Con Outreach

Overview

The Con Outreach Team at SNAFU Con plays a critical role in expanding the visibility of the convention to new and returning attendees and fostering valuable partnerships with other conventions. Their primary responsibilities revolve around tabling at other conventions, where they distribute promotional materials and engage directly with attendees, creating a hype around SNAFU Con and resolving any issues that attendees sometimes feel comfortable sharing in person at another con that they otherwise didn't.

This effort helps to ensure that each convention is better attended and more successful than the last.

Responsibilities

Tabling at Other Conventions

See Tabling for information on how we actually "table" at a con.

The central duty of the Convention Outreach Team involves representing SNAFU Con at other conventions. By setting up a table, they provide a physical presence that serves as a hub for the distribution of SNAFU Con promotional materials, such as flyers and merchandise. The goal of this practice is to reach potential attendees directly and stimulate interest in SNAFU Con.

Distribution of Promotional Materials

The team is responsible for the distribution of promotional materials.

We often hand out:

• Fliers
• Buttons
• Old con books
• Old posters
• Business cards
• "Flier" business cards

These materials serve as a conversation starter, further extending the reach and visibility of SNAFU Con.

The team will create buttons for handing out at the table. Often times when boredom sets in you can make "special edition" buttons by drawing new ones, or drawing on existing ones. People stopping by the table generally love getting special one-of-a-kind buttons.

Direct Engagement with Attendees

By tabling at other conventions, the team members have the opportunity to engage directly with attendees. They can answer questions, provide information, and generate excitement about SNAFU Con. This direct engagement allows the team to handle any inquiries or issues on the spot, ensuring that potential attendees have a positive association with SNAFU Con.

We have on multiple occasions had previous attendees air grievances to us at a table, which we were largely able to solve on the spot, or explain reasoning behind policies.

Partnership Building

We can't table at a convention that we don't communicate with. The team works to establish and maintain positive relationships with other conventions, generally via email (usually via RT). While tabling is great, the team can also explore coordinating joint events, leveraging shared resources, or cross promotion.

Exploring Innovative Promotion Methods

On occasion we're at events without a table, or have been restricted in our ability to hand out fliers. The tabling team has to come up with new ways to advertise for the convention. The easiest example was when we were at a convention that had given us free badges but no table, so to be able to get the word out, we had all the attending staff wear large "Ask me about SNAFU Con" buttons which we now give out to all staff every year as it will work outside of conventions as well.

Do you have more innovative promotional ideas?