2025-02-18

Attendees: Nate, Socks, Matt, Tazer, Dustin, Ryan

Notes: Nate

• How things went:
  • AC:
    • overly focused on NMK - main occupation on December - this meant that a lot of last years lessons really served them this year, the groundwork laid is paying off
    • maintenance burden is quite low - high uptime
    • pain points in prep are - not having too much of an AC transition in magfest-specific coordination - what all needs to be prepped and considered in planning
      • bit of a scramble in the last few weeks to reconfirm a bunch of things.
      • AC having our calendar/checklist would help them be on track earlier in the process]
    • confusion around contractor/volunteer count -
      • late badge requests
      • room assignments confusing
      • gap between the new contract and AC not understanding the logistical needs of them being compensating more but owning more of the coordination of things
      • we think this is a one-time pain point
    • second truck -
      • worked out great for AC
      • was a bit uncomfortable and last minute for all parties
      • was stressful to figure out who’s responsibility it was until josh and tazer stepped up to own it
      • there will not be fewer games coming from New York in future years
        • can we own this communication earlier
        • the earlier we hand it over to AC the better for them and us
      • mag needs to be funding this truck
        • if mag wants to handle getting funds from NYU or another source, they should own that, not us
  • IA:
    • incredible space!!! highest level of presentation in the hall. layout was immaculate, especially wrt the cabinet island and lights
    • pre-event communication - flurry of last minute december requests, how can we minimize/frontload to decrease risk of missing deadline - also on our communication
    • during event/mag liaising - all communications and requests should go thru us and our staff, you are contracted to us, so our staff should be handling requests for you etc - this way you don’t have to learn the correct process
      • if you need something from us, be more empowered to take what you need
      • if you need something from the wider org, be less empowered and plz go thru us😄
    • contract terms are real - we should negotiate these as needed during the contract process, but the terms of what they provide (game qty) and what we provide (badge ct/room ct/$) is fixed
      • audibles on site are always fine - but they have to go thru DH comms or else we risk getting in trouble with the org
      • overlap of staffers + friends leads to unclear boundaries - merch confusion with eva - hours for AC is not hours for magfest
        • they were trying to compensate eva a spot in a room for work, conflicted directly with their staff commitment
        • AC feels this is internal to them figuring out their staffing needs late
    • there are some people questioning the contractor relationship / games that fail curation
      • we explicitly are comfortable with it, keep doing it, if the quality ever fails we’ll all know in a larger convo
    • we’re reaching out to you about help with outreach next year
    • you managing the jam with us this year was great, we would love to keep doing it
    • merch -
      • we may crib knowledge, we may combine, i dont know if thats possible.
        • contractor relationship question
        • legality question/money handling
• Going forward:
  • dedicated liaison
  • badge ct probably can’t increase, stipend likely more flexible
  • light towers lol
  • layout question - how can we build a layout that makes Expo C feel more alive overnight, given that MIVS largely shuts down the front half.
• Action items
  • Set a boshi’s conversation with AC and us
    • does it help if they have an arcade flat pack form factor they can dress up for the mouse and keyboard games?
    • whats the contractor path, if any?
  • Share timeline with AC so they have deadlines earlier
    • lilith could’ve been a guest
    • budgets, av requests
    • almost missed tax form
  • set up a representative system to communicate with each other - standing meeting, or someone on our side meeting with you
  • have contract discussion before budget deadline
    • would love more badges if we can, maybe push for $ if not
  • set clear comm pathways for AC needs w/r/t larger mag org things
  • keep doing game jam together!
  • future merch convo
    • what if AC handles all the merch for a cut? a la hoverburger
    • some of theirs was shipping after the fact, not handed over in real time