howto-newszine98.txt. Daily Newszine Baby Steps #1-8. C.S.F. Baden, P.O. Box 17522, Anaheim CA 92817-7522. hazel@crl.com. Newsletter Baby Steps Issue #1 - Friday Afternoon, December 2, 1994 - Smofcon - Burbank, California by Chaz Baden Twelve Lessons I've Learned the Hard Way (so far) I've learned an important lesson or two at each of the conventions I've worked newszines at. I did an underground zine at Loscon 19, and worked the newszines at Con Francisco, Loscon 20, Phil & Ed's (Pecon), Westercon 47, and Loscon 21. Note that those five are all in the last 15 months. Also note that I got a headstart on doing newszines by reading Filthy Pierre's 1984 Concom guide. 1. After Con Francisco, used at Loscon 20: Multiple distribution points, using flyer boards so all issues to-date can be displayed. Locations: near Info, Reg., Con Suite, Dealers, Art Show, Ballrooms. Also, put issue number in great big digits, preferably as a "watermark" or ghost image in the background. The flyer boards also include a 9x12 manila envelope marked "Put News Submissions (Especially Party Notices) Here. And sign your material." That way the news pick-up and drop-off points are the same. List the locations of the newsstands in the newsletter. At least in the first one; maybe in the Program Book; possibly in the fine print in every issue. 2. After Loscon 20, used at Pecon: Stockpile filler material, and make room to use it. Also, mark all of the slots on the newszine flyer boards "Reserved for Issue #So-and-So", to prevent other flyers from being posted there. 3. After Pecon, used at Westercon 47: Solicit art (fillos) as well. Art helps add visual interest to the newszine. Try to find space on the front page for an illustration, every issue. (I broke this rule at Loscon 21, and I wish I hadn't. There was art in every issue, though.) 4. After Westercon 47, used for wrap-up issue: A double-issue situation should result in a 4-page issue, and not two immediately successive issues. 4-pagers can be accomplished different ways, primarily either two pages stapled together, or a double-sized sheet of paper folded over. Stapling and folding cost extra when the print shop does it. Either can be done by you and your staff. After trying the stapled method at Loscon 21, I advocate the fold-over method. You can post half of the print run in two adjoining slots in the newszine board, while you fold the other half and then swap them around. If you put out loose sheets before they're all stapled, a lot of people are only going to take the cover page. Note that a fold-over limits you to a 4-page issue; you may need to be ruthless in your editing. 5. After Westercon 47: The last night of the convention gets lots of activity, and you should anticipate double-issue (or double-sized issue) situations to occur, and be prepared. 6. Other important lessons: Design the layout of the newszine before the con starts. Make sure your equipment is up to the task. If you're renting equipment for the con, make sure it all works first. Have backup equipment! 7. It helps to decide ahead of time which issue numbers will appear when, and seed the filenames for those issues with the issue number and date. You'll run into trouble when you hit the double-issues, but see rules #4-5 for ways around that. If you skip those two rules, you can always name the double-issue 6A and 6B, in place of issue #6, for example. Seed the files ahead of time with stock articles. Put "Tip the Maids" articles in the evening editions, for example, and set aside Party Listings spaces in each evening edition. And don't forget to mention the Dead Dog Party in the last issue. Since you know it'll be there, set it up before the convention. 8. Put in a blurb offering the collector a complete set of the newszines via mail after the con. Make it cheap; just ask for a self-addressed envelope with the proper amount of postage. Put this blurb in every issue; don't wait until the last issue. See if you can get the blurb into the Program Book. Offer a post-convention wrap-up issue. (This falls under the "optional" category... it'll probably be a small print run, <200.) See if the con will subsidize your postage & printing, so you can just ask the interested fans to give you their address. If not, ask for addresses and a small contribution, such as $.50. Put these offers on the newszine board, so they're out there throughout the con. 9. Cultivate a good crew of newsgophers. You'll need runners, typists, writers/re-writers. Be on the prowl for a good sketch artist. While you may think you're a real newspaper, you don't have the photojournalism capability of a real newspaper (just try snapshots+scanner+ laserprinter and compare it to the halftones in your local paper sometime). So if you can get someone who can make b&w sketches, just like the old-time engravings used in old-time news-papers, you'll have someone worth their weight in unobtainium. If you can, cultivate two (or three) complete crews. Completely relinquish authority for half (or two-thirds) of the issues, so you can see the con too. (I haven't made it to this point yet. I'm a control freak, but I'm in recovery. If I'm ever in charge of a Worldcon's newszine, or the equivalent, I'll advertise nationally for it...) 10. Train your staff in the off-season, if possible, in all aspects of producing the news-letter. If you're indispensable, you'll never sleep, and the quality of the newsletter (especially the later ones!) will suffer. Hire a good office manager to take care of all the details. You can take on the job of Publisher before the convention, lining up the print shop and so forth, but you'll be knee-deep in editing the newszine on-site so someone else should deal with sending field reporters out on assignments, keeping track of hours worked, and so forth. (Alan Winston's suggestion, after surviving Con Francisco.) Hire a distribution manager, and turn over all aspects of distributing the news- zine. Once you've pasted up the newszine and turned it over to the runner who takes it to the print shop, you're done with that issue. 11. Beware of decisions made in the heat of strong emotions. Have someone you trust double-check anything that you're cackling with glee over. 12. "All decisions of the editor are arbitrary, capricious, and final. All typos left 30 days become the property of the management." ------------------------------------------------- Party Listings Go Here _________________________________________________ _________________________________________________ _________________________________________________ This file is newszine-babysteps.1 and is available from http://lacon3.worldcon.org/www/Hazel/Smofs. A printed version is available, as issued at Smofcon 12, complete with holes drilled to incorporate it into your Smofcon 12 Handbook. Send a self-addressed stamped envelope and I'll fold one up and mail it to you. Or, send a pre-addressed mailing label (a small slip of paper will do in a pinch) and two stamps, and I'll send it back to you, flat and unfolded, in one of my 9x12 envelopes. Chaz Baden, P.O. Box 17522, Anaheim CA 92817-7522. * * * * * Note to electronic edition: this file is an ascii image of the printed text, which differs from the material that was posted in two parts. Send me a SASE for the printed editions (or email me your outside-USA address). C.S.F. Baden, P.O. Box 17522, Anaheim CA 92817-7522 Daily Newszine Baby Steps Issue #2 * Friday, December 16, 1994 * Anaheim, California by Chaz Baden The Great Type-Size Debate The name and description of the discussion group at Smofcon 12 was: 11:00am Discussion: Newsletters. What do you include: Balancing fun with information. How do you get people to read the damn things, anyway?!? David Langford said it best, in his article "You Do It With Mirrors" (Mimosa #14). "And no matter how boring the lists of programme changes, I wanted the whole [newsletter] larded with funny bits to ensure it got read from end to end." I don't think I really got a chance to make this point at Smofcon, so I'm bringing it up now. I can't stress it enough! After Loscon 20 [1993], I was congratulated for putting out a daily newsletter (the Plush Pile) that appeared every day (and on time). I grilled the well-wishers, looking for some kind of negative criticism, and got exactly one comment from one fan: "It was dull." She was right! And I saw the same thing when I looked at other conventions' newszines, and re-examined the Plush Pile. Since then, I've been trying to make my publications more interesting, and less dull. I feel this is the forgotten side of the Great Type-Size Debate. The Great Type-Size Debate may be summarized as follows: "You have to print it large, or people won't read it!" vs. "If the newsletter is interesting enough and printed in a small-but-legible size, people will read it cover-to-cover!" Many conventions have a limited budget for the newsletter (it is, after all, expendable) and this usually translates into a limited number of issue-pages. If the amount of issue-pages you can produce is a given, then you have to decide what to put on those pages and how to fill them. You may decide to go with 12 point text, as in Orycon 16's "Oryconian" newsletter this year. Or you might pick a good legible typeface to use at 8 point, and pack in some amusing "filler material" to bring them in. (My favorite example from my own work to-date is the Pteranodon Ptimes, at Westercon 47. Send me an address label and a dollar for a complete set.) There is the "third side" to the Great Type-Size Debate, which is the "Print More Pages" point of view, cutting the Gordian Knot. This only works if your budget doesn't limit the pages. The modern-day super Gestetners have been mentioned; see the Boskone flyers for a real-life example of the output from these duplicators that work like a photocopier. (Put your original down on the glass, push a button, copies come out the side.) NESFA's machine reportedly cost $5,000 and apparently has already paid for itself. * Basic Newszine Concepts * Program Changes always go first. They are of paramount importance, and are the justification for the newszine's existence in the first place. Best way to highlight them: put them in a box on the front page (and try not to have anything, or hardly anything else boxed on the front). My opinion: don't shade the box, it makes the contents look less important and readers are more likely to skim over them. Don't have them continued from the front to the back - fit them all on the front, in a box that takes up half the page if you have to. * Party Lists should be set aside in a box. Neither Program Changes nor Party Lists should be printed smaller than the regular text; make them them larger if possible, or the same size if necessary. Party Lists are an important part of the value of an evening newsletter. Put them on one side of the page (don't have them continue to the other side, don't let them start at the bottom of one column and finish up at the top of the next) and please, put them on the front of the page. (You may occasionally have to deal with Party Lists and Program Changes fighting for dominance on your front page; just remember that they're the two most important items, and everything else can probably be moved to the back.) Party Lists should have the top floors listed first. This encourages party-hoppers to work downstairs from the top; they're more likely to use the stairs to go downstairs, thus easing the burden on the elevators; and Con Ops will appreciate it too. You also want them separated by tower. You should be able to go from one listed party to the next listed party, without having to jump all around the page. * Credit your staff. Your credits etc., or "colophon", is important, but not all-important. Put it on the back side of the page. You can shade it, to make it less conspicuous. Give your staff credit. It's easy and cheap, and makes them feel great. You especially want to name your staff if you've made reference to "all uncredited articles are by staff"! This also goes along with putting bylines on all items where possible. Remember that there are probably less than a handful of people who care about what high-tech equipment you used, no matter how interesting your setup appears to you. (On the other hand, if you're using equipment loaned by a corporation for free or dirt-cheap, be sure to mention them so they're happy. See the Gestetner/Eastercon relationship.) * Small print needs to be legible. Besides "The Great Type-Size Debate" (mentioned earlier), the suggestion was made to go to a sans-serif font