Originally written by Tamar Amidon

What I did:
Precon:

• worked up menu and budget
• made and froze food
• contributed to bulk ordering list
• shopped for non bulk order items

20 hours

At Con:

• set up staff den
• coordinated staff
• got food cooked and served
• kept room clean and serviced

40 hours

Post con:

• cleaned and organized supplies
• made an inventory list

10 hours

What went right:

• meals were served exactly on time every day
• never ran out of food, yet didn't have noticeable amounts of leftovers
• food seemed appreciated, no complaints there
• volunteers appreciated having a well thought out plan, making their job easier
• kept to 3 goals: cheap, healthy, and safe

What went wrong:

• poor precon scheduling of volunteers
• due to not knowing about kids of staff expecting to be fed, was short on some supplies
• didn't utilise second room well
• didn't know con chair's allergy and made food mainly inedible for her
• requests from other departments were easy to fill, but a hassle to deliver
• Broke the dead lock

What to change for next year:

• use second bedroom as a staff den family lounge. There were problems with kids clogging up space while people were trying to grab and go. Turning the second room with a baby gate, floor cloth, a small fridge for juice and milk, and a changing pad outside the bathroom would make it much easier, and less stressful for the rest of staff.
• buy more milk and apple juice
• schedule volunteers before the con better. I had 4 really excellent volunteers for core jobs, and would be able to depend less on volunteers den

Hotel: they did a good job on ice refills, garbage removal and vacuuming. The grease money may have been part of this.

Next years staff den will be run by Mali, who was second in command in con suite this year, but with my food and a thorough game plan. She wants to learn how to run it, and I can't be both quartermaster and staff den again next year.