One of the big questions which seems to be popping up is, "should we have an enthusiasts-only day?" or "should we have seperate events, one just for us and one for the public?"

A problem seems to be that the hardcore enthusists showed up on Friday, which was only a half day and much of that was consumed with set-up work. Some were not able to make it until late in the day as they had to finish work first. This left only Friday evening through Friday night as the time all the hardcore enthusists were present without the general public, who were there from Saturday morning on. Sunday most everybody had to be on their way home, so there was no time for anything but clean-up.

So it seems to me that we need to first figure out WHEN people can really be there, then we can figure out what to do on which days.

For me, I take the time off from work so I am flexible. I will either fly up or take the train up the day before, rent a car, and stay in Wilsonville the night before and the night after.

But what about everyone else? Is coming up to Wilsonville on Thursday night or the crack of dawn Friday completely out of the question for too many people? Or can we re-arrange the schedule so that we do the set-up on Thursday night, have the enthusiasts-only games run Friday morning through Friday night, and have the open-to-the-public games run Saturday morning through Saturday night?

Alternatively, what about taking Monday off so that we can have set-up late Friday night (with enthusisasts meeting and chatting and probably playing a night game or three once setup was done), all day Saturday and Saturday night for just us, and open the whole thing up to the public for Sunday through Sunday night? Monday would be a tear-down and pack-up day, with perhaps a few games without any barricades or such once all the non-tag gear was loaded up into the cars and the grounds had been policed up.

If taking any time off is a problem for very many people, then we should probably look at splitting this into two events, one weekend for us nutcases and another weekend for the general public. But I am concerned that this will result in a lot of the hardcore enthusists not wanting to travel long distances to be there for the open-to-the-public weekend. I think it is important to have a public event and have the most enthusiastic people there that we can get, because this helps to spread the sport and get more people involved in it.

Here are a few of the problems that should be brought to the forefront, as they are items that lead to alot of the issues that have been brought up on this an other posts.

The most biggest problem for throwing TagFest or any other kind of event like this, is until the day of the event (and maybe to a degree a few days before), I havn't a clue if 5 people or 50 people are going to show up.

There were about 15 people this year who were supposed to come that didn't show up.....at least 5 I didn't know one way or the other till the last minute and 5 individuals that I didn't know were comming.

Trying to get a definate yes or no from people if they are comming is worse then pulling teeth. This becomes especially hairy when you are trying to figure out how much food to purchase. The first year I came up short on food, last year I had tons of leftovers, this year I got lucky and just about hit it on the nose (although we somehow lost a bag of chicken for Sat's dinner, which made some confusion).

Brian is right also, I got so tied up in working on the food that I was for the most part oblivious to what was going on game wise - although to a degree this was a blessing as my back was out during the weekend and it healed enough for me to enjoy the Sat night games.

There were alot of issues developed due to unorganization...I felt that this year was a step out of the small get together, and a step into the larger TagFest that I'd like to see happen. There were alot of mistakes made on my part...that hopefully will lead to next year being better.

One of the hardest decisions for me was, when do we switch over from LTTO to useing Steradian gear. Originally, the LTTO was only going to be used for Friday's games. Saturday was going to be all Steradian....but when Wayne gracefully donated his time and all of that gear...I figured a few morning LTTO games wouldn't hurt. So that is an issue that I really need to work out for next year.

I agree totally with Gabriel on the prize give away...that was a mess...and it wasted a ton of valuable time. Next year, if there are any prizes, they will be given away on Saturday night at dinner.

Finally, I really feel that the event is too short. I think I need to use Thursday as my settup day the way Friday was used this year. I think Friday would be the best day for all Steradian games for the hard core taggers groups, as the kids will all be in school, Saturday will be a day for LTTO and unlimited class games, switching over to Steradian once the sun hits the horizon...

The trick is as Brian said, how many individuals would be able to get Friday off? There were many individuals there this Friday so I think it safe to say that will work.

Finally, back to the communications issue. I think the best form of communications will be to use a Yahoo user's group...that way you don't have to log on to any board to get the conversation...and yet there is a log of the conversation of how things are being developed.

Not to be condescending, but some of those who are complaining about the lack of organization, were the very individuals that I had the hardest time trying to get engaged with for discussing organizing the event. Hopefully, this year will serve as proof that a couple good discussions on organizing the event months in advance of the event are not only beneficial, but necissary. Getting the time zones together for a chat session is a waste of energy, hopefully with the email sessions that the Yahoo email/postings provide, things can be worked out better.

The more people willing to step forward and help with the event the better the event will be.

Peter is going to get a device that makes organizing the LARP style games alot more efficient, and he has volunteered to head up from noon on for one of the main days....and I fully intend on taking him up on that.

I just want to thank everyone who has been open and honest in these postings so far, even if egos get a little bit tarnished here and there - it is extremely important for this kind of discussion to happen if the event is to improve.

Being that 1SLT is paying the tab for the event, I reserve the right to pull in the reins or make final decisions when there is a split in opinion...and I hope everyone respects that - if not, tuff petuni!
However, my feeling has always been that TagFest is event for the taggers and by the taggers, and for the most part, I'll abide by what the taggers want. As the event grows I/we will all have to adjust to the situation.

Personally I had a great time, but the event could and should be better. Please help me be a next generation trekie.......and "Make it so!"

I know...but I just couldn't resist

I agree with all said above
My experince running Tagcon is It is so hard to determine who will really show up

The best way is to make a firm pre-payment policy, say $10 at least 2 week in advance
that will eliminate a lot of maybe people.

waive the $10 for people who are bring necessary items as you know they will be there.

Next is delegation of duties (to unpaid volunteers)
most people show up to play and not to run an event, but if divided well, everyone will have more "Tag" time and less "lag" time.

As the person running the tag games and larp, I want to play too, but then there is the accusation of you did well because you designed the game. I solved that at TAGCON by having my character switch teams mid game or between games or having an "Opposite/equalizer" on the other team. In that case it was John Haugland and it worked very well.

David is right on the organization
1 game master
1 team leader on each side with all the info
Team leader delegates to 2 "sargents" to help keep his team organized/informed/quiet at instruction time and to the start up location quickly so we can get to playing.
Once again this is the set up I had at tagcon and it worked well for very complicated games.

Game master gets details to team leaders 1 week before event and reviews questions on game day
Team leaders the teach sargents what they need to know.
sargents and team leader then tell their team right before the game in a 5-10 minute session, then go play.

Before lunch play some LTTO games, zone, kings, hide and seek, etc

Starting after lunch each game lasts 30-60 minutes
with 10 minutes for instructions, rest

Game 1 - one life, simple elimination
Game 2 - respawn x1 at base only and 1 objective
Game 3 - respawn multiple at many sites, 2 or 3 objectives, special weapons
Game 4-6 add objectives, special weapons and characters with hidden agendas

At dinner have awards and prize give away based on points earned

evening games replay the games we liked best, but now at night and maybe a few new twists

Peter

And one minor thing, that might help speed up the complex games at set-up time: I would call what we played at TagFest a SCENARIO game rather than a LARP game, as there were really no characters per se, just a couple of players with specific jobs to perform.

So it seems to me that there is very little need for a back story -- it can simply be stated "Your goals are to ______ (fill in the blanks). The other team will be trying to _______ (fill in their major objective), and also trying to accomplish a couple of goals that you don't know about, but need to try to figure out and stop them. They will be doing the same to you. Now let's get it on!"

Is it possible to have Saturday as the adult day and all Sunday as an "open to public" day?

My schedule is quite flexible but I know a lot of my friends would have a hard time coming to an all day Friday event.

Just two more cents.