future of Fan-run conventions.  Fandom is becoming more profitable, and big commercial cons are getting more and more popular. Amidst this landscape of for-profit/ticket-based/company-run cons, how do fan-run/non-profit/membership-based cons maintain their niche?

11 am- noon- The Rise of Professional Cons: Even without competition from for-profit cons, more of us are feeling pressure to have our own legal departments, complex insurance and other expensive but increasingly necessary services. Where should the boundary between fannish fun and full-featured competence be?

Noon- 1 pm- Lunch

1 pm-2 pm- How To Corporately/Organizationally Apologize: “Mistakes Were Made.” Whose job is it to apologize when?

2 pm- 3 pm - How To Deal With Management/Ethical Problems when You’re Not The Boss- Determining Your Limits, Understanding Your Organizational Structure and Your Options For Redress When Senior Staff Are Problematic.

3 pm- 4 pm- Promotions and networking: What are better ways to build networks between different conventions and individuals? Are there better ways than fan tables, or what if fan tables aren’t possible due to space or people limitations?

4 pm- 5 pm- 101, 201, 301- Keeping programming fresh when it’s natural to address certain topics several (many) years running.
5 pm- 7 pm- Dinner

7 pm- 8 pm- Convention running in Europe

8 pm-9 pm- “But That’s Another Panel”- extemporaneous panel, topic to be chosen from list of topics suggested throughout previous programming.

9 pm- 10 pm- “No S*it, There We Were”- Convention running horror stories/ghost stories.  S’mores provided.

Sunday

10 am- 11 am- E Pluribus Hugo: explanation of how the EPH resolution was constructed and how the math works.

11 am- noon- Crowd Control & Line Management

Noon- 1 pm- Lunch

1 pm- 2 pm- Dealing with Disasters:  What do you do when the con starts falling down around your ears? Norovirus, big harassment cases, GOH fail, Registration system failures: how can a concom work together to solve sudden problems?

1 pm- 2 pm- Nature Walk- Theodore Wirth Park-

2 pm -  3 pm- Closing Ceremonies

Unofficial Events:

MnStf Board Meeting – 7 pm Friday, Room of Requirement
CONvergence Programming Brainstorming- 10 am- 1 am Sunday- Room of Requirement

From MSP to JOFCon - Transportation!

We've got some information about how to best get to the hotel if you are flying into MSP.

Minneapolis/St. Paul International Airport (Airport code: MSP)
4300 Glumack Drive, Saint Paul, MN 55111

• The airport is 16 miles from St. Louis Park and the host hotel. 
•  For flights & more information: www.mspairport.com

Host hotel: DoubleTree by Hilton Minneapolis-Park Place, St. Louis Park, Minnesota
1500 Park Place Boulevard, St. Louis Park, MN 55416 (952) 542-8600
Website: doubletree3.hilton.com
Note: There are multiple DoubleTrees in the Twin Cities area.  The one you want is the one in St Louis Park.

Transportation from the airport to St. Louis Park:
OPTION 1:
Ride the light rail directly from the airport to downtown Minneapolis, then take a cab three miles to the DoubleTree by Hilton Minneapolis- Park Place Hotel.
OPTION 2:
Take a cab from the airport directly to the DoubleTree by Hilton Minneapolis-Park Place hotel in St. Louis Park, 16 miles from the airport.

Metro Transit/Blue Line:

• Can get on directly from both airport terminals
• Can take the light rail into Minneapolis which is three miles from the host hotel
• Once you are in Minneapolis, taxi service (on-time taxi service information below) will get your directly to the host hotel, which is three miles from downtown Minneapolis.
• See website for exact drop-off locations and fares: www.metrotransit.org/metro-blue-line

On Time Taxi Service:(952) 388-9950
Main contact at On Time Taxi: Abdy

• On Time Taxi is the preferred taxi service for DoubleTree hotel 
• Airport drop-off & pick-up
• Reservations available
• Fares similar to most taxi services
• Takes American Express, Visa, Discover & MasterCard
• 24/7 service
• Town cars and 6-person SUV’s 

We're also encouraging people to communicate their arrival times via the Facebook Event as there may be others willing to provide transport from the airport.