if you're printing small print, because at the smaller sizes the serifs run together. (From a technical standpoint, you want to look for a generous x-height in whatever you use - 8 pt. Times Roman is a lot more legible than 8 pt. University Roman, for example.) [See also comment in "Baby Steps #3"] Personal note: beware of "Condensed" typefaces; "Condensed" and the smaller point sizes don't mix well together. (For proof of this, see my use of the sans-serif Abadi Condensed in Conozoic/Westercon 47's Pteranodon PTimes.) * Choose your papers wisely. (1) Never use the same color for two consecutive issues. (I'll let you use two colors - white for all the odd-numbers and buff for the even-numbers, but that's my limit...) (2) Never use the same color for two consecutive pieces of paper that aren't stapled together. This even includes "pg 1-2" and "pg 3-4" of the same issue, if they haven't been stapled! It doesn't matter if they're marked differently, or are in the same slot or different slots on the newszine board; if they're the same color, lots of the fans will only grab the first one that comes away when they tug on it. (3) Use light colors. You don't need to use the "astrobright" colors to get your newsletter noticed - there should be enough other things going for it, and you're not fighting against all of the freebie flyers. (Or you shouldn't be, see my newszine board proposal.) Both "astrobright" and regular "pastel" papers can still get you into trouble, however. Suggestion: get a sample of each paper you're considering, write the name of the paper's color on each one, and make (white) photocopies of each. If it doesn't photocopy to clear white - if it's grey or worse - don't use it. The hassle is not worth the variety (see my "two colors" in point #1 above). The Con Francisco "Norton Reader" was held up as a bad example; some of the red and blue issues are nearly opaque. * Print their bylines. Encourage your contributors to PRINT their name on their news. Having a signature of "(scrawl) Member #042" doesn't help you, despite the existence of a memberships-by-number database at the con somewhere... * Inter-departmental distribution. Have someone deliver copies to all of the departments. One suggestion: have the Chair do it! It's a good way to make sure that the Chair gets to all the departments; circulating around the con is probably what the Chair's doing most of the time, anyway. (And if the con is too spread-out, the Chair will have to deal with it twice a day. That'll teach 'em...) More Basic Newszine Concepts * Relations with the hotel. Remember that hotel personnel will be reading the newszine. It's a good idea, both from the fans' point of view and the hotel's, to run items highlighting the hours the coffee shop is open, any brunch or buffet specials they might offer, and so forth. (In addition to the all-important pool/jacuzzi hours.) * Issue numbers at the top. Have the issue number and date in large digits at the top of the page (see Oryconian). Date should have both day of week, and date of month. This is independent of running a large issue-number as a "watermark" image. (In fact, you have to be careful with the watermark interacting with your text; you don't want the text to be hard to read.) * Publish your deadlines. Put the deadline-for-next-issue on the front of the page, preferably set aside in some way so people notice it. (see Oryconian) * Meet your budget. Prepare a budget ahead of time, that includes things like a spare toner cartridge (if your laser printer fails, you're in big trouble) and enough issues to print. At Loscon 21, we had 1,173 members and we had a need for a 600-issue print run; 50% of the membership seems to be a good estimate for your print run. If you run out, it means that some of the membership didn't get a copy. Make sure you've got a contingency budget that covers possible extra issue-pages. If you're getting it photocopied: Get costs from local office-supply/service stores (Staples, Office Depot, for example). Keep in mind, however, that these might not be open at critical times during your holiday weekend, like before-programming-opens on Sunday morning. Get costs from your local all-night photocopy shop (Kinko's, for example) and see if you can work out a good deal by combining stores, or possibly bringing all your business to one shop in exchange for a better rate. If you've got your own photocopier: Make sure it can handle the high volume, high speed you'll need. Remember you'll want to print both sides. If you've got a two-sheet issue to staple, you're better off printing all of one, then all of another, and then stapling them by hand, because the automatic collator-stapler unit might be low-volume and low-speed. [See also follow-up comment in "Baby Steps #3"] (But consider, in that instance, of making the "second sheet" sufficiently independent to be printed on a different color paper and presented as an "extra" issue. Or run it all on 11x17 paper and fold it in half.) If you've got two super-Gestetner (or equivalent) high-speed duplicators: You lucky dog. Backup equipment is a good idea, so that you can (1) do both sides (or both sheets/issues) at once, and (2) if one breaks down you're still in business. And the Gestetners are supposed to be low page cost machines. Getting back to the budget, you've got to set a realistic budget, and stick to it. And be prepared to improvise if your budget gets slashed. I had bake sales, sold homemade fudge, peddled advertisements [see follow-up comment in Baby Steps #3], and managed to put out a respectable newszine within a budget that was curtailed at the last minute. (I received a printing budget of $70 from the convention for printing during the convention, plus another $80 to purchase a spare toner cartridge.) * Masquerade. If there's a Masquerade, try to arrange with the Masquerade Dept. to get copies of the entry forms, so you can prepare a running order. (If you have it all typed up in time, you can even print a large copy of the running order to post in the photographers' room at the Masquerade. They'll love you for it.) * Hall Costume Awards, other mid-convention prizes awarded. Try to coordinate with whoever's responsible for issuing the prizes, so that the newsletter can promote them. (Recent example: if Loscon 21 had hall costume awards, we never heard about them. This fosters the appearance that Loscon 21 didn't care about hall costumes, in my opinion.) * Pre-written articles. I lifted certain articles from Conadian's "Voyageur" and Baycon 1994's "Baycon Bugle" on some basic subjects such as hygiene, tipping, and so forth. It's a good idea to have these already written and in place, so you don't have to try to come up with 100 words on the subject to fill a hole in your page. * Basic Desktop Publishing Style * Basics: Beware of the three most-common pitfalls of Desktop Publishing. (1) Using too many fonts. Just because you have twelve different typefaces, it doesn't mean you have to use every one in every issue. You're better off picking *one* typeface for all of your headlines, and *one* typeface (or typeface family - i.e. regular, bold, italic) for the text in your articles. (2) Misuse of all-capitals in decorative fonts. Zapf Chancery is not meant to be used in all-caps. The implication, by the way, is that some fonts are not suitable for writing things like "Anaheim CA 92817-7522." (Use "Calif.", if you find yourself in this situation.) (3) One-man Tunnelvision. Finally, DTP means that it's possible for a project to go through the hands of just one person, from start to finish. For example, a dyslexic typist can prepare the program schedule for an entire major national convention, and send it to the printers, without once running it through a spell-checker program (let alone one with the participants' names in it) or letting anyone else have a look at it. This is a recipe for disaster. In other words, have someone else proofread it before you go straight to press. * Other minor nitpicks (mistakes I haven't seen in print lately, but the newcomer should be wary): Don't use double-spaces after sentences if you're not using a typewriter. Don't use underlining; it's the typewriter's way of using italics, and you should be able to do real italics on your DTP rig. I also recommend avoiding ALL CAPS; use bold for emphasis. Advanced Newszine Style * Art really improves the look of the newszine. (I touched on this briefly in "Baby Steps #1".) Assuming you have room around the Party Lists and Program Changes, try to have some kind of art on every issue. If you can get art from the art show artists, or some (probably older) art from the Artist Guest of Honor, so much the better. For example, the most interesting- looking issue of the Orycon 16 "Oryconian" is the one with the giant frog in a clerical collar. * Separate articles. One way to add visual interest to the page, and to help differentiate between successive articles on a page, is to put some kind of symbol or dingbat as a separator between articles. At Loscon 21 in the "Future History Revisionist", I used a ringed planet. At Conozoic/Westercon 47, in the "Pteranodon Ptimes" I used dinosaurs - a different one each time. * Nameplate. (That portion at the top of the newsletter, with the name of the newsletter, often misidentified as the "masthead".) Have an artist draw up something special for your newsletter at your particular convention. Worldcon-sized cons: have several artists give you a bunch of different ones to rotate through? * Explore fold-over formats. Especially if you're running into extra pages; it's not a bad idea to have them available as a contingency plan, for that matter. One format suggested (but not tried) was a "legal" (8.5"x14") format, folded over (8.5"high x 7" wide). I've seen this used as a zine format before, but not as a daily newszine; it's probably worth trying. On the other hand: the point was made that you might want to have at least enough margin on one side to allow the newsletter to be three-hole-punched and put in a notebook. In which case, your regular "letter" format (8.5"w x 11"h - *not* sideways, 8.5"h x 11"w), or the double-sized fold-over ledger paper (17"w x 11"h, folded in half to 8.5"w x 11"h) would be prefered. * Extra Credit Ideas * Registration figures. (After Kevin Standlee's Orycon 16 "Oryconian") If you can get Registration to give you figures for memberships-so-far, in time for every single deadline, you can run a box at the top of the page with "memberships as of 2 pm Friday" and so forth. If that's not available, see if you can get membership totals from them at the close of each day, for the morning editions. * Morning issues at breakfast. It's pleasant to have something to read over breakfast, so consider having one of the newszine boards placed near the hotel restaurant. You may have a higher degree of non-members reading the newszine; you might not be able to set it up in the first place because it's not part of the function areas; but it's probably worth a try. (The Oryconian reportedly had a distribution point at the coffee shop; I haven't tried it yet myself.) * * * * * * Daily Newszine Baby Steps Issue #3 * Tuesday, December 27, 1994 * Anaheim, California by Chaz Baden Picking a Newsroom I've been in various kinds of rooms, and heard of other news teams in other circumstances. Summary: you could be set up at one end of a table in Con Ops; you could have a function room shared by Tech Storage (presumably a secure store), or a function room all your own; or a place "on the floor" such as in or behind Information; a hotel room; a suite with a parlor; a suite with a parlor and a jacuzzi. What works well is often a matter of location. "On the floor" in a large cavernous convention center is going to be loud and noisy. Not everyone can work under those circumstances. (A couple of stereo Walkman-style headphone sets can help out in some cases.) Up in the hotel is probably going to be removed from the action, unless it's on the main route that fans will take all weekend. In my opinion, you should use a real room with a door, walls, and a regular ceiling; leaving aside the issue of after-hours access, I don't think the convention center floor is the best place to work. But, on the other hand, you should be where people can easily find you. (Near the Con Suite?) If you can get a couch in your newsroom, do it. Even have someone drag theirs from home... it'll be worth it. (This is where a hotel room or suite has an advantage.) I have seen and heard of enough instances where having a comfortable place to lie