mark james
IAP Collection, Curator
Here are some of my personal opinions. I have looked at some of the feedback sheets, but wanted to do a full summary after I wrote down my thoughts. Please keep in mind, these are my thoughts only. Feel free to chime in.
Website/Facebook: I think these are working fine - we just need to continue publicizing their existence with links.
Donations: The amount and diversity we are receiving and giving out is wonderful.
Contests: The number of pens submitted this year was down, but the quality for the winning pens is still very high.
Vendors: This was greatly improved this year, and I suspect it will increase next year. This may be a problem with our space availability.
Schedule: I will start a separate thread on the 2-day, 3-day options; as well as a "Beginner's Track" and "Advanced Track" sessions. This year I felt the basic format was good, although the 6 PM - 8 PM Saturday was pushing the audience for attention I believe.
I'll suggest we consider doing what the final Illinois MPG did, which was to make a nice presentation to the Contest winners, and the best door prizes. Then put all the rest of the prizes on several tables, and have everyone simply get their prize. It will be done much quicker.
2018 Dates: I fully support moving to a May Date. Yes, we will lose some people, but we will possibly gain others.
Swag Bags: Although the donation was wonderful from Chipotle, I thought the size was not the best. I'll suggest we go back to a size we pick/order, with a logo printed, but without the year. Then we can order more in bulk and use in future years.
Restaurant: For the price, I was not impressed with the food. The concept of having a nice sit-down dinner to meet some new folks also is somewhat muted by the fact that we really only could talk to 7 other people, and there was no opportunity to mingle.
I'll suggest we consider more of a cash-bar, open room finger-food, type event; I suspect there may be more mingling. And, for a more moderate entry-fee, folks can choose to spend more money on drinks, or keep it more within their budget. I have also been to conferences where you can pay a fee for the finger-foods (and get a "Blue" name tag), or simply come in for free (and get a "Brown" name tag) and buy a few drinks, or not. This can again be incorporated into the registration form.
In spite of my opinion, I heard few negative comments about the dinner from the attendees.
Snacks: The cheese/crackers amount I ordered was good. We threw away about 1 1/2 bags at the end, and there were 2 unopened bags. So of the 16 bags ($3.49/bag), we had a reasonable bit of overage.
The Vegi platters were fine, just twice what I ordered. For the same price ($13.49/tray). I ordered trays 1/2 the size and ordered 7. Upon arrival, they were the same price, but twice the size, and we only used 4.
So next year if we do the snacks again, I can better estimate what we need.
But, I do feel it was worthwhile to stave off the munchies for the later sessions.
Pizza Lunch: I though this has worked excellent for the past two years. Possibly a few more liters of soda.
Meeting Rooms: I actually believe if we make better use of the second room, the hotel set-up will be great.
When I do a sample schedule (this week, with interchangeable titles, topics, times and names), I think we can shift 15-25 people out of the main hall all day.
Audio/video/camera: The audio was great. Having the camera on the lathe, even with it being glitchy was also nice. The actual picture on the screen could be improved.
Magic has already been thinking of outsourcing this to get an experienced audio/video person with the correct set-up (and someone that is not handling multiple other MPG tasks).
And, on a final long-term opinion. Based on my experiences with other conferences (many years ago), I am still convinced that the MPG will only stay vibrant if it changes location. 2-4 years in Wadsworth, 2-4 years in Chicago, 2-4 years in Louisville, etc. Then there will be new attendees, different local folks to do some demos, and as the IAP membership turns over in a few years, the original cycle can be repeated.
Other than a local individual to handle the on-site matters (hotel/conference rooms/equipment, etc), the rest can still be handled by a designated "MPG Committee."
And the next year's location can be determined ahead of time, and the next year's "On-Site" contact can attend the final meeting at the first location and be "trained" on how some matters can be handled. The main committee can provide the continuity and experience on what works - no need for a new full committee to re-invent everything.
Conversely, I have also been on conference committees where the new host city has a full committee, and they come to the prior year's conference and "Shadow" their counter-part and spend a few hours with their counter-part to learn the tasks needed.
The key is not to try to tap the same 250 mile audience year-after to get the bulk of the registrants. It could be as easy as a two location rotation (i.e., Chicago - Wadsworth).
