Missoula's Science Fiction & Fantasy Convention

MisCon Convention Staff

MisCon 38

Convention Committee

Convention Chair (CEO)

Justin Barba

Executive Assistant

Nicole Edington

Secretary

Amber Edwards

Vice Chair

Becky Cass

Convention Committee Duties

The ConCom reports to the Executive Committee. It consists of all Department Heads and their Team Members.

Department Heads run a MisCon Department. They are responsible for running their department both throughout the year and during the convention, as well as managing anyone assigned to their team.

Team Members work under Department Heads. They may or may not be comped into MisCon, based on the work they do both throughout the year and during MisCon. If they come to meetings and do everything expected of them, they are comped into MisCon.

Departments

Operations

Director

Keith Seyffarth

Operations is a lot of work, and we do need volunteers to help us out. This can involve some rapid and heavy labor, or may just be monitoring a line for some autograph sessions to make sure people are mobbing a Guest of Honor. If you're up for the challenge, sign up with Volunteers and let them know you want to help in Operations.

Team

Kimberly Arends, Amber Edwards, Henry Edwards, David Gianforte, Willow (Willow) Marmin, Lee (Dark Lord of the East) Stahl, Corwin (Fish) Sturgeon

Operations Duties

MisCon Operations is responsible for the smooth running of the convention. This includes such diverse items as confirming that all printing is on schedule and verified correct (at least as of the deadline to have it to the printer) to verifying that the hotel's "banquet order" synchronizes with the conventions schedule for programming and services. Operations is also the liaison with the hotel staff to provide a single point of contact with the hotel for change orders or last-minute alterations.
Throughout the convention, operations monitors all programming and events, endeavors to (within reason) provide for the needs of attending professionals, featured professionals, Guests of Honor (especially), and even panel volunteers, merchants, and GMs to make sure programming can run smoothly and that attendees, pros, and guests all have the best convention we can provide.
And we try to do all of this with the least visibility possible.

Sub-Departments

Logistics

Logistics Director

Keith Seyffarth

Team

Amber Edwards, Henry Edwards, David Gianforte, Willow (Willow) Marmin, Lee (Dark Lord of the East) Stahl, Corwin (Fish) Sturgeon

Logistics Duties

Logistics handles all equipment during MisCon, making sure panels have projectors and the PAs are in place. They also move chairs and other heavy things.

Sub-Departments

Setup/Teardown

Setup/Teardown Director

Corwyn Blazer

Team

Henry Edwards, Phil Mascia, Frank Pruett, Keith Seyffarth, Corwin (Fish) Sturgeon

Green Room

Green Room Director

Nicole Edington

Team

Kay Pruett

Green Room Duties

MisCon's Green Room is an invitation only guest room that provides food and drinks throughout the convention weekend, and an area to relax.

Sub-Departments

Room Parties

Room Parties Director

Karl Mitchell

Team

Nicole Edington, Stewart (AoF) Fleming

Security

Security Director

Corwyn Blazer

Team

Henry Edwards, HeatherLynn Meeks

Security Duties

MisCon Security keeps the convention safe and fun in a friendly, approachable way.

Volunteers

Volunteers Director

Court (Quart) Cathers

Team

Mary Beth Barba

Volunteers Duties

Recruits and manages all non-ConCom volunteers who help make MisCon happen.

Guest of Honor Services

Director

Keith Seyffarth

Team

Clay (Ol Scratch) Cooper, Josh Eamon, Henry Edwards

Guest of Honor Services Duties

Guest of Honor services assists MisCon's Guests of Honor get to their panels and programs on time and make sure they have break times to decompress between the demands of a Guest of Honor at a convention.

Theme

Theme Director

Justin Barba

Theme Duties

The theme department comes up with a new and interesting theme for the convention each year. They provide a description of the theme and endeavor to provide resources for panelists, costume designers, GMs and others to use for inspiration. The theme influences, but does not dictate, programming and decoration topics and direction each year to make the convention come to life in a dynamic way.

Sub-Departments

Decorations

Decorations Director

Kimberly Arends

Team

Corwyn Blazer, Becky Cass, Court (Quart) Cathers, Jeff Roper, Keith Seyffarth, Lee (Dark Lord of the East) Stahl

Decorations Duties

This department decorates the hotel and grounds and makes each year's theme come to life. The decorations team works with the restrictions and requirements of the hotel, safety and accessibility concerns, ordinances regarding use of city parks and public ways, and the requirements of the Operations department as well as copyright and fair use laws to keep decorations in order.

Financial Logistics

Treasurer (CFO)

Jeff Roper

Bookkeeper

Kimberly Arends

Team

Kimberly Arends

Financial Logistics Duties

Oversees all money-generating departments of MisCon during the convention.

Sub-Departments

Registration

Registration Director

Jeff (Lothar) Arends

Team

Jessica Brannum, Jennifer Keith

Registration Duties

Registration handles your payments and lets you into MisCon.