down can make a great difference, especially after the first or second day. Getting back to the issue of access, being where people can find you easily is a two-edged sword. On the one hand, they can hand you news updates, and are more likely to come and do so; on the other, it can create a lot of interruptions when you're trying to concentrate. This is why I advocate having someone whose job is to pleasantly intercept anyone who comes through the door. He or she could type in hand-delivered articles, answer questions like "when's the next issue coming out" and have them conclude their business with a smile. * Design Notes It's an excellent idea to completely design your newsletter before the convention and lay out a mock-up. Practice by typing in the news from last year, and see how it looks. Try different typefaces in your prototype issue, and see if they're easy to read. I have used Amasis (the periods are too small at 8 pt.) and Oranda (the boldface isn't dark enough at 8 pt.); here I'm using Lucida Fax, which works well on my 300 dpi laser printer. * Plan Ahead for Maximum Impact * Plan your gags. If you're going to make a deliberate attempt to have some kind of themed gags in your newszine, plan them out in brainstorming gag-writing sessions ahead of time. The Pteranodon Ptimes had funny tabloid-style headlines, and also some ficticious "geological eras" for the dates; these were worked out in the months before the convention. We went over all our ideas, and culled them and refined them and edited them down to the ones we felt were the best, and seeded the newszine issue files with them so we wouldn't have to type them in on-site. In contrast, the Future History Revisionist had one running "gag" -- the s.f. timeline events -- which weren't all that funny, didn't have anything explaining the concept except in issue #1 (and it wasn't printed next to the timeline, or on the same page), and were mostly just my little project. The "tabloid headline" gag con- cept would have worked at Loscon as they weren't terribly theme- specific at Westercon (except for some of the actual headlines when we worked out a storyline involving an apparently pregnant Pocket Dragon)... but we didn't do it, and the newsletter was duller as a result. * Filler Material For All The Fans. Attempt to stockpile short articles to (1) pad out the page and (2) make the newsletter as a whole more interesting. But while you're doing this, try to make the funny bits of general interest. For example, if you collect fanzines, you might keep an eye out for good linos -- but make sure that they translate well, out of context. If a non-fanzine fan wouldn't be amused, assuming you're not at Corflu or Ditto, then don't use it. The same problem crops up if you're collecting material from apas. Someone might write a terrific follow-up article, but if it requires following the discussion from several previous issues because it's a reply... if the article doesn't survive being uprooted, then don't use it. * Ideas for Worldcons * Worldcon = Wealth of Material. Before Con Francisco, Alan Winston was worried there might not be enough material to fill out each issue of The Norton Reader. That proved not to be the case, to put it mildly; we were straining the format trying to print everything we received. There was not enough room to print all of the Program Changes as far as panelists being added and dropped, so we just printed major changes (new room/time, etc.) * Pink Sheets. At a Worldcon-sized convention, try to convince the Programming Dept. that they should issue one-page daily program sheets each morning, so you can stick the silly thing in your pocket. (The updated Friday schedule would be available Friday morning, and so forth.) Most of the changes at these cons will be of the participants-added-and-dropped variety; the bulk of the schedule will be unchanged. Ask for Program Ops to be in charge of the content; they would prepare the day's schedule, with the changed items highlighted (in bold, or with a special symbol, or something). They should be capable of preparing the "camera- ready" masters the night before; the Newsletter dept might take over the burden of printing & distribution, but you won't be able to introduce typos when you go to print it. If you're using the newszine-board distribution method, you'll want to set aside (N) extra slots for the daily program sheets. * Hugo Awards. The awards shouldn't take you by surprise; by the time the Worldcon opens, the concom should already know exactly what awards are being issued at the con. This means you can prepare a skeleton issue, with all of the Hugos and other categories ready to fill in the blanks. (Conadian had 45 different award categories in their ceremonies, and only 13 or 14 of them were Hugos.) If you're printing commercially, you can run it as a single-sided issue on white stock. (In L.A. it costs $.02 each or less in quantity.) * Advertisements: Threat or Menace? Donald E. Eastlake 3rd says: ``I think the sale of advertising in a daily newsletter is a bad idea for several reasons. Generally newsletter space is at a premium. For smaller ads, the news will get crowded... Is the purpose of the daily newsletter to be a fund raiser for the con or a way to get people the information they need?'' * There are no small cons, just small zines. The first daily newszine I ran myself (and the second one I've worked on), the Plush Pile, and the latest, the Future History Revisionist, were at the same con in different years. The cons had virtually identical attendance, in the same hotel on the same holiday weekend. The newsletter was distributed the same way, and published on the same schedule. I've had the possibly-unique experience of working on 5 cons' daily newszines in the span of 15 months. Comparing these two show a world of difference. I had the same size newsroom, I had similar equipment... but now I had the task of managing a large team, i.e. more than 2 people. The Future History Revisionist had three times as much material as the Plush Pile. (It had more pages, and smaller print.) Over a 3- day con, four reporters worked 10 hours each, and seven staffers (counting myself) worked from 20 to 60 hours each. Lots of fans submitted news; e.g., five different articles mentioned the Ice Cream Social. After wrestling (at other cons) with the problem of accounting for volunteers' hours worked, I turned over all office management functions to Colleen Crosby. There were plenty of volunteers willing to type in all the submissions. I just tried to combine everything into a cohesive whole. But even though "all I have to do is merge it all together in one big issue," it still took 4 HOURS to go over each issue and bring it into my style guidelines. Next time we run a newszine, after I train my regular crew, we'll print up and post style charts. And I'll designate an "editor on duty" who'll see to it that we accumulate a working draft file as we go along. I think it's possible that any Worldcon newszine editor is going to run into some sort of trouble unless they already have a way of effectively managing all the people that show up to work. As Sarah Goodman says: ``Learning to manage others doing the job you are used to doing is a whole new cricket game.'' * Morning and Evening Newszines Sarah Goodman suggests that a large newsletter operation might set up two separate crews -- putting out two entirely different newsletters. She adds: ``Letting go of control is ALWAYS a difficult issue, especially when you are dealing with an area where at a small con you can do it all yourself; you have no patterns for how to divide the work. I think this is why having two "papers" would work well. The division of labor on each paper is the same as it would be for a smaller venture (or a daily paper). ``I think you would need some design things to stay the same. The typefaces should carry the same weight -- X height being the same is probably more important than typeface, the columns and margins should be the same, etc. ``... Some WorldCon I'd love to see a double pager with Sunday Funnies!'' * Taped-Up Notices * Blue Boards. At recent cons, I've supplied a set of 4'x4' hardboard sheets, painted with a light blue semi-gloss paint. (It's the same kind of material that the pegboard flyer-boards & art show walls are made out of, but without the holes.) I position at least one by every newszine board, and anywhere else they seem appropriate. The intent is to encourage taped-up notices to be taped there, instead of to the hotel's walls. Hotels tend to get fussy about that. At Smofcon, alternatives were brought up. "Foamcore" was mentioned, for its light weight, and it can be folded. (Unfortunate- ly, it breaks; the 4-ft hardboard squares aren't really too heavy, anyway.) Also, there's "Static Image" or other paper products that come in great big sheets and stick to the walls by static electricity. Fans can tape flyers up, and at the end of the con you just pull down the whole sheet and throw it away. (Unfortunately, some House- keeping staffers in some regions reflexively tear it down prematurely, so that won't work everywhere!) * * Baby Steps: Back Talk I've received a few comments on what I've written up so far. Leah Smith (who last ran daily news for the NASFiC in '85 and will never do it again), on making publications more interesting (Baby Steps #2, "The Great Type-Size Debate"): ``I think this is one of the things that got lost in the transition. That is, conventions used to recruit fanzine fans to produce their newszines. Sometimes this resulted in interesting zines with no news about the convention in them (funny bits left in and program changes left out), but the zines were definitely entertaining. ``Now con newszines are mainly produced by con runners. They usually have lots of relevant information in them, but they are often produced by people who can't write or who are so fascinated by the mechanics of con running that they are blind to how dull their material is to everyone else. ``Ideally you want funny material that's relevant to the convention itself, which precludes preparing it all in advance.'' Seth Breidbart, on printing two-sheet issues (Baby Steps #2, "Meet Your Budget"): ``Better yet, with any size print run, is to print a batch of the first sheet, then a batch of the second; those batches can be stapled while more copies are being run off. This also allows you to get the first bunch of newsletters out earlier. ``Failure to apply that sort of thinking is the reason I was, at ConAdian, once again able to have the hoax newsletter scoop the real one with the Hugo Awards.'' * Your comments solicited -- especially if you disagree with me, or don't care for the newszines I've produced. Some of this material is a result of discussions at Smofcon 12; other comments are based on things that were done better in 1994's Baycon Bugle, Orycon 16's Oryconian, or Conadian's Voyageur. My thanks to Sarah, Kevin, and Jeremy for the examples and additional viewpoints. * Editor: Chaz Baden. Role Model: Dave Langford. Newszine examples: Alan Winston, Sarah Goodman, Jeremy Bloom, Kevin Standlee. Additional comments & viewpoints: Tim Farley, Donald E. Eastlake 3rd, Seth Breidbart, Leah Smith. Daily Newszine Baby Steps is a collection of lessons I've learned about running Daily Newsletters at s.f. conventions. Three issues have been published (out of four?) of Baby Steps. If you'd like one or all of the issues, send me a SASE. You can get complete sets of back issues from Conozoic/Westercon 47 (Pteranodon Ptimes), Loscon 21 (Future History Revisionist), or Phil & Ed's Excellent Convention (The Daily Meatball) -- send an address label and $1 for each set. If you've run a newszine, I'll swap you yours for mine. Chaz Baden, P.O. Box 17522, Anaheim CA 92817-7522. Email: hazel@ddb.com * Daily Newszine Baby Steps Issue #4 * Thursday, February 9, 1995 * Anaheim, California by Chaz Baden +-------------------------------------------------------------------+ | | | A picture really adds interest to the page. This is a picture | | that my staff artist, Shawn Crosby, drew of me "looking for | | stories on the Party Floor" at Westercon 47. (Those are cups | | of alcoholic Jell-O bouncing off the tray...) | | | +-------------------------------------------------------------------+ What's the Print Run? The question of how many copies to print is a thorny one. Leah Smith joins the fray, saying: ``Ideally, there should be at least one copy printed for every member of the convention and then some, because people always grab extras. ``Worldcons notoriously underprint their newszines. This has become less of a problem now that the zines are no longer mimeographed by hand, but it's still an issue.'' Linda Bushyager, who co-edited the newszine at MidAmeriCon, talks about her experience at that 1976 Worldcon: ``Many recent Worldcons fail to produce enough copies. The first issue should have as many copies at preregistration. If many memberships are added at the door, the number should be increased. Many people like to have a set of all issues, so there should be enough of the very first couple issues for fans who arrive late (they may also want to find out about the news from those first issues). ``I don't remember print run -- I'm going to guess it was about 2000. I believe we reprinted issue #1 when it ran out (we made more estencils from the original). We only had a staff of 3 people and the worst thing was printing. Estencils gave out after about 500-1000 copies.'' I suggested 50% of the total membership (Baby Steps #2, "More Basic Newszine Concepts"), which may seem non-intuitive (it took me by surprise). Other newszine veterans confirm that less than 1-per-member is enough, for example Alan Winston (Con Francisco): ``Our run was <100%. (We also varied it a little, figuring (I think) that there'd be less demand on the first and last issues, which came out before anything was happening at the convention and after anything was happening at the convention.) I think it averaged around 3000.'' and David Langford, 3-time Eastercon veteran, confesses: ``I really can't remember, boss! Quite high, though. 