CONvergence Programming Brainstorming session at JOFCon

As part of our partnership with CONvergence JOFCon is having a CONvergence Programming Brainstorming Session during JOFCon on Sunday, October 11th running between 10:00 AM and going until 1:00 PM. We have currently scheduled this to take place in the Courtyard Ballroom Room 3, but this is subject to change.  JOFCon is at the DoubleTree Park Place in St Louis Park.

This meeting will be open to anyone interested that is a member of the CONvergence community, but you can access the JOFCon consuite and attend the rest of the convention for the day if you get a day membership for $25.    JOFCon Memberships are available here.

Day Memberships for JOFCon!

Life is busy.

We tried hard to avoid conflicts, but still, and inevitably conflicts exist.  Maybe it is MCBA Fallcon (which we tried, but failed, to avoid).  Maybe it is NerdCon (which I'm sure didn't know about us, and we didn't know about them, before they rolled into town).  Maybe you can't commit to a full weekend the first weekend after Renaissance Festival.

While CONvergence is scheduling one of its programming brainstorming sessions during JOFCon, we also plan to have CONvergence programming brainstorming AT JOFCon so you don't have to worry about that conflict...

But given all that, we are going to offer a number of Day Memberships for JOFCon at $25 a day.  You can find them on our Registration Page.  While we hope you can join us for the whole weekend, we understand if you can't!

Don't forget to get a JOFCon hotel room!

A friendly reminder about getting a hotel room for JOFCon next month.

You can reserve a room before September 18th on the website: http://doubletree.hilton.com/en/dt/groups/personalized/M/MSPPHDT-JOM-20151009/index.jhtml Room rates are $105

We do have suites on reserve, right above the consuite and main programming room.  I'm going to be letting those go soon, but they are available for parties or other socializing. Suites are $145  If you are interested, make a regular room reservation and let Michael Lee know so he can transfer them.

The Final Push Before the Convention

We are having two remaining planning meetings before this falls JOFCon.

We're planning for one on Saturday, September 12th at 2:00 pm. And the last one September 27th at 2:00 pm Central.  These are both currently being planned at Michael Lee & Alicia LaMunion's house, and if you need address information please contact me.  We will likely also set up a Google Hangout for remote participation.

JOFCon June Electronic Meeting - June 1st, 7:00 PM Central

The next JOFCon Minneapolis 2015 meeting will be online, either with Google Hangout or Skype given the number of members and preferences of attendees.   The meeting will be at 7:00 PM Central.

The focus of this meeting will be around programming, but we'll talk about anything else as well related to the con.

You can sign up for the meeting on Facebook here: https://www.facebook.com/events/884077248319836/

If you aren't on Facebook, please contact me (michaell @ michaell.org ) to get updates on this meeting (and other bits of organizational planning) you can also join our group here: https://groups.google.com/d/forum/mspjofcon.

March Update

Hi!

Plans are moving ahead for this year's JOFCon.

We are having an organizational meeting this Sunday, March 15th in the Minneapolis area.  If you're interested in attending, please contact me so I can share address information.  We're also looking at remote/online participation options.

Things are pretty quiet on a number of fronts, as we're still a few months until pre-registration cut off and people register for hotel rooms.  We're excited that we've had people sign up to fill out our committee, the feedback we received at Marscon last weekend, and Minicon coming up soon.

Donated memberships available through con-or-bust

We've donated two memberships to con-or-bust for fans-of-color to encourage racial and ethnic diversity in convention running.  We encourage you to apply if you're eligible.

Help Wanted!

We had one of our first organizational meetings earlier this month in Minneapolis, and as a result of that meeting I've created a list of our Convention Committee and available job descriptions.

If you're interested in helping, please get a hold of me.  Almost every position will need multiple volunteers, and there are positions that will be good for both for people based in the Twin Cities area as well as for people that are coming from out of town.  The convention committee list will also give you a good idea of some of the things that we have planned for the convention.

Thanks to all of you for your support!

Michael Lee
Chair, JOFCon Minneapolis 2015

Things to look forward to in 2015

The Minneapolis Star-Tribune has listed JOFCon as a thing to look forward to in 2015.

Supporting Organizations

The Minneapolis JOFCon is very thankful for the support of a number of organizations both locally and from around the world for their support of JOFCon.

We have posted our current list of Supporting Organizations.  These are organizations that have offered their advice and support in a variety of fashions.  We're always looking for additional supporters, so please contact us if you are interested in supporting our event.

