Workers for SFWA®'s Table in the Dealer Room at Denvention3

Objectives:

1. Give SFWA® a positive public face — that's priceless
2. Push the goods, just like any mall retailer — that makes a real difference in sales
3. Stay alert — eyes everywhere because all sorts of other things will be happening while the other "Thing" is closing a sale

05 August 2008, Tuesday

The day before the con opens, set up table. Current Table "Czar" & selected members of local crew "get dealer's room badges which will get you through security. You show up at the loading dock with all the boxes of stuff you want brought in. In my experience these are always unionized, so you have to wait for someone to officially pick up your pallet and drive it to your table. Setting up the table should take maybe 30 minutes. It never does. It takes hours. I've never been able to figure this out." ~ Steve Carper

06 August 2008, Wednesday

"People will say that they'll volunteer to work for an hour or volunteer to do signings before the con. They never do. Starting Wednesday they will flock to you and beg for time. Keep good records of who is doing what when. Usually two volunteers and two signers per hour work best. You'd think that the ability to write down the name of an item sold, its price, the tax, and the total would be a skill within the grasp of most elementary school graduates. It somehow eludes SFWAns. They will need to be taught at the beginning of each hour and before each item is sold. Afterward you will point out the mistakes and ask them not to do it again. That is why the Czar needs to be at the table constantly, and have a good backup/assistant to take over when your presence is required elsewhere." ~ Steve Carper

07 August 2008, Thursday

08 August 2008, Friday

09 August 2008, Saturday

10 August 2008, Sunday

"Traditionally everybody discounts products heavily on the last day of a con, and that has worked for us as well. ... [27 Jul 2008 12:18:31] a tradition of slashing prices in half for the last day of sales, and that gets rid of a lot of books. We need to decide whether to do that. Part of that decision will depend on earlier sales, so it's hard to determine upfront whether that's a good idea or not." ~Steve Carper

"The convention is usually pretty strict about tearing down the tables. You can start as soon as the con ends, or even earlier, but they want everything out of the hall by x o'clock that day. The person who does this doesn't have to be you, but it should be someone local you can easily deal with. Last time the person who got the boxes sat on them for five months and we had no idea of what inventory we had or any way to compare that to purported sales." ~Steve Carper

Roster

1. Steve Carper — SteveCarper@cs.com
2. Rudy Ch. Garcia — R.Ch.Garcia@cybox.com
3. Mary Robinette Kowal — mary@maryrobinettekowal.com
4. Catherine Montrose — ctmontrose@netscape.net
5. Thea Hutcheson — thea@theah.net
6. Cat Rambo — spezzatura@gmail.com
7. Steven H Silver — shsilver@sfsite.com
8. Pat Rothfuss — Pat.Rothfuss@uwsp.edu
9. Ted Kosmatka — genotype219@yahoo.com? or message board via Mary
10. Jay Lake — jlake@jlake.com
11. Joe Haldeman — haldeman@earthlink.net
12. Robert Chansky — Robert.Chansky@L-3Com.com (cell=719.359.2182; at 'con Friday, may be able to help)
13. Shanna Swendson — shanna.swendson@sbcglobal.net
14. Rich Chwedyk — RChwedyk@PioneerLocal.Com or rchwedyk@rcn.com
15. John Scalzi — ?
16. Paul Melko — melko@sff.net
17. Kate Elliott — Kate.Elliott@sff.net
18. Elaine Isaak — authorelaine@gmail.com
19. Ronnie Seagren — franknronnie@msn.com
20. Jim Kelly — jim@jimkelly.net
21. Sarah Castle — kellysarah@earthlink.net
22. Lisa Mantchev — ?
23. Diana Rowland — diana@dianarowland.com
24. Elizabeth Moon — emoon1@earthlink.net
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48. _________________________________ — _________________ — ___________

After the Con

"After the con, you go through all the receipts and marvel at the creative ways the volunteers manage to goof them up. You try to balance these against the money you have. You will fail. You don't need to mention this to anyone. Just bundle all the money up and send it to Jane and boast about how thick the wad is. (That means really pushing the goods, just like any mall retailer. Pushing the goods makes a real difference in sales.)" ~Steve Carper

Interested

Glenn,

I can work a shift or two at the SFWA Table. Let me know what openings
you need filled.

Alis Rasmussen
(aka Kate Elliott)

Hi Glenn,

Joe Haldeman has generously offered to staff the table.
haldeman@earthlink.net His conflicts are below.

Yours,
Mary

---
Mary Robinette Kowal
http://www.maryrobinettekowal.com
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Joe Haldeman
Date: Tue, Jul 29, 2008 at 6:31 AM
Subject: Re: SFWA Table at World Con
To: Mary Robinette Kowal


I wouldn't mind taking a shift, Mary. Give me a chance to wander
around the huckster room, too. Here are my first-order conflicts --

August 6, Wed—vote for site selection. 11:30-How to Enjoy-Gay & Rusty.
12:30-Lunch with Dave Nicholas? 3-Opening Ceremonies.
5:30-7:30-SummerFairreception Sheraton. Dinner with Silverbergs Lobby
of the Hyatt at 6:15, 6:30 at Aix.
August 7, Th—Rising Stars-Joe and Gay host. 10AM?
(2:30-5:30-reception?) 1PM-Bleeding Heart Liberals & Military
SF;4PM-Soldiers:Life vs. Fiction, Joe. 7:30-Joe at Tattered Cover
Colfax Avenue, 2526 East Colfax Avenue, Denver, CO 80206 Reading &/or
Discussion, Q&A & Signing.
August 8, Fri—1-Bujold GoH speech. 5:30-Sternbach slides. 6-8PM-Eos
party. Lodo's Bar and Grill, Rox Room1946 Market Street (303)
293-2290