75%, perhaps. As with your system, not all were distributed: we always kept a little pile of each issue on a table in the newsroom for the small but persistent streams of completists. One of the Sou'Wester newsletters ran out and Jan van't Ent reprinted it (on his own initiative, bless him) during a quiet shift.'' Kevin Standlee weighs in with a pessimistic last word: ``In my opinion, if you print one copy per member, you've already overprinted by a significant amount. Frankly, there are large number of attendees who do not read the newsletter, and never will do so. ``I base my experiences on BayCon, SiliCon, and OryCon, where I have edited the con newsletters. BayCon was drawing in excess of 2000 attendees when I edited Makin' BayCon. Our peak printrun was 1500 copies of certain issues, with 750 on some issues. We usually had lots and lots of copies left over at the end. Now granted, we didn't have nifty stand-up distribution stands like Chaz has for the zines he is doing, but copies were distributed at the Info Desk, Registration, and a number of other prominent locations, and by the end of the con, there usually were still stacks of zines left to be thrown out by the hotel when they cleaned up. ``At OryCon, I printed 500 copies per issue to cover the 1,400 attendees. That this was sufficient is I think shown by there still being about 50 copies of each issue left at the Info Desk at the end of the con. ``Unfortunately, there just are a lot of people out there who don't read. ``Sigh.'' * +------------------------------------------------------+ | | | Deadline For Issue #6: Wed., February 15, 1995 | | | +------------------------------------------------------+ * Distribution & News Collection Rehash It seems that any discussion of print run will sooner or later turn to the issue of distributing the newsletter. (See also Baby Steps #1, item number 1.) To help us make the transition, here's Leah Smith: ``It occurs to me that my comments about printrun were based primarily on Worldcons, where there is a knowledgeable audience that expects a daily newszine, and so copies are sought after and shortages are a problem. At regionals, daily newszines are less of a given, and the attendance is (a) less likely to expect and go looking for one, and (b) more likely to be made up of people who are only there for the beer and don't give a damn. ``Obviously you want to print enough copies so that everyone who wants one gets one. The question is, do you want to encourage the people who don't now want one to do so? If you're trying to save money on newszine production, then no. If you're trying to disseminate information, then yes. So I think it would be better to err on the side of overprinting and think of creative ways to interest people in the zine. ``Announce its availability at major program events. Maybe have someone outside these events handing the zine out as people exit. Prominent and convenient distribution sites with large signs announcing what it is being distributed ("Not just another flier, this is the daily news..."). Etc.'' Linda Bushyager recaps the basics: ``Have special places set up where you can deposit the newszine each day. These should be in central areas where fans can find them. Keep the bins filled, and have room for bins for all editions so people can get back issues. ``Some copies of the newszine should be distributed to Con Ops, Information, and other such areas. Also you can put up a board in the message area where the newszine is tacked up each day. Label the area as "Newszine" (or whatever) and move away anything anyone is dumb enough to tack on your official looking area.'' And Kevin Standlee goes the extra mile: ``Many people have told me that the newsletter should be distributed to many different locations. In fact, I have done so when I edited the newsletters. I always dropped off copies at the Dealers Liaison, Art Show, Info Desk, Registration, Con Suite, Con Office, Gopher Hole, and usually put some on the tables near the programming areas. I also put copies at the front desk of the Coffee Garden, and I often tried to leave some at the hotel's front desk and the bell desk, just to be thorough. Furthermore, I've been known to wander the hallways 'hawking' the zine to passers-by. ``If any of the distribution locations are closed when I go by distributing newsletters, I usually put them under the doors. One year I put a copy under every door on the second floor (the party floor) to boot. ``... Besides dropping stacks of newsletters off at a dozen different places, I also would tape a copy of each issue on the flyer-posting kiosks located throughout the Red Lion Inn. (I put a copy of each side of the zine up on the kiosk.) This allowed people who didn't want to pick up copies to read the issues nevertheless. ``In practice, even with my efforts, including wandering the hallways yelling out "extra! extra!" (which I did the one time we did indeed produce an extra issue), many people still don't notice the zine. I have no solution to this, and am not sure if any attempt should be made to find one. Short of buttonholing every member and stuffing a zine down their shirt, there's not much more I can do to improve penetration.'' Perrianne Lurie has this to add: ``Another location for the daily 'zine (which seems to be forgotten in many cases) is the Green Room. The program participants want to know about program changes, parties, etc, too.'' Leah Smith talks about news collection and where to set up shop (see also (Baby Steps #3, "Picking a Newsroom"): ``It helps if you have several news collection stations throughout the con -- at registration or the information desk, in the con suite, in the hucksters' room. Post deadlines prominently near these boxes and don't forget to send somebody around to collect the info before starting your issue. Deadlines and the location of news collection sites should also go in each issue.'' In Baby Steps #1, I recommended using a set of "flyer boards" built specially for the newszine. (I've noticed lately that not all conventions seem to automatically know about pegboard-and-string boards, which amazes me because they've been around almost two decades, maybe longer. Susan Wheeler reports that they seem to have been invented in 1976-1977 for Balticon by Martin Deutsch.) When I prepare the newszine boards, I have a pocket reserved for each issue, and a 9x12 envelope for news submissions. These boards are placed all over in the places Leah and the others have described, with one wrinkle: the boards are placed *outside* rooms that get locked up at night, to allow the fans late-night access. A slight variation we introduced at Loscon 21: I have two sets of envelopes, one of them marked "News for Evening Edition," the other one "News for Morning Edition." Another way to handle this, if you don't publish two issues every day, is to somehow have the next issue's number on the envelope. "News for Issue 3" and so forth. Anyhow, you can be sure you've checked for news at all of the stations, because you should have a complete set of envelopes from them when you've finished your rounds. * Coming Soon: In "Baby Steps #5," notices I've used in PR's, etc.; in "Baby Steps #6, more about my crew and how we work. * Notes for Worldcons Linda Bushyager has some more notes from her experience at Midamericon, for future Worldcon newszine editors & publishers to keep in mind: * Who Prints it, and How? ``We used mimeo (which I would not recommend). I think today's cons should pay a local print shop to stay open during the con to print stuff for them (if the shop normally closes). There are a lot of things that the con committee (or others) will want printed -- such as Worldcon Business meeting stuff. We had people bringing us that stuff to print too, which was a mistake. I think we killed 1 of 3 mimeos during our printing. We had 1 electric stenciler.'' * Plan Ahead for Best Results. ``One thing we did which worked extremely well was to name the newsletter prior to the con and get well-known artists like Tim Kirk and Dan Steffan to each do a heading in advance (The Bull-Sheet).'' * The Hugo Extra Project. ``We also arranged with the con committee to get the Hugo winners a day (or a few hours) in advance, swearing secrecy, and then as people left the Hugo awards we handed them a new issue of the Bullsheet with all the winners listed -- now that was timely -- and something I'm very proud of and never seen done since.'' * The Sign Shop Some hotels will require that "all signs must look professional." This means hand-scrawled signs may run afoul of the hotel staff. Since the newsroom has the equipment -- software, hardware -- you may find yourself being asked to make up signs. Your best way around this, as they will be an interruption, is to encourage Con Ops or the con's Office to have a sign-making rig. Your second-best course is to announce beforehand that signs will be made *after* the newsletter is on the presses (gone to the printshop or whatever), and have them drop off their sign requests & come back later. * Editor: Chaz Baden. Newszine examples: Dave Langford, Kevin Standlee, Alan Winston. Additional comments & viewpoints: Linda Bushyager, Perrianne Lurie, Leah Smith, Susan Wheeler. Daily Newszine Baby Steps is a collection of lessons I've learned about running Daily Newsletters at s.f. conventions. Four issues have been published (out of five?) of Baby Steps. If you'd like one or all of the issues, send me a SASE. You can get complete sets of back issues from Conozoic/Westercon 47 (Pteranodon Ptimes), Loscon 21 (Future History Revisionist), or Phil & Ed's Excellent Convention (The Daily Meatball) -- send an address label and $1 for each set. If you've run a newszine, I'll swap you yours for mine. Chaz Baden, P.O. Box 17522, Anaheim CA 92817-7522. Email: hazel@ddb.com * Daily Newszine Baby Steps Issue #5 * Thursday, February 9, 1995 * Anaheim, California by Chaz Baden Sample Plea to Artists Newszine Needs Fillos Loscon Daily Newsletter seeks illustrations, preferably in keeping with the con's theme, if possible. One way to illustrate "The Changing Face of Science Fiction" would be to draw two (or more) examples of the same concept, as seen from different points of view. For example, Robbie the Robot, C-3PO, and Data. Or, a 30's-era spaceship and a more recent version. (I'm sure we can come up with more than just robots and rockets... any ideas?) Your black and white illustration would be used no more than once, and returned to you. You would also receive full credit, including a "See him/her in the art show (print shop, dealers room)" plug, and a complete set of the newszines (one of each). You do not have to be selling at Loscon to participate. If you're just going to be hanging out, that's cool too. For that matter, if you're really driven, you can mail me an illo and not show up at all... In absence of specific instructions, I will assume black and white photocopies are expendable. If it's an original you need back, please