Day One

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A big chunk of the logistics to be done before the convention starts is just hauling stuff in to the hotel. The hotel may be willing to let you store stuff in one of the convention rooms the night before, or you can store stuff in their concierge area, or you can rent an accommodation room overnight. Snaffle a luggage trolley from the hotel for hauling stuff from cars. Also, check with the hotel to see if the local council are closing the road out front of the hotel on day 1 of your convention to turn it into a one-way street.

You'll need signage pointing the way to your registration desk. A few A4 sheets with your name preprinted and space to draw an arrow would do nicely. Hotels often have dignified-looking sign boards with your name in white movable type, but these seldom come with arrows, and so are of limited use.

You'll want to stick up copies of the program on or near the door of each con room, and at the registration desk. You may need to check with the hotel first, depending on what kind of surface you're planning to stick on.

There's substantial set-up to be done on the registration desk.

AV is a non-trivial area. Have someone allocated to the parts of it that the hotel is not responsible for. Secure speaker cables (and other cables as necessary) to the floor with gaffer tape. Use a low-tack tape if you can, to ensure that it will come up easily at the end of the convention. Check beforehand if you are going to have to secure curtains closed to prevent light shining through crack(s), and bring clothespegs etc. appropriately.

Ensure that you have float money. (WASFF can provide this for you, but floats must be booked with the bank several days in advance.) If any of your membership rates (or T-shirt prices, etc.) end in a 5, you'll have to carry $5 notes. If anything ends in numbers other than 5 and 0, you'll have to carry fiddling small change. You may need one float for the front desk, one float for the auction and one float for the art show.