Conference Coordinator

Overview

The Conference Coordinator is responsible for planning our North American Conferences & Conventions each year, namely JordanCon. In the future, we might look at expanding this position to cover other conventions too.

Position Level: Staff

Department: Department of Events and Conferences

Rotation: Non-rotating position

Merit Eligibility: Local Liaison Merit or Staff Merit

Contact

To contact the Conference Coordinator, email them at conferences.tarvalon@gmail.com and send a copy to events@tarvalon.net.

Chain of Command

This Conference Coordinator reports to the Director of Events and Conferences .

Duties and Responsibilities

Liaise with JordanCon staff to organize official TarValon.Net activities at the conference (break-out room, marketing table, official toast during the weekend).
Liaise with the Amyrlin to plan and deliver welcome baskets for VIPs, as well as other activities during the Con.
Communicate with the community about attendance and official events happening at the convention, plus any official JordanCon announcements.
Keep records of attendance, who’s manning the marketing table, etc.
Moderate the Conferences forum and update with information as appropriate.
Work with the Director of Marketing and the Director of Community Outreach to promote our site and publicize our annual scholarship at JordanCon.
Ideally, serve as a resource to the community about other major fantasy conventions in North America and around the world.
Hosting a room party during the event (if available).
Creating an official Tar Valon packet for our members.
Come up with other ideas/activities for our members to attend/market at JordanCon.
While the above responsibilities are geared toward JordanCon, these could also apply to other conventions that we could possibly attend in the future.

Expectations

Must be professional. Responsibilities of this role include representing our community with outside organizations such as hotels and convention organizers, and potentially negotiating contracts with these groups. In addition you are held accountable for the responsible management of the funds many of our members pay to attend events. Professionalism, high-performance, and self-starting are mandatory.
Must be detail-oriented. You must be able to think logically through entire event and needs for members. Everything from ceremonial activities, payments, registration, marketing, budgeting, room assignments, negotiations with the site, etc. Almost all of the Conference Coordinator work is done well in advance of the event.
Must be organized. There is a lot of information to keep track of, including legal contracts with the hotels, schedules, and registration information including medical and personal data which must be kept confidential.

Time Commitment

Must be able to dedicate about 5 hours per week to this role. More time may be needed around April and less at other times of the year.

Qualifications

Must be a member in good standing for at least six months. Could be a member of any rank.
Must have attended at least one offical real life event, preferable JordanCon. Even better is attendance at more than one kind of event (JordanCon + Anni, etc.). Better still is serving as staff of an event through committee work or similar.
Must be able and willing to travel to most conference/convention events at your own expense. Because the conferences that are currently identified as official Tower events both take place in or near Atlanta, Georgia, it could be an advantage to live in that area of the country – but this is not a requirement.

History

The position was discontinued temporarily in May 2005 and again in January 2012, following the decision to no longer book blocks of Tower rooms at these events as the Departmental Director could fulfill the requirements. It was re-instituted January 10, 2013 at which time it was also responsible for Dragon*Con.