let me know so I can take special care with it. Illustrations do not have to be original for this con. If you have something that's old and/or has been published before, and fits the theme, send it in, I'd love to see it. Most of the illustrations will be printed small, to fit in a column on the page. You can reach me at the con. I'll be there the night before (Thanksgiving) at the "Early Birds Potluck Party" in the Con Suite; or you can write or email me ahead of time. Chaz Baden, P.O. Box 17522, Anaheim CA 92817-7522, (310) 542-5849; email: hazel@crl.com. Thanks for your consideration. +-------------------+ | Deadline | | for Next Issue: | | February 15, 1995 | +-------------------+ Sample Letter to Prospective Workers I'm assembling our Daily Newszine Team. So you'd like to help with Westercon 47's daily newsletter... What are your skills and talents that apply to this area? (Don't panic if you think you're being grilled; no experience is necessary to help.) Have you worked on an at-con newsletter before? Written for one? Helped distribute and otherwise gopherize? Edited a newszine? Been involved every day, on one *or more* issues per day? Have you other newsletter experience? Be aware that the editor of an at-con newsletter feels the pressure of that daily requirement very heavily; I produced a twice-a-month magazine for six years, and while it got stressfull, it wasn't the same level of stress-every-day that the on-site newsletters require. In other words, while I'm open to the possibility of a second newsletter editor, I expect to more likely get additional writers and reporters (who don't have as much responsibility and stress). Let me tell you a little bit about the work that will need to be done at the convention. First of all, the newsletter will be on the stands Every Morning before daytime programming begins; and the evening edition will be on the stands Every Evening (except the last day) before evening programming begins. This makes for 7 issues over the period July 1-4. The morning editions' main purpose: programming changes for the day. The evening editions' main purpose: party lists, and early notice of programming changes for the following morning. However the big problem with any at-con newsletter: is getting the fans to read it! And the big complaint (apart from newszines that don't come out on time) is, they're dull. So we want to put more into the newsletter than the minimum daily requirement. We want news -- we want reporters covering all aspects of the convention. We want registration attendance figures, and panel reviews, and a write-up of the Ice Cream Social and of the Masquerade, and a write-up of the Art Show and reviews of the parties. We want reporters keeping their ears to the ground for misc. news items. If someone gets married, dies, gives birth, or breaks a limb, I want it in the newsletter. (This probably means someone covers the Con Ops beat.) If someone throws a contest, we want it in the newsletter. If someone wins a prize or a raffle, we want to print it. If the blood drive collects over 50 units, we want the news. (Get the picture?) We want gossip. If something inconsequential happens that we can exaggerate and blow out of proportion, making it more entertaining in the process, that's something we want to see and consider for printing. And we want features. We want fun material that people will want to read, even if they don't need any of the required material. We want them to look forward to reading the next issue to see what's going to be printed next. We want humor, broad and tongue-in-cheek where appropriate, or more sophisticated if that's the style. Finally, I want art. I want illustrations (illos) in the newsletter. I want art, preferably fitting the theme of the convention. I want it in black & white, of course, so it can be reproduced. I want pieces that I can run in grey in the "background" of half of the page; I want pieces that I can print small and fit into one 2" to 2.5"-wide column. I want the newsletter to be attractive. I want gophers to help me distribute one edition and gather contributions for the next. I want a "night person" -- someone who likes to stay up late, and will ride shotgun (and/or drive the car!) so that the editor doesn't fall asleep en route to the copy shop; then come back and help distribute the freshly-printed morning editions to all of the distribution points that aren't behind locked doors. I want a "morning person" -- someone who will get up in the morning, be at the art show/dealers room when it's unlocked, and deliver that morning's edition. Any questions? Interested in participating? * Sample Notice for Progress Reports Newsletter Staff Returns C.S.F. ("Chaz") Baden, the big hairy man with the furry bear ears, will be leading the "Pan-Galactic Publishing" team. Shawn Crosby, the illustrator whose work you may have seen in Westercon 47's newsletter or on L.A.con III flyers, will be doing quick sketches at the convention. (We hope to have a portrait of the Masquerade winner in the Sunday issue.) Colleen Crosby will be managing the newsroom office. Pat Lawrence will be co-editor, sharpening her editorial discretionary skills. K.V. Moffet and Nola Frame-Gray will round out our newsgopher team, with Lynn Boston and Maria Rodriguez heading up the booster squad. If you are throwing a party, please let the newszine know as early as possible, so we can set aside a slot for you in the evening edition Party Lists. (If your room number hasn't been assigned yet, let us know anyway, and we'll try to hold a slot until your check-in.) You can even let me know before the convention, so you can be sure of being printed properly! C.S.F. Baden -- Loscon Newszine, P.O. Box 17522, Anaheim CA 92817-7522. (310) 542-5849. email: hazel@crl.com. Newszine Needs Gophers Help Wanted: Newsgophers. Writers, Editors, Circulation, Field Reporters, Society & Gossip, Copy Collection, Rewrite Desk. No Experience Necessary. I'm looking for fans to help me produce the daily newszine at Loscon. I especially need Party Reviewers. Want to help? It should be fun. Writing skills are optional. C.S.F. Baden, P.O. Box 17522, Anaheim CA 92817-7522, (310) 542-5849, email: hazel@crl.com. * Coming Soon In "Baby Steps #6," I talk about the Pan-Galactic Publishing crew we've built up, and how we work, including Morale, Schedules, Timekeeping, and Training. Find out about Nola's favorite sweatshirt, how Colleen has kept me from going out of my mind, and our greatest weakness (besides chocolate). * Sample Material for Program Book Daily Newsletter C.S.F. ("Chaz") Baden, the big hairy man with the furry bear ears, will be leading the "Pan-Galactic Publishing" team. Shawn Crosby, the illustrator whose work you may have seen in Westercon 47's newsletter or on L.A.con III flyers, will be doing quick sketches at the convention. (We hope to have a portrait of the Masquerade winner in the Sunday issue.) Colleen Crosby will be managing the newsroom office. Pat Lawrence will be co-editor, sharpening her editorial discretionary skills. K.V. Moffet and Nola Frame-Gray will round out our newsgopher team, with Lynn Boston and Maria Rodriguez heading up the booster squad. The daily newszine will have 5 editions, a Morning edition and an Evening edition starting Friday Morning. The Morning edition shall be on the stands before the start of daytime programming. The Evening edition shall be on the stands before the start of evening programming. The Saturday Evening and Sunday morning editions will be run as double issues if there is the material for it. Please try to pick up one of each issue; some early material might not be repeated every day. The newszine will be on display at five different locations through the convention. Three newszine boards will be in the Convention Center (one at Information, one in the West Foyer, and one in the East Foyer), one in the East Tower (by the telephones) and one in the West Tower, i.e. the hotel's lobby, by the Art Show. The newszine display boards ("newsstands") will have a space for each issue, and an envelope for news material submissions. If you have material for the newszine, drop it in any of the newsstands' envelopes. Please sign your contributions. Deadline for the evening edition is 12:00 pm, and deadline for the morning edition is 8:00 p.m.; if you need to know if the newsletter has already gone to press, stop by the newsroom (Parlor 123) or examine the newsstand envelope. (We switch the envelopes around when we pick up the news.) If you are throwing a party, please let the newszine know as early as possible, so we can set aside a slot for you in the evening edition Party Lists. (If your room number hasn't been assigned yet, let us know anyway, and we'll try to hold a slot until your check-in.) Newsletter Notes Help Wanted: Newsgophers! Writers, Editors, Circulation, Field Reporters, Society & Gossip, Copy Collection, Rewrite Desk, Sketch Artist. No Experience Necessary. If you would like to help out, stop by the newsroom, Parlor 123 (on your way to the Con Suite). If the door is locked, check in at Volunteers or leave a message on house phone extension 7123. If you want to write, stop by for an assignment; I need field reporters to cover the main events. Or, just write up an article on some aspect of the convention and submit it for the newszine, by leaving it in the envelope on any of the newsstands. Fillos Wanted for Newszine! If you have some illustrations that we could use, drop a copy in the envelope or look for me in the newsroom. Wrap-Up Newszine: I may be printing up a post-convention edition. If you'd like a copy of that, just give me your name and address so I can mail it to you. And if you have any post-mortem notes for inclusion in that issue, drop them in the newsstand envelopes or mail them to me. Finally, if you want a complete set of the newsletter, you can get copies by sending me two stamps and a self-addressed envelope. C.S.F. Baden -- Loscon Newszine, P.O. Box 17522, Anaheim CA 92817-7522. (310) 542-5849. email: hazel@crl.com. Post No Bills: If you have a time-bound announcement -- that is, an announcement of an event happening during the convention -- you may tape your notice to the Blue Boards positioned throughout the facility. Please do not put anything on the newsstands themselves; we'll be needing all of the slots for the newszine and official convention announcements. Also, don't tape anything to the hotel's walls, doors, mirrors, or other flat surfaces; they may be torn down. (If our people get to them first, we may reposition them onto the blank boards mentioned above, but why not just put them there in the first place and avoid the hassle?) * Daily Newszine Baby Steps is a collection of lessons I've learned about running Daily Newsletters at s.f. conventions. Five issues have been published (out of six?) of Baby Steps. If you'd like one or all of the issues, send me a SASE. You can get complete sets of back issues from Conozoic/Westercon 47 (Pteranodon Ptimes), Loscon 21 (Future History Revisionist), or Phil & Ed's Excellent Convention (The Daily Meatball) -- send an address label and $1 for each set. If you've run a newszine, I'll swap you yours for mine. Chaz Baden, P.O. Box 17522, Anaheim CA 92817-7522. Email: hazel@ddb.com * Daily Newszine Baby Steps [ #6 ] Thursday, February 16, 1995 * "Always One Step Ahead of the Chair" ------ (Note to the on-line ascii text version: the asterisks seen here actually represent dingbats of one sort or another. Send me two stamps for the printed version so you can see it for real.) +--------------------------------------+ | LASFS Program Highlights | | | | * 16 Feb.: Cartoons in Space! | | Tom Safer hosts a retrospective on | | how space travel has been shown in | | cartoons, from 1940 to the present. | | | | * 23 Feb.: Octavia Butler | | Octavia Butler will talk on her | | recent work and other topics. | | | | * 02 Mar.: Robots on Film | | (Part 1) Charles Lee Jackson II | | presents a retrospective of robots | | in cinema, from the earliest | | portrayals to the golden age of low | | budget serials. | | | | * 09 Mar.: William F. Nolan | | Reading: "Adventure of the Martian | | Moons," a Sherlock Holmes pastiche | | set on Mars. | +--------------------------------------+ * If Baby Steps was a daily newsletter, it might look something like this, but with more pictures. Then again, it might not. * A Composite Case History * In 1994, I was in charge of three conventions' daily newsletters. This is the process I went through with each one. Before the convention, I figure out how