Merchandise

Merchandise Director

Amanda Smith

Merch Minion

Bridger (kingbadger) Nichols

Team

Corwyn Blazer, Andrea BoguschPerkins, Bridger (kingbadger) Nichols, Jeff Roper

Merchandise Duties

Operation of the MisCon Merchants Room, from soliciting merchant applications to approval to table assignments is the core duty of the Merchants/Merchandise (or Merch) department. Merch works with the hotel on getting booth spaces set up properly. Merch is also responsible for the MisCon Merchandise table in the Merchants Room - from staffing the table to selecting and ordering MisCon branded merchandise and getting each year's theme-specific shirts to sell.

Art

Art Director

Andrea BoguschPerkins

Auctioneer

Keith Seyffarth
Run the MisCon Art Auction, sell Art, Entertain People.

Team

Keith Seyffarth

Art Duties

Handles MisCon's Art Show and Art Auction.

Marketing

Marketing Director

Becky Cass

Photographer

Camaryn Anderson

Photographer

Jason (Farstrider) Tupeck

Social Media

Amber Edwards

Team

Camaryn Anderson, Amber Edwards, Jason (Farstrider) Tupeck

Sub-Departments

Design

Design Director

Court (Quart) Cathers

Team

Kimberly Arends, Becky Cass

Design Duties

MisCon's Design Team takes pictures at MisCon-related events, and creates our signs, posters, and other theme-related graphics. They work hard to make MisCon look good.

Programming

Programming Director

Justin Barba

Pro/Panelist Liason

Mary Beth Barba

Team

Mary Beth Barba, Lynn (LilSnikSnak) Martyn, Patty (Azzarinne) Mascia

Programming Duties

This department coordinates all non-gaming events that happen at MisCon: fight demos, the Film Festival, the Writers' Workshop, the Costume Contest, and panels on everything from writing to art to Kids' Activities.

Sub-Departments

Kids' Activities

Kids' Activities Director

Abbigail Quinlan

Team

Patty (Azzarinne) Mascia, Phil Mascia

Writers' Workshop

Writers' Workshop Director

Nicole Edington

Team

Lynn (LilSnikSnak) Martyn

Writers' Workshop Duties

Managing the Writers' Workshop at MisCon each year is a significant endeavor. We collect the manuscripts submitted by participants and break those participants into groups. We also assign the critiquing authors and editors to each group. We distribute the manuscripts to each critiquing author or editor based on the group they are assigned to, and compile the manuscripts together and get them printed and bound for distribution to participants.

Film Festival

Film Festival Director

Shane Edington

Team

Nicole Edington, Meagan Scruggs

Film Festival Duties

The MisCon International Short Film Festival is a festival celebrating short films in the genres of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror. The Film Festival crew are responsible for putting on the festival during the convention.

Costuming

Costuming Director

Lynn (LilSnikSnak) Martyn

Team

Jessica Brannum

Gaming

Gaming Director

Stewart (AoF) Fleming

Team

Frank Pruett

Gaming Duties

The Gaming department puts together the schedule of games each year for MisCon, figuring out times and which room and table the game is scheduled for. Gaming also reaches out to the GMs we know to see if they are interested in running games again, and communicates with game publishers and distributors to see about getting prize support. During the convention Gaming makes sure that sign up sheets are ready in Gaming Headquarters, insures that the game schedules are posted, and sees where additional games can be fit into the schedule for those who didn't get their games submitted before the convention. Gaming also checks out games from MisCon's game library, and reminds GMs when their time is up and another group is in need of their assigned gaming space.

Sub-Departments

Game Day

Game Day Director

Nicole Edington

Team

Corwyn Blazer, Becky Cass, Lynn (LilSnikSnak) Martyn

Game Day Duties

In charge of setting up, tearing down, and managing MisCon's game library in addition to providing support for the seasonal Game Days.

Electronic Gaming

Electronic Gaming Director

Cale Patenaude

Team

Jared Brannum

Electronic Gaming Duties

Handles electronic gaming, events, and contests.

Website

Webmaster

Keith Seyffarth

Android App

Jeff (Lothar) Arends
Develop and maintain the MisCon app for Android devices.

Database Development

Keith Seyffarth
Build and maintain the dataset for the web site and apps.

iOS App

Paul Anguiano
Develop and maintain the MisCon app for iOS devices.

Team

Paul Anguiano, Jeff (Lothar) Arends, Keith Seyffarth

Website Duties

The website team manages the web site and builds web-based tools for MisCon.

Join ConCom

MisCon is always looking for help. We're looking for interested, dedicated people who want to work with our team to make MisCon better year after year.

If you are interested in joining ConCom, or just helping at MisCon this year, start by looking over the ConCom structure above and reviewing the Volunteer information on our site. Then complete the volunteer application to let us know you're interested. And if you're interested in dedicating time throughout the year, come to our next ConCom meeting. Meetings are held at the Holiday Inn Missoula Downtown in Missoula, MT on the first and third Wednesday of the month June through January, then every Wednesday February through May.

While we are looking for all kinds of help on ConCom, here are some dedicated positions we are most interested in filling:

Marketing and Publicity

MisCon is looking for additional graphic designers to help the design team with items from web site graphics, to game day posters, to decorations to be used on site at MisCon. We are also looking for an individual to work on production of video clips and promotional material for MisCon. Miscon is also in need of writers and editors for promotional materials.