Originally written by ???, emailed to staff list by Lisa Hertel

What you did?
Check coats, bags, packages

What went right?
The service got used quite a bit & the room was overfull at times; having a lot of college kids meant they could see the con; having volunteers provide someone from 8am – 10am meant that the college students could offer the service to ridiculous hours (like 4am). The bulletin board in the room was handy for timesheets. Everyone had fun; most customers were polite. Tips (unasked-for, but they got some) were used to tip the maid for the students’ hotel room.

What went wrong?
The room was too small for the volume of use! One bar actually bent under the weight. There was a system for the tags, but not everyone followed it, making things difficult—more internal signage is needed. The tags got recolored. The large binder clips & clothespins tended to slip off things; more small binder clips should be bought & used (about 500).

What should be done differently next year?
Put out a self-serve, unsecured rack for people to use (perhaps near the entrance, where the water set-up was?), for when coat check was full. Better training signage & small binder clips.

What sort of schedule/timeline did you use?
None, but there probably should be a way to open earlier Friday, and stay open later on Monday. The few abandoned coats were turned over to Ops.

Are the any changes you'd make to the schedule for next year?
Open earlier Friday, stay open later Monday.

Vendors you used?
None

Experiments to try next year?
See above

Any comments about the rest of the con (other divisions, hotel, ...)?
Volunteer status & rights were unclear; it would be nice to have a handout.