August 9, Sat—9AM-Stroll with the Stars. Meet at the Big Blue Bear in
front of the CC. 11:30-Living with a Famous Writer-Gay; Noon-Heinlein
Society Meeting, Grand Hyatt. 1-Rusty on Denvention 1941. 2:30-The
Best Convention Panel Ever, Joe. 7:30-Hugos.
August 10, Sun—1PM-The Epic Journey: Life vs Fiction-Gay.
I can't make a decision without clearing it with Gay, but if Glenn
would send us a time slot or two to choose from, we'll do it.
Joe

On Jul 28, 2008, at 9:11 PM, Mary Robinette Kowal wrote:

Dear Gay and Joe,

I'm writing with a request for SFWA. We are looking for volunteers to
staff the SFWA table at WorldCon. I wanted to add some of the members
of the TOC of the current Nebula anthology to help attract the masses
to the table. I don't suppose I could talk you into taking a shift,
could I?

* Job Title: SFWA table representative
* Estimated Time Required: 1-2 hours per shift, 34 shifts needed
* Job Description:
o Help SFWA by being a spokesperson at World Con.
o Set up and staff a booth to draw in new members.
o Be willing to answer questions and be friendly.
o Sell books and other printed material. Attract people to the
Table: tell them that the most wonderful stories in the world are
sitting on the table and they'll never forgive themselves if they pass
it by. As a salesperson should, be outgoing & friendly.
* The membership committee will supply you with brochures and a list
of talking points. Benefits: Visibility at con, good way to meet
new people
* Skills required: Friendly., All Workers must be paying members of
the convention. (Sorry, no freebies for working the Table.)

If you're willing to help, please email me with how many shifts you
are willing to take and a list of your conflicts (panels, meetings,
departure date). Glenn Gillette, our table czar, will get you set up
with a time slot.

Thanks!
Mary

---
Mary Robinette Kowal
http://www.maryrobinettekowal.com

Joe, it was like weaving thru an asteroid belt, but I think I found an opening: 10:00 Sat. Let me know if
that's not clear.

You can check the roster at http://www.glgwrites.com/SFWA%20Table%20Denvention3%20-
%20workers.html#August07

Hi Glenn,

I have Jay Lake for you, who can do an hour in the early afternoon on Thursday.

Yours,
Mary

---
Mary Robinette Kowal
http://www.maryrobinettekowal.com




---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Jay Lake
Date: Sun, Jul 27, 2008 at 10:56 PM
Subject: SFWA table
To: Mary Robinette Kowal


Mary Robinette --

Having finally come to grips with my schedule, I could do an hour on
Thursday, maybe early afternoon?

Jay

-- news --
Workshop GoH, FenCon 2008 | Writer GoH, RustyCon 2009

-- fiction --
Escapement (Tor, 6/08)
Mainspring (Tor, 7/07)
The River Knows Its Own (Wheatland Press, 8/07)

-- limited editions --
Greetings From Lake Wu, Limited Edition (Traife Buffet, 8/06)

-- contact --
www.jlake.com | 503.806.3626 | jlake@jlake.com | jelakejr [AOL-IM]
http://jaylake.livejournal.com/

I can take an 11 a.m.-1 p.m. shift on Saturday. There may be other times I
can fill in, but a lot of my schedule right now is relying on other people,
so I'm fuzzy on the end times of events and am leery about committing to
start times following those events.

Shanna Swendson

Glenn,

Could I do the Dealer's Room table Friday from noon to 1pm? Might be able to
slip in for an hour Thursday or Saturday, but that's still up in the air a
bit.

Best,
Rich Chwedyk

Reply here or to rchwedyk@rcn.com

Heya Glenn -

I have a conflict on Friday. Could I get moved to Sat 1-3? Sorry about
this, just realized the conflict.

best,
Cat

Okay, 11-noon on Saturday is fine. I could also probably do about an hour on
Wednesday afternoon. I should be back from lunch with my agent by 2:30, and
then there's a 4 p.m. panel I'd like to go to, but I could do an almost 3 to
almost 4 shift on Wednesday if you need me.

Worker Instructions

Prices already include sales tax.

1. Smile. Be friendly and approachable. Do everything short of physically tackling people to get them to stop and look at the books. Extol the books. Thank people for any sales. Thank them just for stopping by.
2. You must write out a sales receipt for all transactions:
1. Record a name and address from all people paying by check or credit card.
2. For each item purchased, on a separate line:
1. From our Price Sheet:
1. Record Receipt Code (so you don't have to write out whole name)
2. Record Price (which already includes sales tax)
3. Record quantity
2. Multiply quantity TIMES Price. Record Total Price for the line
3. Record the total for all items at the bottom of the receipt.
4. Get payment:
• Cash
• Credit Card
• Check
3. All books will be sold for the selling price given on our Price Sheet. There are no quantity discounts.
4. We do not have extra books. Our entire inventory is on (or under) the table.
5. Subscription forms for the Bulletin will be available. Try to get people to subscribe. Offer a free copy of the new issue for a subscription. Subscription prices are on the Rate Sheet. There is no sales tax on a magazine subscription.
6. Ask if you're not sure.
7. Relax. Have fun. Meet and greet. But pay attention to customers.