Theming

Basic Department Description

• The primary purpose of theming is to handle all "Set-dressing” related needs; Physical props, decorations, signage and more,
• Theming staff will need good "transformative” art skills; The ability to turn one object into another with a coat of paint or applique construction. Basic carpentry skills are an asset, sewing skills/equipment fit well, and painterly talents are a major plus. Other unique skills such as light DC electronics and plastic-working will definitely help!
• What is your staff email? (These are the forward facing "job” emails that get posted to the public and forward emails to your personal VF email. Your personal VF email is what you log in to and use to read and respond to emails.)

Yearly Responsibilities

• Theming staff need to communicate with all other department leads and consider all departmental proposals for theme-dressing in their respective areas, for a convention game, patron/sponsor gift or other requirements not yet met by other departments internally. All departments do have the option to coordinate their own internal affairs, but on theme matters, interdepartmental coordination is appreciated!
• Once needs are ascertained, the theming lead will triage construction needs, assign subtasks and coordinate. Not everything will be possible; Failure is always an option, but a safe fail-over is always recommended!
• Theming staff will need to coordinate through the lead to organize material purchases and if necessary, the loan or purchase of tools. These needs will have to be handled on a case by case basis, each year.
• Theming will need to coordinate with Hotel to ensure that appropriate measurements and hotel maps are available; Having this information is of absolute importance to ensure props fit appropriately into a location!
• What do you need to do during the year to function AT CON?
• How many volunteers do you need to function well AT CON? (make sure everyone has proper breaks in their at con schedule!)
• What equipment do you need to function well AT CON?
• What staff will you be working with AT CON?
• Make a note of which updates/prompts should be sent to Social Media. (Remember, they can send out notices for more volunteers, due date reminders, opening dates, etc!)

Your Department on the Website/in the Conbook

• Do you need a website/conbook page/blurb for your department/event? What information do you need on this page/blurb? Do you need to provide a layout design?
• Make sure to have someone look over the information before sending it to the respective lead.
• Send it to the respective lead.
• Make sure to test the contact page (website) that the form sends an email to you.
• Make sure that your email is listed on the contact page (website) outside of the form.
• If you have any future updates, make sure to send them to the Web Lead!
• If you spot any mistakes in your blurb for the conbook, make sure to contact them ASAP about it!

6 Months before con, what do you need to have done?

• Add in items your department should have completed by this time and items to finish ASAP.

3 Months before con, what do you need to have done?

• Do you have enough volunteers?
• Add in items your department should have completed by this time and items to finish ASAP.
• You should start building a schedule for your team. When things need to be delivered/setup, if anyone needs to be somewhere to collect theming bits, if something needs to be setup at a specific event, etc

1 Month before con, what do you need to have done?

• Send in your BEO’s to Hotel Lead. (Banquet Event/Equipment Order. This is what the hotel needs to set up for your room if applicable. Tables, chairs, etc. You also need a layout of how the room is to be put together with those items.)
• Make sure to contact Logistics to get any equipment from the VF storage locker to the hotel for your use.
• Make sure to contact IT to organize when your equipment and Tech needs can be setup in your department area.
• Send in any needed information to the Conbook for print.
• Add in anything else your department needs!

After the Convention/Before the Firing Party

• Make sure all your volunteers (and yourself) got inputted into the system for their hours.
• Update your guide with any new/relevant information/changes.
• A staff feedback survey will be emailed out and sent into the staff chats. Please fill this out ASAP!
• Make any staffing suggestions to the next years’ chair. (If you want to work again, staff who excelled and where, etc.)
• If VancouFur owes you money for department spending, PLEASE PLEASE send your reciepts to [email protected] & [email protected] and then fill out [[1]] ^[[[a]]]

Break down of contacts

• Who on staff do you need to be in contact with regularly for your department to function?
• Who is your executive contact?
• Do you have contacts outside of VF staff that you should be in contact with?

Department Inventory and Ordering Resources

• list who you have ordered products from (if any) and be sure to list price/currency/quantity and if there was a representative you were in contact with, please list their name.
• what remaining inventory you have from this year. (please also write in things you are unsure about! Just make sure it is clear that you are unsure)
• List possible ordering alternatives for future years if any.
• General feedback/tips for future staff when ordering products (sizing, how much the order vs how many expected attendees, etc)

Do's and Don'ts of the Department

• What worked well/Would suggest doing again?
• What didn't work/would suggest to avoid?
• What would you suggest to be done for the future years of your department that aren't already in motion?

Other Resources

• Add whatever extras you feel are good tips, tricks, resources, contacts, etc for the future years!
• List any other websites the dept staff may need (for example, Social Media needs a list of all the places that vancoufur has access to or an account on to run social media and who to ask for password resets for if a new person takes over the job in the future.
• Resources for how you organized your time, any apps that were helpful to you, etc.
• Advice on how to work with certain companies if they prove to be difficult. (Some companies we order from, it is best to contact a rep directly instead of doing a straight up online order. )

PLEASE REMEMBER

• Always respond to emails/contacts, even if it is just to say "I recieved your email and will get back to you soon!” / "I don't know the answer but I am looking into it for you!”
• Be sure to contact the Chairs or Admin to make sure you have access to the materials you will need for the year like your Staff Email, Access to any folders/sites with materials, etc. (Be on the lookout for invites or emails to these things and check your junk mail too!)
• Make sure you TEST your new staff email (if any) and report problems immediately to the Chairs! (if you haven't gotten any emails in a while, do another test!)
• Make sure you keep all of your information up to date with the convention staff! Contact the volunteers lead to update your information if the volunteers spreadsheet is not available for direct editing!
• Do not WAIT for someone to contact you. If you have a moment to reach out, do so! Depending on who you are working with, the communication road may not be a 2 way street and you will have to do a lot of poking. Please be proactive!
• Do not edit any staff members’ documentation without permission!
• Keep all VancouFur related documents INSIDE the VancouFur Materials folders. Keeping things on your own gdocs and not inside the VancouFur specific folders makes it incredibly difficult to find needed information for all parties without hassling a lot of staff.
• If you need to make something private in the materials folder (Googledocs or wherever it moves to in the future) Make sure that the Chairs, Admin and Executives CAN STILL SEE IT. We need to know where you are and if your files are all hidden we cannot proactively offer help, guidance, or corrections. Otherwise, just keep things public/view only to prevent people from messing with your info.

• Make sure you know who your Executive is! They are there to help you and oversee the branch of departments you are in. Contact [email protected] / [email protected] to check or check the contact page on the website! You can also use the contact sheet for the year