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The Conference Experience 11/27/2011 1:59:45 PM
How my experiences differed as an registrant at the World Fantasy Con as opposed to my involvement with the Surrey International Writers Conference. The Pros & Cons of Attending Conferences
Most of you are familiar with my weekly author feature, but one Sunday each month I try to devote to posting a blog about writing, publishing, and such, time pending.
October was a busy, but productive month, with more highs than lows. Starting with the Surrey International Writers Conference on Oct. 21st! After many years attending as a registrant, I’ve been volunteering the past couple years. The perks of being a volunteer included working with great staff/board members and wonderful volunteers; introducing some of the workshop leaders (some of the very best in the literary/publishing industry) as well as allowing for the opportunity to sit in on their programmes; assisting registrants with their Blue Pencil or pitch appointments, as well as allowing me to meet up with as many of my writerly Twitter pals as I could!
One outstanding thing about SiWC is that not only do members of the board like Kathy Chung, kc dyer, Ursula Maxwell-Lewis and the other members treat the registrants as well as the volunteers with respect and professionalism, we, as volunteers are trained to treat the conference participants with kid gloves. The registrants pay a premium to attend this conference, so our job is to help them get the most out of their experience. This means being welcoming, respectful and helpful, no matter how busy or chaotic it gets.
It all starts with greeting the conference participants with a smile, offering assistance when they need it, offering help when they are looking confused, in general, making the experience so good, they’ll want to come back year after year! And they do!
This conference was followed a week later by the World Fantasy Conference in San Diego. I’ve never been to this Con before, but I was sure looking forward to it, and this time, it would be from the perspective of a registrant, not a volunteer!
As an attendee, I found the panelists were engaging, eager to share in their knowledge and experiences. Also, it was fabulous meeting up with more of my Twitter pals, but sadly, one person made this Con a memorable experience, but not in a good way!
The volunteers I encountered, like Sandra Faulkner and Mary were warm, professional and tried to be helpful when I had questions, but the person I speak of, henceforth referred to as the Person-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Named, was the one to make me feel like I was a blight on this event.
When a volunteer would be answering my questions, at one point, this person cut in on us demanding to know, “What’s the problem?”
This person never asked if it was something they could help with. In their tone and approach, it was more like, are you stupid? Didn’t you read your registration information?
At one point, when a friend who couldn’t attend the banquet offered me her tickets, we were both unaware that only members of the WFC could attend this event as the registration form had a spot where it asks how many banquet tickets you would like to order.
When I approached Mary to confirm whether I could use the tickets for my hubby & daughter, PWSNB-Named pounced. Again, in an unfriendly tone, “What’s the problem?”
Mary explained about the tickets and if I’d be able to use them.
PWSNB-Named demanded to see my registration id! I wasn’t wearing it at the time as we were on our way to another event, but this person asked to see photo id even though we had ‘encounters’ before and Mary repeatedly told them I’m fully registered and had been here for the past 2 days!
I understand PWSNB-Named was under a great deal of stress to make sure the event ran smoothly, but man! When you can’t even be friendly or courteous (PWSNB-Named didn’t smile once, in the several times we spoke) when you’re dealing with people who paid to attend this conference, it can just kill the experience, making me think twice if I should attend an event run by that person again. All I can say is that the great panelists and the volunteers who did step up to the plate and tried to smooth things over made up for this person’s transgressions!
When I compare the experience between the Surrey International Writers Conference and the World Fantasy Conference, I think I’ll be sticking closer to home where the organizers and volunteers go out of their way to make sure the participants are having a wonderful experience. Although it sure was nice to bask in the glorious sunshine of San Diego… : )