much printing I expect to do, and determine a budget. The budget basically consists of printing expenses, and a toner cartridge for my laser printer. (We didn't have spare toner at Westercon 47, and were in deep yogurt when it failed.) I start soliciting help, both publicly, in the Progress Reports, and privately, by writing to the artists and to those who've worked with me in the past. (See Baby Steps #5.) I collect material for the newsletter, such as boilerplate articles and humorous filler pieces. * +-----------------------------------------+ | Dingbat Fonts I use to add interest to | | the page: Acme Animals, Almanac, Bon | | Apetit, Botanical, Carta, Ding Tools, | | Directions, Hierofont, Holiday Pi, | | International, Metro, Mini Pics Classic,| | Parties, Sports One, Sports Two, Star | | Trek Pi, Star Trek Next Pi, Transport, | | Vacation, Wingdings, and Wingdings 2. | +-----------------------------------------+ When you don't know what you are doing, do it neatly. * Other Departments * I attempt to reach certain other department heads for coordinating certain things. Masquerade, because we want to get the complete running order as soon as possible (photocopies of the entry sheets will do) and the winners list when they've been announced. Con Suite, to arrange for an ice chest full of sodas in the newsroom. Registration, to try to get membership figures in time for each issue. Information, to make sure the lines of communication stay open during the con. Publications, so that a copy of the Program Book and of the Pocket Program are set aside for our use on the eve of the convention. Hotel Liason, so we know where our newsroom will be. Treasurer, so we can get advance monies for pre-con purchases, and to arrange payment of the printing during the con. Logistics, to make sure that the newszine boards get on the truck. I try to reach each of them at concom meetings, and provide a brief letter explaining (in writing) what I want. * Without ice cream, life and fame are meaningless. * Planning and Brainstorming * I start meeting with members of my team. Colleen Crosby is Office Manager, and needs to know everything we're going to do. I also contact Lynn Boston, Ky Moffet, Nola Frame-Gray, Shawn Crosby, Pat Lawrence, Andrew Rich, and Kim Bergdahl, and we start coming up with ideas to use in the newszine. We're looking for a name (it's a local tradition that the newszine has a different name each year), design ideas, and running gags that we can use. When we have a name for the newsletter, we sketch out the rough format and make some mock-ups. When the design is firm (after a few weeks of fiddling) and we've decided what file naming system to use, we make up a file for each prospective issue and "seed" it with the stuff that we already know is going to be printed in that issue. Such as the issue number, day of week, and date. (I remember when I tried to do this at the con, at each issue's deadline, and invariably getting it wrong on Saturday or Sunday morning's issue.) We approach the copy shop that will be doing our printing, and attempt to make sure that the day crew and night crew both know what's coming. (So far, it's only worked part of the time; next time we're going to get the managers to put something down in writing, both in their behind-the-counter notebook and a copy for us to bring along.) We make sure that the newszine boards are ready to go. (This may involve building them, if you're doing this for the first time.) There will be no unassigned pockets, and no large free surfaces on them. We also check on the Blue Boards, which are boards that the members may post notices on. (That way, they leave our newszine boards alone.) * "It's not when everybody has e-mail. It's when everybody's mom has e-mail. Then, you know it's really pervasive." (Mike Godwin, Electronic Frontier Foundation) * Setting Up Shop and Getting Underway * Signs need to be made, mostly for the newszine boards, and 9x12 envelopes prepared. Everything that's going to the con should be packed up, including scotch tape, notepads, and pens. On the morning of the Setup Day, we meet and load up the trucks, move the computers and everything to the hotel, and get to work. We know in advance a great deal of what we plan to do at the con. For example, on setup day we'll get the Newsroom's copies of the Program Book & Pocket Program, and then contact Programming to find out what's changed and needs to be printed in issue #1. We hunt down hotel extension and room number assignments that aren't known until check-in (which may include Con Suite and Kids Room), and solicit bulletins from the various departments. Everything that can be put on the schedule is written up, and Colleen takes charge of the operation. She deals with anyone who comes into the room, and if they're working for us she sends them out on assignments as needed. She keeps track of hours worked by the staff and volunteers, so we can turn them into the Volunteers dept. at the end of the con for possible pass-on memberships. She also notices when lunchtime has come and gone, and makes sure that the news staff eats something and doesn't topple over from eating fudge all day. * Sweatshirts, Fudge, and Morale ** I suppose I should explain the fudge. I do a little cooking before the con, and make up batches of fudge and chocolate chip cookies to bring for the hungry newsgophers. It's one of the minor perks that they appreciate, and it's good for morale. I try to do something to let my crew know that they're appreciated. They selflessly volunteer their free time at the con, so I try to take care of them. We make sure that their volunteer hours get properly credited, and give them something extra. At one con, I had made up sashes - armbands or headbands in a bright pattern fabric, and gave them out to anyone who worked for me. (I still have some different fabric for next time.) The same people have been working with me for a while, and we decided to give our team a name: Pan-Galactic Publishing. Shawn Crosby designed some full-color artwork with a "mascot" and we printed up some sweatshirts. So, at the con, the news team were all wearing matching sweatshirts. (Nola loves hers, and wears it to LASFS every week now.) * +------------+ | MEMBERSHIP | | 55 | | AS OF 9 PM | +------------+ Getting it Printed * We know that printing takes about an hour. So Kim or Pat and I drop off the morning edition masters, and also make an enlarged copy of the originals to post by the main newsstand before going to bed. Later in the morning, Colleen picks them up at the copy shop when the issue is ready. The evening run is combined with a dinner break. If we can, we have the copy shop run an account, and pay them at the end of the con. It's well nigh impossible to get the treasurer to write a check for each issue. * Training for Next Time * During the con, this is how we would put together the newsletters. We'd start by getting everything typed into the computer(s). Then, I would sit down, copy edit everything for style, and arrange the articles on the page, shuffling things around to fit and deciding what to drop, or what to add... for hours and hours! Having part of the process be something that "only I can do" was the biggest weakness of our operation. Especially when you consider that mostly I was going over each article, making sure it had a headline in the "headline style;" getting rid of all-capitals, underlining, and double-blanks after the periods; changing short dashes - into long -- dashes; putting a blank line before each paragraph, and not indenting the first line; making sure that the byline was at the end of the article, flush right, italics... So, next time I'll train everyone to do the copy-editing on the fly, and see to it that I'm not indispensable! * (Note for the on-line ascii version: Daniel Bowen's piece is from his weekly column/mailing list, "Toxic Custard.") Daniel's (very brief) Guide to Using the Computer ** 1. Remember who's boss. Every time it beeps at you, or gives you an error message, just look it in the monitor and remember how important you are compared to your computer. Remember that you have the chance to do so much more than your computer can ever do. To run through the meadows, to smell the flowers, to eat chocolate, to have sex... Try to forget that it can add up a fifty page spreadsheet in a matter of seconds. Remember, humans told it to do that. Humans are smarter than computers, or at least, some of us are. On good days. 2. The old Vic 20 manuals used to say that it is impossible to hurt the computer, no matter what you type. It's true. You cannot hurt the computer, even by typing "sod off you fucking computer, you're nothing but a bunch of useless wires". If you really want to hurt the computer, you can make use of an axe, a shotgun, you can simply throw it from a ninth floor window. What you can do by typing is to delete all your work, delete all of your friends' work, set up a print job that goes until infinity, send an email picture of a penis to your boss, or write crap like this. 3. Don't plug things in or pull them out while the computer's on, unless it's someone else's computer, and it doesn't matter if you risk damaging it. (This may require that the someone else is not a seven foot sumo-wrestling computer-loving homicidal maniac with a penchant for machetes.) 4. Don't take out a floppy disk while the drive is going. This is a very unreliable way to destroy a disk. A much more reliable method is to fold them in half, set fire to them, then run them over with a steamroller. You can also shut them in the lock of a closing door, simply cut them up with shears, or scrape a chisel over the disk's surface. 5. Since it's now just about impossible to burn in an image on most modern monitors, the best way to burn them in is using a flame-thrower. Daniel Bowen * ========================================================================== Daily Newszine Baby Steps is a collection of lessons I've learned about running Daily Newsletters at s.f. conventions. Six issues have been published of Baby Steps. If you'd like one of each, send me an address label and two stamps. You can get complete sets of back issues from Conozoic/Westercon 47 (Pteranodon Ptimes), Loscon 21 (Future History Revisionist), or Phil & Ed's Excellent Convention (The Daily Meatball) - send an address label and $1 for each set. If you've run a newszine, I'll swap you yours for mine. Chaz Baden, P.O. Box 17522, Anaheim CA 92817-7522. Email: hazel@ddb.com ========================================================================== Daily Newszine Baby Steps #7 December 1997 * Anaheim, California * Lessons learned, sometimes the hard way Let's suppose you've just been handed the job of editing and publishing a daily newsletter at your convention, or perhaps you think you want to volunteer for it. What should you do first? What's next? How exactly will you tackle the challenge? I can't vouch for what you'll do. I can only tell you what I've done, and what I want to do differently next time. I've been on the daily newszine staff for eight cons so far, and learned something new each time. I've printed some of what I've learned in previous issues of Baby Steps. Since Baby Steps #6, I handled distribution at L.A.con III (1996 Worldcon) and I ran the daily newszine at Loscons 23 & 24 (Burbank, 1996-1997). It helps to be familiar with Baby Steps #1-6, but it's not required. === Planning === Who's in charge of the department? First, see if your con chair wants you to run the daily newsletter. If the chair (or Worldcon Division head) isn't the one making that decision, you may be headed for trouble already. In any case, make your offer in writing. The chair may respond verbally, in which case you might follow up with a "you've given me the job" confirmation letter. If you get a Progress Report which lists someone else in charge, it means you didn't get the job. Determine a budget. This should be done in writing. Do it early enough, because the newszine is something that can slip beneath the treasurer's notice. They may later announce that the con can get along fine without a newszine and slash your budget (which has happened to me before - I sold advertising space to make up the deficit). At least you'll have started with something, and half of something is usually better than nothing. Recruit good people. If you're doing all the editing yourself, be prepared to work night and day. The newsroom can be a hectic place. The job of editor is not for everyone. I've learned to only offer the job of editor to fans who've