Upcoming JOFCon Organizational Meeting - January 13, 2015 7:00 PM

JOFCon MSP is going to have an organizational meeting on Tuesday, January 13th 2015 at 7:00 PM. It will take place in the Geek Partnership Society offices at 1121 Jackson St NE, Minneapolis, Minnesota 55413 in room 106A. Parking lot is on the east side of the Waterbury Building, enter door 1121C.  At this meeting we'll discuss our current plans and look for additional volunteers to help us as 2015 goes forward. We have also posted this event to Facebook

Hotel Reservations Available

JOFCon's hotel reservation site is now available.

Rooms will run for $105 a night and suites will be available for $145. If you are interested in a suite (for a room party, or perhaps for small group meetings) please contact Michael Lee.

Full hotel information is available at http://jofconmsp2015.blogspot.com/p/hotel.html.

Hotel Announced

JOFCon Minneapolis 2015 will take place at the DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Minneapolis - Park Place at 1500 Park Place Blvd, Minneapolis, Minnesota, 55416. This hotel has held a number of Twin Cities genre conventions over the years, including this year's BritCon and this year's Fourth Street Fantasy Convention. Within walking distance are several restaurants, a movie theater, a Costco, and a grocery store. We'll have information about how to make your reservation in the coming weeks. Rooms will run for $105 a night and suites will be available for $145. For the most up-to-date information about our hotel, check our hotel page.

Really Early Registrations available!

We've started to collect memberships for next year's JOFCon.

You can register at http://jofconmsp2015.eventbrite.com.  There are a limited supply of Really Early Registrations available (at the time of writing only twelve left!), and that rate will last until either those twelve are gone or we announce a hotel (which will be soon!)

An Introduction

I am planning the second JOFCon to take place in suburban Minneapolis on October 9-11 2015.

JOFs are Journeymen of Fandom, including Journeywomen, Journeypersons, Journeybots, Journeyfolk, Journeyfen, Journeyworkers, & Journeyplatypi. 

All are welcome, so long as they’re interested in learning more about fanac (“fannish activities”). We believe everyone has something to learn, and something to teach.

More generally about JOFs:

We have an active Facebook Group for JOFs, which anyone can join.

The general tone we like to take as a group is as follows.

Please try to remember that your way is not the only way. There are a vast number of solutions to just about any problem a con needs to solve, and it’s likely been done many ways in the past. Do not mistake your experiences for the One True Fannish Way.

Please treat each other like adults. Don’t talk down to others, badger them, or personally attack them.

We have a facebook event set up, and I'm using that for some initial planning around room blocks & the like.

Here are some basic FAQs so far:

What are your dates?

October 9, 2015 - October 11, 2015

Do you have a hotel?

We are almost ready to sign with a hotel in the Twin Cities metro area.  We will have more information about the hotel after the contract is confirmed. Room rates are yet to be announced, but should be in the $100-$110 range. 

What will programming be like?

JOFCon will have a single track of programming.  We will have a hospitality suite as well for breakout discussion. There may be other activities going on at the convention as well. We expect a mix of pre-planned items as well as items chosen by the membership in an open programming plan format.  

What types of conventions will be covered?

Any type of "geeky" convention will be welcome: Science Fiction and Fantasy conventions of any range of literary and media, Anime conventions, comic conventions, furry convention, horror conventions, and if you feel like you fit at all in that area, you are welcome.  We will discuss issues related both to locally fixed conventions and travelling conventions.

Why did you pick that date?

We wanted to minimize conflicts, especially locally.  We wanted to avoid the spring or summer because Marscon, Minicon, Anime Detour, and CONvergence all take place and are organizationally busy during that time. The first weekend of October is traditionally the MCBA Fall Comics Convention, and the third weekend is Anime Fusion. At the time of date selection, there is no MNSTF Fallcon in place, and I intend to work with MNSTF to avoid any conflict.

When can I register?

It is my intention to have registration set up VERY VERY soon. We're still finalizing budgeting, but we are aiming for memberships in the $40-$60 range.

I work with another convention or fannish organization.  Can we sponsor something at JOFCon?
Absolutely yes! Please contact Michael!

Do you need more help?

Absolutely!!!!!!  We will be having organizational meetings in the coming weeks to build out the committee for the convention. Please contact Michael for that info.