What you did?

What went right?
Great shift leaders: Susan, Colette & Chuck, Happy Pete, Kit, and Mr. Shirt (after Kit left).

Good staffing of 2-3 people at most times without it becoming a hangout / SMOF central.

Radio / key / etc. signout. We got all the radios back (well one was turned in to Tem, but at least we know where they all are). Halfway thru the con we started making people sign out rolls of tape and scissors. While this was somewhat anal, we stopped losing rolls of tape and scissors once we did this.

The log book. Key important things were written in the log book and this allowed all staff to stay updated.

Organizing contact info by first name was good.

Actually going to Staples before the con this year.

Having enough batteries. At least 100 AA batteries are necessary. New batteries (which we had) work better than rechargeable. Let's *NOT* revisit that.

Having everything in hardcopy rather than online meant that one person could be working on the LogBook while another person worked with SignOut lists. In addition it is just too easy to change or lose online data especially in a LogBook.

Having a working computer and printer and Internet at OpsDesk. Having a copier at OpsDesk. Note that they two were not the same as it was just too hard for JRandom to print to the Brother Printer (download drivers, install, stand on head).

Having OpsDesk and Security in the same room.

Stealing Lew from Pubs when they didn't need him anymore. He provided extra staff which OpsDesk really needed.

Having a basic first aid kit. We gave out bandages and analgesics to several staff and fen.

Having Susan to watch over things while I was running around. This last comment also applies to Operations Division, but I forgot to mention and thank her there.

What went wrong?
I tried to do too much myself. Especially at con. There should have been one clear head of OpsDesk (other than me) and this wasn't even the biggest problem.

IMHO, the biggest problem was that OpsDesk room didn't lock. That meant that we couldn't really setup until Friday morning and had to break everything down before the DeadDog on Sunday night. Breakdown was a hairball. I'm still sorting out the mess and looking for things necessary for the debrief.

Signout sheets could have been better organized.

No clear understanding between Registration and OpsDesk as to how to handle after hours registration. Perhaps a list of pre-registered people could have been given to Ops along with some generic "night badges" to give to those people if they showed up after hours.

Radios didn't work well to 14 & 16. Functions on 14 and 16 should have house phones (I think they all did) and should be encouraged to call ops.

Some areas apparently went to the Business Center and paid for copying / faxing. This is doubly bad because Ops had a way to get the use (including faxes) of the Business Center for free. But really at $.01-$.02 per page for printing and $.04-$.05 per page for copying, people should just go to Ops.

Staffing the OpsDesk on Sunday evening / night was hard. Some people really did leave on Sunday.

What should be done differently next year?

Make sure OpsDesk and Security are in rooms which lock.

Pick a single OpsDesk Head.

That person should collect contact info before the con, organize it, and figure out what contact info is missing. Probably add a staff list to the front of the contact info so that if someone needs to talk to the person in charge of Foo Tables, it is easy to figure out who is in charge of Foo Tables. When contact info comes in, the person's name can be highlighted on the staff list. Then it will be easier to figure out what Contact Info is missing and needs to be found.

That person should also create the OpsDesk schedule. There needs to be at least 2 and preferably 3 people on OpsDesk at all times. 1 of those needs to be available as a runner. 1 person really needs to be responsible to listen to the radio and answer the phone.

Better organize the signout sheets. Make sure they are destroyed or marked when things are returned.

Make it clear that no ribbons will be given out before Friday. Make sure the Staff Internal Newsletter is available on Thursday night so that it can be given out with the Ribbons. Put the radio channels on the Staff Internal Newsletter. As I said in Operations Division Report:

There was confusion between Publications and Operations on who was producing the Staff Internal Newsletter. I think we should just decide it is Operations (or OpsDesk). Operations is going to better know the issues and whether an updated version is necessary.

Make it clear that Area Heads need to pickup ribbons for their staff or send them with a note. At no point should all the X ribbons be given out. Tracking down more Events and Program ribbons was a problem.

Making sure there is a plan to feed overnight Ops workers. Perhaps from the hotel. Staff Den didn't do it this year (and I didn't realize they did it in past years).

Ops Desk needs a simple toolkit. We were asked for regular and Phillips screwdrivers, corkscrews, bottle openers and extra box cutters.

What sort of schedule/timeline did you use?

Too late.

Are the any changes you'd make to the schedule for next year?

Should have started collecting (and printing out) contact info on 1/2/2008. As it comes in it can be printed out and put in the book. This would be a lot easier than doing it Thursday night.

Vendors you used?
Staples.

Experiments to try next year?
Purchase a time crowbar.

More seriously …

Try a higher (GRMS) radio channel to see if it gets better coverage up to 14/16.

Some year it might be an interesting experience to put Ops and Sign Shop next to each other. There is no reason why a large percentage of the OpsDesk people couldn't produce some signs if necessary.

Any comments about the rest of the con (other divisions, hotel, ...)?

Hotel Liaison was very helpful but it was also helpful to have a Hotel Nextel at OpsDesk.

P.S. I've forwarded Colette, Kit, and Pete's individual reports to 09Chair.