worked on a daily newszine before, because if they haven't been on that twice-a-day deadline they don't know what it's like. ---------------------------------- God is in the details. (Ludwig Mies van der Rohe) ---------------------------------- What will the newszine look like? Pick a name for your newszine. Design your newszine layout. Keep it simple. Make up a template, and pass it around to your other editors to duplicate on their machines. Figure out your plan for "double issues" - what will you do if you have two issues' (or 1½) worth of material? I've printed them as two consecutive issues (for example, issues 5 and 6), as two consecutive issues with sub- letters (issues 5A and 5B), and as multiple-page issues (but you need to do a lot of stapling). Next time I plan to print the primary material as "Issue 5" and then print the secondary material as "Issue 5-A" with a simplified flag, on different colored paper with the same highlight color for the flag. If you know exactly when each issue is appearing - for example, if issue 4 is definitely going to be your Saturday Evening edition - then you can set up a template for that issue. Start stockpiling filler. Write to a few fan artists, asking politely for fillos. Be sure to credit them properly, and send them a complete set of the resulting issues. === Morale === The Care and Feeding of the Crew: Morale is important. You get better work from a team that knows that you care about them. Sometimes the con chair won't support your efforts, at which point you have to decide whether to continue. If you continue, you have to support your team's work. However you can't let it get to the point of a "newszine vs. the concom" situation, because that's even worse. I've treated my staff to dinner, made custom ID badges for them, and stocked the newsroom with munchies from Trader Joe's. Also anyone who works for the newszine, even a volunteer who only shows up for one hour, receives a headband and a little pocket-sized notebook (either spiral- bound or the miniature "composition" style). Most of this has come out of my own pocket, although in future I plan to buy the headbands and notebooks out of my newszine budget. Of course, your convention could be completely different. === Checklists for Packing === Office Supplies: Here are some common items we've used: * Scissors * Glue sticks * Notepads for newsboards etc. * Scotch tape, duct, double-stick, mailing, and masking tape * Pens, markers, highlighters * #10 envelopes * String for newsboard repairs * Hole punch * Screwdrivers, other tools? * Popsicle sticks (from kids room) * Clipboards * Extension cords, terminal strips Other useful items: * 9x12 manila envelopes, including the news submission envelopes marked "Put News Here," and one for hand-carrying advance news to the con * "In" and "Done" baskets * Formatted MS-DOS diskettes * Font diskettes and CD-ROMs * "Daily Newsletter" ribbons * Miniature notebooks * 3+ plastic trash cans, 8 gal size * Trash bags: 8 gal, 13 gal, 40 gal * Sandwich and gallon zip bags * Signs for newsboards * Earplugs, about six pair * "Property of" labels, for the con, everyone bringing stuff, & hotel * Blank label stock * Roll of paper towels * Box of tissues * Power cables * Telephone extension cable * Miscellaneous data cables * Notebooks containing newszine examples and filler material * Notebook with plastic sheet protectors to keep the masters in * Lamps - 1 or 2 for night shift * Headbands * Pencil sharpener * Digital clock * CD boombox, and selected CDs * Ice chest and a small cooler Paper colors: Use pastel, no "neon" or "astrobright" colors. * Pink, Green, Blue, Goldenrod * Pumpkin, Yellow/Canary, Buff * Orchid/Lavender * Tan, Grey, White Still more lists and checklists: * Telephone extension list. * "First issue" checklist * "Morning issues" checklist * "Evening issues" checklist * "Next to last Day" checklist * "Last Day" checklist === Counting down to the convention === One or two months out: Check your supplies situation. Do you need to buy paper and ink? Make sure the newsboards, if you're using that distribution scheme, are ready. (I also take charge of the "blue boards" which may need a fresh coat of paint.) If you're getting "Daily Newsletter" ribbons, or headbands for your crew, now would be a good time to start the ball rolling. === Newsroom Arrangements === The Outpost and the Parlor: At Loscon 24, we tried something new. The newsroom was in a suite (a parlor), and there was an "Outpost" in the Convention Center. We used the "Coat Check" desk, but this wasn't confirmed until about 5:00 pm of the set-up day. Next time I'd like to reserve that location a little sooner, so it can be printed on the map in the Pocket Program as "Daily Newsletter." The Outpost had a computer (a laptop on the last day), and was staffed during daytime programming hours. Next time we'll have signs that say "Daily Newszine" and we'll have about three tall stools, because it's a high desk. Most of the news will be typed there. We'll spend more time selecting and training the people to work at that desk. New reporters will probably work a shift at the desk, assuming that they can type, and also will be given a few assignments such as "cover the Blood Drive and report on a panel of your choosing." The convention paid for a parlor suite (723), which we had from noon on set-up until 7:00 pm of teardown. I rented the adjoining bedroom (725). The con also paid for a roll-away bed (because 725 didn't have a couch), and a small number of local calls (to download driver software off the Internet). The parlor was equipped with tables around two walls. Next time we'll ask for six 6' tables, w/o tablecloths. The hotel used pairs of 2'-wide tables shoved together, which was handy because we could drop the power cables down the middle. Equipment Notes: Next time I do this, everyone working in the newsroom will bring their computers and printers. We'll have long cables so anyone can print anywhere, and we'll swap printer drivers around to take advantage of that. Be sure to budget for toner/ink cartridge replacement, as there's a good chance at least one will go dry during the weekend. Parlor Power: Approximation to remember: one PC uses about 1.5A. The Parlor we used at Loscon 24 had one 20A circuit and shared another 20A circuit with the other parlor. === Specialists === Ambassadors to Other Departments: The job of the ambassadors was to go around the con and visit every department head, in search of news to be printed in the newszine. Next time I intend to issue them specific questions to ask, such as to determine what computer games are available in the gaming room as well as role-playing games and so forth, and they'll be equipped with 3x5 index cards or newszine submission forms. (Kandis Holliday came up with the idea for the news forms, which we'll fine-tune for next year.) The ambassadors will drop off a blank form or card at each concom head, and come back in half an hour to gather up the news if any. Distribution Squad: Also known as the paper route. An early riser should distribute the morning newszines in the convention center or any other place that was locked up overnight. At large sites, several runners (at least two) will be needed to distribute new issues to the various newsboards, farthest to nearest. They should also check for pockets running low and to redistribute what's left, or request a reprint run. Illustrious Paper Shuffler: It's helpful to have an adminstrative assistant of some sort, no matter what the title. Here are the duties that Kim Bergdahl performed at Loscon 24. Meals: Tried to make sure the day editor ate real food on a regular basis Answered the phone: Took messages, gave out some info, some dispatching Receptionist/Blocker: Tried to help visitors to the newsroom by finding out what they wanted and taking care of them where possible so they wouldn't interrupt the editorial team. Paperwork: Attempted to keep accurate time sheets so everyone was credited correctly for work done. Production: Assisted with printing when possible or necessary. Noise Level: Tried to keep a calm and quiet environment for the editorial team to work in. Neatness Counts: Light housekeeping to keep things reasonably tidy. === Signage === Signs: You'll want several signs. "Type things here" signs for open computers. Possibly with some other helpful hints on printing and saving documents. "Daily Newsletter - FREE - Take One of Each (This rack is reserved for the official daily newszine ONLY. The flyer boards are in the Convention Center. If you have flyers of your own, please put them there.)" Print them on card stock, mount on popsicle sticks and affix to the top of each newsboard. "These newsboards are reserved for the official daily newsletter." One per slot per newsboard. "Blue Boards - These Blue Boards are intended for events during the con. This includes parties, meetings, and programs here at the convention, and elsewhere during the con. Other material may be posted elsewhere. Please ask at Information for futher guidance. Thank you." One per blue board. === Notes on Printing === Printing On-Site: See if you can use the LASFS Gestetner Copy Printer or equivalent to print the newszine. Make sure you have a full case of black ink cartridges. (At Loscon 24 we printed about 18,750 sides using black ink.) Allow for printing two issues per day, possibly up to three or four. Stock up on different colors of paper. Print Run: Allow for a print run of at least 50%, possibly up to 75% of your attendance. (Found to be a good rule at L.A.con III and Loscon 24.) At Loscon 24, we rounded up to the next full ream, after realizing 750 wasn't enough. === Notes on Editing === Juggling Newszine Material: Anything that hasn't been incorporated into the current newszine document sits in the "In" basket. Once it's been typed in, it's moved to the "Done" basket. If we need to check back to the original (for example, if it was unsigned but somebody else on the team can tell by the handwriting who it was from) we can rummage in the Done Basket for it. We don't actually throw the original submissions away, at least not until after the convention. If anything comes in on a diskette without a print-out attached, an effort should be made to print it and tape the one to the other. ------------------------------------- The Perfect is the Enemy of the Good. (Russian proverb) ------------------------------------- Chaz Boston Baden, P.O. Box 17522, Anaheim CA 92817-7522, hazel@ddb.com - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Daily Newszine Baby Steps #8 August 1998 * Anaheim, California * Lessons learned, sometimes the hard way Plans for "Next Time" The News Desk and the Newsroom. The newsletter will operate in two places. It worked at Loscon 24, and we're trying to make it even better. News Desk. The Newsletter Desk will be located "on the floor" of the con, near Information. It will have a house phone, one or two laptops, and 2-3 chairs. It will be staffed by a Desk Editor and possibly the Distribution Manager. Field Reporters and Newsgophers report there. Hours will be the same as Information, typically 10:00am-6:00 pm; News Desk relocates to the Newsroom after dinner. The Desk Editor is responsible for getting most of the news typed in as it's turned in, from dictation or on scraps of paper. He or she will make sure it's written clearly (no typos or bad grammar, etc.), and try to make it sound interesting (cf. Langford). Also notations may be made as to which items need to be printed in the next issue, or "use by #NN." The Desk Editor might send a gopher or reporter to check on facts or report on a story. The Desk Editor turns over one diskette, usually containing one or two files, to the Issue Editor for the upcoming issue. For Worldcon, I want to recruit three Desk Editors -- morning, afternoon, and evening. The Distribution Manager is in charge of making sure that all issues are available at all the newsboards. If an issue runs out at one place, he or she will dispatch a gopher to redistribute issues, or put in a reprint request to the newsroom. Note that gathering the data, and running around, are separate tasks that can be phoned in or delegated. Field Reporters will report in at the News Desk. The second computer will be available for typing in news directly. The Desk Editor may send them out on assignments. Newsgophers will report in at the News Desk as well. This will be an on-call position. The on-duty gopher should check back frequently, or have a pager, rather than camp out at the News Desk all day. News