Party Ambassador

Basic Department Description

Work with the hotel department to assign rooms to attendees intending to hold room gatherings and parties that may cause noise complaints under normal bookings
A strong social background with party holders and knowledge of the hotel helps with this position
Email: You have no official “party ambassador” email, however you will get a VancouFur.org email to use. Make sure you consult your executive or chair for this email.

Yearly Responsibilities

Create a social presence (in person and online) for parties at VancouFur and encourage communication and participation from local party hosts
Assign a party block within the hotel of a particular size. For 2017, we had 18 rooms assigned: 201 through 218 in the Courtyard section, all Junior Suites
Create a form for Party Block Applications that is posted on the website and gives you results within Google Drive (or similar)
Monitor applications, discuss with applicants, assign rooms according to wishes
Maintain a buffer zone of rooms with staff or willing attendees to be a noise buffer from regular rooms or outside guests
Order and supply “Party Assistance Kits” to party rooms (see below)
Monitor parties during con and ensure nobody dies
Host a Party Block Meeting on Friday and Saturday to discuss concerns from party block hosts and staff
Discuss rules with Rangers/Security to ensure the party block is following along with convention rules and guidelines

Your Department on the Website/in the Conbook

Ensure a party block entry is specified on the hotel page, and describe it loosely as a place where social gatherings and parties will be permitted to be noisier than normal rooms
Create a link to a google apps form or similar to take in applications
If possible, make (or consult programming/map maker if applicable) for a map detailing where in the hotel the party block will be, and a layout map or video overview of the inside of the rooms that are being assigned

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

Work with the hotel reservation agent (should be a single person at the hotel) and ensure a block of rooms is assigned for the party block. Put these under VancouFur’s name so that no other guests can accidentally be assigned to the rooms by other hotel staff.
Ensure the form is up on the site, and talk to party hosts you know in the area in person and on social media about the party block to encourage them to apply
Work with the programming team to ensure you have Party Block meetings Fri/Sat/Sun of the con, setup in the schedule.

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

Begin assigning rooms to applicants in a spreadsheet the hotel team shares
Continue talking in person and online to potential party hosts so they all get a chance to book a party room

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

Send your list of guests for the party block rooms to the hotel reservation agent so they can begin getting credit card details or transferring existing room reservations
Begin communicating with party hosts about your ability to help with themed parties and social media announcements
Add a Party list to the website hotel section to announce themed parties, plus room numbers (ensure this is kept up to date, or do not put hotel room numbers on there!)
Confirm with the programming team that your party meetings are indeed on the schedule.

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

Finalized room assignments and ensured at least one buffer room for the odd and even sides of the block (ideally 2 on each side for a total of 4)
Deal with last minute cancellations (there will definitely be some) and reassign so no outside non-party people are between party rooms.
Purchase Party Assistance Kits and prepare them for delivery to the con for assembly at con, or before, depending on logistics

On con setup day, what do you need to have done?

Assembled party assistance kits and Party briefing letter and delivered to the hotel front desk for them to give to guests of the party block as they check in, or delivered to rooms already checked in

Party Assistance Kit contents

2 rolls of paper towels (costco sells individually wrapped rolls in bulk)
5 kitchen size garbage bags (plus one to store all listed items)
Red solo type cups (costco sells in large quantity for a good price)
Goodies like chocolates, Kinder eggs, and energy drinks

After the Convention/Before the Firing Party

Email [email protected] & [email protected] and then fill out the budget submission form (if applicable) with your costs for the party assistance kits or any other static expenses (make sure you keep all receipts!)

Break down of contacts

Maintain contact with the hotel team and the social media lead
Discuss items with the Ranger/Security lead daily or as needed before and during con

Department Inventory and Ordering Resources

Party assistance kits - Costco (hands down, best place for this)

Do's and Don'ts of the Department

Do encourage party themes! Attendees loves themes and remember the parties that use them
Do create a buffer zone between party rooms and regular rooms!
Do try to keep the party block balconies and joined rooms to people who will use them!
Do speak to hotel about smoking areas and access after 10pm (an issue in 2017)
Do attempt to have the stairway unlocked or provide a key monkey during peak hours
Do check in with the party hosts regularly for things like garbage bags and other needs
Do encourage doors to be closed and music turned down after a set time (3am in 2017)
DO NOT allow the hotel to assign the party rooms themselves!
DO NOT forget that if each day is not booked for a party room, there will likely be outsiders in the area! Remind party hosts of this & plan room assignments accordingly.

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