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TAM X - Singles n' Singles

Horatius said:
They didn't really need any, but they had some. Last year was a bit of a transition year, as it was the first time they had the professionals there. The pros didn't really know what to do with us, and we didn't know what else needed doing :D
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Precisely. :)
 
Rasmus said:
Did they need any last year?
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They had some. Whether we were needed, I'm not sure. :) I was on the registration desk on the Saturday and Sunday mornings, and there was very little to do at that time. However, I got the feeling that the staff from the events company were impressed by the overall quality of the volunteers (not including myself, since I didn't really have a chance to demonstrate much, except a willingness to be up in the morning!), and might have planned to make more use of them if they'd known. I guess we'll find out soon if we figure in their plans this year.
 
zooterkin said:
They had some. Whether we were needed, I'm not sure. :) I was on the registration desk on the Saturday and Sunday mornings, and there was very little to do at that time. However, I got the feeling that the staff from the events company were impressed by the overall quality of the volunteers (not including myself, since I didn't really have a chance to demonstrate much, except a willingness to be up in the morning!), and might have planned to make more use of them if they'd known. I guess we'll find out soon if we figure in their plans this year.
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My main job was to lead the "TAM Experience" VIPs to their seating area at one of the evening events. I have no doubt that I impressed the heck out of the events company with my work. ;)
 
I am sure that doing some or a lot of the leg work means it will be a much cheaper for the JREF to run TAM - wether by themselves or through another company.
 
Yes--as mentioned last year was a learning experience. I think in the future the events company will need fewer people, and fewer volunteers will be needed. IMO it would be silly to go "full-pro" if there are volunteers willing to help out for free (and Scott does do a great job of coordinating the volunteer effort).

ETA: I'd be happy to help out in other ways too, as part of a "welcoming committee" as suggested by Allecher, for example.
 
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Hi! I hope that you will pardon my newness.
I will be attending my first ever TAM by myself and I'm single. I just found out about first time badges at a forum table and I think that's a great idea. Is this table hard to find and will they still be available Thursday afternoon, when I'll be there?
Thanks to all of you very considerate veterans!
 
Rasmus said:
I am sure that doing some or a lot of the leg work means it will be a much cheaper for the JREF to run TAM - wether by themselves or through another company.
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The "cheaper" part is a big part of why volunteers did so much the first 8 TAMs. TAM 9 they seemed to want to be more slick about things.

My impression with the company that ran things last year was they were used to running conferences that didn't have a large group of regular attendees who were personally committed to making sure things ran well, and having such a group available surprised them. That most of us were actually competent also surprised them :D. But the end of the weekend, they were much more comfortable with us actually working the Registration desk and the like.

I like the idea of using a larger percentage of the volunteers to promote activities, though. Have some special "Ambassador" T-shirts made up, and have these people go meet people who look like they're TAMsters, and hand out flyers advertising events.

I'd still want some advance advertising if we could get it, but some Ambassadors would help.
 
marsattacksgirl said:
Hi! I hope that you will pardon my newness.
I will be attending my first ever TAM by myself and I'm single. I just found out about first time badges at a forum table and I think that's a great idea. Is this table hard to find and will they still be available Thursday afternoon, when I'll be there?
Thanks to all of you very considerate veterans!
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Last year it was one of the first tables you saw. It was along the wall to your right as you came off the escalators and faced the main conference area.

Of course, it might move this year! But the area isn't so large that it would be hard to find if you went looking.

The badges should be available pretty early, but they went fast last year, so you should try to get one as soon as possible.
 
marsattacksgirl said:
Hi! I hope that you will pardon my newness.
I will be attending my first ever TAM by myself and I'm single. I just found out about first time badges at a forum table and I think that's a great idea. Is this table hard to find and will they still be available Thursday afternoon, when I'll be there?
Thanks to all of you very considerate veterans!
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Welcome!

Last year the forum table was right across from the registration desk, so very easy to find.

Buttons run out quickly (or at least they have in the past), so try to get there as early as you can.

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My lord, look at all of the planning and organizing getting done now that a certain someone isn't here to disrupt the progress. Makes you think what the actual intentions were.

Note: This post is not off-topic, or uncivil, since it goes to show evidence refuting many of the aforementioned's claims.

ETA: Scrut, he was thrown off by your picture. We all know you are a fully matured woman. Who is that in your pic by the way?
 
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Horatius said:
I like the idea of using a larger percentage of the volunteers to promote activities, though. Have some special "Ambassador" T-shirts made up, and have these people go meet people who look like they're TAMsters, and hand out flyers advertising events.

I'd still want some advance advertising if we could get it, but some Ambassadors would help.
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Brilliant idea.

Why not also have ambassadors for newbies?

Kinda like a reverse "I'm just shy, not anti-social" t-shirt?

Also, would it make sense to sell the buttons beforehand? I think it said they were donated before - but if they are in such demand, why not mail them out in advance for a small fee or donation? enough to cover postage and the production of two more buttons, or something?
 
Rasmus said:
Brilliant idea.

Why not also have ambassadors for newbies?

Kinda like a reverse "I'm just shy, not anti-social" t-shirt?
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Yeah, the ambassadors could be multifunctional. I'm sure we could come up with other things they could do if we gave it some thought.



Also, would it make sense to sell the buttons beforehand? I think it said they were donated before - but if they are in such demand, why not mail them out in advance for a small fee or donation? enough to cover postage and the production of two more buttons, or something?
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This could be a good idea. We'd have to find out if the JREF or the professional conference guys are set up for this, though, as previous years they did all the pre-TAM communications via e-mail.
 
Thinking about the Ambassador idea some more: If you had enough people, you could also set up a regular schedule of Ambassador Tours. At fixed times, a group of Ambassadors will meet at Location X, and anyone who would like an introduction the the TAM experience can meet them, and have a tour that shows them where all the important things are: Registration Desk, Conference and Lunch Rooms, the Del Mar, and the locations of other events like Poker and the Drinking Skeptically.

We could also let the "Celebrity" guests know about this, so if an Ambassador sees a Name Skeptic as they're leading a tour, they can flag them down and introduce them to the group. Lots of newbies seem too intimidated to do that themselves. I introduced at least one guy to Randi, and another to Brian Dunning last year because of this.
 
Before anyone beats me to it - assuming anyone would ever want to make the lame pun other than myself - can we call them TAMbassadors?
 
Horatius said:
This could be a good idea. We'd have to find out if the JREF or the professional conference guys are set up for this, though, as previous years they did all the pre-TAM communications via e-mail.
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If not, keep it in mind for next year, and maybe even make it an ordering-option.

I was thinking about doing it in the forum only, to be honest. So maybe that's a good b-plan
 
Rasmus said:
Before anyone beats me to it - assuming anyone would ever want to make the lame pun other than myself - can we call them TAMbassadors?
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Okay, but only if the shirts have a picture of Randi fishing on them!
 
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