Room. The Issue Editors, Tech Support, Office Manager, and Press Gang are based here. The Issue Editor actually lays out the issues, and decides what to include and what to cut for space. For Worldcon, I'd like to have three Issue Editors editing three issues a day. The Office Manager keeps track of the department's paperwork. Visitors can keep the editors from getting the work done; part of the Office Manager's job is to shoo them away. Press Gang. Someone has to actually print the thing, or drive the masters out to a copy shop and bring back the printed copies. This could be handled by the Issue Editor, who will be done editing at that point. Tech Support. This person will be on-call to set up equipment, fix computers, etc. Webitor. If someone wants to turn the issues into HTML for posting on-line, they'll have my blessings. It'll have to be someone else whose job is doing that, because we're going to be busy getting the next issue out. At Bucconeer, the Information Dept. attempted this. Reserve Team. I'd like to have a fresh crew that goes to work on the third day of the Worldcon. The hard part, of course, is that anyone good enough to swing into action at this point has probably been working at some other job until then... - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - "As long as I don't write about the government, religion, politics, and other institutions, I am free to print anything." (Beaumarchais) - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Editing Procedures. Cross-referencing. Check the Program Changes against the Pocket Program to see whether the original room, time, etc. matches what you print. Spell the names correctly. At a minimum, you should consult the program book and pocket program to check on names such as Nielsen Hayden, Mortensen, and so forth. Preparing for the Awards. At some cons there are masquerade awards, art show awards, and so forth. (See checklist.) Assign a reporter to get the winners, and plan ahead where to print them in the newszine. Personality. I think it's more work for a Worldcon editor to make the newszine sparkle with fun filler and fillos. There's hardly any room, because so many people contribute material to the newszine. At Bucconeer, James Daugherty and I alternated shifts, and we just barely caught up with all the stuff contributed. Suggest you have a small collection of fillos on hand before the con starts, so you can put an illo on each front page. Stop fiddling, and print it. "...my main problem was no one was there to say "it's good enough, let's get it repro'd now." So I tended to continue to tweak it some more and therefore not get the issues out as soon as I wanted." (Sharon Sbarsky) I don't worry anymore about complete stylistic consistency, because it takes time when I could worry about something else. Following a full-blown style manual is out of the question because it slows us down. Worldcon Parties. Lots of parties are held at Worldcon. Set up procedures to print a party list in an issue that is ready before the dealers room closes. Be prepared for long party reviews the following day. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Newszine checklists. Adapt these for your convention, print out them double-spaced. Tip the Maid (each night) ___ ___ ___ ___ Party List (each night) ___ ___ Program Changes (each am) ___ ___ ___ ___ Room changes (Day 1) ___ ___ Wrap-up Issue (Last am) ___ ___ Reg Totals (each issue) ___ ___ ___ ___ Next Deadline (each issue) ___ ___ ___ ___ Publication Schedule ___ ___ ___ ___ Con Suite Location & Hours (Day 1) ___ ___ CD Rom Games in Gaming Room ___ ___ Gaming LARP/etc. Sign-ups ___ ___ Art Show Award Results ___ ___ Special Film/Video Features ___ ___ ___ ___ Location of Newsboards (Day 1) ___ ___ Drop Points for News ___ ___ Use of Party Boards (Day 1) ___ ___ Dead Dog Party (Last am) ___ ___ Filking Notices ___ ___ Kid's Room ___ ___ Take a Bath (halfway point) ___ ___ Plugs and Reviews Blood Drive (Day 1 am) ___ ___ Art Show ___ ___ Hotel Restaurant Specials ___ ___ Dealer's Room ___ ___ Ice Cream Social ___ ___ Costume Display, other Exhibits ___ ___ Dance #1 ___ ___ Dance #2, etc. ___ ___ Local Restaurant Reviews ___ ___ Next-Year Memberships (last 2 am's) ___ ___ Sponsoring Organization ___ ___ Related Conventions ___ ___ Worldcon Checklists WSFS Business Meetings ___ ___ ___ ___ Site Selection Results (Following am) ___ ___ Hugo Awards (Hugo night) ___ ___ Masquerade Awards (Following am) ___ ___ Sidewise Awards ___ ___ Prometheus Awards ___ ___ Golden Ducks ___ ___ Chesley Awards ___ ___ Art Show Awards ___ ___ Hogus (Hoaxzine?) ___ ___ - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - "As long as I don't write about the government, religion, politics, and other institutions, I am free to print anything." (Beaumarchais) - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Printing the Issues. Printing Power. "I'd *strongly* urge any Worldcon to have enough equipment to have at least 200 ppm of copying available at all times, which means a minimum of 4 of the fancy Gestetners..." (Mark Olson) This means that to print 4,000 double-sided issues, it would take 8000/200 = 40 minutes of raw printing time. For comparison, Bucconeer's peak capacity ranged from 24 to 78 ppm. The Gestetner CopyPrinter 5329L is about as easy to use as a copier, runs cool, doesn't overheat, a real work-horse. You just need to allow time for the first side to dry. Eastercons seem to have no trouble renting one from Gestetner UK. Contingency Planning. What if you're printing on-site, and your equipment fails or is otherwise unworkable? Be prepared to abandon the operation as a bad job, and print off-site. You should know where to go, what their hours and prices are, and how you will get there. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Drop Points. Newsboards. See previous issues of Baby Steps. They're 4-foot-square pegboards with string, with a space for each issue. Distributing Thousands of Copies. Put newsboards at Info, Reg, Dealers, Exhibits, Art Show, Film, Main Program Hall, Con Suite, Party Floor, each hotel... Bucconeer had 5500 warm bodies by the end of the convention. Copies printed (peak): 4000. At Worldcon, all but 500-1000 should go to Info & Exhibits (i.e., the Conv. Center). Note that at Worldcon, a stack of 700 copies looks like "plenty" but it's not. Anything distributed before Closing Ceremonies should be printed in full supply; after Closing, divide by ten. Hotel Negotiations. At Worldcon, the logical place to put a newsboard may be in a hotel lobby. Find out what you have to do to square that with the hotel, they tend to be fussy about such things out in the open where other guests can see them. Signage on Newsboards. "[World] Science Fiction Convention Program Changes." Locations of all newsboards, the News Desk, and Newsroom. Rethinking the Drop Envelopes. In the past we've had a 9x12 manila envelope on each newsboard. We might remove them, or at least suggest that important stuff be delivered to the News Desk or Newsroom. Spotting the Latest Issue. When each new issue appears, consolidate the previous issue to its proper position and put the new issue in several slots to make it conspicuous from a distance. Pink Sheets. If Program Ops prints Pink Sheets, work with them to distribute them. Blue Boards. 4-foot-square sheets of hard-board, painted with light blue semi-gloss paint. Party hosts can post flyers on them. At Worldcon we'll want to deploy them two at a time in the party hotel and elsewhere. You may need to schedule a work session to get these ready before the convention. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Computer Hardware, Software. The modern at-con newszine runs on computers, usually PCs or Macintoshes. (Note that Baby Steps #7 talked briefly about A/C power requirements.) Personal Machines. At local cons, we'll just have "everyone" bring their own machines, and designate one or two extras for public use. If the computers are networked together before the convention, we'll use a network printer. Otherwise we'll just swap around a long printer cable. Rental Machines. If you're renting or borrowing computers, be sure you have enough, and that they're configured the way you like them. It will help you load software if they have both diskette and CD drives. Allow for at least one day of set-up before the convention to get them configured. Make sure that every computer can use every printer. A lesson from Bucconeer: If there are more laser printers than there are computers, there's something wrong. Short-Term Purchases. Consider buying a bunch of used computers, and then selling them off again at the end of the con. Or keep them around for next year. Some computer stores specialize in used PC's, so check out your local stores. I'm going to look for some bargains in used laptops. Miscellaneous. A good flatbed scanner can be used to get fillos into the newszine. It's not required, as it can always be done in paste-up, but it can make it easier. It's also been suggested that a fax machine with handset could come in handy at a Worldcon. Instant Sign Computer. "The biggest problem I ever had when editing a con newsletter... was a stream of people wanting to use our equipment to make instant signs. Eventually I had to assign one of my staff to do nothing but sit at the "reception desk" and field requests of that nature." (Kevin Standlee) Depending on your circumstances, you may want to budget for an extra PC and printer for this. Random-Use Computer. If you have a computer or two that anyone can sit at and type, you won't have to pick and choose who gets to get some work done. Put basic instructions next to the PC. Diskette Submissions. There should be an agreed-upon format for submissions on diskette. Plain ASCII Text or RTF, is probably generic enough for your purposes. Whatever your preference, you should write up instructions and leave them by each computer. Example: "Press Page Down and Enter a few times to put in some blank space before your article. Type a headline, capitalized but not ALL CAPS. Press Enter twice, and start typing your article. When finished, press Enter twice, and type the name of the person contributing the news. Press Enter again, then select SAVE from the file menu. Leave the file sitting on the screen so the next person can add onto the end of it." The reason for leaving out all formatting is because usually the receiving editor has to strip all of the formatting out of the piece in order to use it, unless it's been arranged exactly to match the style used in the issues. (I've occasionally used "cut-and-paste" and "Notepad" to strip out the formatting.) Use Whatever Works. At Bucconeer, about half of the issues were produced in PageMaker and the others in WordPerfect. Different point sizes and typefaces were used. I never once heard anyone complain about the mis-matched look of the newszine. The lesson here: nobody cares what you use. If you can "cut and paste" you can hand off typed-in material to the next editor. Editor-to-Editor Hand-Off. Often the material that's been designated "don't print this issue" sits on "Page 3" of the document file, or sometimes the editor will place it in another file. Once the issue has been printed, or once the masters have been sent down to the printers, everything that's "leftovers" should be moved into its own separate file. Save that file, put a copy onto a diskette, print it out, and leave the diskette and print-out in the "In" basket for the next issue's editor to use. Installation Kit. During the off-season, make up a kit consisting of the CD's and duplicate installation disks for the software and fonts you'll use. You'll need this if you use loaner or rental equipment. It may come in handy if your own machine dies, or if you have a late addition to the fleet. (And once you've done this for your convention, you can keep it in your suitcase in case you're called upon to pitch in and help at another con.) - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - "On the first day, they gave me a numeric pager. On the second day, they gave me a voice pager. On the third day, they gave me a radio. On the fourth day, they gave me a cellular phone. What will they give me tomorrow?" - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - If you missed Baby Steps #1-7, send me a mailing label and two stamps. Chaz Boston Baden, PO Box 17522, Anaheim CA 92817-7522, hazel@ddb.com. Or see http://ddb.com/smofs/smofs.html on the web for plain ascii text. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -