Recommendations from Toronto:
Managing a Mars Society Convention, from A to Z
Panelists: Jeff Cadieux, Rocky Persaud, Darlene Lim, Maggie Zubrin
Part academic conference, part PR opportunity, part entertainment venue, part activist gathering, the Mars Society Convention is a unique event that has its defining characteristics. Moving the locale of the Mars Society Convention from Boulder to Toronto was an experiment. With all experiments there are lessons to be learned.
Panelists from the Toronto Chapter will present their recommendations for improving the task of organizing a Mars Society Convention, and compile this for inclusion in the Conference Proceedings. This document will collect for future Convention Organizing Committees a record of our experiences, so that those who follow can build on it rather than start from scratch.
Among issues to be discussed are:
1. What a MS Convention requires
2. How a chapter can bid to host a MS Convention
3. How to organize the Convention Committee and define roles
4. How to relate and communicate with the rest of the Society
5. How to promote the Convention among the public and in the media
6. A proposal for a permanent Convention Task Force to obtain prominent
speakers and sponsors at least a year in
advance.
7. A proposal that the Mars Society begin organizing future conventions
a full two years in advance.