These comments are intended to only start the discussion - My thoughts only.
Now I'll shut up and go clean my garage!
Website/Facebook: I think these are working fine - we just need to continue publicizing their existence with links.
Donations: The amount and diversity we are receiving and giving out is wonderful.
Contests: The number of pens submitted this year was down, but the quality for the winning pens is still very high.
Vendors: This was greatly improved this year, and I suspect it will increase next year. This may be a problem with our space availability.
Schedule: I will start a separate thread on the 2-day, 3-day options; as well as a "Beginner's Track" and "Advanced Track" sessions. This year I felt the basic format was good, although the 6 PM - 8 PM Saturday was pushing the audience for attention I believe.
I'll suggest we consider doing what the final Illinois MPG did, which was to make a nice presentation to the Contest winners, and the best door prizes. Then put all the rest of the prizes on several tables, and have everyone simply get their prize. It will be done much quicker.
2018 Dates: I fully support moving to a May Date. Yes, we will lose some people, but we will possibly gain others.
Swag Bags: Although the donation was wonderful from Chipotle, I thought the size was not the best. I'll suggest we go back to a size we pick/order, with a logo printed, but without the year. Then we can order more in bulk and use in future years.
Restaurant: For the price, I was not impressed with the food. The concept of having a nice sit-down dinner to meet some new folks also is somewhat muted by the fact that we really only could talk to 7 other people, and there was no opportunity to mingle.
I'll suggest we consider more of a cash-bar, open room finger-food, type event; I suspect there may be more mingling. And, for a more moderate entry-fee, folks can choose to spend more money on drinks, or keep it more within their budget. I have also been to conferences where you can pay a fee for the finger-foods (and get a "Blue" name tag), or simply come in for free (and get a "Brown" name tag) and buy a few drinks, or not. This can again be incorporated into the registration form.
In spite of my opinion, I heard few negative comments about the dinner from the attendees.
Snacks: The cheese/crackers amount I ordered was good. We threw away about 1 1/2 bags at the end, and there were 2 unopened bags. So of the 16 bags ($3.49/bag), we had a reasonable bit of overage.
The Vegi platters were fine, just twice what I ordered. For the same price ($13.49/tray). I ordered trays 1/2 the size and ordered 7. Upon arrival, they were the same price, but twice the size, and we only used 4.
So next year if we do the snacks again, I can better estimate what we need.
But, I do feel it was worthwhile to stave off the munchies for the later sessions.
Pizza Lunch: I though this has worked excellent for the past two years. Possibly a few more liters of soda.
Meeting Rooms: I actually believe if we make better use of the second room, the hotel set-up will be great.
When I do a sample schedule (this week, with interchangeable titles, topics, times and names), I think we can shift 15-25 people out of the main hall all day.
Audio/video/camera: The audio was great. Having the camera on the lathe, even with it being glitchy was also nice. The actual picture on the screen could be improved.
Magic has already been thinking of outsourcing this to get an experienced audio/video person with the correct set-up (and someone that is not handling multiple other MPG tasks).
And, on a final long-term opinion. Based on my experiences with other conferences (many years ago), I am still convinced that the MPG will only stay vibrant if it changes location. 2-4 years in Wadsworth, 2-4 years in Chicago, 2-4 years in Louisville, etc. Then there will be new attendees, different local folks to do some demos, and as the IAP membership turns over in a few years, the original cycle can be repeated.
Other than a local individual to handle the on-site matters (hotel/conference rooms/equipment, etc), the rest can still be handled by a designated "MPG Committee."
And the next year's location can be determined ahead of time, and the next year's "On-Site" contact can attend the final meeting at the first location and be "trained" on how some matters can be handled. The main committee can provide the continuity and experience on what works - no need for a new full committee to re-invent everything.
Conversely, I have also been on conference committees where the new host city has a full committee, and they come to the prior year's conference and "Shadow" their counter-part and spend a few hours with their counter-part to learn the tasks needed.
The key is not to try to tap the same 250 mile audience year-after to get the bulk of the registrants. It could be as easy as a two location rotation (i.e., Chicago - Wadsworth).
These comments are intended to only start the discussion - My thoughts only.
Now I'll shut up and go clean my garage!
